BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 737|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 737
Author: Walters (R)
Amended: 5/31/11
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/12/11
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price,
Runner, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
SUBJECT : Organized camps
SOURCE : California State Alliance of YMCAs
California Collaboration for Youth
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to licensure and
reporting requirements for certain organizations serving
children.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law :
1. Establishes the After School Education and Safety
Program to create incentives for establishing before and
after school enrichment programs during school days and
CONTINUED
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vacation days for students in kindergarten and grades
first to ninth.
2. Exempts organizations participating in the After School
Education and Safety Program from child care licensure
if they operate from fewer than 30 hours per week.
3. Establishes the licensure of child day care facilities
to ensure a quality day care environment.
4. Exempts from licensure recreation programs operated by
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, Camp
Fire, or similar organizations as determined by
regulations of the department; child care programs
conducted by these organizations remain subject to
licensure.
5. Defines an "organized camp" as a site with program and
facilities established for the primary purposes of
providing an outdoor living experience for five days or
more.
6. Requires the Director of the Department of Public Health
(DPH) to establish minimum standards for organized camps
and directs local health officers to enforce these
standards.
7. Provides, in regulation, that organized camps are exempt
from sales and use taxes on meals and food products if
they meet certain conditions.
This bill:
1. Increases the number of hours, from 30 to 60 hours per
week, that a participating program operated by a city,
county, or nonprofit organization in the After School
Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnership Program may
operate without obtaining a license or special permit
otherwise required under existing law.
2. Clarifies that specified recreation programs conducted
for children are exempt from day care licensure and
administration regulations.
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3. Modifies the definition of the term "organized camp" and
defines the term "organized day camp".
4. Requires an organized camp or day camp to develop an
operating plan and file the plan with the local health
department, as specified. The bill would also require
the officer to acknowledge receipt of the plan within 30
days.
5. Requires the DPH, in promulgating regulations pertaining
to day camps, to obtain input from affected
organizations, and recover costs from those
organizations, as specified.
Background
The author's office reports that 21st Century programs
operated by city, county, or nonprofit organizations are
open more than 30 hours per week because the children they
accommodate include kindergarten children who are present
every morning or every afternoon.
The author's office also reports that the list of
recreation program providers exempt from licensure does not
include the YMCA. Because the Department of Social
Services has not yet promulgated regulations defining
organizations similar to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp
Fire, and Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA's recreation
programs do not always receive an exemption from licensing.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
DPH regulations $29 $60 $30 General
Local health dept.
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Significant costs recovered by fees Local
notification
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/26/11)
California State Alliance of YMCA (co-source)
California Collaboration for Youth (co-source)
American Camp Association, So. California/Hawaii
Alpine Camp and Conference Center
Boy Scouts of America
Cali-Camp
Camp Funtime
Camp Gan Israel S. Barbara
Camp James Summer Day Camp
Camp Kinneret
Camp Mountain Chai
Carmel Valley Tennis Camp
Catalina Island Camps
Coppercreek Camp
Douglas Ranch Camps
Dunn School
Emerald Cove Day Camp
Forest Home
Girl Scout Council of Orange County
Gold Arrow Camp
Guided Discoveries
Jameson Ranch Camp
Jefunira Camp
Kennolyn Camps
Mountain Camp
Mountain Camp Woodside
Mt. Herman Camp
Outpost Summer Camps
Pali Overnight Adventures
Plantation Farm Camp
Peninsula Bay Cities Day Camp And Swim School
Rawhide Ranch Camp
River Way Ranch Camp
Shaffer's High Sierra Camp
Sierra Adventure Camps
Tocaloma Summer Day Camp
Tom Sawyer Camps
Tumbleweed Camp
Valley Trails Suller Camp
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Western Association of Independent Camps
Woodcraft Rangers
World Impact
Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsors, the
California State Alliance of YMCAs and the California
Collaboration for Youth, also report that "organized day
camps" are being treated in some counties similarly to the
way the statute treats "organized camps" (overnight
programs), while in other counties, the health officer is
not applying health and safety rules to "organized day
camps" that he or she is applying to "organized camps."
This bill makes it clear that "organized day camps," as
defined, will be regulated in the same way that "organized
camps" are regulated.
CTW:do 5/31/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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