BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1225
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 21, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                AB 1225 (De La Torre) - As Amended:  January 4, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Health Vote:10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill codifies specified current law emergency preparedness  
          practices and regulations to require the Department of Public  
          Health (DPH) and local public health departments (LHD) to  
          identify deficiencies in preparedness plans following disaster  
          exercises, and track the implementation of corrective measures  
          to ensure improvements are made to these plans. 


           FISCAL EFFECT  


          Minor absorbable workload to DPH and LHD to continue compliance  
          with federal and state emergency preparedness statutes and  
          regulations. Both state and federal law requires the completion  
          of the preparedness items addressed in this legislation.   


           COMMENTS  

           
          1)Rationale  .  This bill ensures that preparations at the state  
            and local levels for public health emergencies are thorough  
            and lead to improved feedback mechanisms to protect the  
            public. According to the author this legislation is needed to  
            increase California's ability to respond to statewide  
            emergencies and outbreaks of infectious disease. 

           2)Proposed amendments  discussed in the Assembly Health Committee  
            and recommended for adoption in this committee today clarify  
            the public availability of materials addressed in this bill.









                                                                  AB 1225
                                                                  Page  2

           3)Related Legislation  . This bill is similar to AB 2584 (De La  
            Torre) in 2006 and AB 2996 (De La Torre) in 2008. Both bills  
            were vetoed due to concerns about duplication of current  
            efforts without an accompanying increase in public protection.  
            AB 1225 has not been amended to address veto concerns. 


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081