by Mitch Pomerantz
It is just over a week since we returned from the 2016 California Council of the Blind Conference and Convention, although you will not see this until
early summer. Nonetheless, the legislative beat goes on so this will serve as my update on bills sponsored or followed by CCB as of this writing.
Before proceeding however, I need to take a slight detour. During my final two years as President of the American Council of the Blind, I began thinking
seriously about what I would do once my presidential duties were concluded. Having worked in the ADA field for the City of Los Angeles, I decided to move
into ADA consulting and training. I also determined to see if there might be a need for someone with direct expertise regarding blindness as an "expert
witness" in legal matters. Beginning in 2014, things began breaking in a positive direction.
Donna, who is an integral part of this endeavor, and I have several consulting and expert witness contracts which are increasingly taking up our time.
As a result, I am stepping away from chairing and serving on the Governmental Affairs Committee as well as from some other organizational responsibilities.
In order to properly oversee and coordinate CCB's advocacy efforts, the Governmental Affairs chair needs to almost constantly monitor activities in Sacramento,
and that isn't possible for me at this time.
As you have doubtless figured out by now, CCB did not conduct Capitol Day in Sacramento this year as we'd hoped. Late in 2015, President Thom and I thought
we had a commitment from a member of the committee to oversee logistics. This turned out not to be the member's understanding of things, and neither Jeff
nor I were in a position to take over this activity. So Capitol Day did not happen. It is my sincere hope that the next Governmental Affairs Committee
chair will be able to schedule and hold Capitol Day in 2017.
As mentioned in this column previously, our efforts center on SB1331 (Pavley) and AB1824 (Chang), a pair of guide dog-related bills supported by Guide
Dog Users of California. SB1331 addresses matters under the purview of the State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind; (please refer to the Spring "Blind
Californian" for specifics on this bill as well as AB1824.) Shortly after the CCB conference and convention, 1331 went before the Senate Business and Professions
Committee where, not surprisingly, the only opposition came from the Guide Dog Board itself.
[Editor's Note: On May 12, Jeff Thom sent the following email.] "SB1331, our Guide Dog Board bill, is on its way to the Senate floor. It was decided that
the cost of the bill was insignificant, so that a hearing in Senate Appropriations was unnecessary. It is likely that the bill will have no major problem
passing the Senate, but we can anticipate significant opposition from the board in the Assembly and with the Governor's office.
This is likely to be a tough fight."
AB1824 (Chang) would do a number of things to strengthen criminal provisions relating to dog attacks on service dogs. In March, the bill came before the
Assembly Public Safety Committee where it was placed on the "consent" calendar, meaning that there was no opposition. [Editor's Note: The bill has passed
in the Assembly and is awaiting Senate action.]
Other bills being followed by CCB include:
AB1584 (Brown and Thurmond) - Support - would establish the Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) as a permanent component of the SSI/SSP Program, and would
extend those increases over a four-year period, amounting to an overall increase of $84. In March, the bill was referred to the Assembly Human Services
Committee, but has yet to be scheduled for hearing.
AB1797 (Lackey) - Support with Amendment - would authorize an individual to apply for IHSS in person or through electronic means, and would require the
county, if an application is filed electronically, to provide the applicant a confirmation number. CCB is asking that the bill be amended with language
to ensure that, in accordance with federal and state statutes, counties make any electronic means accessible to persons with disabilities and specifically
to those with vision impairments. This bill was also referred to Assembly Human Services, but has yet to be scheduled for hearing.
AB2346 (Baker) - Support with Amendment - would require - when an applicant for, or recipient of, public social services is involved in a fair hearing
- a public or private agency to provide a copy of the agency's position statement to the applicant or recipient through electronic means and require the
State Department of Health Care Services to make its position statement likewise available. As with AB1797, CCB is calling for an amendment to ensure accessibility
for persons who are blind or have low vision. AB2346 was passed unanimously by Assembly Human Services and referred to the Appropriations Committee for
further action.
CCB opposed two bills: SB681 (Hill), which would have reduced the fine for drivers making illegal right turns on red lights; and AB61 (Allen), which would
have legalized operation of private "tech shuttles" at certain San Francisco bus stops. Both SB681 and AB61 died in their respective committees; however
the latter proposal was reintroduced by the author as AB1641 which (as of this date), was to have been heard in Assembly Transportation. It has not been
heard and we believe that a compromise has been worked out which will take these shuttles away from public bus stops.
CCB is also supporting Assembly Joint Resolution 35 (Brown) which would seek a change in federal policy in order to make SSI recipients eligible for food
stamps, in lieu of giving them an additional few dollars per month. No action has been taken on this measure as of this writing.
At our conference and convention last fall, I reported on SB450 (Roth), a proposal to permit some counties to conduct elections primarily via vote by mail
and which CCB was supporting. I indicated then that the bill would be taken up in 2016. CCB has been part of a group of disability advocates involved in
drafting language calling for those counties conducting vote by mail elections to offer ballots that blind and low vision voters could privately and independently
read and mark before a county could conduct such an election. To date, very little has happened to move this bill along so SB450 appears to be in legislative
limbo.
However CCB has recently learned about a related piece of legislation: AB2252 (Ting) - Remote Accessible Vote by Mail (VBM) Systems - which CCB is supporting.
This legislation would remove some of the barriers in California State law to making accessible absentee voting available by allowing a voter with a disability
to electronically receive and mark his/her vote by mail ballot using a remote accessible VBM system which is defined as a mechanical, electromechanical,
or electronic system and its software that is used for the sole purpose of marking an electronic VBM ballot for a voter with a disability ... AB2252 was
to have been heard on April 18 in the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting, but we have no additional information at this writing.
That will more than do it for this Governmental Affairs Report. Donna and I hope to see many of you at the upcoming ACB conference and convention in Minneapolis.
Take care.
