< 1998- 1999 Legislative Session supported our Legislation. CCB Sponsored Legislation goes to Governor's Desk: ***AB 685 - Assemblywoman Helen Thomson "Detectable Warning & Guide Surface Product Certification Bill: This Legislation has been signed by Governor Gray Davis. It is Chapter 386. Our thanks and appreciation go to Assemblywoman Helen Thompson and her staff and the CCB membership for resolution R 97 B 3 which created this statute. AB 685 - Helen Thomson Legislative Digest AB 685, as amended, Thomson. Accessibility standards: blind and visually impaired. Existing law imposes various requirements relating to access to buildings by persons with disabilities, including provisions in the California Building Standards Code, and makes the issuance of a building permit subject to compliance with those standards. The bill would require that all detectable warning products and directional surfaces installed after {- July 1, 2000 -} {+ January 1, 2001 +} , be approved by an independent entity selected by the {+ Department of General Services, +} Division of the State Architect {+ , +} and that the Division of the State Architect impose fees to recover administrative and code development costs, as necessary, to develop standards and administer the registration and approval program. The fees would be paid by manufacturers of detectable warning products and directional surfaces. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. SB 858 Senator Teresa Hughes "Assistive Dog Allowance" has been signed by the Governor and is Chapter 906. This Legislation puts equity in the benefet and allows S.S.D.I. recipients who use these dogs to obtain the benefet. The Governor made a special signing comment on this Legislation: SB 858 -

