BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1342 (Steinorth) - Disability access
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|Version: July 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: G.O. 12 - 0, JUD. |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1342 would appropriate $120,000 from the General
Fund to the Commission on Disability Access (CDA) and require
the CDA to establish two permanent positions. The bill would
also permanently extend a $1 fee on local business licenses that
funds state and local activities related to certified access
specialist (CASp) services, and make other changes to promote
compliance with disability access requirements.
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time General Fund appropriation of $120,000 in 2015-16 to
support the establishment of 2 PY of permanent CDA staff
AB 1342 (Steinorth) Page 1 of
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positions. Ongoing costs for these positions would be
$240,000 annually, beginning in 2016-17. (General Fund)
Ongoing costs of approximately $135,000 annually to the
Division of the State Architect (DSA), beginning in 2019,
related to the conversion of a temporary position to permanent
as a result of eliminating the sunset on the $1 business
license fee that supports CASp services. (General Fund)
Minor and absorbable costs to the DSA to collect information
on service locations of CASps and posting it on its website.
(General Fund)
Ongoing collection of approximately $2.05 million in business
license fee revenues annually, beginning in 2019, as a result
of permanently extending the $1 fee. Approximately $616,000
of this amount is deposited into the Disability Access and
Education Revolving Fund, and the remainder is retained at the
local level.
Background: Individuals with disabilities and medical conditions have
legal protections to ensure full and free access to and the use
of roadways, sidewalks, buildings and facilities open to the
public, hospitals and medical facilities, and housing.
Additionally, under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, all persons,
regardless of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability or medical condition, are entitled to the
full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities,
privileges, or services in all business establishments. After
Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in
1990, the Legislature provided that violations of the ADA are
also violations of the Unruh Act.
Existing law establishes the CDA, an independent state agency
composed of 17 members, to monitor disability access compliance
and make recommendations to the Legislature for necessary
changes in order to facilitate implementation of state and
federal laws on disability access. Existing law requires the
State Architect to establish and publicize a program for the
voluntary certification of any person who meets specified
criteria to qualify as a CASp. Each applicant for CASp
certification or renewal is required to pay specified fees for
deposit into the Certified Access Specialist Fund, a
continuously appropriated fund to support the DSA in
AB 1342 (Steinorth) Page 2 of
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administering the program.
Local agencies are required to employ or retain a sufficient
number of building inspectors who are CASp to conduct
inspections with respect to new construction. Existing law
requires, until December 31, 2018, any applicant for a local
business license to pay an additional $1 fee. The local agency
that collects the fee retains 70 percent of the fee revenues to
fund increased CASp services and facilitate compliance with
accessibility requirements, and the remaining 30 percent is
transferred to the DSA for deposit into the Disability Access
and Education Revolving Fund, a continuously appropriated fund
that supports the oversight of the CASp program and moderates
expenses related to certification and testing. Local agencies
are required to report specified information to the DSA
regarding the amount of fees collected, and activities
undertaken and moneys spent to increase CASp services and
facilitate compliance.
Existing law requires a commercial property owner to state on
every lease form or rental agreement executed on or after July
1, 2013, whether the property being leased or rented has been
inspected by a CASp, and if so, whether the property has been
determined to meet applicable construction-related accessibility
standards.
Proposed Law:
AB 1342 would require the CDA to establish a permanent
legislative outreach coordinator and educational outreach
coordinator positions and appropriate $120,000 from the General
Fund to CDA to establish those positions in 2015-16. This bill
would also do the following:
Require applicants for certification and renewal of
certification to provide DSA with information about the city
or county in which the applicant provides or intends to
provide services, and require the DSA to post that information
on each CASp's service area on its website.
Require CDA to post a link on its website to the DSA's CASp
Program website to assist building owners and tenants in
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locating or hiring a CASp.
Require CDA to make educational materials and information on
disability access requirements available to state agencies and
local building departments.
Delete the December 1, 2018 sunset date on the additional $1
fee on business license applications for local and state CASp
services, thereby extending that fee in perpetuity.
Require a commercial property owner, for every lease or rental
agreement executed on or after July 1, 2016, to provide the
lessee or tenant with a current disability access inspection
certificate and inspection report, or a copy of the CASp
inspection report, as specified.
Require the property owner or lessor to include a specified
statement on the rental agreement, if the subject premises
have not been issued a current disability access inspection
certificate. The statement must indicate that, upon request
of the lessee or tenant, the property owner may permit a CASp
inspection of the subject premises at the lessee's or tenant's
expense, and that the parties must mutually agree on the time
and manner of the inspection.
Related
Legislation: AB 1608 (Corbett), Ch. 549/2008, established the
CDA and enacted various other reforms to increase voluntary
compliance with longstanding state and federal laws requiring
access to the disabled in any place of public accommodation.
SB 1186 (Steinberg and Dutton), Ch. 383/2012, reduced statutory
damages and provided litigation protections for specified
defendants who timely correct construction-related accessibility
violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The bill also banned
prelitigation "demands for money" and created rules for demand
letters and complaints in claims involving construction-related
accessibility violations.
Staff
Comments: AB 1342 includes an appropriation of $120,000 in
2015-16 from the General Fund to the CDA to establish the two
outreach coordinator positions. This amount would cover half of
the full-year costs of the salaries, benefits, and overhead from
January 1, 2016 through the end of the fiscal year. The ongoing
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costs for those positions would be $240,000 annually, which
would be an ongoing expense from the General Fund beginning in
2016-17.
The bill would permanently extend the $1 additional fee on local
business licenses that supports specified local and state costs
related to the CASp program. The 2015 Budget Act includes a
temporary full-time position through the current expiration date
of the $1 fee for DSA's costs to administer the activities
related to the state portion of fee revenues. By eliminating
the sunset on the fee, this bill would allow DSA to reclassify
the current limited-term position to a permanent position,
resulting in continued annual General Fund costs of
approximately $135,000, beginning on January 1, 2019.
By continuing the $1 fee in perpetuity, the bill would impose a
mandate on local agencies to continue to report specified
information regarding the collection and expenditure of those
fees to the DSA. The state is not responsible for reimbursing
local agencies for these reporting costs because they have
exiting fee authority to offset any continued expenses.
Recommended
Amendments: Amendments will be required to avoid chaptering out
changes enacted to Government Code §4467 by SB 84 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review), Ch. 25/2015. SB 84 required local
agencies to report to the DSA, rather than specified committees
of the Legislature, on activities undertaken and expenditures
related to additional $1 fee on business licenses.
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