BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) - Pupil services:  lactation  
          accommodations
          
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          |Version: July 14, 2015          |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 1          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: Yes                    |
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          |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015   |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  This bill requires schools to provide reasonable  
          accommodations, as specified, and a reasonable amount of time to  
          a lactating student to express breast milk, breast-feed an  
          infant child, or address other needs related to breast-feeding  
          on a campus.  This bill also allows a complaint of noncompliance  
          with these requirements to be filed with the local educational  
          agency (LEA) under the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP).


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           New lactation mandate: Unknown, potentially significant  
            reimbursable state mandate costs for schools to provide  
            required accommodations for breastfeeding needs.  The bill  
            allows for broad interpretation of accommodation requirements  
            which could result in a broad range of activities determined  
            to be reimbursable under state mandate law.  (Proposition 98)








          AB 302 (Cristina Garcia)                               Page 1 of  
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           The California Department of Education (CDE) anticipates the  
            need for one full-time position and one part-time position and  
            about $147,000 to address a potential increase in appeals due  
            to adding a new category of potential complaints.  Costs will  
            depend on actual complaints received and appeals filed.   
            (General Fund) 

           Expansion of existing UCP mandate: Unknown, potentially  
            significant reimbursable state mandate costs related to  
            developing procedures and local investigation of complaints.   
            To the extent the Commission on State Mandates determines this  
            bill to impose a new or expansion of an existing state  
            mandate, this could create pressure to increase the K-12  
            Mandate Block Grant to reflect their inclusion.  (Proposition  
            98)


          Background:  Both state and federal law require employers to provide  
          reasonable accommodations to lactating employees, including  
          break time and the provision of private space (other than a  
          restroom stall) in which to express breast milk or breast-feed.   
          Existing law prohibits discriminatory practices in employment or  
          housing accommodations on the basis of sex, and defines "sex" to  
          include breast-feeding or medical conditions related to  
          breast-feeding.  Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis  
          of sex in all aspects of education, but does not explicitly  
          reference breast-feeding.

          Federal regulations prohibit discrimination against any student,  
          or exclusion of any student from its education program or  
          activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on  
          the basis of such student's pregnancy, childbirth, false  
          pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.   
          Federal law also requires pregnant students and those recovering  
          from childbirth-related conditions to be provided with the same  
          accommodations and support services available to other students  
          with temporary medical conditions.  (Code of Federal  
          Regulations, Title 34, §106.40)

          Required by federal law, the UCP was established in 1991 as a  
          means of creating a "uniform system of complaint processing" for  
          educational programs.  State regulations require the adoption of  
          the UCP by school districts, county offices of education,  
          charter schools receiving federal funds, and local public or  








          AB 302 (Cristina Garcia)                               Page 2 of  
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          private agencies which receive direct or indirect state funding  
          to provide school programs or special education or related  
          services.  

          Proposed Law:  
            This bill requires a school operated by a school district or  
          county office of education, the California School for the Deaf,  
          the California School for the Blind, and a charter school to  
          provide reasonable accommodations and a reasonable amount of  
          time to a lactating student on a campus to express breast milk,  
          breast-feed an infant child, or address other needs related to  
          breast-feeding.
          Among the required accommodations is access to a private and  
          secure room, other than a restroom, to express breast milk or  
          breast-feed an infant child.  This bill authorizes a school to  
          use an existing facility to provide reasonable accommodations.


          This bill allows a complaint of noncompliance with these  
          requirements to be filed with the LEA under the UCP.  A  
          complainant not satisfied with the decision of the LEA may  
          appeal the decision to the CDE.  If a LEA or the CDE finds merit  
          in a complaint, the LEA shall provide a remedy to the affected  
          student. 




          Related  
          Legislation:  There are numerous bills that expand the UCP to  
          include additional areas in which complaints may be filed with  
          LEAs.
          AB 379 (Gordon, 2015) expands the UCP to include complaints of  
          non-compliance with certain rights and responsibilities  
          regarding the education of students who are in foster care or  
          who are homeless.  AB 379 is pending in this Committee.  


          SB 81 (Chapter 22, Statutes of 2015) among other things, expands  
          the UCP to include complaints regarding an alleged violation by  
          a local agency of federal or state law or regulations governing  
          adult education programs or regional occupational centers and  
          programs.  









          AB 302 (Cristina Garcia)                               Page 3 of  
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          AB 1391 (Gomez, 2015), expands the UCP to include complaints of  
          non-compliance with the required minimum instructional minutes  
          for physical education.  AB 1391 is pending in this Committee.

          AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer, 2015) prohibits a school district serving  
          any of grades 9 through 12 from assigning students to any course  
          without educational content for more than one week in any  
          semester, and prohibits the assignment of any student to a  
          course that the student has previously completed with and  
          received a satisfactory grade, unless specified conditions are  
          met.  AB 1012 is pending in this Committee.


          Staff  
          Comments:  This bill requires schools to provide reasonable  
          accommodations for students with needs related to  
          breast-feeding.  Schools must provide access to a private and  
          secure room for breast-feeding; allow students to bring  
          necessary equipment to school; provide access to a power source  
          for the necessary equipment; and a place to store expressed  
          breast milk safely.  Each school will comply with these  
          requirements differently based on local needs and capacity.   
          Therefore costs will vary across the state.  
          According to the California Department of Public Health, there  
          were about 39,000 births in California in 2011 in which mothers  
          were under the age of 15 and up to age 19.  There are over 4,000  
          schools maintaining grades 7 through 12.  Schools may be  
          required to purchase a safe place to store milk, such as a small  
          refrigerator, for which costs could run into the hundreds of  
          thousands statewide.  However, since federal and state law  
          require similar accommodations for employees, costs could be  
          mitigated to the extent schools can use the space already  
          established for employees.



          Ultimately CDE's resulting workload is unknown, as it depends on  
          the number complaints made to LEAs, and of those, how many are  
          appealed to the CDE.  The bill's requirements for reasonable  
          accommodations are broad and could result in additional  
          complaints depending upon interpretation of the law.  For  
          example, "access to a private and secure room" could have broad  
          interpretations.  








          AB 302 (Cristina Garcia)                               Page 4 of  
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          The CDE anticipates that adding a new category of potential  
          complaints could increase workload and the need for additional  
          resources.  Additional workload may include: amending existing  
          or developing new regulations and related activities; updating  
          current UCP-related documents, procedures, and policies;  
          increasing the CDE's monitoring role including revising the  
          monitoring instrument and training LEAs on compliance with the  
          new requirements; technical assistance; processing appeals; and  
          legal counsel assistance.




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