BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                    SB 33|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 33
          Author:   Simitian (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE BANKING & FINANCIAL, INST. COMM.  :  7-0, 4/6/11
          AYES:  Vargas, Blakeslee, Evans, Kehoe, Liu, Padilla, 
            Walters 

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  4-0, 4/12/11
          AYES:  Evans, Harman, Corbett, Leno
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Blakeslee


           SUBJECT  :    Elder and dependent adult abuse

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill deletes the January 1, 2013, sunset 
          date on the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse 
          Reporting Act, originally enacted in 2005.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law provides for the confidentiality 
          of financial records but does not prohibit various state 
          and local officers and agencies from requesting information 
          from an office or branch of a financial institution and the 
          office or branch from responding to the request, as to 
          whether a person has an account or accounts at that office 
          or branch and, if so, any identifying numbers of the 
          account or accounts.

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          Existing law provides that a county adult protective 
          services office and a long-term care ombudsman when 
          investigating the financial abuse of an elder or dependent 
          adult is similarly not prohibited from requesting financial 
          information and the office or branch is not prohibited from 
          responding to the request.

          The bill makes a technical nonsubstantive change to the 
          above provisions.  The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult 
          Civil Protection Act (Act) establishes procedures for the 
          reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and 
          dependent adult abuse.  The Act requires persons, defined 
          as mandated reporters, to report known or suspected 
          instances of elder or dependent adult abuse.  Under the 
          Act, care custodians of elder or dependent adults and local 
          law enforcement agencies are mandated reporters.  A 
          violation of the reporting requirements by a mandated 
          reporter is a misdemeanor.

          Existing law, until January 1, 2013, includes within these 
          reporting requirements mandated reporters of suspected 
          financial abuse, as defined, and, with certain exceptions, 
          makes failure to comply with these requirements subject to 
          a civil penalty.

          This bill deletes the January 1, 2013, repeal date.

           Background  

          SB 1018 (Simitian), Chapter 140, Statutes of 2006, enacted 
          the provisions of law whose sunset dates this bill would 
          delete, was the subject of considerable debate and 
          controversy, when it was being considered by the 
          Legislature during 2005.  Initially, concerns were raised 
          by opponents to SB 1018 regarding the extent to which an 
          employee or an officer of a depository institution would be 
          able to identify known or suspected instances of financial 
          abuse of elder or dependent adults, and regarding the 
          type(s) of punishment that could be meted out against a 
          mandated reporter who falsely reported suspected financial 
          abuse, or who failed to report such abuse.  Ultimately, all 
          parties in opposition to the measure reached a compromise 
          with the author.  Mandated reporters under the Elder and 
          Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Reporting Act were given 

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          significant protection from civil and criminal liability 
          for reports made.  Those who failed to report suspected 
          elder or dependent adult financial abuse were subject to 
          civil and/or monetary penalties, but not to jail time.  As 
          noted below, at least one former opponent of SB 1018 (the 
          California Bankers Association) now supports this bill; 
          this bill has no current opposition. 

          Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee states 
          that SB 1018 has been successful in increasing the number 
          of confirmed cases of financial elder or dependent adult 
          abuse reported to the authorities.  

           Prior/Related Legislation  

          SB 1018 (Simitian), Chapter 140, Statutes of 2005, enacted 
          the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Reporting 
          Act, with a sunset date of January 1, 2013.  

          AB 2105 (DeSaulnier), 2007-08 Session, would have expanded 
          the list of those who are mandated reporters of elder and 
          dependent adult financial abuse to include California 
          Finance Lenders Law and California Residential Mortgage 
          Lending Act licensees, and would have added coursework in 
          elder and dependent adult abuse detection and reporting to 
          the list of elective continuing education courses available 
          to real estate licensees.  Vetoed by Governor 
          Schwarzenegger. 

