BILL ANALYSIS �
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 25|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 25
Author: Hayashi (D)
Amended: 8/30/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/22/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu,
Price, Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Concussions and head injuries
SOURCE : National Football League
DIGEST : This bill requires a school district that elects
to offer athletics to require that an athlete suspected of
sustaining a concussion or head injury to be removed from
the activity and be evaluated and cleared by a health care
provider before returning to the activity.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, known as the Civic Center Act:
1. Authorizes school districts to grant the use of school
facilities or grounds to various organizations and
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
2
groups for specified purposes, including supervised
recreational activities.
2. Requires school districts to grant the use of school
facilities or grounds to non-profit organizations and to
clubs or associations organized to promote youth and
school activities, including the Girl Scouts, Boy
Scouts, Camp Fire, parent-teachers' associations, and
school-community advisory councils.
3. Requires any school district that authorizes the use of
facilities or grounds to be liable for any injury
resulting from the negligence of the district in the
ownership and maintenance of those facilities or
grounds. Any group using the facilities or grounds is
liable for any injuries resulting from the negligence of
that group during the use of those facilities or
grounds. The districts and the group are each to bear
the cost of insuring against its respective risks, and
must each bear the costs of defending itself against
claims arising from those risks.
The California Interscholastic Federation's (CIF) Bylaw 313
requires a student-athlete who is suspected of sustaining a
concussion or head injury in a practice or game to be
removed from competition at that time for the remainder of
the day. A student-athlete who has been removed from play
is prohibited from returning to play until the athlete is
evaluated by a licensed health care provider trained in
education and management of concussion and receives written
clearance to return to play from that health care provider.
A Question and Answer is listed below Bylaw 313,
indicating that the scope of practice for a "licensed
health care provider" will limit the evaluation to a
medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy.
This bill requires a school district that elects to offer
athletics to require that an athlete suspected of
sustaining a concussion or head injury to be removed from
the activity and be evaluated and cleared by a licensed
health care provider before returning to the activity. Any
group that uses school facilities or grounds for supervised
recreational activities must also comply with these
requirements. Specifically, this bill:
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
3
1. Requires a school district that elects to offer an
athletic program to comply with all of the following:
A. An athlete who is suspected of sustaining a
concussion or head injury in an athletic activity
shall be immediately removed from the activity for
the remainder of the day.
B. The athlete shall not be permitted to return to
the activity until he/she is evaluated by a licensed
health care provider, trained in the management of
concussions, acting within the scope of his/her
practice. The athlete shall not be permitted to
return to the activity until he/she receives written
clearance to return to the activity from that
licensed health care provider.
C. On a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury
information sheet shall be signed and returned by the
athlete and the athlete's parent or guardian prior to
the start of the athlete's season of practice or
competition.
2. Exempts an athlete engaging in an athletic activity
during the regular school day or as part of a physical
education course.
Comments
Existing policy for high school athletics . The CIF's Bylaw
313 is nearly identical to this bill's provisions relative
to the removal of an athlete from play and clearance from a
health care provider. The CIF rules govern high school
athletics; this bill essentially extends the CIF rules to
all K-12 athletics (team sports), as well as to all
supervised recreational activities held on school grounds.
Civic Center Act . This bill requires any group that uses
school facilities or grounds for supervised recreational
activities to comply with the policies for the management
of concussion and head injury established in this bill.
This bill appears to apply to groups such as sports leagues
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
4
and after school programs rather than the Girl Scouts, but
it is not clear what "supervised recreational activities"
includes.
Liability . Current law provides that school districts are
liable for any injury resulting from the negligence of the
district in the ownership and maintenance of the facilities
or grounds, and groups using the facilities or grounds are
liable for any injuries resulting from the negligence of
that group during the use of those facilities or grounds.
This bill requires groups using school facilities or
grounds to provide a statement of compliance with policies
for the management of concussion and head injury. Concerns
have been raised that districts could be held responsible
for ensuring groups using school facilities or grounds are
actually in compliance, although the bill does not
specifically require districts to ensure outside groups
comply.
Recognizing a concussion or head injury . This bill
requires an athlete suspected of having a concussion or
head injury to be removed from the activity for at least
the remainder of the day. This bill does not address
training in the recognition of concussions or head
injuries.
Prior Legislation
AB 1646 (Hayashi), 2009-10 Session, would have required
training for athletic coaches in the identification of
symptoms of head and neck injury. (Held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's Suspense File)
AB 533 (Hayashi), 2009-10 Session, would have required
training for athletic coaches in the identification of
symptoms of head and neck injuries. (Held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's Suspense File)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
5
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Head injury requirements Potentially significant
workload; Local
non-reimbursable
Medi-Cal/Healthy Potentially significant ongoing costs
General/
Families Federal
Third party activities Likely minor workload;
Local
non-reimbursable
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/11)
National Football League (source)
Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, Sheila Jordan
American College of Sports Medicine
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
American Nurses Association of California
American Red Cross, California Chapters
Brain Injury Association of California
California Athletic Trainers' Association
California Chiropractic Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Medical Association
California Neurology Society
California Optometric Association
California School Employees Association
California Speech-Language-Hearing Association
California State Parent Teacher Association
California Teachers Association
Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Consumer Attorneys of California
Junior Leagues of California
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Occupational Therapy Association of California
San Francisco Unified School District
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/30/11)
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
6
Contra Costa County Superintendents' Coalition
Riverside County School Superintendents' Association
Riverside Unified School District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "What may
appear to be a minor blow to the head can have serious,
even fatal, consequences. Concussions have serious
immediate and long-term effects, especially on young
athletes. While not all head injuries can be prevented,
the effects can be mitigated by knowing when it is safe to
return to play. Although the California Interscholastic
Federation recently adopted a policy requiring high school
students suspected of sustaining a concussion to leave play
until they are appropriately evaluated, this does not reach
all student athletes."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 6/1/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuentes, Gorell, V. Manuel P�rez
CPM:kc 8/30/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED
AB 25
Page
7
CONTINUED