BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2127| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2127 Author: Cooley (D) Amended: 5/1/14 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/4/14 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Hancock, Huff, Monning NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa, Vacancy, Vacancy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-22, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Full-contact football practices SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill limits full-contact football practices and requires a student-athlete who has suffered a concussion or head injury to complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of at least seven days, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing law requires school districts that elect to offer athletics to: 1.Immediately remove from athletic activity for the remainder of the day an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury. The athlete must not be permitted to return to the activity until he/she has been evaluated by a licensed health care provider, and receives a written clearance from the health care provider to return to the activity. CONTINUED AB 2127 Page 2 2.Annually require a concussion and head injury information sheet to be signed by the athlete's parent prior to participation in athletic activity. Existing law requires each high school sports coach to complete a coaching education program developed by the employing school district or the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) that meets specified guidelines. Existing law requires high school athletic coaches to complete training regarding the identification of concussions. This bill limits full-contact football practices and requires a student-athlete who has suffered a concussion or head injury to complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of at least seven days. Specifically, this bill: 1.Requires a school district, charter school, or private school that elects to offer an athletic program to comply with all of the following: A. Prohibit a high school or middle school football team from conducting more than two full-contact practices per week during the preseason and regular season. B. Prohibit the full-contact portion of a practice from exceeding 90 minutes in any single day. C. Prohibit a high school or middle school football team from holding a full-contact practice during the off-season. 1.Requires the student athlete, if a licensed health care provider determines that the athlete sustained a concussion or head injury, to complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of at least seven days under the supervision of a licensed health care provider. 2.Defines: A. "Full-contact practice" as a practice where drills or live action is conducted that involves collisions at game speed, where players execute tackles and other activity that is typical of an actual tackle football game. CONTINUED AB 2127 Page 3 B. "Off-season" as a period extending from the end of the regular season until 30 days before the commencement of the next regular season. C. "Preseason" as a period of 30 days before the beginning of the regular season. D. "Regular season" as the period from the first interscholastic football game or scrimmage until the completion of the final interscholastic football game of that season. 1.Provides that a team camp session is deemed to be a practice. 2.Urges the CIF to develop and adopt rules to implement the provisions of this bill, and to work in consultation with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine to develop and adopt rules and protocols to implement a graduated return-to-play protocol. 3.Provides that this bill does not prohibit the CIF, an interscholastic athletic league, a school, a school district, or any other appropriate entity from adopting and enforcing rules intended to provide a higher standard of safety for athletes than the standard established by this bill. 4.States legislative findings and declarations relative to student athletes and concussions. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/14) American Academy of Neurology American Academy of Pediatrics, California Brain Injury Association of California California Chiropractic Association California Interscholastic Federation California Physical Therapy Association California Psychological Association California State PTA Occupational Therapy Association of California CONTINUED AB 2127 Page 4 Safe Kids California OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/5/14) California Medical Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Brain Injury Association of California states: In an effort to reduce concussions and other brain injuries among California adolescents, AB 2127 limits the amount of full-contact practices middle school and high school football teams may conduct during the preseason and regular season, and completely prohibits full-contact practice during the off-season. This bill further provides that an athlete who has sustained a head injury or concussion must complete a supervised return-to-play protocol of no less than 7 days in duration before returning to the athletic activity. Academic studies have shown that the cumulative effects of sub-concussive blows to the brain experienced during football may contribute to long-term brain damage and early-onset dementia, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Experts contend that hits to the brain should be minimized as much as possible. Since adolescents often suffer from post-concussive symptoms longer than their older counterparts, it is recommended that their recovery process proceed more conservatively. Implementing supervised return-to-play standards will help reduce the risk that young athletes who have suffered a brain injury return to the field too soon. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Medical Association states: The intent of the bill is laudable; to better protect high school athletes from brain injuries. AB 2127 would prohibit high school and middle school football teams of high schools, charter schools, or private schools from conducting more than 2 full-contact practices per week during the preseason and regular season and prohibit these full-contact practices from lasting more than 90 minutes. The bill would also completely prohibit full-contact practice in the offseason. If an CONTINUED AB 2127 Page 5 athlete is suspected of having suffered a concussion, the bill would require that a licensed health care provider acting within the scope of their practice must clear the athlete before they can return to play. We believe the language pertaining to which professionals are allowed to perform the return to play assessment is overly broad and would allow some licensed health care providers without the proper training in concussions and neurology to perform these assessments. The Center for Disease Control estimates that nearly 4 million high school students suffer head injuries every year. Difficulties in recognizing and diagnosing these injuries leads to as many as 80% of these head injuries going unrecognized and untreated. It is imperative that licensed physicians with the appropriate education and training determine when a teenager has suffered a head injury. Currently, chiropractors and other non-physicians are able to conduct these assessments under current law. This bill needs to clarify that only licensed physicians are able to determine when and how a teenager who suffered a brain injury is allowed to return to play. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-22, 5/15/14 AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Garcia, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Brown, Dahle, Frazier, Gorell, Mansoor, Nestande, V. Manuel Pérez, Vacancy PQ:k 6/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE CONTINUED AB 2127 Page 6 **** END **** CONTINUED