Legislative Update

SUPPORT

AB 1993 (KALRA) RCFE UP TO 10 BEDS

CALA supports this bill to allow the smallest RCFEs to expand from six residents to up to 10 while still being treated like a family residence for local zoning and “use” purposes and licensing standards and building codes continue to be met. This bill was moved to the Assembly Appropriations Committee “suspense file” due to an estimated General Fund cost of “high-hundreds of thousands or more annually” for DSS and $650,000-$1.1 million for the DOJ Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse.

AB 2075 (ALVAREZ) RESIDENT-DESIGNATED SUPPORT PERSONS ACT

CALA strongly supports the goal of this bill to ensure that residents in RCFEs, CCRCs and other long-term care settings have the right to visitors during a pandemic, with safety measures in place. Keeping older adults from their loved ones for extended periods of time was detrimental to overall well-being and should be avoided. Working with Assemblymember Alvarez, the sponsors, and legislative staff, CALA secured needed amendments, including the deletion of language that would have required licensees to translate public health guidance into an unlimited number of languages and would have put PPE supplies intended for staff at risk. With these and other amendments, CALA was able to support the bill.

AB 2075 passed out of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee this week despite opposition from the County Health Executives Association of CA and will be heard next in the Assembly Health Committee.

AB 2104 (SORIA) COMMUNITY COLLEGES: BACCALAUREATE DEGREE IN NURSING PILOT PROGRAM

This bill would create a pilot program at 15 community colleges throughout the state to develop a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. AB 2104 is waiting to be heard in the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

AB 2207 (REYES) STATE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: REPRESENTATIVES OF OLDER ADULTS

AB 2207, sponsored by the California Commission on Aging, would expand several state boards and commissions to add various representatives, including the Executive Director of the California Commission on Aging, the Director of the California Department of Aging, or both, or other representatives from organizations that serve or advocate on behalf of older adults. This bill passed out of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee this week and will be heard next in the Assembly Human Services Committee.

AB 2541 (BAINS) PEACE OFFICER TRAINING: WANDERING

This bill would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and experts on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias to develop guidelines to help address unsafe wandering. This bill provides an important step forward for ensuring communication among and within various law enforcement agencies, emergency management agencies and transportation providers, among others and implementing technology solutions to help coordinate and locate missing Californians with cognitive impairment. AB 2541 is waiting to be heard on the Assembly floor.

AB 2620 (BAINS) CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON AGING

AB 2620 is sponsored by the California Commission on Aging and would make changes that allow the Commission to function more easily and would also require commissioners to have some professional, lived or academic expertise relating to aging. This bill passed out of the Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee this week and will be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 2680 (AGUIAR-CURRY) ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

This is an Alzheimer’s Association sponsored bill similar to previous bills CALA supported that would rename the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Committee and expand the number of committee members. This bill passed out of Assembly Health this week and will be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 2689 (BAINS) ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE/DEMENTIA RESEARCH VOLUNTARY TAX CONTRIBUTION FUND

CALA supports this Alzheimer’s Association bill that would extend the current voluntary tax contribution check off through 1/1/32. Funds are distributed through CDPH to provide research grants to scientists studying Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. AB 2689 is waiting to be heard on the Assembly floor.

AB 3232 (M. DAHLE) LICENSED REGISTERED NURSES AND LICENSED VOCATIONAL NURSES: NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT

CALA has supported previous legislation that would allow California to join the nurse licensure compact so nurses from other states that are part of the compact can practice in California and vice versa. Forty-one states are currently part of the compact. Waivers allowed this practice during COVID due to the high demand for nurses, and this is one way to help with the current health care workforce shortage.

SB 639 (LIMÓN) ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE – SUPPORT

This two-year bill is sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and would provide a comprehensive approach to the diagnosis, treatment and education of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias across the state and encourage the creation of diagnostic hubs to help secure access to new clinical therapies coming to market. This bill would also continue and expand upon the cognitive health assessment training provided to primary care physicians.

SB 875 (GLAZER) REFERRAL AGENCIES

This bill to establish consumer disclosure, protections and basic licensing for referral agencies is waiting to be assigned to a policy committee in the Assembly. CALA has long supported disclosure and transparency for referral agencies. Opposition from the state ombudsman and other groups seems to stem from the bill not going as far as they would like, despite the author’s amendment to require state licensure, which could trigger opposition from the administration based on costs. CALA is continuing to work to ensure that consumer disclosure is achieved this year and additional technical clarifications get made.

895 (ROTH) COMMUNITY COLLEGES: BACCALAUREATE DEGREE IN NURSING PILOT PROGRAM

This bill is similar to AB 2104, in that it would also create a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program at the community college level. SB 895 also requires equitable access between northern, central and southern parts of the state in choosing the colleges that would be part of the pilot program. SB 895 is waiting to be heard in the Senate Education Committee.

SB 1249 (ROTH) MELLO-GRANLUND OLDER CALIFORNIANS ACT

Strengthens the Area Agencies on Aging throughout the state to help ensure a well-organized and efficient long-term services and supports infrastructure which is vital to meet growing demand by older Californians. This bill is waiting to be heard in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee.

OPPOSE

AB 2773 (Kalra) ELDERS AND DEPENDENT ADULTS: ABUSE OR NEGLECT

This bill is another attempt to lower the burden of proof in elder abuse lawsuits to make it easier for plaintiffs to pursue an award of attorneys’ fees. AB 2773 would remove judicial discretion and automatically lower the standard of proof in elder abuse cases against RCFEs and skilled nursing facilities from clear and convincing evidence to preponderance of the evidence if the plaintiff shows that evidence was destroyed or concealed in connection with the litigation. While such action is completely unacceptable, strong remedies currently exist, which is why former governor Brown vetoed the same proposal in 2017.  CALA is part of a coalition opposing this bill.

SB 1406 (Allen) RCFE PRICE CONTROL AND REFUSAL OF SERVICE

This bill, which would have imposed apartment-style rent control on RCFEs and also created a statutory right to refuse services and prohibition on RCFEs providing and charging for those services, has been amended to reflect the service and workforce intensive nature of RCFEs. While there is still much more work to be done, we continue to be in conversations with the author’s office on workable solutions to his concerns. SB 1406 passed out of the Senate Human Services Committee and now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED

AB 1911 (Reyes) Residential Care Facilities: Complaints

This bill would make several changes to the CCLD complaint investigation process, focused primarily on complainants. The most objectional provision in the bill, allowing complainants to accompany state staff on complaint investigations, has been deleted from the bill, as CALA urged. That provision would have jeopardized fair and effective investigations by bringing complainants and witnesses face to face during the investigation and risked resident and staff confidentiality. Still in the bill is language to create a new multi-step appeal process for complainants, despite the current backlogs CCLD is facing in many of its core functions. CALA opposes this bill unless it is amended to remove the new appeal process that threatens to create further backlogs in existing functions. This bill was moved to the Assembly Appropriations Committee “suspense file” due to estimated costs of “tens of millions of dollars” to investigate under the proposed timeframes and create a new complainant appeal process.