BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2311|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2311
Author: Brown (D)
Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 13-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Hall, Berryhill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Emergency services: access and functional needs in
emergencies
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires each county, including a city and
county of the state to integrate access and functional needs, as
defined, during the next update to its emergency plan.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) which is
responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response
services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and
emergencies.
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2)Requires OES to work with specified entities to improve
communication with deaf and hearing-impaired persons during
emergencies.
3)Defines "emergency plans" to mean those official and approved
documents which describe the principles and methods to be
applied in carrying out emergency operations or rendering
mutual aid during emergencies. These plans include such
elements as continuity of government, the emergency services
of governmental agencies, mobilizations of resources, mutual
aid, and public information.
This bill:
1)Requires each county, including a city and county of the
state, to integrate access and functional needs during the
next update to its emergency plan by addressing, at a minimum,
how the access and functional needs population is served by
the following:
a) Emergency communications, including the integration of
interpreters, translators, and assistive technology.
b) Emergency evacuation, including the identification of
transportation resources that are compliant with the
federal American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) for
individuals who are dependent on public transportation.
c) Emergency sheltering, including ensuring that designated
shelters are compliant with ADA or can be made compliant
through modification and that showers and bathrooms are
fully accessible to all occupants.
2)Specifies that "access and functional needs population"
consists of individuals who have developmental or intellectual
disabilities, physical disabilities, chronic conditions,
injuries, limited English proficiency or who are non-English
speaking, older adults, children, people living in
institutionalized settings, or those who are low income,
homeless, or transportation disadvantaged, including, but not
limited to, those who are dependent on public transit or those
who are pregnant.
Background
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Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "despite ADA
requirements and the existence of OES' Office of Access and
Functional Needs (OAFN), local governments and officials are not
integrating access and functional needs within their emergency
processes when they deliver actionable information to the public
during disasters and emergencies. This oversight violates ADA
and places the health and safety of California's access and
functional needs population at risk during disasters and
emergencies."
Office of Access and Functional Needs. In January 2008, OES
established the OAFN with the purpose to identify the needs of
people with disabilities and others with access and functional
needs before, during, and after a disaster and to integrate
disability needs and resources into emergency management
systems. The OAFN offers guidance to emergency managers and
planners, disability and older adult service systems for
planning and responding during disasters and recovery.
According to the U.S. Census of 2010, approximately three
million Californian's over the age of five years have a
disability. The OAFN goal is to strengthen the method and
planning of emergency management for people with disabilities
and others with access and functional needs.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 918 (Cooley, Chapter 187, Statutes of 2013) required OES, on
or before July 31, 2015, to update the State Emergency Plan to
include proposed best practices for local governments and
nongovernmental entities to use to mobilize and evacuate people
with disabilities and others with access and functional needs
during an emergency or natural disaster.
AB 2051 (Tran, 2010) would have authorize the California
Emergency Management Agency to prepare, in voluntary cooperation
with specific local governmental and nongovernmental entities, a
specialized plan to mobilize senior citizens and disabled person
during an emergency or natural disasters. (Held on Senate
Appropriations Suspense File)
SB 426 (Kehoe, 2007) would have established a Deputy Director
for OAFN position within OES responsible for preparedness,
response, and recovery services for individuals of all ages with
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functional limitations and disabilities. (Held on the Senate
Appropriations Suspense File)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:
YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, unknown,
likely minor reimbursable mandate costs for counties to update
emergency plans to identify how the access and functional needs
population is served. Actual costs would depend upon a
determination by the Commission on State Mandates, and the
number and amount of individual claims that are deemed
reimbursable.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
California Association of the Deaf
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, Inc.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc.
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the California
Association of the Deaf, "barriers to access still exist,
especially for those Deaf Californians who, due to language
deprivation or delays, have not mastered the English language
and cannot follow written instructions and/or captioning shown
on media outlets. It is time that county and state officials
remove barriers to communication for public safety reasons."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
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Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
8/15/16 20:22:20
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