BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1116
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1116 (Fong)
As Introduced February 18, 2011
Majority vote
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION 16-1 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Atkins, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Block, Blumenfield, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Chesbro, Cook, Galgiani, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gatto, Hill, Jeffries, | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| |Ma, Perea, V. Manuel | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| |Pérez, Silva, Torres | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Smyth, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Garrick | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Emergency Management Agency
(Cal EMA) to take measures to help people with limited English
proficiency (LEP) prepare for emergencies and understand
information conveyed during emergencies (such as utilizing
bilingual persons in public contact positions) and coordinating
with organizations that represent the needs of LEP persons in
order to disseminate guidance to local and regional governmental
entities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the Secretary of Cal EMA (Secretary) shall take
into consideration the multiple languages and the needs of
populations with LEP during emergency preparedness planning,
response, and recovery, including when developing committee
recommendations within the Standardized Emergency Management
System (SEMS) structure, drafting guidance for local and
regional governmental entities, and reviewing emergency plans
of state, regional, and local governmental entities.
2)Provides that the Secretary shall work in collaboration with
local ethnic community-based organizations and ethnic media
outlets in developing communication strategies so that alert
and warning information can be more broadly sent out to LEP
communities.
3)Specifies that the Secretary shall utilize a registry of
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qualified bilingual persons in public contract positions, as
defined, to assist with emergency preparedness, response, and
recovery, as deemed necessary.
4)Provides that the Secretary shall incorporate the needs of
populations with LEP in all emergency preparedness, response,
and recovery training and exercises, including the exercises
identified in the statewide exercise strategy and other
exercises related to crisis communications.
5)Makes legislative findings and declarations.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs associated with this bill would be minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS : According to the author, California has long been
prone to disasters, and emergency preparedness planning at the
state and local levels is crucial for ensuring our state is
equipped to recover from any disaster situation. California has
approximately 36 million inhabitants, and over 40% speak a
language other than English. Emergency Responders are faced
with extraordinary language diversities. To ensure emergency
preparedness in any disaster, communication with the public is
essential for conveying important safety instructions and
procedures. But this is a challenging task to perform in
California, because the current system does not address the
problem of language barriers.
A series of disasters that struck close to home were the
wildfires in southern California. They struck parts of
communities having a significant population of individuals with
limited English proficiency, endangering the lives of 300,000
such individuals. News reports brought to light the frustration
and confusion during evacuations between individuals with
limited understanding of English and emergency responders.
Another devastating natural disaster to limited English speakers
was Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. Evacuation
notices sent out during Hurricane Katrina were only provided in
English, which could not have helped the city since it has a
sizeable immigrant and refugee population speaking little to no
English. For example, the U.S. Congressional testimony
highlighted the story of a Vietnamese man from Mississippi. He
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spent five days in a wrecked fishing boat and was nearly killed,
because he did not understand the evacuation orders issued prior
to Hurricane Katrina.
The author states, before another disaster strikes California,
our state and local agencies must prepare to accommodate
communication for large numbers of individuals with limited
understanding of English. This bill is a cost-effective measure
that builds upon our existing emergency preparedness system to
respond to the needs of these individuals. This is a vital
addition to California's emergency services procedures that will
save lives and minimize injuries and damages through a
coordinated communication effort of the responders with the
victims.
Disaster preparedness report : The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
and Asian Pacific American Legal Center worked together to
release a report in June 2008, that examines how communities
with large populations with LEP immigrants would fare in the
face of a natural disaster striking Southern California. After
conducting interviews with emergency service personnel, both in
local governments and in nonprofit organizations, and holding
focus groups with LEP community members in their languages, they
came away with the several findings:
1)Both county and city government agencies and nonprofit relief
organizations, for the most part, are not providing culturally
sensitive disaster preparedness education in languages that
reflect the demographics of the populations being served.
2)Currently, there are no tools in place to provide immediate
translation of all emergency information in a rapid manner to
LEP populations in Southern California.
3)First responders rely on bilingual family members, often
children, to provide translation for officers, deputies, fire
personnel, etc.
4)Latino, Chinese, and Vietnamese focus group participants named
their respective native language radio stations as the first
place they turn to for emergency information, highlighting the
importance of these ethnic media outlets as a tool for
communication.
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5)All first response personnel interviewed stated that
immigration status is not considered when providing disaster
services, but none of the agencies interviewed had in place
mechanisms by which to reassure the public that immigration
status is not asked during disaster response.
Integrating emergency services : The Little Hoover Commission
issued a report in 2006, titled "Preparing for Catastrophic
Events" that charged California for not being prepared to
respond to a catastrophic emergency. Since then, the Governor's
Office of Emergency Services (OES) has worked with the Office of
Homeland Security (OHS) and, together, they have taken steps to
improve the performance in the area of emergency preparedness
through their Golden Guardian exercises. In 2007, legislation
required the Office of Emergency Services to merge with the
Office of Homeland Security to become the Cal EMA ÝAB 38 (Nava),
Chapter 372, Statutes of 2008]. Even with the recent
improvements, the Little Hoover Commission 2006 report indicates
that our state and local agencies must be prepared to
accommodate communication for large numbers of LEP individuals.
This bill seeks to build on our existing emergency preparedness
system to respond to this particular need.
Prior legislation : AB 611 (Fong) of 2009, which was vetoed,
would have required Cal EMA to take measures to help people with
LEP prepare for emergencies and understand information conveyed
during emergencies, such as utilizing bilingual persons in
public contact positions, and coordinating with organizations
that represent the needs of LEP persons in order to disseminate
guidance to local and regional governmental entities.
AB 1930 (Torrico) of 2007, which was held in the Senate
Governmental Organization Committee, would have required OES to
take measures to help people with LEP prepare for emergencies
and understand information conveyed during emergencies, such as
utilizing persons in public contact positions, and coordinating
with organizations that represent the needs of LEP persons in
order to disseminate guidance to local and regional governmental
entities.
AB 615 (Torrico) of 2007, which was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, would have required OES to consider
the needs of people with LEP in creating emergency and disaster
response plans.
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AB 103 (Cohn), Chapter 696, Statutes of 2006, requires the State
Department of Education (DOE) to electronically distribute
disaster preparedness educational materials and lesson plans
that are currently available to local school districts and
county offices of education in at least the three most dominant
primary languages spoken by English learners in California.
Requires the Department of Education to coordinate with the
Office of Emergency Services to make sure that all materials are
reviewed and updated, annually.
SB 1451 (Kehoe), Chapter 600, Statutes of 2006, requires OES to
ensure that members of the disabled community are represented on
all pertinent SEMS Specialist Committees to ensure that the
needs of people with disabilities are met during emergency and
disaster situations. Requires OES to submit a report to the
Legislature and appropriate state and local agencies by January
1, 2009, containing recommendations regarding emergency
preparedness and the needs of people with disabilities.
Requires OES to prepare and disseminate sample brochures and
other materials on the emergency preparedness and evacuations
needs of the disabled community. Requires OES and the Office of
the State Fire Marshal to seek research funding in order to
develop new technologies and information systems that will in
the effort to improve emergency services to people with
disabilities.
SB 546 (Dutton), Chapter 232, Statutes of 2005, authorizes OES
to share facilities and systems with private businesses and
nonprofit organizations in a voluntary program that integrates
private sector emergency preparedness measures into governmental
disaster planning programs to the extent that the cost of the
program is reimbursed by the private sector.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0000765