By Rebecca Gonzales, NASW-CA Director of Governmental Relations and Political Affairs
The National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter (NASW-CA) is proud to release our 2016 Legislative Scorecard. NASW-CA represents over 10,000 professional social workers who have degrees from accredited social work programs. NASW-CA advocates on behalf of our members and their clients, for the implementation and improvement of programs and policies designed to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people. For more information on the NASW-CA policy priorities, please visit www.naswca.org.
Methodology
This analysis is based on the final floor votes, excluding the concurrence vote, cast on the selected measures. Legislators who were officially absent for a vote did not have their vote included in the rating. The Governor’s rating is based on whether he signed or vetoed measures we supported. Please note that these bills are a subset of the bills on NASW-CA’s priority list for 2016 and do not constitute all of the bills NASW-CA took a position on in 2016.
Summary of Legislation
AB1014 (Thurmond) Community Schools
Establishes the Learning Communities for School Success Program to improve outcomes for public school pupils by reducing truancy and supporting pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school or are victims of crime. This would implement the K–12 education portion of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, approved as Proposition 47 by the voters on November 4, 2014.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 1066 (Gonzalez) Farmworker Overtime
Phases in overtime for agricultural workers for work exceeding 8 hours in a single day or 40 hours in a work week.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 1299 (Ridley-Thomas) Out of County Foster Youth
Provides that foster children, who are placed outside of their county of jurisdiction, are able to access mental health services in a timely manner.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 1561 (Cristina Garcia) Tampon Tax
Establishes a sales and use tax exemption for tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Vetoed by the Governor
AB 1584 (Brown & Thurmond) SSI/SSP
This bill reinstates the automatic annual Cost of Living Increase for SSI/SSP grants for the aged and those with a disability.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Vetoed by the Governor
AB 1732 (Ting) Single User Restroom
Requires, commencing on March 1, 2017, businesses, places of public accommodation, or state or local government agencies that offer a single-user toilet facility to be designated as an all-gender toilet facility.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 1838 (Ting) Foster Care: Infant Supplement
Requires the infant supplement to be paid to a pregnant minor or nonminor dependent for the month in which the birth is anticipated and for the three months immediately prior to the birth, provided the pregnancy is verified.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Vetoed by the Governor
AB 2273 (Irwin) Military Suicide Attempts
Prohibits the California National Guard from prosecuting a member for a military crime because of a suicide attempt.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 2466 (Weber) Voting Felons
Conforms state law to a recent Superior Court ruling in Scott v. Bowen, in which the court found that individuals on post-release community supervision (PRCS) and mandatory supervision are eligible to vote under the California Constitution.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 2590 (Weber) Restorative Justice (Lobby Days Bill)
Provides that the purpose of sentencing is public safety achieved through punishment, rehabilitation and restorative justice.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
AB 2765 (Weber) Proposition 47 Extension
Extends Proposition 47’s timeframe whereby convicted felons can petition for a reduction of their sentence until 2022 (5 additional years).
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 3 (Leno) Minimum Wage
Gradually raises the minimum wage to $13 an hour by July 2017. After January 2019, the minimum wage will be indexed to inflation.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 10 (Lara) Immigrant Health Care
Directs the state to apply for a federal waiver for undocumented adults in order to buy into Covered California without subsidies.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 253 (Monning) Psychotropic Medication
Requires that a juvenile court order authorizing the use of psychotropic drugs for foster youth, must be in the best interest of the child. The bill also requires that under specified conditions, the court will be prohibited from authorizing psychotropic medications until a pre-authorization review has been conducted by a child psychiatrist or behavioral pediatrician.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 813 (Leyva) Statute of limitations Sex Offense
Eliminates the statute of limitations for rape and related crimes commencing January 1, 2017.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 823 (Block) Criminal procedure: Human trafficking
Allows victims of human trafficking to petition the court to vacate and seal the records of any arrest or conviction committed while they were a trafficking victim.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 866 (Roth) Veterans Housing
Provides housing or services to veterans and their children in women-only facilities through the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (VHHP).
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
SB 1322 (Mitchell) Decriminalizing Prostitution
Prohibits law enforcement from arresting or charging children for prostitution offenses. Also requires police to report suspected abuse or neglect to child welfare.
NASW-CA Position: Support
Outcome: Signed by the Governor
2016 Highlights and Notes
In the last several years, many of our most significant Lobby Days Bills have been signed by the Governor! One hold over from last year was SB 3 (Leno) to increase the minimum wage which was signed by the Governor this year.
Not mentioned in our scorecard, but still a great success for our legislative program was the repeal of the Maximum Family Grant in CalWORKs. This repeal was included in the budget and was contained in SB 23. Of the 88 bills we supported that reached the Governor’s desk, he signed 73 bills and vetoed only 15, which is a success rate of 83 percent. We look forward to the new legislative session and to the restoration of programs that received funding cuts during the recession.
SEE BELOW LEGISLATIVE SCORECARDS
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