Amended in Assembly August 27, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Second Extraordinary Session

Assembly Bill No. 9

Introduced by Assembly Members Thurmond and Nazarian

July 16, 2015

An act to amend Sections 104420 and 104466 of, and to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 104559) to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 103 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to tobacco use programs.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 9, as amended, Thurmond. Tobacco use programs.

Existing law establishes the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee to provide advice to the State Department of Public Health and the State Department of Education with respect to policy development, integration, and evaluation of tobacco education programs. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to allocate funds to county offices of education for tobacco use prevention, intervention, and cessation activities. Existing law also requires that all school districts and county offices of education that receive funding, as specified, adopt and enforce a tobacco-free campus policy, no later than July of each fiscal year, prohibiting the use of tobacco products, any time, in district-owned or leased buildings, on district property and in district vehicles.

This bill would expand eligibility for funding for the tobacco use prevention program to include charter schools. The bill would require the State Department of Education to require that all school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education receiving funding under the program adopt and enforce a tobacco-free campus policy prohibiting the use of products containing tobacco and nicotine, as specified, in and on the properties described above and would, in addition, prohibit the use of tobacco and nicotine products in a county office of education, charter school or school district-owned or leased building, on school or district property, and in school or district vehicles without regard to whether those entities receive funding. The bill would also require school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to prominently display signs at all entrances to school property stating “Tobacco use is prohibited.” The bill would make other technical and clarifying changes.

By imposing new duties on school districts and county offices of education, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 104420 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

104420.  

The State Department of Education shall provide the
leadership for the successful implementation of this article in
programs administered by local public and private schools, school
districts, and county offices of education. The State Department
of Education shall do all of the following:

(a) Provide a planning and technical assistance program to carry
out its responsibilities under this article.

(b) Provide guidelines for schools, school districts, county
begin delete offices, end delete begin insert offices of education, end insert and school district consortia to follow
in the preparation of plans for implementation of antitobacco use
programs for schoolage populations. The guidelines shall:

(1) Require the applicant agency to select one or more model
program designs and permit the applicant to modify the model
program designs to take special local needs and conditions into
account.

(2) Require the applicant agency to prepare for each target
population to be served a description of the service to be provided,
an estimate of the number to be served, an estimate of the success
rate, and a method to determine to what extent goals have been
achieved.

(3) Require plan submissions to include a staffing configuration
and a budget setting forth use and distribution of funds in a clear
and detailed manner.

(c) Prepare model program designs and information for schools,
school districts, consortia, and county offices of education to follow
in establishing direct service programs to targeted populations.
Model program designs shall, to the extent feasible, be based on
studies and evaluations that determine which service delivery
systems are effective in reducing tobacco use and are cost effective.
The State Department of Education shall consult with the
department, and school districts with existing antitobacco programs
in the preparation of model program designs and information.

(d) Provide technical assistance for schools, school districts,
and county offices of education regarding the prevention and
cessation of tobacco use. In fulfilling its technical assistance
responsibilities, the State Department of Education may establish
a center for tobacco use prevention that shall identify, maintain,
and develop instructional materials and curricula encouraging the
prevention or cessation of tobacco use. The State Department of
Education shall consult with the department and others with
expertise in antitobacco materials or curricula in the preparation
of these materials and curricula.

(e) Monitor the implementation of programs that it has approved
under this article to ensure successful implementation.

(f) Prepare guidelines within 180 days of January 1, 1996, for
a school-based program of outreach, education, intervention,
counseling, peer counseling, and other activities to reduce and
prevent smoking among schoolage youth.

(g) Assist county offices of education to employ a tobacco use
prevention coordinator to assist local schools and local public and
community agencies in preventing tobacco use by pupils.

(h) Train the tobacco use prevention coordinators of county
offices of education so that they are:

(1) Familiar with relevant research regarding the effectiveness
of various kinds of antitobacco use programs.

(2) Familiar with department guidelines and requirements for
submission, review, and approval of school-based plans.

(3) Able to provide effective technical assistance to schools and
school districts.

(i) Establish a tobacco-free school recognition awards program.

(j) As a condition of receiving funds pursuant to this article, the
State Department of Education, county offices of education, charter
schools, and school districts shall ensure that they coordinate their
efforts toward smoking prevention and cessation with the lead
local agency in the community where the local school district is
located.

(k) (1) Develop, in coordination with the county offices of
education, and administer a competitive grant program for
school-based, antitobacco education programs and tobacco use
intervention and cessation activities in order to reduce the number
of pupils who begin to use tobacco, continue to use tobacco, or
both. Grants shall be awarded, after consultation with local lead
agencies, the committee, and representatives of nonprofit
organizations dedicated to the reduction of tobacco-associated
disease, to school districts, charter schools, and county offices of
education for all pupils in grades 6 to 12, inclusive, that comply
with the requirements of paragraphs (2) and, if applicable, (3).

(2) Every school district, charter school, and county office of
education that receives a grant pursuant to this section shall provide
tobacco use prevention instruction that addresses all of the
following essential topics:

(A) Immediate and long-term undesirable physiologic, cosmetic,
and social consequences of tobacco use.

(B) Reasons that adolescents say they smoke or use tobacco.

(C) Peer norms and social influences that promote tobacco use.

(D) Refusal skills for resisting social influences that promote
tobacco use.

(3) Every school district, charter school, and county office of
education that receives a grant pursuant to this section for pupils
in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall provide tobacco use intervention
and cessation activities targeted for pupils in high-risk groups.

