BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 737
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 17, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 737 (Walters) - As Amended: July 6, 2011
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:5 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies statutes related to the licensing and
regulation of license-exempt organized camps and expands the
operating hours of the Afterschool Education and Safety Program
(ASES). Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds to code and defines the term organized day camp to bring
these programs under specified oversight by Department of
Public Health (DPH) regulations.
2)Requires an organized camp or day camp to develop a written
operating plan and file the plan with the local health
department, as specified. The bill would also require the
health officer to acknowledge receipt of the plan within 30
days, and require that the plan be posted, with the
acknowledgement letter, in a conspicuous location on camp
premises and on any available Web site.
3)Requires DPH, in promulgating regulations pertaining to day
camps, to obtain input from specified affected organizations
and requires any costs incurred by the participating
organizations shall be borne by the organizations themselves.
4)Clarifies that the YMCA, Girl and Boy Scouts, Campfire USA,
and Boys and Girls Clubs, as organized camps, are exempt from
day care licensure.
5)Increases the number of operating hours, from 30 to 60 hours
per week, that participating programs operated by a city,
county, or nonprofit organization in the ASES program may
operate without obtaining a license or special permit
SB 737
Page 2
otherwise required under existing law, but limits a child's
total hours in the program to the current 30 hours.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF costs in the range of $60,000 per year for approximately
two years for DPH to work with stakeholders and revise the
regulations pertaining to organized camps and organized day
camps.
2)Local health departments have broad authority to charge fees
to organizations requesting reviews of operating plans, and
currently charge organized camps for similar activities. Thus,
while there may be significant local costs to this bill, it is
not a reimbursable state mandate.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, this bill is intended to
provide uniformity of oversight for organized camps and
organized day camps.
Separately, this bill expands the operating hours of the ASES
programs to accommodate the half school day schedules of
kindergartners.
2)Related Legislation . AB 1312 (Smyth) would have expanded the
number of authorized hours that unlicensed public recreation
programs can operate their programs for children ages zero to
18 years. AB 1312 is a two-year bill in the Assembly Human
Services Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081