BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 186
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 186 (Williams)
As Amended August 31, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 5, 2011) |SENATE: |37-0 |(September 7, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish a list of communicable diseases and conditions for
which clinical laboratories must submit a culture or a specimen
to the local public health laboratory to undergo further study.
Permits DPH to modify the list of communicable diseases and
conditions in consultation with appropriate local public health
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local health
officers and public health laboratory directors.
The Senate amendments permit the list to be modified in
consultation with appropriate local public health stakeholders,
including, but not limited to, local health officers and public
health laboratory directors.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required DPH to establish a
list of communicable diseases and conditions for which clinical
laboratories shall submit a culture or a specimen to the local
public health laboratory to undergo further study. Permitted
DPH to modify the list of communicable diseases and conditions
for which clinical labs must submit specimens to the local
public health laboratory to undergo further testing at any time
after consultation with the California Conference of Local
Health Officers and the California Association of Public Health
Laboratory Directors.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
CDPH additional minor and
absorbable General
laboratory staff
AB 186
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Local public health minor and absorbable General
additional laboratory staff
COMMENTS : According to the author, technology is not currently
available in California public health laboratories for different
sub-typing techniques, such as DNA fingerprinting, that can be
used to identify clusters of various organisms that cause
illness. The author states that use of this specialized testing
can help identify outbreaks and sources of outbreaks so they can
be mitigated, and for this to be an effective public health
tool, the public health laboratory needs to obtain the necessary
specimens from all sources in order to be able to quickly
identify the organisms causing illnesses and compare the
subtypes, thus allowing a timely public health response. The
author contends that by allowing DPH to quickly add conditions
to the list of diseases for which clinical laboratories must
submit specimens, this bill may save lives during an emergency.
The list of communicable diseases and conditions for which
laboratories must submit cultures is established by regulation,
and adding or deleting a disease or condition requires an
administrative regulation change under the Administrative
Procedures Act (APA). The APA was intended to ensure
transparency and full public participation when agencies change
their regulations. The APA does permit adoption of emergency
regulations, but requires a five-day public notice, and
emergency regulations can only remain in effect for up to 180
days. According to the sponsor, Health Officers Association of
California (HOAC), it could take one and one-half to two years
for DPH to update the list of reportable diseases, whereas under
this bill, it could take as little as two months.
HOAC writes in support of this bill that public health
laboratories are the front line in the war against disease
outbreaks. These labs can quickly identify sub-types of
contaminants, such as E. coli, so that a common source outbreak
can be identified and investigated. HOAC further states that
public health laboratories can also examine avian flu isolates
for strain typing to determine their potential to result in a
human pandemic. HOAC contends that this bill will enable public
health laboratories to better protect all Californians during
the outbreak of a dangerous disease.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
AB 186
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319-2097
FN: 0002689