BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 547|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 547
Author: Berg (D) and Richman (R), et al.
Amended: 7/11/05 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 7-4, 6/29/05
AYES: Ortiz, Alquist, Chesbro, Figueroa, Kuehl, Romero,
Vincent
NOES: Runner, Aanestad, Cox, Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-30, 4/28/05 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Clean needle and syringe exchange projects
SOURCE : Health Officers Association of California
DIGEST : This bill creates the Clean Needle and Syringe
Exchange Program, which eliminates the statutory
requirement for a declaration of a local emergency by a
public entity in order to operate a needle exchange
program.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Permits a needle exchange program (NEP) to be authorized
pursuant to the declaration of a local emergency called
CONTINUED
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by the governing body of a city, county, or city and
county, or by an ordinance adopted by that body.
Prohibits the local emergency from remaining in effect
for more than seven days unless it has been ratified.
Requires the governing body to review the emergency at
its regularly scheduled meetings, no more than 21 days
after the previous review, or, if the governing body
meets weekly, requires the local emergency be reviewed at
least every 14 days until the emergency is terminated.
2.Exempts a public entity and its agents or employees from
criminal prosecution for distributing hypodermic needles
or syringes to participants of a clean needle and syringe
exchange project authorized by the public entity pursuant
to a declaration of a local emergency due to the
existence of a critical local public health crisis.
This bill:
1.Makes a number of findings and declarations regarding the
relationship between injection drug use and the human
immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
2.Exempts public entities, its agents, or employees from
being subject to criminal prosecution for distributing
needles or syringes as part of a locally authorized NEP
pursuant to this bill, without a declaration of a local
emergency.
3.Authorizes a NEP in any city and county, county, or city
upon the action of:
A. A county board of supervisors and the local health
officer or health commission of that county.
B. The city council, the mayor, and the local health
officer of a city with a health department.
C. The city council and the mayor of a city without a
health department.
4.Requires cities, counties, or cities and counties that
act to authorize a NEP pursuant to this bill to, in
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consultation with the Department of Health Services
(DHS), authorize the exchange of clean hypodermic needles
and syringes as recommended by the United States
Secretary of Health and Human Services subject to the
availability of funding, as part of a network of
comprehensive services, including treatment services, to
combat the spread of HIV and blood-borne hepatitis
infection among injection drug users.
5.Exempts providers of a NEP authorized by the county,
city, or city and county pursuant to this bill from being
subject to criminal prosecution for possession of needles
or syringes during participation in a NEP.
6.Removes criminal protection for program participants.
7.Requires all local jurisdictions with a needle exchange
program to have an annual public hearing that provides
the public, local government, law enforcement, and local
public health officials the opportunity to evaluate and
comment on the program. The health officer of the
participating jurisdiction shall present annually at an
open meeting of the board of supervisors or city council
a report detailing the status of syringe exchange
programs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/05)
Health Officers Association of California (co-source)
California Narcotics Officers' Association (co-source)
AIDS Project Los Angeles
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
American Civil Liberties Union
Bienestar Human Services, Inc.
California Medical Association
California Opioid Maintenance Providers
California Peace Officers' Association
California State Association of Counties
CARES Northern California's HIV/AIDS Healthcare Center
City and County of San Francisco
City of Los Angeles
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County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators Association
of California
County Health Executives Association of California
Equality California
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Humboldt-Del Norte County Medical Society
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Ministry In Action Commission of St Mark's United Methodist
Church in Sacramento
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
North Coast Clinics Network
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Inc.
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/16/05)
Traditional Values Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The source of this bill, the
Health Officers Association of California, states that the
current bureaucratic hurdles not only wastes time, but also
create instability in NEPs. A recent survey of local
health officers indicated that 21 counties felt that
eliminating of the emergency declaration would facilitate
the establishment and maintenance of more needle exchange
projects. AIDS Project Los Angeles contends that nearly 20
percent of AIDS cases and half of hepatitis C cases in
California are related to injection drug use and needle
sharing and that this bill will help reduce the spread of
those diseases. The Drug Policy Alliance Network writes
that studies by the Kaiser Family Foundation and RAND
conclude that current law authorizing NEPs contains several
flaws that limit the ability of public health officers and
non-profit health organizations to implement effective
programs and this bill contains necessary remedies to
create new programs that will save lives.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon,
Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Coto, De La Torre,
Dymally, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jones,
Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber,
Liu, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava, Oropeza,
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Pavley, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas,
Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Blakeslee, Bogh, Cogdill,
Daucher, DeVore, Emmerson, Harman, Haynes, Shirley
Horton, Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, Leslie, Maze,
McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello, Parra, Plescia,
Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran, Villines,
Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Garcia, Gordon, Jerome Horton, La Suer,
Negrete McLeod
CTW:nl 8/16/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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