By CANHR is supporting, opposing and/or closely following the following pieces of legislation this session. This list is subject to change. Please check www.canhr.org for updated details on legislation, and www.leginfo.ca.gov for information on specific bills.
CANHR Sponsored Bills
AB 2408 (Grayson) – Reverse Mortgage Suitability Worksheet Bill
This legislation will improve the existing Reverse Mortgage Suitability Worksheet by addressing additional areas of concern: problems for the non-borrowing spouse, communication problems with loan servicers, and property tax problems due to home improvement contracts.
Status: DEAD
SB 1207 (Jackson) – The Nursing Home Resident Safety Act of 2020
This bill would require a skilled nursing facility to have a backup power system that maintains safe temperatures and power to all critical systems for resident health and safety for no less than 96 hours during any type of power outage. It aims to protect nursing home residents from the life-threatening consequences of the massive blackouts PG&E and other utility companies are now using in an effort to prevent wildfires during periods of extreme weather. The bill is co-sponsored by CANHR and Long Term Care Ombudsman Services of San Luis Obispo County.
Status: VETOED
CANHR Support
AB 2377 (Chiu): Adult Residential Facilities: Closures and Resident Transfers
This bill would strengthen resident protections during closures of Adult Residential Facilities (ARFs).
Status: Signed into law.
SB 214 (Dodd): California Community Transitions Program
This bill would make it easier for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who have been in a nursing facility for fewer than 90 days to enroll in the California Community Transitions Program, which facilitates transitions from institutional to home or community-based settings.
Status: Signed into law.
SB 908 (Wieckoswki): Debt Collectors: Licensing
This bill would require the debt collection industry to be licensed in California.
Status: Signed into law.
SB 1016 (Wieckowski): Limited Conservatorships
This bill will clarify that the proper function of a conservatee’s attorney is to advocate for the expressed wishes of the conservatee. Currently, some attorneys advocate for what they believe are the conservatee’s best interests, regardless of what their client is instructing.
Status: DEAD
SB 1043 (Pan/Jackson) – Decisionmaking for Unrepresented Nursing Home Residents
This bill will update and improve Health and Safety Code Section 1418.8 after it was found to be constitutionally defective by the California Court of Appeal in CANHR v. Smith (37 Cal. App. 5th 814 (2019)).
Status: DEAD
CANHR Oppose
AB 1971 (Voepel): Reverse Mortgages
This legislation would dilute consumer protections for seniors considering a reverse mortgage, by reducing the mandatory waiting period between loan counseling and completion of the application from seven to three days.
Status: DEAD
AB 2664 (Diep): Disability access: statutory damages: small businesses
AB 2664 is an erosion of accessibility protections for individuals with disabilities in construction-related claims. This bill would change the definition of what constitutes an exempted small business from 50 employees to 100 employees.
Status: DEAD
AB 3138 (Waldron): Residential care facilities for the elderly: electronic monitoring.
This bill imposes restrictions on residents of Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly seeking to use video cameras to monitor activities inside the resident’s living space.
Status: DEAD
CANHR Watch
AB 2644 (Wood): Skilled Nursing Facility: Deaths: Reporting
In the event of a declared emergency related to a communicable disease, this bill would require a skilled nursing facility to report each disease-related death and suspected disease-related death to the Department of Public Health within 24 hours of that death. This bill would also require a skilled nursing facility to have a full-time dedicated Infection Preventionist staff member, as specified, who is either a registered nurse or a licensed vocational nurse.
Status: Signed into law.
AB 2926 (Calderon): Referral Agencies for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly
This bill would require agencies that refer individuals to residential care facilities for a referral fee to provide with certain disclosures and would make the employees of the referral agency a mandated reporter.
Status: DEAD
SB 1259 (Hurtado): Adult Residential Facilities and Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly
This bill would establish a task force to evaluate how to meet the needs of SSI/SSP recipients, and to assess the unmet demand for placement in facilities for SSI/SSP recipients.
Status: DEAD
SB 1305 (Roth): Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds
This bill would move the sunset date back a year for California’s Revocable Transfer on Death Deed, from January 1, 2021 to January 1, 2022.
Status: Signed into law.