BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1406 (Mendoza) - Construction-related accessibility: public
entities
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: May 10, 2016 |Policy Vote: JUD. 7 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: May 16, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1406 would require an attorney who sends a demand
letter or serves a complaint alleging a construction-related
accessibility violation against specified school entities to
send a copy of the complaint and notification of the results of
the claim to the California Commission on Disability Access
(CCDA), as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Automation costs of $40,000 to $60,000 to develop and
implement a digital data capture format necessary to conduct
analysis of reported information. (General Fund)
Estimated CCDA staffing costs of approximately $150,000 for 1
PY of new staff, plus administrative support, to compile and
track additional data regarding disability access complaints
SB 1406 (Mendoza) Page 1 of
?
against public school entities. (General Fund)
-----see staff comments-----
Cost pressures of approximately $242,000 in 2017-18 and
$162,000 ongoing to move to an expanded office space to
accommodate additional staff.
-----see staff comments-----
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 CCDA, 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. The Commission receives
copies of demand letters and complaints from attorneys alleging
construction-related physical access violations in places of
public accommodation. These complaints are primarily filed
against small businesses, and oftentimes seek expedited cash
payments rather than correction of the accessibility violation.
Existing law, AB 1521 (Judiciary Committee), Chapter 755/2015,
also requires attorneys in disability access cases to also
notify CCDA within five business days of any judgment,
settlement, or dismissal of any claims alleged in the complaint,
of certain information regarding the resolution of the
complaints in a standard format specified by the Commission.
The CCDA is required to compile and upload the data on its
website at specified quarterly and semi-annual intervals, and
annually report tabulated data to the Legislature.
SB 1406 (Mendoza) Page 2 of
?
Proposed Law:
SB 1406 would require an attorney who sends a demand letter or
serves a complaint alleging a construction-related accessibility
claim against a "public entity" to do the following:
Send a copy of the demand letter or complaint, and information
about the complaint, to the CCDA within five days of serving
the letter or complaint, in a format specified by the CCDA.
Notify the CCDA within five days of judgment, settlement, or
dismissal of any claims, as specified, including the date of
the resolution, whether the alleged violations were remedied,
and if the violations were not fully remedied, whether another
favorable result was achieved.
The bill would apply to demand letters and complaints alleging
claims against the following "public entities:" the Regents of
the University of California, the Trustees of the California
State University and the California State University, the
California Community Colleges office of the Chancellor and the
California Community Colleges, a K-12 school district, or any
local education agency.
Related
Legislation: AB 54 (Olsen), currently pending in the Senate
Judiciary Committee, would require an attorney who provides
copies of a demand letter or complaint to the CCDA to also
submit information about the demand letter or complaint in a
standard format as specified by the commission.
Staff
Comments: In 2015, the CCDA received approximately 3,000 demand
letters and complaints alleging construction-related
accessibility violations against places of public accommodation.
As a result of AB 1521 requirements, the CCDA has also begun
receiving notifications of judgments, settlements, and
dismissals; the Commission received 124, 171, and 243 notices in
October, November, and December of 2015, respectively.
Commission workload has been impacted by the passage of AB 1521,
such that the CCDA is required to do additional research and
analysis to match resolution notices with original alleged
violations, and compile and report the collective data. Staff
notes that the Governor's proposed 2016-17 Budget includes an
augmentation of $100,000 for the CCDA for the addition of 1 PY
SB 1406 (Mendoza) Page 3 of
?
of staff (including benefits and OE&E costs) to manage the
increased workload following the passage of AB 1521. The Budget
Subcommittees in both houses have approved the budget change
proposal for the additional staff.
The CCDA indicates that SB 1406 would further increase workload,
and drive additional automation costs to move from a manual data
processing to a digital capture format. Initial information
technology systems and associated costs would be approximately
$40,000, with future build outs of approximately $20,000 as
needs grow. Staff estimates that the bill would also require
the addition of at least 1 PY of staff plus administrative
support, at a cost of approximately $150,000, but CCDA indicates
it may need 2 PY, plus part-time legal staff assistance, if the
Legislature intends the Commission to be a true research and
analysis operation, rather than performing simple data reporting
functions. It should also be noted that much of the CCDA's
current work is performed with the assistance of volunteer
support for its projects, which is neither reliable nor
sustainable.
The CCDA also notes that its current office configuration, which
is a shared space sub-leased from the Department of
Rehabilitation, is insufficient to support additional staff that
would be required to implement the bill. As such, the bill
creates cost pressures to move to a larger office space.
One-time moving costs would be approximately $80,000, according
to a Department of General Services estimate, and annual office
space leasing costs would be approximately $200,000. The amount
of CCDA's current lease, which expires at the end of this fiscal
year, is nearly $38,000, so the bill would impose ongoing cost
pressures of approximately $162,000.
-- END --