BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 33
Author: Simitian (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE BANKING & FINANCIAL, INST. COMM. : 7-0, 4/6/11
AYES: Vargas, Blakeslee, Evans, Kehoe, Liu, Padilla,
Walters
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 4/12/11
AYES: Evans, Harman, Corbett, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee
SUBJECT : Elder and dependent adult abuse
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill deletes the January 1, 2013, sunset
date on the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse
Reporting Act, originally enacted in 2005.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for the confidentiality
of financial records but does not prohibit various state
and local officers and agencies from requesting information
from an office or branch of a financial institution and the
office or branch from responding to the request, as to
whether a person has an account or accounts at that office
or branch and, if so, any identifying numbers of the
account or accounts.
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Existing law provides that a county adult protective
services office and a long-term care ombudsman when
investigating the financial abuse of an elder or dependent
adult is similarly not prohibited from requesting financial
information and the office or branch is not prohibited from
responding to the request.
The bill makes a technical nonsubstantive change to the
above provisions. The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult
Civil Protection Act (Act) establishes procedures for the
reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and
dependent adult abuse. The Act requires persons, defined
as mandated reporters, to report known or suspected
instances of elder or dependent adult abuse. Under the
Act, care custodians of elder or dependent adults and local
law enforcement agencies are mandated reporters. A
violation of the reporting requirements by a mandated
reporter is a misdemeanor.
Existing law, until January 1, 2013, includes within these
reporting requirements mandated reporters of suspected
financial abuse, as defined, and, with certain exceptions,
makes failure to comply with these requirements subject to
a civil penalty.
This bill deletes the January 1, 2013, repeal date.
Background
SB 1018 (Simitian), Chapter 140, Statutes of 2006, enacted
the provisions of law whose sunset dates this bill would
delete, was the subject of considerable debate and
controversy, when it was being considered by the
Legislature during 2005. Initially, concerns were raised
by opponents to SB 1018 regarding the extent to which an
employee or an officer of a depository institution would be
able to identify known or suspected instances of financial
abuse of elder or dependent adults, and regarding the
type(s) of punishment that could be meted out against a
mandated reporter who falsely reported suspected financial
abuse, or who failed to report such abuse. Ultimately, all
parties in opposition to the measure reached a compromise
with the author. Mandated reporters under the Elder and
Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Reporting Act were given
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significant protection from civil and criminal liability
for reports made. Those who failed to report suspected
elder or dependent adult financial abuse were subject to
civil and/or monetary penalties, but not to jail time. As
noted below, at least one former opponent of SB 1018 (the
California Bankers Association) now supports this bill;
this bill has no current opposition.
Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee states
that SB 1018 has been successful in increasing the number
of confirmed cases of financial elder or dependent adult
abuse reported to the authorities.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 1018 (Simitian), Chapter 140, Statutes of 2005, enacted
the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Reporting
Act, with a sunset date of January 1, 2013.
AB 2105 (DeSaulnier), 2007-08 Session, would have expanded
the list of those who are mandated reporters of elder and
dependent adult financial abuse to include California
Finance Lenders Law and California Residential Mortgage
Lending Act licensees, and would have added coursework in
elder and dependent adult abuse detection and reporting to
the list of elective continuing education courses available
to real estate licensees. Vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger.
AB 518 (Wagner), 2011-12 Session, is virtually identical to
this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/12/11)
AARP
Advisory Council of the Council on Aging Silicon Valley
Alzheimer's Association
Area 12 Agency on Aging
Berkley-East Bay Gray Panthers
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
California Alliance for Retired Americans
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California Association of Public Authorities
California Bankers Association
California Commission on Aging
California Credit Union League
California District Attorneys Association
California Long Term Care Ombudsman Association
California Professional Firefighters
California Psychiatric Association
California School Employees Association
California Senior Legislature
California State Association of Counties
California State Sheriffs Association
City and County of San Francisco
Congress of California Seniors
Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging
County of San Diego
County Welfare Directors Association of California
Gray Panthers Sacramento
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Huntington Hospital
In-Home Supportive Services Consortium of San Francisco
Independence at Home
Long Term Care Ombudsman Program for Stanislaus County (PSA
30)
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Mother Lode Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Multipurpose Senior Services Program Site Association
Older Women's League of California
Orange County Council on Aging
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Professional Fiduciary Association of California
PSA 2 Area Agency on Aging
San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services
San Francisco Elder Abuse Forensic Center
San Luis Obispo County First Responder Group for Incidents
Involving Elders and Dependent Adults
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Siskiyou County Human Services Agency
Social Services Agency of the County of Santa Clara
Solano County Health and Social Services Department
Sonoma County Area Agency Advisory Council
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
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Stanislaus Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance
State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of
California
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
Tehama County Department of Social Services
Ventura County Board of Supervisors
Yolo County Sheriff's Department
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes: "This bill
deletes the January 1, 2013 sunset . . . and makes
technical, nonsubstantive changes. To be clear, the bill
does NOT substantively alter existing law, but merely
deletes the 2013 sunset that was included in SB 1018. It
is important to delete the 2013 sunset because mandated
reporting for financial institutions has increased the
number of confirmed reports of elder financial abuse.
According to data collected by Adult Protective Services,
the number of confirmed cases of elder and dependent adult
financial abuse rose over 16% from 4,784 in 2006 to 5,568
in 2007 (the law was implemented in 2007). The number of
confirmed cases in 2010 was 5,602. ? �M]andated reporting
has not produced a significant increase in the number of
frivolous or illegitimate reports of abuse. Of all reports
of abuse received by APS �Adult Protective Services]
(including types other than financial), 41.9% were
confirmed in 2006 before mandated reporting, and 41.5% were
confirmed in 2007 after mandated reporting the most recent
confirmation percentage for 2010 was 38.3%."
Proponents of this bill state that the protections provided
by the Financial Elder Abuse Reporting Act of 2005 are
critical to the financial protection of seniors and
dependent adults because they are vulnerable and often
unable to understand the implications of actions taken
against them by financial predators. The California
Association of Public Authorities states that this Act
"helped stem the tide of financial abuse cases against
elder and dependent adults by adding officers and employees
of financial institutions as mandated reporters of
suspected financial abuse. The financial service providers
at banks and credit unions are in a key position to spot
financial exploitation and make timely reports to law
enforcement or Adult Protection Services?." Proponents
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point out that timely reporting is critical to preventing
the swift depletion of an elderly or dependent adult's life
savings by a financial predator. The California Commission
on Aging argues that "�t]he crime of elder and dependent
adult financial abuse is insidious and growing. The �Act]
is a successful crime-fighting tool that needs to be made
permanent." Further, California Bankers Association
supports this bill and states that "financial institutions
have dedicated considerable resources to ensure their
compliance with the law and therefore we support your
effort to remove the sunset provision." Because of
compliance with mandatory reporting by the financial
institutions, Adult Protective Services has reported a rise
in the number of confirmed financial abuse cases since
2007. This bill will continue to provide protections from
financial abuse for elder and dependent adults by removing
the sunset provision.
DLW:do 4/14/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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