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)).








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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 








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