BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 186
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 186 (Williams) - As Amended: March 30, 2011
Policy Committee: HealthVote:19-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Public Health
(DPA) to establish a list of communicable and food-borne
diseases for which clinical laboratories are required to submit
a specimen to a local public health laboratory. In addition,
this bill provides DPH the authority to modify the list of
required specimens without going through the regulatory process
under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
The bill also exempts persons and facilities that fail to submit
specimens from civil and criminal penalties unless the
requirement has been noticed for six months in the California
Code of Regulations.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor absorbable costs to the DPH to establish and modify the
list of required specimens.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. This bill is sponsored by the Health Officers
Association of California, which states the bill will give the
DPH the authority it needs to modify the list of specimens
without a lengthy regulatory hearing process. The sponsors
state that under the current regulatory process, adding a
specimen to the list may take up to two years, and that such a
delay impedes the ability of public health authorities to
quickly identify and respond to urgent public health threats.
2)Disease Reporting. Approximately 80 diseases and conditions
are considered "reportable," meaning that state law requires
AB 186
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providers and laboratories to report cases to local public
health jurisdictions (who in turn report to the state). This
reporting allows local and state authorities to do
surveillance of diseases in order to monitor and identify
potential outbreaks. For a subset of the 80 reportable
diseases, DPH requires that specimens, such as a culture or
blood samples, be submitted in addition to the disease report.
The submission of specimens allows public health authorities
to do the analysis necessary to pinpoint whether an outbreak
is occurring.
DPH currently has authority to modify the list of
reportable diseases without going through the normal
regulatory process. This bill would similarly exempt the
DPH from going through the normal regulatory process when
modifying the list of diseases for which a specimen should
be submitted.
3)Related Legislation.
a) AB 2786 (Committee on Health), 2010, contained identical
provisions to this bill. AB 2786 was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, who cited concern that DPH would modify the
list unnecessarily without regulatory oversight.
b) SB 356 (Negrete-McLeod), 2007, is nearly identical to
this bill. SB 356 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger
with a budget delay-related message and no specific
feedback about the legislation.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081