BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1003
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1003 (John A. Perez)
As Amended April 2, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Furutani, Hill, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Ma, Skinner | |Calderon, Krekorian, |
| | | |Fuentes, Monning, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
|Nays:|Hagman, Gilmore |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Audra Strickland |
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SUMMARY : Eliminates the four grant annual limitation for the
awarding of grants from the Equality in Prevention and Services
for Domestic Abuse Fund (EPSDA), and adds staff qualification
requirements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the requirement that programs previously funded shall
not be subject to a competitive grant process, but shall be
subject to a request for application (RFA) process.
2)Provides that grant recipients are not subject to matching
funds requirements for the purposes of this section.
3)Incorporates for clarity the California Evidence Code Section
1037.1 definition of "domestic violence counselor" requiring
that domestic violence counselors must have either:
a) A master's degree in counseling;
b) One year of counseling experience, at least six months
of which is in counseling domestic violence victims; or,
c) At least 40 hours of supervised training under a
qualified domestic violence counselor, which shall include
the history of domestic violence, relevant civil and
AB 1003
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criminal law, societal attitudes towards domestic violence,
counseling techniques, housing, public assistance, and
referral services.
4)Provides that the minimum training standards of Evidence Code
Section 1037.1 shall be provided to the appropriate staff and
volunteers who do not meet the minimum requirements.
5)Changes references from the Office of Emergency Services (OES)
to California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes a grant program for the development and support of
domestic violence programs and services for the gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
2)Provides that the Office of Emergency Management Services
shall use funds from the Equality in Prevention and Services
for Domestic Abuse fund to award up to four grants annually to
fund qualifying domestic violence programs and services for
the LGBT community with services including, but not limited
to, all of the following: 24-hour crisis hotlines;
counseling; court and social service advocacy; legal
assistance with temporary restraining orders, devices, and
custody disputes; community resource and referral; household
establishment assistance; emergency housing; and, educational
workshops and publications.
3)Merged the OES and Office of Homeland Security into Cal-EMA.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor diminution of EPSDA grants to the extent the deletion of
what has been 25% match requirement results in less program
per grant. Given, however, that funding in the EPSDA Fund is
projected to be less than $100,000 in 2009-10, the loss of a
match will not amount to a significant amount.
2)To the extent there are sufficient funds in the EPSDA Fund to
support meaningful programs, this bill could result in more
cost-effective programming to the extent more stringent
eligibility requirements are met and presumptive grantees are
AB 1003
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required to compete.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "In 2006, Equality
California sponsored AB 2051 (Cohn), the Equality in Prevention
and Services for Domestic Abuse Act. This legislation, which
was enacted on January 1, 2007, levied a $23 fee on individuals
registering as domestic partners to fund culturally appropriate
programs for LGBT survivors of domestic violence. Specifically,
this bill established a grant program, funded by the Equality in
Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund, to ensure that
LGBT people in abusive relationships have access to prevention
and intervention services that encourage them to break the cycle
of violence.
"By deleting the minimum number of grants that may be awarded,
Cal-EMA would have the flexibility to issue more organizations
grants should those funds become available.
"Additionally, concern has been expressed that the use of the
word 'all' has created an unintended consequence of limiting the
organizations that may be awarded grants. The purpose of the
grant program is to provide grants to organizations that are
able to provide the best culturally appropriate education and
services for LGBT victims of domestic violence."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000525