BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2430
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
AB 2430 (Chesbro) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010
SUBJECT : Department of Rehabilitation: blindness
SUMMARY : Requires that at least 20% of the board members of
organizations and agencies whose sole mission is to provide
services to persons who are blind or visually impaired and that
receive grants or contracts from the Department of
Rehabilitation (DOR) consist of persons who are blind or
visually impaired.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes DOR with the goal of providing individuals with
disabilities with the tools necessary to make informed choices
and decisions, maximize employment and independence, and
achieve equality of opportunity and integration into all
aspects of society. Welfare and Institutions Code (W&I Code)
Section 19000.
2)Establishes the Legislature's intent that people with
disabilities and their advocates be full partners in
vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs and
be involved on a regular basis and in a meaningful way with
respect to policy development and implementation. W&I Code
Section 19000.
3)Directs DOR to recommend to each organization or agency, the
purpose of which is to provide services to individuals who are
blind, and that receive grants or contracts from DOR, the
number of blind members of the board that is appropriate to
meet the needs of the community being served by that board.
W&I Code Section 19020.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Background : In 1992, the sponsor of this bill, the California
Council of the Blind (CCB), sponsored AB 550 (Farr), Chapter
1037, Statutes of 1992. AB 550 added Section 19020 to the
AB 2430
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Welfare and Institutions Code, requiring that DOR recommend that
an agency's board of directors have a minimum number of blind
individuals as a condition of receiving grants or contracts from
DOR.
In 1993, DOR established a policy requiring that at least 20% of
the board membership of organizations or agencies whose sole
mission is to provide services to persons who are blind or
visually impaired or that receive grants or contracts from DOR
be people who are blind or visually impaired. Current DOR
policy no longer requires this minimum level of participation
but, instead, gives bonus points to agencies applying for grants
that meet the 20% threshold. This bill would codify the former
DOR policy.
Need for this bill : According to the author, "to best meet the
needs of blind and visually impaired consumers, it is essential
that an agency providing specialized services to such persons
have significant representation from that population on its
board of directors." The author points out that the boards of
directors of Independent Living Centers (ILCs)--private
non-profit organizations that serve people with disabilities and
receive funding through DOR--are required by law to consist of a
majority of people with disabilities. This bill, the author
says, "will extend the sound principle of community oversight
that has served [ILCs] well to agencies that specialize in
serving blind and visually impaired Californians."
By way of further example, nonprofit regional centers,
established under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities
Services Act and funded through the Department of Developmental
Services to provide services to people with developmental
disabilities, are required by law to have governing boards of
directors with no less than 25% of its members comprised of
people with developmental disabilities. Similarly, of the 20
governor-appointed at-large and Area Board representatives on
the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, eight (40%)
must be people with developmental disabilities (3 of 7 at-large
appointees, and 5 of 13 Area Board appointees).
Thus, ILCs and other publicly funded organizations whose sole
purpose is to provide services to people with disabilities are
able to comply with even more stringent standards for inclusion
of the people they serve on their governing boards than the 20%
required by this bill. According to census data, as reported by
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the American Foundation for the Blind, there are more than
660,000 Californians age 18 and older who are blind or have
serious vision impairments.
( http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15&TopicID=384&Document
ID=5141 .) It would seem reasonable, therefore, to require
organizations that receive DOR funds and whose sole purpose is
to provide services to people who are blind or visually impaired
to have at least 2 out of 10 members of their governing boards
be individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Prior bill : SB 1114 (Committee on Human Services 2006) also
would have required 20% board representation by blind or
visually impaired persons for organizations or agencies that
contract with or receive grants from DOR and whose sole purpose
is to provide services to individuals who are blind or visually
impaired. SB 1114 was placed on the Assembly inactive file and
was not enacted.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Council of the Blind (sponsor)
Blindness Support Services, Inc.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089