Update on MHAC Priority Legislation
May 22nd, 2007

Assembly Bills

• Bills that MHAC took an interest in for the 2008 legislative year that reached the Governor’s Desk are linked below. They are either bills signed or vetoed by the Governor. Not included are bills that were killed in committee or on the floor.
  
  
  • Signed Bills
  • Vetoes Bills
    
    
• AB 330 (Hayashi) - Requires the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), to develop a health disparity report to assess the levels of measurable health disparities in the state among minorities, and deliver the plan to the Legislature by January 1, 2010; MHAC is in support

  Status:  This bill passed out of the Assembly Health Committee on April 12th, and was subsequently placed on the “suspense” file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

• AB 423: MHAC is in strong support of AB 423, authored by Assemblymember Beall. This bill would require health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide comprehensive mental health parity—it would expand their coverage requirement to include the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  This bill is a high priority of Assemblymember Beall (he is also the sponsor of AB 423) and MHAC.  We supported the bill in the Assembly Health Committee on April 24th (the bill passed).  On May 16th, AB 423 was presented in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, but was placed on the “suspense” file.  Opponents of the bill are the “usual suspects” e.g., America's Health Insurance Plans and the California Association of Health Plans.  This year, their reason for opposition is that this bill is premature since Mental Health Parity is being debated at the federal level.

• AB 509:  This legislation, authored by Assemblymember Hayashi, would create the Office of Suicide Prevention within the State Department of Mental Health to help coordinate statewide suicide prevention efforts; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  AB 509 passed out of the Assembly Health Committee on April 10th with a 17 – 0 vote.  The bill was then presented in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 2nd and sent to the “suspense” file.

• AB 855: AB 855 (Hayashi) would require Medi-Cal, starting in 2008, to provide comprehensive drug and alcohol services; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  MHAC is the sponsor of this bill.  AB 855 has been assigned to the Assembly Health Committee, but was not presented by the bill author.

• AB 910:  Asemblymember Karnette is authoring AB 910 which would help provide protection and relief regarding the continuity of health care coverage for developmentally disabled dependent children who rely on health care coverage from their parents.  Specifically, this bill allows for parents to maintain health insurance coverage for their disabled dependents beyond the limiting age of a plan; MHAC is in support. 

  Status:  AB 910 passed out of the Assembly Health Committee on April 10th and then passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 24th.  The bill also passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and is currently on the Assembly Floor.

• AB 1486 (Calderon) - Provides for the licensure or registration and regulation of licensed professional counselors and interns by the Board of Behavioral Sciences; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  AB 1486 passed out of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on April 17th, and was then placed on the “suspense” file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 9th.

Senate Bills

• SB 2 (Cedillo) – This bill would add emergency shelters and rental multifamily residential development to provisions of the housing element, and would add provisions by which a local government may identify sites suitable for the development of emergency shelters under these provisions as a use by right; MHAC is in support

  Status:  Having passed the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee and the Senate Floor, the bill will now begin the journey through Assembly policy committees. 

• SB 57 (Hollingsworth) – This bill would repeal the Mental Health Services Act; MHAC is strongly opposed.  This same bill language was introduced last session, and was never heard in policy committees.  We don’t anticipate any action this year. 

  Status:  As we expected, this bill was never heard before a policy committee.

• SB 119 (Cedillo) – This bill would require residential drug and alcohol treatment services for people 12 to 20 years of age be a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal Drug Treatment Program; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  An identical version of SB 119 was introduced in the last Legislative Session.  Last year, the bill made it to the Governor’s desk and he subsequently vetoed it.  MHAC continues to support this bill.  Currently, the bill passed out of the Senate Health Committee on March 14th and then sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee “suspense” file.

• SB 122 (Steinberg) - This bill would add “homeless status” to the list of actual or perceived characteristics qualifying as a hate crime; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  SB 122 did not make it out of its first policy committee (Senate Public Safety Committee). 

• SB 260 (Steinberg) – Amends the Medi-Cal program so that someone can visit more than one health care professional on the same day and each one can be billed and reimbursed.  Current law prohibits this.  For example, this bill would now allow a medical visit and a mental health services visit with a licensed professional that takes place on the same day to be billed as two separate visits. A medical visit and a visit with a dental professional on the same day may be billed as two separate visits; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  SB 260 passed out of the Senate Health Committee on April 11th.  It was presented in the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 7th, and placed on the “suspense” file.

• SB 275 (Cedillo) - The author's intent in introducing SB 275, which is sponsored by the Los Angeles City Attorney, is to deter health facilities from discharging and transporting homeless patients without their consent. The author contends that health facilities have engaged in a practice known as "homeless dumping", in which a patient who is indigent is discharged and transported away from the hospital to a foreign neighborhood, in many cases a city or vicinity that has support services that might assist the patient. Unfortunately, many times the patient is dropped off in front of a treatment center that may not have space available, leaving the patient to fend for themselves on the street once again; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  SB 275 passed out of its first two policy committee hearings (Senate Health and Senate Public Safety) and is scheduled to be heard before Senate Appropriations on May 29th.

• SB 288 (Yee) – This bill would establish a pilot program for a Comprehensive Pupil Learning Support System (CPLSS) for five districts in California.  It requires the State Department of Education to develop CPLSS standards to guide schools that opt to integrate learning supports into school improvement plans. The bill also requires criteria for success and an evaluation component for measurement; MHAC is in support

  Status:  On April 25th, SB 288 passed out of the Senate Education Committee.  Senator Yee presented the bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 7th, and the bill was placed on the “suspense” file.

