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CDCAN REPORT #172-2010 September 30, 2010
Update on Governor’s Actions:
Governor Completes Action on Bills
2010 Legislative Total: 1,024 Bills Passed By Legislature and Sent To Governor
– Signed 726 – Vetoes 298
SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN) [Updated 09/30/2010 11:55 PM (Pacific Time)] - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger completed action on all remaining bills on his desk passed by the Legislature and sent to him after they adjourned on August 31st, including approving SB 1381 by Sen. Joe Simitian (Democrat – Palo Alto) that will change the kindergarten admission age. The Governor also signed SB 1392 by Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg (Democrat – Sacramento) dealing with mental health that will help speed up the distribution of certain funding for mental health community based services.
The Governor’s final package of remaining bills on his desk totaled 104 bills, signing 50 and vetoing 54 bills. In total, for the entire 2010 Legislative session where the Legislature passed and sent to the Governor 1,024 bills, the Governor approved 726 of those bills and vetoed 298. CDCAN will issue a series of reports covering actions on all bills (by subject) later this weekend.
State Budget Delay Entering 4th Month
- Notably missing in that grand total for the year is the 2010-2011 State budget bill and budget related bills (called budget “trailer” bills that make changes to State law to implement reductions or other policy changes in the main budget bill).
- California is, as of Friday, October 1st, is now entering its fourth month without a budget.
- The Governor and Legislative leaders met Thursday twice and plan to meet again on Friday (October 1st) to continue to work out details on a final agreement to close the over $19 billion deficit.
- Last week the Governor and legislative leaders announced that they had come to an agreement on a “framework” for a budget deal – but still needed to work out details before it is final and ready for a vote by the Legislature.
- If there is final agreement reached by the governor and legislative leaders Friday or during the weekend, the Legislature would not likely return to Sacramento until week for a vote.
Governor Signs SB 1381 That Will Change the Kindergarten Admission Age
The Governor signed SB 1381 by Sen. Joe Simitian (Democrat – Palo Alto) that twill require, when finally phased in, that students starting kindergarten must turn five by September 1st of the school year. The bill also creates an ongoing “transitional” kindergarten program for students impacted by the change in age for admission date.
The Governor praised Simitian and said that the bill “…is a landmark accomplishment for early childhood developmental education in California, and I’m proud to sign this important legislation. The best investment we can make in the future of our state is to provide a quality education to California’s children, and this legislation ensures that their academic careers are built on a strong foundation. I commend Senator Joe Simitian for authoring SB 1381 and for his steadfast dedication to California’s students.”
OTHER FINAL REMAINING BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
- September 29: Governor signed 126 bills and vetoed 87 yesterday
- September 30: The Governor signed 7 key health care reform bills and also another 91 bills and vetoed 43 as of 7:30 PM September 30th.
- September 30: Just around 10 PM, the Governor finished action on the remaining 104 bills on his desk, signing 50 and vetoing 54.
Listed below are those bills of interest or having some direct or indirect impact on people with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, low income families and workers.
Bills of particular interest, controversy or having some direct impact are highlighted in the color RED preceded by *** (for people who have vision impairments). Those bills highlighted are not an indication of the overall importance of the bill as opposed to those bills not highlight.
SB 294 – PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS: REGULATION
AUTHOR: Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod (Democrat – Chino)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
SB 894 – LOCAL GOVERNMENT OMNIBUS ACT OF 2010
AUTHOR: Senate Local Government Committee
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
SB 1062 – PUBLIC SAFETY OMNIBUS BILL
AUTHOR: Senator Tony Strickland (Republican – Thousand Oaks)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
SB 1357 – CALIFORNIA LONGITUDINAL PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT DATA SYSTEM
AUTHOR: Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
***SB 1392 – MENTAL HEALTH: COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FUNDING
AUTHOR: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (Democrat – Sacramento)
CDCAN SUMMARY: Deletes a provision in existing state law requiring the Department of Mental Health to distribute a maximum of 95 percent of total State general fund realignment allocations to counties each state budget year (July 1 through June 30th) upon passage of the annual State Budget Act.
