Senior Citizens' Issues

Seniors' Legislation

SB 230* (Morrow-R) Sales and use taxes: exemptions: senior citizens

Exempts from the Sales and Use Tax Law tangible personal property that is purchased, stored, used, or consumed by a person aged 65 years or older. Provides that this exemption does not apply to local sales or transactions and use tax rates and certain state rates imposed for the funding of locally provided services.

(Died in Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee)

SB 1104* (Senate Budget And Fiscal Review Committee) Budget Act of 2004: human services

The omnibus human services trailer bill which makes statutory changes necessary to implement the Budget Act of 2004 and to realize $410.4 million in General Fund savings. Prohibits the denial of California Department of Aging services to eligible persons solely on the basis of their receipt of In-Home Supportive Services. Requires the State Health and Human Services Agency to consider strategies to coordinate state and federally funded services administered by State Department of Social Services and the California Department of Aging to maximize cost effectiveness and programmatic efficiency.

Chapter 229, Statutes of 2004

SB 1305 (Vasconcellos-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Requires the Judicial Council: (1) to the extent private funds are available, to establish a unit within the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to assess the handling of elder and dependent adult abuse cases in the courts, and to develop administrative and educational strategies for improving the handling and coordination of these cases in California's civil and criminal courts; (2) to seek appropriate available funding to support these activities; (3) to the extent private funds are available, to incorporate elder and dependent adult abuse issues into its existing educational programs for judicial officers, court staff, and other specified groups involved in these cases.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

SB 1475 (Vasconcellos-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Requires the State Attorney General to convene the Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Coordinating Council, specifies the council's membership and directs the council to develop a strategic master plan to accomplish specified goals relating to elder and dependent adult abuse prevention and prosecution. Requires the council to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2006 on the master plan.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1539 (Ortiz-D) Long-term care facilities

Allows long-term health care facilities that have exclusive contracts with health care providers to permit a Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice to perform dental services under a written prescription.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

SB 1644 (Romero-D) Elder death review teams

Requires a local registrar of deaths, upon the request of a member of a county elder death review team (EDRT), to make available and assist the electronic transfer of information from a certificate of death to the county EDRT in any county that has access to the statewide system, as specified.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1662 (Soto-D) Residential care facilities for the elderly

Requires residential care facilities for the elderly to provide residents or their representatives written notice within two days following a change in the level of care.

Chapter 401, Statutes of 2004

SB 1811 (Morrow-R) Attorney's fees: senior citizens and minors

Voids any contingency fee contract for attorney's fees for services in litigation made by or on behalf of a senior citizen that is not approved by the court in which that litigation is pending, except as specified. With regard to attorney's fees chargeable in the absence of an approved contract, fixes those fees at 25 percent of the net recovery of a settlement award and at 33 1/3 percent of the net recovery of a judgment recovered at trial or on appeal, except as specified.

(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 1* (Berg-D) Area agencies on aging: funding

Establishes a continuous appropriation from the Federal Trust Fund to the California Department of Aging for the area agencies on aging in any year in which the state budget is not enacted by July 1 and authorizes the State Department of Finance to reduce the applicable Budget Act allocations by the amount paid out pursuant to this bill.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 41* (Daucher-R) Area agencies on aging: funding

Creates the Senior Citizens Interim Payment Fund, which would be continuously appropriated for up to $22 million in Federal Trust Funds in any year in which the state budget is not enacted by July 1 and provides funding to pay for local administration of services to the elderly provided through the California Department of Aging's area agencies on aging in the absence of an enacted state budget.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 180* (Shirley Horton-R) Area agencies on aging

Requires the California Department of Aging, in conjunction with the State Controller's Office, to develop and implement a system for a monthly electronic funds transfer to the 33 area agencies on aging by August 1, 2004.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 211* (Maze-R) Homeowners' property tax exemption

Increases the homeowners' property tax exemption for senior citizens for assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2004.

(Died in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 254 (Montanez-D) Health care coverage

Repeals "senior COBRA" continuation protections in order to allow seniors to enroll in lower-priced Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act coverage.

