Budget & Legislation
This page has been updated to include legislative announcements, call to actions, proposed bills and summaries that impact the developmental services community. It contains bills of heightened significance that impact the individuals we serve. The original text and links for each bill is included with its individual entry.
Announcements:
On Thursday, February 22nd, there will be a debate among (Democratic) gubernatorial candidates in San Diego. Doors open at 4pm, with the event running from 5-6:30pm, held at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (404 Euclid Ave., San Diego, 92114). Prospective attendees need to purchase tickets in advance, $10 general admission, and $5 for students. Registration and payment may be completed online. Note: As the event is sponsored by the SD County Democratic Party, this admission fee is technically a donation to the County party. The regional center does not support any political party. This is for informational purposes only.
List of bills signed into law that have varying degrees of operational impact on regional centers and service providers:
These bills (except SB 2, as noted in the summary) will go into effect as of January 1, 2018:
Human Resources
SB 63 (Jackson) allows employees up to 12 weeks of parental leave. Only applies to employers with 20 or more employees. Paid leave, including sick leave and vacation, may be used during that period.
AB 168 (Eggman) prohibits employers from using an individual’s salary history to either hire or set pay levels for them. This bill also requires employers to provide the pay scale (or fixed rate of pay, if no range is allowed), developing one as needed, for open positions to applicants upon request.
AB 1008 (McCarty) prevents employers from asking about a potential employee’s criminal record, if any. Background checks are permitted after a conditional offer of employment is made, but certain limitations apply.
Client Services
SB 147 (Dodd) allows individuals who live in mobile homes to have a live-in caregiver or provider of supervision, without any additional fee from the mobilehome park management.
AB 1074 (Maienschein) removes the requirement that health plans purchase services only from regional center vendorized qualified autism service professionals (QASP), and allows QASPs (or providers) to supervise paraprofessionals. Supervision of paraprofessionals, however, must be done at a level that meets professionally recognized standards of practice.
Housing
SB 2 (Atkins) adds a $75 fee on real estate documents, to be used for affordable housing. Fees capped at $225, and do not apply to real estate sales (e.g., buying or selling a home). This bill took effect September 29, 2017.
AB 727 (Nazarian) allows Mental Health Services Act funds received by county programs to be used for housing assistance.
AB 1521 (Bloom) requires affordable housing developments, when put on the market, to allow a “right of first refusal” for purchasers who would keep the affordable rates.
Service Providers
SB 449 (Monning) requires SNF and ICF providers to use 2 hours of training for new employees (of the existing 60 hours already mandated) to address “special needs of persons with developmental and mental disorders.”
AB 275 (Wood) requires long-term health care facilities to provide notice, and hold meetings, before closure.
AB 657 (Cunningham) requires any state agency that “significantly” regulates or impacts small business to display the name and contact information of the small business liaison on their website.
AB 940 (Weber) requires long-term health care facilities to send notice of discharge to the local ombudsman when they are initiating the discharge of a resident.