BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2430
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                AB 2430 (Chesbro) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Human Services  
          Vote:        4-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires at least 20% of board members of an  
          organization to be blind if the organization provides services  
          solely to blind individuals through the California Department of  
          Rehabilitation. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Unknown, likely absorbable workload to the Department of  
          Rehabilitation to provide oversight of the board service  
          requirement established by this bill. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by the California Council of  
            the Blind to ensure 20% of board membership of service  
            organizations are members of the visually impaired community.  
            According to the author and sponsor, this bill increases  
            assurances that organizations understand the unique needs of  
            blind people. 

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 114 (Committee on Human Services) in  
            2006 was similar to this bill. AB 114 was not taken up for a  
            vote on the Assembly Floor. 

           3)Concerns  . Junior Blind, a community-based non-profit that  
            provides services to almost 10,000 visually impaired  
            individuals, is concerned about the breadth of organizations  
            subject to the proposed 20% requirement. Junior Blind and  
            other organizations indicate finding visually impaired board  
            members is often challenging. In addition, this bill does not  








                                                                  AB 2430
                                                                  Page  2

            consider the proportion of funding received from the  
            Department of Rehabilitation prior to imposing the board  
            service requirement. 


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