Governor Vetoes Conference-Sponsored AB 1147

Assemblymember Yamada

To the great surprise of the bill's sponsors - the CCBA and the Women's Lawyers of Sacramento - and pretty much everyone else, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Sunday vetoed AB 1147 by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis). The bill would have specified that, in cases involving teen parents in foster care, the reports social workers already are required to prepare include information regarding what services were being provided to the minor parent to provide a permanent and safe home for the child.

The purpose of AB 1147 was to confirm (or not confirm) that what the Legislature had decided needed to be done in 2004 (SB 1178, Kuehl, the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act) was being done - and to do so in the most cost-effective manner possible, by simply adding another question or two to an already-required report. As noted in CCBA's letter to Governor Brown requesting his signature, AB 1147 provided for the "collection of necessary and valuable information with an absolute minimal investment of time, energy and money."

The bill received strong support from the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter (NASW-CA), as well as the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, the Children's Advocacy Institute, California Women Lawyers, the Family Law Section of the State Bar, and other legal and women's groups. Both legislative fiscal committees agreed that the bill had minimal cost. In fact, the only opposition to the bill came very late in the year from the Department of Finance, which posed the interesting theory that, while it would cost very little to comply with the bill's requirements, any bill that changed an existing program that was being realigned in any way could make the entire program again subject to reimbursement claims. The concerns did not persuade the Legislature, both houses of which approved the bill unanimously.

Governor Brown, however, saw things differently from everyone else. In his veto message, the Governor said that while "(n)o one can question the desirability of minor parents in foster care receiving whatever help they need to become good parents," he did not believe AB 1147 would further that goal. Brown argued that the current case plans social workers are required to file every six months "chronicle every aspect of the foster child's life, including whatever is needed to become a good parent. . . Placing in statute one more specific plan element, as this bill does, just adds to the bureaucratic complexity without really assisting the foster your to live a better life. . . The more time adults in the foster care system spend writing and reading reports, the less time they have for the guidance and human caring that make the real difference."

While one can admire Brown's desire to elevate personal caring over insensitive bureaucracy, the veto message misses the point of AB 1147, which is to ensure that teen parents in foster care are receiving the services the Legislature and a former governor decided they should have. Unfortunately, the unequivocal nature of the veto message strongly suggests that another way will have to be found to achieve this goal.

Mixed Week for CCBA Program

The past week was filled with both highs and lows for the Conference of California Bar Association's (CCBA) legislative program. On the high side, four CCBA-sponsored or co-sponsored bills passed their final legislative test and are being prepared to be sent to Governor Brown for signature or veto.

On the low side, one key component of the CCBA program (AB 308 - Ammiano) and another highly visible bill supported by the Conference (SB 490 - Hancock) were held in committee and now must wait for next year.

The bills that are being sent to Governor Brown included:

• AB 433 by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal would conform state law to the medical standard applied by the U.S. state department and current medical understanding of gender transition to simplify the existing process by which a transgender person obtains appropriate identification document. The bill, which is consistent with CCBA Resolution 04-12-2010 sponsored by the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, passed the Senate on a vote of 23-13, and received concurrence in Senate amendments from the Assembly, 51-26. 
• AB 1147 by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada would maximize the efficient use of resources by requiring social workers to include information about what age- and developmental-appropriate services teen mothers in foster care minor received, pursuant to existing law, in reports the social workers are already required to prepare. The bill is based on CCBA Resolution 03-04-2010, sponsored by the Women Lawyers of Sacramento. 
• AB 1384 by Assemblymember Steven Bradford would authorize a court, after one year, to expunge non-vehicular infractions and misdemeanors (with specified exceptions) from a person’s record in its discretion and in the interests of justice. The bill would complete the enactment of Resolution 06-06-2009 by the Santa Clara County Bar Association, the major provisions of which were enacted last year in AB 2582 (Adams). 
• AB 1023, the annual Maintenance of the Codes bill carried this year by Assembly Judiciary Committee Vice-Chair Don Wagner, includes CCBA Resolution 10-01-2010 by the Bar Association of Northern San Diego County, which makes an important technical correction in the law relating to SLAPP suits.

Of the two bills that were held in committee, AB 308, was the biggest disappointment, given the time and effort expended in seeking its passage.  The bill (CCBA Resolution 01-13-2010 by the LACBA) would mandate the creation of new protocols and procedures to better ensure the accuracy of eyewitness identifications in criminal matters.  It was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee due to cost concerns, after the Department of Justice increased its projected cost of the bill to $1.2 million - nearly five times the estimated cost of virtually duplicate measures considered by the Legislature in earlier years. (See earlier post).

SB 490, Senator Loni Hancock's bill to require a public vote on whether California's death penalty should be abolished, stayed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee at the request of the author, who determined that she didn't have the votes to enact the bill (see story in San Jose Mercury News). The decision came only a day after Governor Brown suggested in news stories that he would be supportive of letting the people vote on the question, though without commenting directly on SB 490.  However, it was clear to Sen. Hancock in the all-important process of counting the votes that there simply weren't enough members of the Legislature willing to commit to expending the money to put the issue on the ballot, given polls showing that as many as seven in 10 Californians still support capital punishment for the most heinous of crimes.  The CCBA supported the measure based on its consistent support of resolutions calling for the abolition of the death penalty, most recently 01-01-2010 by the Bar Association of San Francisco. (See earlier post).