• SB 304 (Romero) - requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, upon reasonable notice, to permit representatives of the news media to interview inmates in person; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  This bill passed out of all of its policy committees on the Senate side.  It also passed out of the Senate Floor, and has been assigned to the Assembly Public Safety Committee (no hearing date has been set yet).

• SB 530 (Dutton) – This bill states that it should be the policy of the State to prevent overconcentrations of adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities that impair the integrity of residential neighborhoods; MHAC is opposed 

  Status:  SB 530 did not pass out of its first policy committee (Senate Health).  We do not believe the bill will go any further.  This bill had no support in Senate Health and a wealth of opposition including MHAC.

• SB 564 (Ridley-Thomas) - SB 564 would create a grant program to be administered by the Public School Health Center Support Program, established last year when a Ridley Thomas Bill that MHAC supported, AB 2560, became law.  Grants would be made available to support school health center planning; facilities and start-up operations; and/or service expansion at existing school health centers.  Additional resources would be made available to support technical assistance and evaluation of the program; MHAC is in support

  Status:  SB 564 has now passed out of the Senate Health and the Senate Education Committee.  In the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill was placed in the “suspense” file.

• SB 623 (Wiggins) – SB 623 would Requires the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to pay the required copayments for individuals enrolled in Medicare prescription drug coverage who are also enrolled in Medi-Cal; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  SB 623 passed out of the Senate Health Committee on April 8th and was then placed on the “suspense” file in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

• SB 709 (Dutton) - This bill would allow a city or county planning authority to submit to the director of DSS additional documentation and evidence regarding the siting of a proposed residential care facility designed for six or fewer residents; MHAC is opposed 

  Status:  SB 709 passed out of the Senate Human Services Committee on April 10th and was subsequently placed on the “suspense” file in the Senate Appropriations Committee

• SB 785:  Authored by Senator Steinberg, this bill requires DMH to facilitate the receipt of medically necessary specialty mental health services by foster children who are placed outside of their county of original jurisdiction including, among other things, creating a standard contract, a standard procedure for authorization of services, and a standard set of treatment documentation standards and forms; MHAC is in support. 

  Status:  This bill has received bi-partisan support as it moved through its policy committees on the Senate side – it has not received any “no” votes!  SB 785 has now passed out of the Senate Health, Human Services, and Appropriations Committee.  It is currently on the Senate Floor.

• SB 840 (Kuehl) – Single-payer health care bill; MHAC is in support

  Status:  An incredible showing of support has been evident at every bill hearing for SB 840 this year.  Thus far, the bill has passed out of the Senate Health Committee and was placed on the “suspense” file in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

• SB 851: State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation, SB 851, to reform the mental health-care system for mentally ill offenders in the criminal justice system.  CCCMHA is the sponsor of this legislation, which will apply the “Systems of Care” approach to seriously mentally ill offenders. “Systems of Care” is a process of partnering an array of service agencies and resources, working together to provide individualized care and support for targeted individuals.  The concept’s guiding principles include flexible funding, a “whatever-it-takes” approach and an understanding that mental health needs are not limited to Monday through Friday during business hours; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  This bill passed out of the Senate Health Committee on April 11th, and then passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 24th.  On May 14th, SB 851 was heard in the Senate Appropriations committee and placed on the “suspense” file.  Any legislation with cost implications over a certain threshold is sent to the so-called "suspense file." This process allows the committee to prioritize the many bills with fiscal implications over the next few weeks. The Senate Appropriations Committee will decide which bills to move forward or "hold in Committee" in May.

  The concerns that County Mental Health Directors have expressed are currently being worked out, and we are very well positioned to move this bill forward.

• SB 893 (Cox) – This bill would eliminate state and county First 5 commissions.  The bill also requires Proposition 10 funds be used only for children's health care coverage, instead of the comprehensive range of services currently provided by First 5 commissions; MHAC is opposed

  Status:  SB 893 failed to pass out of its first policy committee (Senate Health).  The opposition was immense.

• SB 993 (Calderon) - Authorizes the Board of Psychology to grant a prescription certificate or a conditional prescription certificate to a licensed psychologist authorizing, within the scope of practice of a psychologist, the prescription of certain drugs if certain conditions are met; MHAC is not taking a position on this bill, but we are monitoring its development.

  Status:  SB 993  was voted down in its first policy committee (Senate Business and Professions).  The Chair indicated that he would grant reconsideration on the following conditions:  that the bill not be worked until an interim hearing could be convened to delve more deeply into the issue of qualifications for prescription authority, then if the sponsors wish they can bring it up for a vote again in January. 
  
  As a practical matter reconsideration was granted on 3 of the 4 prior bills regarding prescribing privileges and one, maybe two  interim hearings resulted, with no net change in the vote count, so the bills never came to a second vote after reconsideration was granted.

• SB 999 (Yee) – By eliminating the sentence of life without parole for crimes committed by minor children, SB 999 represents a more humane, sensible, and proportionate sentencing approach. Child offenders would still face severe punishment (a sentence of 25 years to life) for committing horrible crimes, but SB 999 would offer greater motivation for their rehabilitation since they would be given the opportunity to ask for (and prove worthy of) release on parole after serving 25 years; MHAC is in support.

  Status:  SB 999 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 17th, and is currently being debated on the Senate Floor.

• SB 1000 (Harmon) - Permits the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs to authorize local code enforcement officials to conduct site visits of alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities. Requires the department to administer the licensure, certification and regulations of adult recovery maintenance facilities. Eliminates the prohibition against levying licensing fees for specified entities. Provides an exemption for a facility that serves 6 or fewer person from being considered a residential use of property; MHAC is opposed.

  Status:  This bill did not pass its first policy committee (Senate Health).