BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 971
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 971 (Garcia)
As Amended September 4, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(May 23, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY : Specifies that certain criminal history information
may be provided to paratransit agencies for the purposes of
oversight and enforcement of the agency's policies with respect
to contracted providers of service.
The Senate amendments make minor and technical changes.
EXISTING LAW requires the Attorney General to furnish state
summary criminal history information to a city, county, city and
county, or district, or an officer or official thereof, when
that information is needed in fulfilling employment,
certification, or licensing duties, as specified, subject to
specified restrictions as to arrests or detentions that did not
result in a conviction. Other provisions of existing law
authorize the Attorney General to provide summary criminal
history information to specified persons or entities for
specified purposes. Existing law provides a similar provision
with respect to authorizing a local public entity to receive
local criminal history information.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in negligible new costs to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) for additional background checks
since the background checks authorized in this bill are already
being conducted by some paratransit agencies.
COMMENTS : A "paratransit agency" is an entity formed by the
regional transportation planning authority as a nonprofit public
benefit corporation charged with administering a countywide
coordinated paratransit plan adopted under federal law.
Existing state law provides that such entities are deemed
"public agencies" under existing law (Government Code Section
15975(f)).
AB 971
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With respect to criminal history information, existing law
requires the Attorney General to furnish state summary criminal
history information to a city, county, city and county, or
district, or an officer or official thereof, when that
information is needed in fulfilling employment, certification,
or licensing duties, as specified, subject to specified
restrictions as to arrests or detentions that did not result in
a conviction. Existing law provides a similar provision with
respect to authorizing a local public entity to receive local
criminal history information.
This bill is sponsored by Access Services, who states that it is
responsible for the administration of the mandated paratransit
transportation program for the County of Los Angeles and is
tasked with improving the mobility on public transit of persons
with disabilities. Access (and other similar paratransit
agencies) often contract with other entities to provide the
transportation services.
Access Services contends that current law limits by time and
type the information that can be requested of applicants for
employment. However, it creates exceptions to these rules where
health and safety are of primary concern or the person will be
working with particularly vulnerable individuals in connection
with the employment. Since Access Services facilitates
complementary paratransit services in Los Angeles County for
persons with disabilities, it is imperative that the agency
unambiguously have the right to conduct background checks on its
drivers.
The sponsor, Access Services, states that while it and its
providers currently do background checks, the existing statutes
are ambiguous as to whether Access Services falls within one of
the exceptions. They contend that this minor change would
explicitly clarify their ability to conduct background checks
like other transit agencies in California.
This bill would amend the law to clarify that paratransit
agencies may obtain the criminal history information for the
purposes of oversight and enforcement of their policies with
respect to contracted providers of service.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
AB 971
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FN: 0002443