BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 2282 (Berryhill) - Disability access: standing: injunctive
relief.
Amended: May 10, 2012 Policy Vote: Judiciary 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 16, 2012
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 2282 would require the California Commission on
Disability Access (CCDA) to analyze and make recommendations to
the Legislature regarding whether compliance with state and
federal construction-related disability accessibility laws would
be improved or potentially deterred by changes to the state
rules regarding legal standing for actions seeking injunctive
relief, as specified. This bill provides that the study and
recommendations shall be undertaken promptly in light of urgent
concerns among businesses regarding alleged misuse of existing
law, consistent with other pending projects of the CCDA.
Fiscal Impact: One-time costs of up to $100,000 (General Fund)
for the CCDA to complete the study and report to the Legislature
on expedited terms.
Background: Existing law established the CCDA, an independent
state agency composed of 19 members, with the general
responsibility for monitoring disability access compliance in
California, and making recommendations to the Legislature for
necessary changes in order to facilitate implementation of state
and federal laws on disability access.
The CCDA has indicated current projects include the development
and implementation of required policy and procedures to obtain
and spend private contributions and grants, the reassessment and
coordination of the existing Comprehensive Accessibility
Checklist on the CCDA website, coordination with stakeholders to
assess the effectiveness of the Certified Accessibility
Specialist Program (CASp), ongoing research and assessment in
designing and implementing a comprehensive Civil Enforcement
Task Force and/or survey tool to address disability access
AB 2282 (Berryhill)
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non-compliance and unnecessary litigation, as well as research
and coordination with stakeholders on effective training and
educational tools/programs to improve accessibility compliance
and increase the pool of CASp professionals.
Proposed Law: This bill would require the CCDA to analyze and
make recommendations to the Legislature regarding whether
compliance with state and federal construction-related
disability accessibility laws would be improved or potentially
deterred by changes to state rules regarding legal standing for
actions seeking injunctive relief to correct alleged violations
of disability access laws or the manner in which these claims
are pleaded.
This bill provides that the study and recommendations shall be
undertaken promptly in light of urgent concerns among businesses
regarding alleged misuse of existing law, consistent with other
pending projects of the CCDA.
Related Legislation: SB 1186 (Steinberg/Dutton) 2012 would
prohibit an attorney or any person from issuing a demand for
money to a building owner or tenant for a violation of a
construction-related accessibility standard. This bill would
provide that the functions and responsibilities of the CCDA
include the concurrent and prospective review of legislative
measures and recommendations on any additional ideas or options
to promote disability access and reduce unnecessary litigation.
This bill has been referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill charge the CCDA to
engage in tasks that appear consistent with its mission and
existing scope of responsibilities. The CCDA budget for 2011-12
is $407,000 and includes staffing of one analyst. The CCDA has
indicated the provisions of this bill will result in increased
workload that is not absorbable and could result in one-time
additional costs of up to $100,000 (General Fund) to promptly
complete the study and recommendations to the Legislature as
required under the provisions of this bill. In order to satisfy
the requirement of prompt analysis and recommendations, the CCDA
would be required to suspend existing workload to accommodate
this request for review, analysis, and recommendations to the
Legislature.
AB 2282 (Berryhill)
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