BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 33| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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: This bill deletes the January 1, 2013, sunset date on the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Reporting Act, originally enacted in 2005.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. CONTINUED SB 33 Page 2 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 CONTINUED SB 33 Page 3 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 4/14/11) AARP Advisory Council of the Council on Aging Silicon Valley Alzheimer's Association Area 12 Agency on Aging Berkley-East Bay Gray Panthers Butte County Board of Supervisors California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform CONTINUED SB 33 Page 4 California Alliance for Retired Americans 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 Junior League of California 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 Diego County Board of Supervisors 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 CONTINUED SB 33 Page 5 Solano County Health and Social Services Department Sonoma County Area Agency Advisory Council Sonoma County Board of Supervisors 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 The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy 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 CONTINUED SB 33 Page 6 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 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 **** END **** CONTINUED