(4) The State Department of Education shall develop criteria
and standards for the allocation of grant awards that consider the
need to balance rural, suburban, and urban projects. In addition,
the State Department of Education shall give priority to applicants
and programs that do all of the following:

(A) Target current smokers and pupils most at risk for beginning
to use tobacco.

(B) Offer or refer pupils to cessation classes for current smokers.

(C) Utilize existing antismoking resources, including local
antismoking efforts by local lead agencies and competitive grant
recipients.

(D) Design the project to coordinate with other community
services, including, but not limited to, local health agencies,
voluntary health organizations, and parent organizations.

(E) Design the project to use and develop existing services and
resources.

(F) Demonstrate an understanding of the role that the
environment and community norms play in influencing tobacco
use.

(5) Available funds shall determine grant award amounts.

(l) Allocate funds to county offices of education to provide
technical assistance and leadership for tobacco use prevention,
intervention, and cessation programs. The funds shall be allocated
to all participating county offices of education at a minimum
amount of thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500).
If funds appropriated for purposes of allocating at least thirty-seven
thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500) to all participating county
offices of education are insufficient, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall prorate available funds among participating county
offices of education ensuring that all participating county offices
of education receive an equal minimum level of funding of
thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500). If funds are
sufficient to provide all participating county offices of education
a minimum of thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500),
the remaining funds shall be allocated according to the following
schedule based on average daily attendance in the prior year
credited to all elementary, high, and unified school districts, and
to the county superintendent of schools within the county as
certified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction:

(1) For counties with begin delete over end delete 550,000 begin insert or more end insert units of average
daily attendance, thirty cents ($0.30) per average daily attendance.

(2) For counties with begin delete more than end delete 100,000 begin insert or more end insert and less than
550,000 units of average daily attendance, sixty-five cents ($0.65)
per average daily attendance.

(3) For counties with begin delete more than end delete 50,000 begin insert or more end insert and less than
100,000 units of average daily attendance, ninety cents ($0.90)
per average daily attendance.

(4) For counties with begin delete more than end delete 37,500 begin insert or more end insert and less than
50,000 units of average daily attendance, one dollar ($1) per
average daily attendance.

(5) For counties with less than 37,500 units of average daily
attendance, thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500).

(m) Allocate funds appropriated by begin delete chapter end delete begin insert Chapter end insert 415 of the
begin delete statutes end delete begin insert Statutes end insert of 1995 for local assistance to school districts and
county offices of education based on average daily attendance
reported in the second principal apportionment in the prior fiscal
year.

(n) (1) Provide that all school districts, charter schools, and
county offices of education that receive funding under subdivision
(m) make reasonable progress toward providing a tobacco-free
environment in school facilities for pupils and employees.

(2) Require that all school districts, charter schools, and county
offices of education that receive funding pursuant to paragraph (1)
adopt and enforce a tobacco-free campus policy no later than July
begin insert 1 end insert of each fiscal year. The policy shall prohibit the use of products
containing tobacco and nicotine, including, but not limited to,
smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew, clove cigarettes, and begin delete nicotine
delivery devices, such as electronic cigarettes, end delete begin insert electronic cigarettes
that can deliver nicotine and nonnicotine vaporized solutions, at end insert
any time, in charter school or school district-owned or leased
buildings, on school or district property, and in school or district
vehicles. However, this section does not prohibit the use or
possession of prescription products, nicotine patches, or nicotine
gum. Information about the policy and enforcement procedures
shall be communicated clearly to school personnel, parents, pupils,
and the larger community. Signs stating “Tobacco use is
prohibited” shall be prominently displayed at all entrances to school
property as provided in Section 104559. Information about smoking
cessation support programs shall be made available and encouraged
for pupils and staff. Any school district, charter school, or county
office of education that does not have a tobacco-free district policy
implemented by July 1, shall not be eligible to apply for funds
from the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund for that
fiscal year.

SEC. 2.  

Section 104466 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

104466.  

Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 2.00 of
the Budget Act of 2002 and any other provision of law,
commencing with the appropriation for the 2002-03 fiscal year,
and for each fiscal year thereafter, any amount appropriated to the
department or the State Department of Education to implement
the following tobacco use prevention programs shall be available
for encumbrance and expenditure for three fiscal years beyond the
date of the appropriation:

(a)  The program to evaluate tobacco control programs provided
for in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 104375.

(b)  The tobacco use prevention media campaign provided for
in subdivision (e) of Section 104375.

(c)  The competitive grant program provided for in Section
104385.

(d)  The local lead agency tobacco use prevention programs
provided for in Section 104400.

(e)  The tobacco use prevention program directed at schools
provided for in Sections 104420, 104430, and 104435.

SEC. 3.  

Article 4 (commencing with Section 104559) is added
to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 103 of the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

 

Article 4.  Tobacco Use Prohibition

 

104559.  

(a) The use of tobacco and nicotine products is
prohibited at any time in a county office of education, charter
school or school district-owned or leased buildings, on school or
district property, and in school or district vehicles. This includes,
but is not limited to, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew, clove
cigarettes, and other begin delete nicotine-delivery end delete begin insert nicotine delivery end insert devices,
such as electronic cigarettes.

(b) School districts, charter schools, and county offices of
education shall prominently display signs at all entrances to school
property stating “Tobacco use is prohibited.”

SEC. 4.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.