Governor Gray Davis Signing Letter

Orange County Register Story about Dog Bill

L.A. Times story on Dog Bill

Teresa Hughes LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 858, as amended, Hughes. Guide, signal, and service dog food allowance. Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled, under which, through a combination of federal and state funds, qualified low-income aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with cash assistance. Existing law provides that recipients of these programs who have a guide, signal, or service dog are eligible for a specified monthly dog food allowance. This bill would also permit recipients of federal social security disability insurance benefits {+ , with incomes not in excess of the federal poverty level, +} who have a guide, signal, or service dog to receive {- this -} {+ a dog food and other special need +} allowance {+ of $35 per month +} . {+ This bill would appropriate $69,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services for the implementation of this act during the 2000 calendar year. +} Vote: {- majority -} {+ 2/3 +} . Appropriation: {- no -} {+ yes +} . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. Other Bills of Interest to CCB AB 422 Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg ""Electronic Textbook Access for Secondary Education" passed 24 to 0 out of the Senate Floor and goes to the Governor. An historic piece of Legislation for the Blind and Visually Impaired! LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 422, as amended, Steinberg. Instructional materials: disabled students. Under existing law, a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials offered for adoption or sale in California is required to comply with specified requirements, including providing to the state, at no cost, the right to transcribe, reproduce, and distribute the material in Braille braille , large print, recordings, or other accessible media for use by pupils with visual disabilities. This right includes computer diskette versions of instructional materials if made available to any other state, and those corrections and revisions as may be necessary. This bill would require every individual, firm, partnership or corporation publishing or manufacturing printed instruction materials, as defined, for students attending the University of California, the California State University, or a California Community College to provide to the university, college, or particular campus of the university or college, for use by students at no additional cost and in a timely manner, any printed instructional material in unencrypted electronic form upon the receipt of a written request, provided that the university or college complies with certain conditions. This bill would require that the computer files or electronic versions of printed instructional material maintain their structural integrity, as defined, be compatible with commonly used braille translation and speech synthesis software, and include corrections and revisions as may be necessary. This bill would authorize the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of the University of California to each establish one or more centers within their respective segments to process requests for electronic versions of instructional materials, as prescribed. This bill would also require an individual, firm, partnership or corporation that publishes or manufactures nonprinted instructional materials for students attending the University of California, the California State University, or a California Community College to provide computer files or other electronic versions of the nonprinted instructional materials for use by students, subject to the same conditions for printed instructional materials, when technology is available to convert these nonprinted instructional materials to a format that maintains the structural integrity of the nonprinted instructional material that is compatible with braille translation and speech synthesis software. This bill would provide that willful failure to comply with these requirements would be subject to sanctions under the law relating to full and equal access of disabled persons to public accommodations. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. AB 16 Assemblyman Mike Honda "Wage Increase Bill for I.H.S.S. Workers" passed out of the Assembly and on to the Senate. However, the Governor cut $60 million from this bill and has included only$30 million in AB 1682, the "Budget Trailor Bill". This funds In Home Support Workers at 50 cents over minimum wage. The author vows to fight for the balance of the funding next year. AB 368 Assemblywoman Sheila James Kuehl Optical Low Vision Device Insurance Funding This Legislation was withdrawn by Assembly woman Kuehl because the it is not a priority for the administration. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 368, as introduced, Kuehl. Partially sighted persons: prosthetic devices. Existing law requires health care service plans and group disability insurers to offer coverage for orthotic and prosthetic devices. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Services, under which qualified low-income persons are provided with health care services. Under existing law, one of the benefits provided under the Medi-Cal program is coverage for orthotic and prosthetic devices. This bill would require health care service plans, group disability insurers, and the Medi-Cal program to provide coverage for prosthetic devices for the partially sighted, as those terms are defined in the bill. Because willful violation of health care service plan provisions is a crime, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. AB 1187 Assemblyman Rod Pacheco "Funding Increases for Special Schools such as C.S.B."