Makes necessary changes to existing law governing Medi-Cal specialty mental health services to reflect the requirement in this bill to delete the Department of Mental Health’s five percent withholding authority.
Requires the Department of Mental Health to distribute in a single lump sum the total approved funding to each county for the provision of programs and other activities related to the Mental Health Services Act, subject to the availability of funding as determined by the Department of Finance.
Clarifies that the Mental Health Services Act funding distributions must be based on the amount specified in each county’s three-year funding plan or update, as required by existing law, and specifies that the provisions of this bill in no way change the authority to approve, deny, or request further information regarding a county’s three-year plan or update.
Makes various legislative findings and declarations including that this bill is needed to facilitate the efficiency and cost effectiveness of community mental health services and prevent avoidable future county budget cuts to mental health.
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
NEXT STEPS: Takes effect January 1, 2011
AB 609 – COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT: ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Connie Conway (Republican – Tulare)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 1659 – DEPT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS: SUNSET REVIEW OF BOARDS, BUREAUS AND COMMISSIONS
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Alyson Huber (Democrat – El Dorado Hills)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 1701 – HYPODERMIC NEEDLES AND SYRINGES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (Democrat – Arcata)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2130 – PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS: SUNSET REVIEW
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Alyson Huber (Democrat – El Dorado Hills)
CDCAN SUMMARY: Abolishes the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and makes eligible agencies subject to review by the new Joint Sunset Review Committee created by the companion measure AB 1659 [also signed 9/30/2010 by the Governor]
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2212 – MINORS: MENTAL COMPETENCY
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (Democrat – Sylmar)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2275 – DENTAL COVERAGE: NON-COVERED BENEFITS
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (Democrat – Hayward)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2324 – TRANSIT: PUBLIC TRANSIT FACILITIES
AUTHOR: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (Democrat – Los Angeles)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
***AB 2352 – MEDI-CAL: ORGAN TRANSPLANT ANTI-REJECTION MEDICATION
AUTHOR: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (Democrat – Los Angeles)
CDCAN SUMMARY: Requires Medi-Cal beneficiaries to remain eligible to receive Medi-Cal coverage for anti-rejection medication for up to two years following an organ transplant unless during that time the beneficiary becomes eligible for Medicare or private health insurance that would cover the medication.
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2364 – UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS: GOOD CAUSE TO LEAVE WORK
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Pedro Nava (Democrat – Santa Barbara)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2385 – PILOT PROGRAM FOR INNOVATIVE NURSING AND ALLIED HEALTH CARE PROFESSION EDUCATION AT THE CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
AUTHOR: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2467 – ELECTIONS: VOTE BY MAIL
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Bill Monning (Democrat – Santa Cruz)
CDCAN SUMMARY: Requires an electronic application for a vote by mail ballot to inform the voter that the application for the vote by mail ballot must be received by the elections official not later than seven days prior to the date of the election. Makes other clarifying changes to statements on the electronic vote by mail application.
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2471 – VEHICLES: IDENTIFICATION CARDS & DRIVER’S LICENSES
AUTHOR: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (Democrat – Los Angeles)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
AB 2635 – COMMUNICABLE DISEASE: INVOLUNTARY TESTING
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (Democrat – La Cañada Flintridge)
CDCAN SUMMARY: This bill adds nonsworn employees of a law enforcement agency whose job description includes the collection of fingerprints to the list of persons who, when exposed to an arrestee’s bodily fluids, can have the arrestee’s blood tested for communicable diseases.
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: SIGNED in law by Governor.
BILLS VETOED
Here are the final remaining bills of interest or having some direct or indirect impact on people with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, low income families and workers that the Governor VETOED today, September 30, 2010 as of 11:00 PM.
Bills vetoed by the Governor could technically be taken up by the Legislature before the official ending date of the 2009-2010 legislative session (November 30, 2010). To override the Governor’s veto requires 2/3rds vote in both the Assembly (54 votes) and the State Senate (27 votes). That almost has never happened in the past 40 years – and bills vetoed by the Governor are considered “dead” – with no further action likely unless it is re-introduced next January.