Chapter 64, Statutes of 2004

AB 412 (Chan-D) Insurance: consumer protection

Requires the State Insurance Commissioner to convene a task force and on-going work group on insurance fraud as it relates to senior citizens.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 784 (Daucher-R) California Department of Aging

Renames the California Department of Aging the "California Department of Adult and Aging Services" and combines services currently administered by a variety of state agencies into this umbrella agency.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1295 (Calderon-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Establishes a pilot program in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco to develop training materials for employees of financial institutions to recognize and report financial abuse of elderly adults.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1396 (Simitian-D) Long-term care ombudsman: funding

Requires the California Department of Aging to impose a $3 per bed annual fee on long-term care facilities for the support of local ombudsman programs.

(Died in Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee)

AB 1448 (Liu-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Notwithstanding existing law, prohibits a long-term care facility from requesting, prior to the existence of a dispute, a resident or applicant to agree to arbitrate or otherwise waive any rights or procedures related to the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. Specifies that it shall not prohibit a long-term care facility and a resident or applicant from knowingly and voluntarily agreeing to binding arbitration after a dispute arises. Prohibits a long-term care facility from taking specified retaliatory action against a resident or applicant because he or she refuses to waive rights and procedures available under the act, or because he/she refuses to sign or comply with an arbitration agreement that violates the bill.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

AB 1453 (Parra-D) Long-term care: Medi-Cal: reimbursement

Requires the State Health and Human Services Agency to incorporate specified research results regarding the application of a "Money Follows the Individual" program, allowing individuals to reside in the community, rather than in institutions, into the appropriate section of the agency's April 1, 2005 version of the annual Olmstead Plan Update.

(Died on Senate Inactive File)

AB 1523* (Garcia-R) Personal income taxes: long-term care insurance

Authorizes a nonrefundable 25 percent credit for the purchase of long-term care insurance.

(Died in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee)

AB 1945 (Nakano-D) Residential care facilities for the elderly

Makes several technical changes to current law regarding continuing education requirements for administrators of residential care facilities for the elderly. Requires online venders of continuing education programs to have a final screen displaying a printable statement of participant identification and to obtain and retain a signed copy of that statement for three years.

Chapter 340, Statutes of 2004

AB 1952 (Berg-D) Older Adults System of Care Demonstration Project

Renews and extends the Older Adults System of Care Demonstration Project administered by the State Department of Mental Health by replacing the three-year grants with six-year grants starting January 1, 2005. Changes the evaluation standard for county programs.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 1994 (Berg-D) California Senior Legislature

Separates the California Commission on Aging and the California Senior Legislature in statute and funding. Changes the two-year membership for members of the California Senior Legislature to four-year terms after January 1, 2006. Requires the California Senior Legislature to enter into a mutually agreed upon interagency agreement with a state entity to carry out administrative duties related to its program and to identify the state entity for this purpose by May 1, 2005, in order to meet the budget proposal cycle to achieve a transition of responsibilities in the 2006-07 fiscal year.

Chapter 633, Statutes of 2004

AB 2129 (Chavez-D) Insurance: seniors: life insurance and annuities

Changes two references in the provision in current law governing notice and 30 day cancellation rights in individual life insurance and individual annuity contracts delivered or issued to a senior citizen from "insured" to "owner".

Chapter 803, Statutes of 2004

AB 2253 (Mountjoy-R) Jury duty

Permits the exclusion of a prospective juror who is 75 years of age or older from jury service, if that person wishes to be excused.

(Died in Assembly Judiciary Committee)

AB 2368 (Shirley Horton-R) Aging programs: competitive bidding: exemptions

Exempts the Alzheimer's Day Care Resource Centers and the Linkages Program from the competitive bidding process administered by the California Department of Aging and the area agencies on aging.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2474 (Wolk-D) Elder abuse

Includes within existing reporting requirements under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse.

(Died in Senate Judiciary Committee)

AB 2611 (Simitian-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Increases criminal penalties relating to elder and dependent adult abuse and makes them applicable to a person who knows or reasonably should know that the potential victim was an elder or dependent adult. Separates financial abuse from the current statute providing enhanced civil remedies to victims of elder or dependent adult abuse, and applies a preponderance of evidence standard of proof for showing financial abuse, instead of the current "clear and convincing evidence" standard.