(California School for the Blind) This bill is going to the Governor for hopefully, his signature next month. This is known as the "Special Schools" cola bill. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1187, as amended, Rod Pacheco. State special schools. Existing law provides that the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and the diagnostic centers are part of the public school system but derive no revenue from the State School Fund. Existing law requires the district of residence of the parent or guardian of any pupil attending either the California School for the Deaf or the California School for the Blind to pay the school of attendance for each pupil an amount equal to 10% of the excess annual cost of education of pupils attending those schools. This bill would require, in each fiscal year in which school districts receive a cost-of-living adjustment, that a cost-of-living adjustment also be applied to the amounts appropriated for the state special schools in the annual Budget Act. This provision would be applicable in fiscal years for which funds are appropriated for the purpose of making these cost-of-living adjustments in the annual Budget Act or any other act. The bill would require that first priority for the expenditure of this cost-of-living adjustment be given to deferred maintenance. {+ Existing law, the Assumption Program of Loans for Education, authorizes the Student Aid Commission to issue up to 2,000 conditional warrants for loan assumption to applicants who, among other things, agree to teach in a public school in the state for at least 3 consecutive academic years after obtaining a teaching credential in subject areas that are designated as current or projected shortage areas by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This bill would require that the list of shortage areas designated by the superintendent include the state special schools as a category separate from special education. +} This bill would require the Department of Personnel Administration to conduct and complete a survey of the salaries paid to public school teachers who teach pupils with learning disabilities similar to those of pupils taught in the state special schools. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. SB 1307 Liz Figueroa Business & Professions Committee Bill "Guide Dog Board Arbitration Loophole Bill" This bill is a housekeeping Bill and is going to the Governor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1307, as introduced, Committee on Business and Professions. Licensed professionals. (2) Existing law establishes within the Department of Consumer Affairs a State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind, which licenses schools for the training of guide dogs for the blind. Existing law establishes, until July 1, 2002, a pilot project for the arbitration of disputes between guide dog users and guide schools relating to the continued physical custody and use of the guide dog when the dog user is not the legal owner of the dog. Pursuant to this provision, guide dog users who are dissatisfied with decisions of schools regarding continued use of the guide dogs may appeal to the board to convene an arbitration panel. The arbitration panel includes a representative of the board who serves as chair of the panel. This bill would provide that the board and its representative are not a party to any dispute described in that provision. The bill would also provide that each party to the dispute waives any right for subsequent judicial review by voluntarily agreeing to have the dispute resolved by the board. AB 395 - John Dutra Special Education Cleanup Bill- Requires publishers to was to have had publishers provide textbooks in accessible formats to k through 12 schools but this language was struck. The bill however, passed both houses and goes to the Governor. Assemblyman Dutra assures us there will be a bill in this next session with the language. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 395, as amended, Dutra. Special education. (4) Existing law establishes the California School for the Blind and the California Schools for the Deaf. This bill would provide that the provisions of state law relating to suspension and expulsion of pupils apply to pupils attending the California School for the Blind and the California Schools for the Deaf. This bill would also require that the Superintendent of Public Instruction maintain diagnostic centers. (3) (12) Existing law permits a pupil to be referred, as appropriate, for further assessment and recommendations to the California Schools for the Deaf or Blind or the diagnostic centers. This bill would authorize referral for further assessment and recommendations to the assessment centers at the California Schools for the Deaf or Blind or the diagnostic centers pursuant to regulations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (4) The Following Legislation has not passed their respective houses or have died and have become "Two-Year Bills". ***SB 1242 Senator Deborah Ortiz "Tactile Signage and Public Buildings" Passed the Senate Floor and at this writing, stalled in the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee (Susan Davis, Chair) but we requested that because of the opposition, we wish the Bill to become a two year bill and this was done. Unlike AB 685, SB 1242 mandates local and Government Inspectors to enforce Tactile Signage regulations so there is some opposition but at this writing, all sides are beginning to come together. This Bill is a CCB Sponsored Bill.