          AB 518 (Wagner), 2011-12 Session, is virtually identical to 
          this bill.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  4/12/11)

          AARP
          Advisory Council of the Council on Aging Silicon Valley
          Alzheimer's Association
          Area 12 Agency on Aging
          Berkley-East Bay Gray Panthers
          California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
          California Alliance for Retired Americans

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          California Association of Public Authorities
          California Bankers Association
          California Commission on Aging
          California Credit Union League
          California District Attorneys Association
          California Long Term Care Ombudsman Association
          California Professional Firefighters
          California Psychiatric Association
          California School Employees Association
          California Senior Legislature
          California State Association of Counties
          California State Sheriffs Association
          City and County of San Francisco
          Congress of California Seniors
          Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging
          County of San Diego
          County Welfare Directors Association of California
          Gray Panthers Sacramento
          Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
          Huntington Hospital
          In-Home Supportive Services Consortium of San Francisco
          Independence at Home
          Long Term Care Ombudsman Program for Stanislaus County (PSA 
          30)
          Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
          Marin County Board of Supervisors
          Mother Lode Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
          Multipurpose Senior Services Program Site Association
          Older Women's League of California
          Orange County Council on Aging
          Peace Officers Research Association of California
          Professional Fiduciary Association of California
          PSA 2 Area Agency on Aging
          San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services
          San Francisco Elder Abuse Forensic Center
           San Luis Obispo County First Responder Group for Incidents 
            Involving Elders and Dependent Adults
          San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
          Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
          Siskiyou County Human Services Agency
          Social Services Agency of the County of Santa Clara
          Solano County Health and Social Services Department
          Sonoma County Area Agency Advisory Council
          Sonoma County Board of Supervisors

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          Stanislaus Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance
          State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of 
          California
          State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
          Tehama County Department of Social Services
          Ventura County Board of Supervisors
          Yolo County Sheriff's Department


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author writes:  "This bill 
          deletes the January 1, 2013 sunset . . . and makes 
          technical, nonsubstantive changes.  To be clear, the bill 
          does NOT substantively alter existing law, but merely 
          deletes the 2013 sunset that was included in SB 1018.  It 
          is important to delete the 2013 sunset because mandated 
          reporting for financial institutions has increased the 
          number of confirmed reports of elder financial abuse.  
          According to data collected by Adult Protective Services, 
          the number of confirmed cases of elder and dependent adult 
          financial abuse rose over 16% from 4,784 in 2006 to 5,568 
          in 2007 (the law was implemented in 2007).  The number of 
          confirmed cases in 2010 was 5,602. ? İM]andated reporting 
          has not produced a significant increase in the number of 
          frivolous or illegitimate reports of abuse.  Of all reports 
          of abuse received by APS İAdult Protective Services] 
          (including types other than financial), 41.9% were 
          confirmed in 2006 before mandated reporting, and 41.5% were 
          confirmed in 2007 after mandated reporting the most recent 
          confirmation percentage for 2010 was 38.3%."

          Proponents of this bill state that the protections provided 
          by the Financial Elder Abuse Reporting Act of 2005 are 
          critical to the financial protection of seniors and 
          dependent adults because they are vulnerable and often 
          unable to understand the implications of actions taken 
          against them by financial predators.  The California 
          Association of Public Authorities states that this Act 
          "helped stem the tide of financial abuse cases against 
          elder and dependent adults by adding officers and employees 
          of financial institutions as mandated reporters of 
          suspected financial abuse.  The financial service providers 
          at banks and credit unions are in a key position to spot 
          financial exploitation and make timely reports to law 
          enforcement or Adult Protection Services?."  Proponents 

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          point out that timely reporting is critical to preventing 
          the swift depletion of an elderly or dependent adult's life 
          savings by a financial predator.  The California Commission 
          on Aging argues that "İt]he crime of elder and dependent 
          adult financial abuse is insidious and growing.  The İAct] 
          is a successful crime-fighting tool that needs to be made 
          permanent."  Further, California Bankers Association 
          supports this bill and states that "financial institutions 
          have dedicated considerable resources to ensure their 
          compliance with the law and therefore we support your 
          effort to remove the sunset provision."  Because of 
          compliance with mandatory reporting by the financial 
          institutions, Adult Protective Services has reported a rise 
          in the number of confirmed financial abuse cases since 
          2007.   This bill will continue to provide protections from 
          financial abuse for elder and dependent adults by removing 
          the sunset provision.
          


          DLW:do  4/14/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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