Six of eight CCBA-Backed Bills Emerge from Busy Weeks of Committee Hearings

The two weeks leading up to the annual deadline for all bills to clear their second-house policy committee are among the busiest in the legislative calendar.  That was particularly true for this year's CCBA Legislative Program, which saw hearings on eight of its sponsored/supported measures - with six moving forward and two running aground.

Much of the action took place in the Public Safety committees of the two houses where, in three separate hearings, two significant CCBA-backed bills were approved, while another significant CCBA-co-sponsored bill fell temporary (we hope) victim to that state's lack of prison beds:

• The last bill, AB 545 by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, would add persons in a dating or engagement relationship to the list of person's protected by the felony domestic violence battery statute (Penal Code §273.5).  The bill, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office and the CCBA (Resolution 06-05-2009, sponsored by 10 individual delegates), was held in Senate Public Safety Committee at its June 28 hearing (starts at 22:00 mark). See related blog post. 
• One week later, at its July 5 hearing, the Senate Public Safety Committee approved CCBA-co-sponsored AB 308 (Resolution 1-13-2010 by the LACBA) by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano. The bill would require the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other legal experts, to develop guidelines relating to the collection and handling of eyewitness evidence in criminal investigations. The objective is to ensure reliable and accurate identifications of criminal suspects, and to minimize the chance of suspect misidentification, which costs society both through wrongful incarceration of the innocent and the failure to pursue and convict the guilty. (See earlier post)
• Finally, on July 7, the Assembly Public Safety Committee approved SB 490, Senator Loni Hancock's newly-created bill to put the question of eliminating the death penalty to the voters. (see related blog post).

Three bills sponsored or co-sponsored by the CCBA found their way to the Senate Judiciary Committee, with three different results:

• The committee waived hearing of AB 1147 by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, which had won unanimous approval of the Senate Human Services Committee the week before.  The bill, developed by the Women Lawyers of Sacramento (Resolution 03-04-2010), had been double-referred to the Judiciary Committee, but now moves directly to the Appropriations Committee. (See earlier post.)
• On another double-referral, the committee approved AB 1396 by the Assembly Labor & Employment Committee, which had earlier won approval of the Senate Labor & Industrial Relations Committee.  That measure, from the BHBA (Resolution 04-01-2009), goes directly to the Senate Floor.  
• The committee rejected AB 699 by Assemblymember Don Wagner, which would have added California to the growing list of states which authorize the use of Revocable Transfer on Death Deeds for estate planning purposes (Resolution 12-06-2009 by BASF).  The bill earlier had passed the Assembly on a vote of 78-1.  Because the author declined to seek and obtain reconsideration, the bill is dead. (See clip, beginning at 1:21:00 mark).

Rounding out the busy two weeks, two bills supported by the CCBA were approved by their respective policy committees. 

• AB 52 by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, which would require pre-approval of health insurance rate increases (see earlier post), was approved by the Senate Health Committee on a vote of 5-3.  The bill is supported by the CCBA, as consistent with provisions of Resolution 02-02-2010 developed by the Beverly Hills Bar Association. (See earlier post).
• SB 161 by Senator Bob Huff was approved by the Assembly Education Committee.  The bill, which is consistent with Resolution 04-03-2010 sponsored by the Alameda County Bar Association, would authorize school districts to train non-medical school employees who volunteer, to administer emergency antiseizure medication to students with epilepsy.

CCBA Bills Overcome Suspense

The Assembly Appropriations Committee was good to CCBA-sponsored and supported legislation last Friday (5/27), approving all four measures that had been held on the committee's Suspense file.

Two of the CCBA-sponsored bills were approved by unanimous 17-0 votes of the committee:

AB 545 by Assembly Speaker John Pérez, which would amend Penal Code §273.5 to extend the protections the law provides to victims of felony domestic violence to persons in a dating or engagement relationship. The bill is based on CCBA Resolution 06-05-2009.

AB 1147 by Assembly Member Mariko Yamada, which would require social workers to include in the reports they are already required to prepare on teen parents in foster care information on what age and developmental-appropriate services the minor received, consistent with the Teen Parents in Foster Care Act (SB 1178 by Senator and former CCBA delegate Sheila James Kuehl, of 2004). The bill is based on CCBA Resolution 03-04-2010.

A third bill co-sponsored by the CCBA, AB 308 by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano,was approved with amendments on a vote of 11-6. As amended, the bill would require the Department of Justice, in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other legal experts, to develop guidelines for policies and procedures to ensure the reliability of eyewitness identifications by January 1, 2013, and to make a report on those guidelines - along with any needed implementing legislation - to the Legislature by July 1, 2013. AB 308 reflects the recommendations of the California Commission of the Fair Administration of Justice to address well-documented deficiencies in current eyewitness identification procedures which have too often led to innocent people being convicted and the guilty left free to commit other crimes. AB 308 - which also would allow expert testimony regarding the reliability of an eyewitness identification to be admitted at trial in a criminal action or specified juvenile court proceedings if the proponent of the evidence establishes relevancy and proper qualifications of the witness - is co-sponsored by the CCBA, based on CCBA Resolution 01-13-2010.

Finally, the Appropriations Committee approved, on a tight 9-7 vote, AB 52 by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, which would require health care service plans licensed by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers certificated by the California Department of Insurance, effective January 1, 2012, to apply for prior approval of proposed rate increases, under specified conditions, and imposes on regulators specific rate review criteria, timelines, and hearing requirements. The bill is supported by the CCBA, as consistent with provisions of CCBA Resolution 02-02-2010.

All bills referenced must be approved by the full Assembly by Friday (June 3), in order to stay on track for enactment this year.