Assembly Mandate for Tactile Signage- ACR 11 1995

SB 1242 - Deborah Ortiz LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1242, as amended, Ortiz. Building standards: tactile signage. (1) Existing law requires that buildings, structures, and facilities, occupied 50% or more, that are leased, rented, contracted, sublet, or hired for periods exceeding 2 years by any municipal, county, or state division of government or special district be made accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. Existing law authorizes the Department of Rehabilitation to make exceptions to this provision. This bill would require that buildings, structures, and facilities that are leased, rented, contracted, sublet, or hired by any municipal, county, or state division of government or any special district be made accessible to, and usable by, persons with disabilities, thereby requiring a higher level of service from local governments and imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would authorize the State Architect, rather than the Department of Rehabilitation, to make exceptions to these provisions. (2) Existing law provides that where state funds are utilized for a public building or facility or local funds are utilized for a school or community college building or facility, no contract may be awarded until the Department of General Services has issued written approval stating that the plans and specifications comply with the intent of provisions governing access to public buildings by physically handicapped persons. Existing law requires that filing fees for the application for approval be deposited into the Access for Handicapped Account for use by the Department of General Services without regard to fiscal years. This bill would require the Department of General Services, Division of the State Architect within the Department of General Services , to issue the written approvals and would authorize the State Architect department to use the account for the purposes set forth in existing law. This bill would expand the purposes for which the account may be used to include amending building regulations, as specified, to ensure that braille and other required tactile required braille, tactile, or visual signage and accessibility features for elevators, rooms, spaces, and functions , and directional information, as well as accessibility features, are installed permanently as required by the California Building Standards Code, and would thereby make an appropriation. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. ***AB 609 Assemblyman Scott Wildman "The NFBC Braille Bill" The bill was re- referred back to the Assembly Education Committee and became a two-year bill. The N.F.B. of California, the sponsor, plans to bring this up in the 2000 session. still the sponsors. They dropped the provision that publishers must provide textbooks in accessable formats to K through 12 and had John Dutra pick up this language in the "Special Ed Omnibus Bill, AB 395 but then the lanuage was dropped in this Legislation as well. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 609, as amended, Wildman. Special education: vision impairments: use of braille. Existing law requires educational agencies to develop an individualized education program for pupils with exceptional needs, including, but not limited to, a functionally blind pupil, as defined, or a pupil with low vision, as defined, and requires that a functional vision assessment be conducted to determine the appropriate reading medium for the pupil {+ and an assessment of braille skills +} . This bill would require {- the option of -} instruction in braille to be provided {- for a functionally blind -} {+ to each +} pupil {- or a pupil with low vision -} {+ who is visually impaired +} unless the individualized education program team determines that braille instruction {- and use -} is not appropriate {- for the pupil, certifies that it has reviewed the pertinent literature describing the educational benefits of braille instruction, and specifies in the program the basis for the determination that braille instruction would not be appropriate for the pupil. This bill would not require the exclusive use of braille if other special education services are also appropriate for the pupil's educational needs, and would provide that instruction in braille would not preclude the provision of other appropriate services. This bill would require instruction in braille provided to a functionally blind pupil or to a pupil with low vision to be sufficient to enable the pupil to communicate effectively and efficiently with the same level of language proficiency expected of the child's peers of comparable ability and grade level who have no vision impairment. This bill would require the individualized education program for a functionally blind pupil or a pupil with low vision to include, among other things, the results of the evaluation, the manner in which the use of braille is to be implemented to assist pupil learning, the targeted level of braille competency for reading and writing, and the objective assessment instruments to be used. By establishing these additional requirements for local educational agencies when developing individualized education programs, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires that braille instruction be provided by a teacher who is credentialed to teach pupils who are visually impaired. This bill would provide that competency in braille for these teachers shall be the equivalent of completion of coursework in braille instruction required at campuses of the California State University that award credentials in teaching of the visually impaired. The bill would authorize braille instruction to be provided by a person who is not a credentialed teacher, provided, however, that the braille instructor is working under the direction of a credentialed teacher. The bill would also authorize a 3-year exemption from providing braille instruction if a school district, special education local plan area, or county office of education that has sought, but who does not have access to, a braille instructor who is credentialed or working under the direction of a credentialed teacher, submits a finding of unavailability to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that is not denied for cause -} {+ based upon the assessments, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program on local agencies when developing individualized education programs STRIKE/ Existing law provides for the adoption and selection of quality instructional materials for use in elementary and secondary schools, and imposes requirements upon publishers and manufacturers, including, but not limited to the requirement that they provide to the state, at no cost, the right to transcribe, reproduce, and distribute the material in braille, large print, recordings, or other accessible media for use by pupils with visual disabilities, including computer diskette versions of print materials if made available to any other state, and those corrections and revisions as may be necessary. STRIKE This bill would {- , -} {- also, require that the publishers and manufacturers of instructional materials provide to the state, at no cost, computer diskettes in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) for all literary works, and provide to the state, at no cost, computer diskettes in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) for all nonliterary works if and when the necessary braille specialty code translation software is available. Existing law relating to the sunset of certain categorical programs make provisions of law relating to the special education program inoperative on June 30, 2000. This bill would extend the inoperative date to June 30, 2003. -} {+ delete the provision which requires a publisher or manufacturer to provide computer diskette versions of print material if made available to any other state, and instead, would require computer files or electronic versions of each state adopted literary title to be provided within a timely basis and computer files or other electronic versions of nonliterary titles, including science and math, to be provided when technology is available to convert those materials. +} The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. ***AB 615 Assemblyman George Runner Catigorical Services/Local School Districts/Blind Teacher Reader Services At the last minute, this Bill was sent back to Committee and becomes a "two year bill". This Legislation would put reader/driver service monies in the hands of local school districts to use for their own discression taking away the State Clearinghouse for Special Media and Technology as the custodians of these funds. please write the Senate Education Committee and let him know you strongly oppose this Legislation. If it isn't broke, why fix it! ***AB 873 Assemblyman/Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa "Blind, Aged and Disabled Legal Emigrants Funding Illumination of sunset" ***SB 909 Senator Kevin Murray "Blind, Aged and Disabled increased funding for residential care facilities"SB 20 Senator Liz Figureoa "K through 9 Technology funding bill includes blind and visually impaired pupils" ***SB 846 Senator Martha Escutia "Californians with Disabilities Act" ***SB 158 Senator Patrick Johnson "Licensing of fund raisers to sell cars" ***SB 929 Senator Richard Polanco ""Optometrists given most privileges as Opthomologists" ***Education Code Update- Changes in the California Education Code by Optometrists to provide "Vision Therapy" in elementary schools were written into the code. An earlier attempt however to exclude credentialed teachers of the visually impaired were not adopted. The CCB, JAC and AFB led the fight to keep the credentialed teachers in the code. Please listen to the California Connection for further updates (800-221-6359 or call me directly (916) 648-3936 E-mail dankysor@jps.net

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