End of Session Coming Soon!

Friday August 17th marked the last day for Appropriations Committees to hear any bills that would have a cost for the state. Any fiscal bills that made it out of the Appropriations Committee are now on their way to either the Assembly or Senate Floor so all members of each house have a chance to vote on them. The next two weeks will be a time that all the legislators debate on their respective floor and ultimately decide if they want to pass a bill on to the Governor’s office or not.

While many of the bills we were following and/or supporting did not make it out of the Appropriations Committee several are still active bills that will be going on to live another day and be debated by members of the Senate or Assembly. Some of the noteworthy bills that have made it to this point (though certainly not a complete list) include:

SB 1376 (Hill) Transportation Network Companies- Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities

• Among other things this bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, as part of its regulation of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to establish a program related to accessibility for persons with disabilities, including those use wheelchairs. The bill would also require 5 cents of every trip go to a fund to establish and Access for All Fund.

SB 1191 (Hueso) Crimes: Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse: Investigations

• This bill would require law enforcement agencies and long-term care ombudsmen program to revise or include specified information about elder and dependent adult abuse in their policy manuals. This bill is going on consent.

SB 1320 (Stern) Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse: Victim Confidentiality

• This bill would make the Safe at Home Program available to elders and dependent adults which provides for specified confidential mail services.

SB 1040 (Dodd) In-Home Support Services: Natural Disaster

• Among other things, this bill would require a county to use a void and reissue warrant process for any provider who lost or had damaged an uncashed warrant because of a natural disaster resulting in a state of emergency. This bill is in Concurrence and will go to the Governor’s office.

SB 354 (Portantino) Special Education: Individual Education Programs: Translation Services

• This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) to provide a parent whose native language is one of the eight most-commonly spoken languages in an LEA with a translation of their student’s special education individualized education plan (IEP) and other related documents in the native language of the parent within 30 days of the IEP team meeting. It requires the translation to be conducted by a qualified translator.

We were pleased to see a number of bills this year that sought to strengthen criminal justice policies and procedures, special education funding, employment, transportation and housing needs specific to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Unfortunately, many bills built on strong policy did not make it through the appropriations committees. We know there is still much work needed in order to strengthen the system of supports for people with I/DD. However, we would like the thank all the legislators and staff that worked so hard during the session to introduce and advocate for policies that sought to strengthen the system. We recognize there is a strong interest and look forward to working with the legislature next year.

Teresa Anderson, Policy Director, The Arc & UCP Collaboration