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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