BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2531
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    AB 2531 (Allen) - As Amended:  April 30, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:19-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill authorizes state hospitals under the jurisdiction of 
          the State Department of Mental Health (DMH) to develop a list of 
          contraband items, and requires each hospital to form a committee 
          to develop the list of contraband and to update it at least 
          every 6 months. This bill also exempts DMH from the requirement 
          to issue regulations to implement its provisions and requires 
          the lists to be posted to DMH's Internet web site.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state fiscal effect. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by DMH to allow each state 
            hospital the flexibility to develop and maintain a list of 
            items that are forbidden for possession by patients.  DMH 
            indicates that was done routinely until 2009, when the Office 
            of Administrative Law examined the contraband list process in 
            response to a patient complaint, and ruled that it constituted 
            an underground regulation. In response to the OAL ruling, DMH 
            rescinded the contraband list policy, and currently has no 
            contraband lists in effect.  DMH indicates an effective 
            contraband policy is crucial to maintaining safety for 
            patients and staff, and that the regulatory process is too 
            lengthy and cumbersome for these purposes.  DMH maintains 
            allowing each hospital to develop their own list is 
            appropriate to reflect the patient populations at each 
            hospital.

           2)Related Legislation  . AB 2399 (Allen), also pending in this 








                                                                  AB 2531
                                                                  Page  2

            committee, requires state hospitals to update injury and 
            illness prevention plans and develop incident reporting 
            systems that meet certain specifications.  
           

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081