SB 330 – PUBLIC RECORDS ACT: AUXILIARY ORGANIZATIONS
AUTHOR: Sen. Leland Yee (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
SB 414 – COUNTY EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT BOARDS
AUTHOR: Sen. Lou Correa (D-Orange County)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
***SB 890 – HEALTH CARE COVERAGE
AUTHOR: Sen. Elaine Alquist (Democrat – Santa Clara)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 890 without my signature.
While I appreciate the author’s leadership and efforts to help transition California’s healthcare delivery system in preparation for more significant changes in 2014, this bill creates unnecessary and duplicative costs by requiring health plans and health insurers to meet disclosure requirements in 2011 that will change again in 2014. The added costs for implementing the provisions of this bill outweigh the potential short-term benefits for the two regulatory entities, the affected health plans and consumers.
For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
SB 906 – MARRIAGE
AUTHOR: Sen. Mark Leno (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 906 without my signature.
This measure clarifies that the head of a religious denomination would not be required to solemnize same sex marriages if performing such ceremonies would conflict with the person’s beliefs. In addition, this measure would specify that such refusal would not affect the tax exempt status of the organization. Finally, this measure would add the term “civil” to describe marriages in related code sections.
I strongly support the rights of same-sex couples to be married. In addition, I support the portions of this measure that will preserve the rights of priests, ministers, rabbis, and other authorized persons from other religious denominations from having to perform marriage ceremonies if performing such ceremonies would violate the person’s religious beliefs. Unfortunately, I cannot sign this bill due to the extraneous amendments that will change the term “marriage” to “civil marriage” within the California Family Code.
Proponents of this bill argue that delineating between civil and religious marriage in statute will make the codes less confusing. However, the Family Code itself does not make a distinction between religious marriage and civil marriage. Consequently, inserting the term “civil” before the word “marriage” without explanation does not make things any less confusing. By creating a distinct type of marriage within the code, I believe this measure undermines the goal of marriage equality. Consequently, I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
SB 930 – PUPIL ASSESSMENTS
AUTHOR: Sen. Denise Ducheny (Democrat – San Diego)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 930 without my signature.
The State Board of Education recently adopted the Common Core standards, with additions from California’s existing standards. In anticipation of a newly realigned assessment and accountability system, this bill is premature. This bill would require the inclusion of additional components involving primary language assessments, in the current, and any future, assessment and accountability systems. This has the potential to conflict with any of the anticipated larger federal or state efforts on assessments and accountability.
Ultimately, I continue to believe that schools should remain focused on providing English Learners with the necessary instruction and support to become English proficient. As an immigrant myself, I believe strongly that learning English as quickly as possible is essential to success in this state and this country. Therefore, I want to ensure that there are no disincentives in our school system to achieving that goal for our English Learner student population. For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
SB 1029 – HYPODERMIC NEEDLES & SYRINGES
AUTHOR: Sen. Leland Yee (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
***SB 1059 – SPECIAL EDUCATION: LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES – FOSTER CHILDREN DISTRICTS OF RESIDENCE
AUTHOR: Sen. Carol Liu (Democrat – Glendale) – Local educational agencies: districts of residence.
CDCAN SUMMARY: Clarifies which local educational agency is responsible for the provision and payment of special education services for students with disabilities in the foster care system that have been detained in a juvenile hall and who are subsequently placed in a residential treatment facility.
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by the Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 1059 without my signature.
I have always been committed to ensuring that every child receives a free and appropriate public education, including students with special needs through the implementation of an Individualized Education Plan. This bill attempts to provide additional clarification on which local educational agency is responsible for foster care pupils with special needs who have been detained in a juvenile hall. While I appreciate the intent to address this complex issue, in light of pending litigation regarding this issue, it is premature to enact these statutory changes. For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
***SB 1283 – HEALTH CARE COVERAGE: GRIEVANCE SYSTEM
AUTHOR: Sen. Darrell Steinberg (Democrat – Sacramento)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 1283 without my signature.