Chapter 886, Statutes of 2004

AB 2783 (Simitian-D) Recording fees: Elder and dependent adult financial abuse

Provides that in addition to other recording fees, upon the adoption of a resolution by a county board of supervisors, a fee of up to $2 shall be paid at the time of recording every real estate instrument to be placed in the Elder and Dependent Adult Financial Abuse Prevention Trust Fund. Provides that these funds are to be distributed to eligible government agencies or offices for the purpose of deterring, investigating and civilly prosecuting the financial abuse of elder and dependent adults in the context of real estate transactions.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2791 (Simitian-D) Skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities: training

Requires the approved training program of a skilled nursing facility and an intermediate care facility to include instruction on preventing, recognizing, and reporting residents' rights violations as part of the current training and instruction required under existing law.

Chapter 270, Statutes of 2004

AB 2816 (Daucher-R) Long-term care

Requires the State Health and Human Services Agency to determine the appropriate single entity to provide oversight of the waiver standards for adult day health care centers and requires the State Department of Health Services to determine a percentage of the number of oversight reviews it conducts of the Multipurpose Senior Services Program utilization surveys that are conducted by the California Department of Aging.

Chapter 455, Statutes of 2004

AB 2822 (Daucher-R) Chronic Care Integration program and pilot project

Establishes the Chronic Care Integration (CCI) program as an ongoing program. Requires each CCI program site to provide for contractual arrangements for sufficient services to meet the medical, social, and supportive needs, including the long-term care needs, of the eligible beneficiary in his or her home, community, residential facility, nursing facility, or other location. Revises the goals of the program to include, among other things, specified medical services, and to require the department to coordinate the delivery of medical services, preferably through the integration of Medicare into the Medi-Cal CCI program. Makes various changes to the program. Requires the State Department of Health Services to establish a CCI pilot project in San Diego County if that county elects to participate. Provides that a person who is covered for services under either the CCI program or the CCI pilot project shall not be eligible to receive in-home supportive services.

(Died in Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee)

AB 3095 (Assembly Aging And Long Term Care Committee) Crime

Specifically provides that sentencing courts have discretion to order a person convicted of elder abuse to engage in counseling as a condition of probation and requires financially able defendants to pay for counseling.

Chapter 893, Statutes of 2004

ACR 154 (Matthews-D) Elder and dependent adult abuse

Proclaims the month of May as Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Awareness Month.

(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

ACR 183 (Dymally-D) Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Prevention Month

Encourages all Californians to become aware of elder and dependent adult abuse, to learn the ways to recognize and report incidents of elder abuse, and to educate themselves on ways to prevent the mistreatment of elderly and dependent adults, and proclaims the month of May of every year as Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Prevention Month.

(Not referred to a policy committee from the printer)

ACR 198 (Garcia-R) Elder Abuse Prevention Month

Proclaims May 2004 as Elder Abuse Prevention Month and urges all Californians to be aware of elder abuse and to educate themselves on ways to prevent the mistreatment of vulnerable older adults in our communities.

(Not referred to a policy committee from the printer)

ACR 216 (Ridley-Thomas-D) Senior housing and care quality

Urges all senior housing and care providers in California to adopt the Quality First 10-Point Plan, developed by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging to improve aging services.

Resolution Chapter 143, Statutes of 2004

ACR 226 (Berg-D) Older Americans Month

Recognizes the month of May 2004 as Older Americans Month and encourages all Californians to promote and participate in activities and services that contribute to the health, welfare, and independence of older citizens.

Resolution Chapter 86, Statutes of 2004

ACR 251 (Wolk-D) Assisted Living Week

Proclaims the week of September 12 through 18, 2004, as Assisted Living Week and encourages all citizens to visit friends and loved ones who reside in assisted living communities and to learn more about this valuable service.

Resolution Chapter 178, Statutes of 2004

Index (in Bill Order)