BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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VETO
Bill No: SB 737
Author: Walters (R)
Amended: 9/1/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/12/11
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price,
Runner, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
SENATE FLOOR : 39-0, 6/2/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton,
Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman,
Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu,
Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio,
Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk,
Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-5, 9/7/11 - See last page for vote
SENATE FLOOR : 40-0, 9/8/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon,
Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton,
Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman,
Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu,
Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio,
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Runner, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters,
Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
SUBJECT : Organized camps
SOURCE : California State Alliance of YMCAs
California Collaboration for Youth
DIGEST : This bill clarifies statutes related to the
licensing and regulation of license-exempt organized camps"
and expands the operating hours of the Afterschool
Education and Safety Program.
Assembly Amendments codify the Department of Public Health
regulation regarding background checks of camp directors or
camp counselors and modifies it to require that a camp
owner confirm that a camp director or counselor is not
listed on the United States (U.S.) Department of Justice
National Sex Offender Public Registry before these
individuals supervise children, and clarify specific
references to the After School Education and Safety
Program.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law :
1. Establishes the After School Education and Safety
Program (ASES) to create incentives for establishing
before and after school enrichment programs during
school days and vacation days for students in
kindergarten and grades first to ninth.
2. Exempts organizations participating in the ASES from
child care licensure if they operate from fewer than 30
hours per week.
3. Establishes the licensure of child day care facilities
to ensure a quality day care environment.
4. Exempts from licensure recreation programs operated by
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, Camp
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Fire, or similar organizations as determined by
regulations of the department; child care programs
conducted by these organizations remain subject to
licensure.
5. Defines an "organized camp" as a site with program and
facilities established for the primary purposes of
providing an outdoor living experience for five days or
more.
6. Requires the Director of the Department of Public Health
(DPH) to establish minimum standards for organized camps
and directs local health officers to enforce these
standards.
7. Provides, in regulation, that organized camps are exempt
from sales and use taxes on meals and food products if
they meet certain conditions.
This bill:
1.Increases the number of operating hours, from 30 to 60
hours per week, that participating programs operated by a
city, county, or nonprofit organization in the ASES
program may operate without obtaining a license or
special permit otherwise required under existing law, but
limits a child's total hours in the program to the
current 30 hours.
2.Codifies DPH regulation regarding background checks of
camp directors or camp counselors and modifies it to
require that a camp owner confirm that a camp director or
counselor is not listed on the U.S. Department of Justice
National Sex Offender Public Registry before these
individuals supervise children.
3.Clarifies that YMCA, as an organized camp, is exempt from
day care licensure and updates the names of existing
license-exempt organized camps.
4.Modifies the definition of the term "organized camp" by
specifying that the programs are for five consecutive
days, that an overnight stay is not required to meet the
definition of an organized camp, and that short duration
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programs held on organized campsites such as conferences
do not have to meet the General and Safety Supervision
requirements in regulations.
5.Adds to code and defines the term "organized day camp" to
bring these programs under specified oversight by DPH
regulations.
6.Requires an organized camp or day camp to develop a
written operating plan and file the plan with the local
health department, as specified. This bill requires the
health officer to acknowledge receipt of the plan within
30 days, and further that an organized camp and organized
day camp's written plan and acknowledgement shall be
posted, with the acknowledgement letter, in a conspicuous
location on camp premises and on any available Web site.
7.Requires DPH, in promulgating regulations pertaining to
day camps, to obtain input from specified affected
organizations, and recover costs from those
organizations, as specified.
Background
The author's office reports that 21st Century programs
operated by city, county, or nonprofit organizations are
open more than 30 hours per week because the children they
accommodate include kindergarten children who are present
every morning or every afternoon.
The author's office also reports that the list of
recreation program providers exempt from licensure does not
include the YMCA. Because the Department of Social
Services has not yet promulgated regulations defining
organizations similar to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp
Fire, and Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA's recreation
programs do not always receive an exemption from licensing.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, (1)
General Fund costs in the range of $60,000 per year for
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approximately two years for DPH to work with stakeholders
and revise the regulations pertaining to organized camps
and organized day camps; and (2) local health departments
have broad authority to charge fees to organizations
requesting reviews of operating plans, and currently charge
organized camps for similar activities. Thus, while there
may be significant local costs to this bill, it is not a
reimbursable state mandate.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/7/11)
California State Alliance of YMCA (co-source)
California Collaboration for Youth (co-source)
American Camp Association, So. California/Hawaii
Alpine Camp and Conference Center
Boy Scouts of America
Cali-Camp
Camp Funtime
Camp Gan Israel S. Barbara
Camp James Summer Day Camp
Camp Kinneret
Camp Mountain Chai
Carmel Valley Tennis Camp
Catalina Island Camps
Coppercreek Camp
Douglas Ranch Camps
Dunn School
Emerald Cove Day Camp
Forest Home
Girl Scout Council of Orange County
Gold Arrow Camp
Guided Discoveries
Jameson Ranch Camp
Jefunira Camp
Kennolyn Camps
Mountain Camp
Mountain Camp Woodside
Mt. Herman Camp
Outpost Summer Camps
Pali Overnight Adventures
Plantation Farm Camp
Peninsula Bay Cities Day Camp And Swim School
Rawhide Ranch Camp
River Way Ranch Camp
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Shaffer's High Sierra Camp
Sierra Adventure Camps
Tocaloma Summer Day Camp
Tom Sawyer Camps
Tumbleweed Camp
Valley Trails Suller Camp
Western Association of Independent Camps
Woodcraft Rangers
World Impact
Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsors, the
California State Alliance of YMCAs and the California
Collaboration for Youth, also report that "organized day
camps" are being treated in some counties similarly to the
way the statute treats "organized camps" (overnight
programs), while in other counties, the health officer is
not applying health and safety rules to "organized day
camps" that he or she is applying to "organized camps."
This bill makes it clear that "organized day camps," as
defined, will be regulated in the same way that "organized
camps" are regulated.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 737 without my signature.
I agree with the author's intent to clarify and simply
the regulation of organized camps, but this measure
does not achieve this goal. I am directing the
Department of Public Health and Department of Social
Services to work with the author and interested
advocates to resolve this issue in the coming year."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-5, 9/7/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Buchanan, Butler,
Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis,
Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
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Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino,
Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Ammiano, Atkins, Brownley, Mitchell, Skinner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Furutani, Gorell
CTW:do 1/4/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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