I appreciate the author’s dedication to working in a collaborative and constructive manner to try and address this highly-emotional issue with advocates, families and patients. My Administration has also worked with these stakeholders to improve the delivery system for the diagnosis and treatment of autism. Over the past two years, the Department of Managed Health Care (Department) has placed a significant focus on autism treatment benefits resulting in more timely evaluations, comprehensive treatment plans, coordinated services, and, when necessary, enforcement actions against licensed health plans.
Notwithstanding all this progress, I cannot support this particular bill because it is overbroad in its application and would affect all of the Department’s grievance procedures. Since the Department currently resolves 95% of its annual grievance caseload within 30 days, I do not believe this bill is necessary and may actually lead to longer delays due to some of the bill’s provisions. For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
SB 1348 – CALIFORNIA TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
AUTHOR: Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
SB 1425 – PUBLIC RETIREMENT: FINAL COMPENSATION – COMPUTATION – RETIREES
AUTHOR: Sen. Joe Simitian (Democrat – Palo Alto)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
SB 1460 – STUDENT FINANCIAL AID ELIGIBILITY – CALIFORNIA DREAM ACT
AUTHOR: Sen. Gilbert Cedillo (Democrat – Los Angeles)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
SB 1472 – UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: SHARED WORK
AUTHOR: Sen. Mark Leno (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 194 – RETIREMENT: LOCAL EMPLOYEES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Leader Alberto Torrico (Democrat – Fremont)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 226 – COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT: COMPENSATION
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Leader Alberto Torrico (Democrat – Fremont)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 827 – LOCAL PUBLIC EMPLOYEES: PROHIBITION OF AUTOMATIC SALARY INCREASES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (Democrat – South Gate)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 1413 – STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (Democrat – Sylmar)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 1506 – STATE FUNDS: REGISTERED WARRANTS
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Joel Anderson (Republican – El Cajon)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
***AB 1681 – ELECTIONS: YOLO COUNTY ALL MAIL BALLOT ELECTION PILOT
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (Democrat – Davis)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
GOVERNOR’S VETO MESSAGE:
To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 1681 without my signature.
This bill would create a pilot program allowing Yolo County to conduct all-mail ballot elections on no more than three different dates. As stated in my veto message for a similar bill in 2009, any voter who prefers to vote by mail has the ability to do so under existing law by applying to become a permanent vote by mail voter. While I appreciate the author’s inclusion of additional polling places in this year’s measure, I remain concerned that with limited options to vote in-person citizens – especially poor, elderly, and disabled voters – would not have sufficient opportunity to vote.
Earlier this year I signed legislation to allow county elections officials to consider permanent vote-by-mail voters when creating precincts. I believe this approach offers flexibility for counties while maintaining an appropriate number of polling places for citizens to vote in-person. By relying solely on the vote by mail process, this bill could undermine public confidence in the electoral system by limiting in-person voting options and relying solely on vote by mail ballots, which are susceptible to fraud. For these reasons I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger
AB 1821 – PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM: PRE-RETIREMENT DEATH BENEFITS
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Fiona Ma (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 1858 – HYPODERMIC NEEDLES AND SYRINGES: EXCHANGE SERV ICES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (Democrat – San Fernando Valley)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 1987 – PUBLIC RETIREMENT: FINAL COMPENSATION – RETIREES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Fiona Ma (Democrat – San Francisco)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 2478 – SCHOOL SAFETY: DISRUPTION THREATENING STUDENT’S IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL SAFETY
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (Democrat – Norwalk)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 2490 – WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE: DISPUTE RESOLUTION – ARBITRATION CLAUSES
AUTHOR: Assemblymember Dave Jones (Democrat – Sacramento)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
AB 2720 – PUBLIC HEALTH: FOOD ACCESS
AUTHOR: Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (Democrat – Los Angeles)
LATEST ACTION 09/30/2010: VETOED by Governor.
