BILL NUMBER: SB 609 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Sections 9714, 9714.5, and 9732 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to public social services, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 609, as introduced, Wolk. Office of the State Long-Term Care
Ombudsman.
Existing law, as part of the Mello-Granlund Older Californians
Act, establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman,
under the direction of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, in the
California Department of Aging. Existing law provides for the
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program under which funds are allocated to
local ombudsman programs to assist elderly persons in long-term
health care facilities and residential care facilities by, among
other things, investigating and seeking to resolve complaints against
these facilities. Existing law requires the office to solicit and
receive funds, gifts, and contributions to support the operations and
program of the office.
This bill would require the office to deposit those funds into the
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Improvement Act Fund, and would
continuously appropriate those funds for the purpose of supporting
the operations and programs of the office.
Under existing law, anyone who willfully interferes with a lawful
action of the office is subject to a civil penalty of no more than
$1,000, to be assessed by the Director of Aging, who is required to
initiate the action, upon request of the office, to collect the
penalties.
This bill would increase the maximum civil penalty amount to
$2,000 for each incident, and would instead require the director to
initiate an action if the penalty is not paid within 30 days of the
assessment. This bill would create the Access to Facilities Account,
and require those penalties to be deposited into the account to, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, support the operations and
programs of the office.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9714 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9714. The office shall solicit and receive funds, gifts, and
contributions to support the operations and programs of the office.
The office may form a foundation eligible to receive
tax-deductible contributions to support the operations and programs
of the office and the operations of the foundation. The
office shall not solicit or receive any funds, gifts, or
contributions where if the solicitation
or receipt would jeopardize the independence and objectivity of the
office. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the office shall deposit funds received pursuant to
this section into the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Improvement
Act Fund that is hereby continued in existence and continuously
appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, for the purpose of
supporting the operations and programs of the office.
SEC. 2. Section 9714.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9714.5. (a) The office may form a foundation eligible to
receive tax-deductible contributions to support the operations and
programs of the office and the operations of the foundation. The
foundation shall not solicit or receive any funds, gifts, or
contributions if the solicitation or receipt would jeopardize the
independence and objectivity of the office or foundation.
( b) The foundation formed pursuant to
Section 9714 this section shall be
under the direction and management of a five-member board of
directors. One member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, one member shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules, and three members shall be appointed by the Governor. The
members of the board shall each be experienced in the management,
promotion, and funding of nonprofit charitable organizations.
(b)
( c) The board shall select from among its
members a chair, a vice chair, and any other officers as it deems
necessary.
(c)
( d) The members of the board shall serve
without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for all necessary
expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties as
directors.
(d)
( e) Three members of the board shall
constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting the board's
business.
(e)
( f) By March 1 of each year, the board
shall determine the amount of funds to be appropriated
allocated from the foundation to the office for
the support of the operations and programs of the office and the
operations of the foundation. Foundation funds may only be
appropriated expended for the support of the
operations and programs of the office and the operations of the
foundation.
(f)
( g) The members of the board shall be free
from conflicts of interest and shall be subject to the same conflict
of interest provisions that apply to the State Ombudsman under
Section 3058g(f)(3) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
SEC. 3. Section 9732 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9732. (a) Any person who willfully
interferes with any lawful action of the office shall be subject to a
civil penalty of no more than one two
thousand dollars ($1,000), to ($2,000) for
each incident. The civil penalty shall be assessed by the
director , who . If the penalty is not paid
within 30 days of the assessment, the director shall initiate
the an action , upon the
request of the office, to collect the penalties in the
jurisdiction in which the facility is located.
(b) All civil penalties collected by the department pursuant to
this section shall be deposited into the Access to Facilities
Account, which is hereby created within the Special Deposit Fund
under Section 16370 of the Government Code. Funds in this account
shall be available, upon appropriation, to support the operations and
programs of the office.