Enhancing & Protecting Our Quality of Life

By Elaine Alquist

Although Santa Clara County's economy has improved significantly, what has often suffered is our quality of life.

In my 3½ years in the legislature I have authored and supported legislation which addresses quality of life issues for families, for our elderly, for workers and for commuters.

SENIORS:

AB 160 - Tax check-off on California Income Tax forms for Alzheimer's research. Status: signed into law.

AB 232 - Removal of Spousal Election Penalty - Allows surviving spouses in public retirement plans to retain their monthly death benefits upon remarriage. Status: signed into law; Chapter 800 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 893 - Nursing Home Internet Access - Makes information about nursing home violations available on the Internet. Status: signed into law; Chapter 430 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 895 - Aging and Adult Wrap-Around Services Study - Authorizes the County of Santa Clara to perform a feasibility study for the development of "warp-around" services for elderly and dependent adults. Status: Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 1160 - Nursing Home Reform - Mandates increased patient contact hours, increases fines for injuries or deaths caused by bad care (joint author). Status: Vetoed by the governor 1999.

AB 1697 - Housing Finance - Extends the sunset date for the California Fund for Senior Citizens tax check-off from January 1, 2000 to January 1, 2005 to make $1 million available for low income housing (co-author). Status: Vetoed by the governor.

AB 1701 - Protects Section 8 tenants, many of whom are seniors, by requiring reasonable advance notice to both tenants and local government when owners intend to withdraw from the program. Status: signed into law.

AB 1338 - Requires residential care facilities for the elderly to provide residents with information on advanced directives upon admission. Status: signed into law. Residential Care Facility for the Elderly Oversight Study/Report - Oversight study report. Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to report back to the Legislature on oversight for residential care facilities for the elderly. The bill will be an Aging and Long-Term Committee bill, but is still undergoing development.

HEALTH:

AB 7 - Requires health plans to provide treatment defined by doctors for breast cancer (principal co-author). Status: signed into law.

AB 16 - In Home Supportive Services - Authorizes counties to designate funds to increase provider wages and benefits for the provision of In-Home Supportive Services (co-author). Status: Senate appropriations committee. AB 88 - Requires HMOs to provide coverage for mental illness (co-author). Status: signed into law.

AB 160 - Tax Check-Off for Alzheimer's Research - removed the subset date of the tax check-off on California Income Tax forms that provide research funds for Alzheimer's Disease. Status: signed into law; Chapter 315 of Statutes of 1999.

AB 161 - California Osteoporosis Prevention and Education Act (COPE) - Establishes a $250,000 fund for osteoporosis education and prevention. Status: signed into law; Chapter 819 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 891 - Health Care Decisions Act - clarified a previous statute pertaining to advance directives, provided for the designation and selection of health care surrogates, and decision making procedures for patients without surrogates. Status: signed into law; Chapter 658 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 892 - Hospice Insurance Coverage - Requires HMOs to pay for hospice care. This is a compassionate issue that adds dignity and comfort to people at the end of life. Status: signed into law; Chapter 528 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 894 - Psychotropic Medication Guidelines, Family Notification - Requires physicians to notify the next of kin of a resident in a nursing home when an anti-psychotic medication is prescribed. Status: Year 2000 legislation, Assembly Health Committee.

AB 896 - Alzheimer's Disease Medications - Cholinesterase Inhibitors - Requires health plans and MediCal to include in their formulary drugs which have been shown effective in slowing the progress of Alzheimer's disease. Status: Introduced 2/25/9; but because of a positive response by the health industry and MediCal to expand their drug formulary, this bill has served its purpose and is now inactive.

AB 900 - Eliminating Labor Member Cap on the Dental Board - Eliminates the capped limit on the number of peace officers that can be employed by the Board of Dental Examiners to eliminate the backlog of criminal cases against those who unlawfully pose as dentists. Status: signed into law.

AB 1341 - Requires clinical medical research conducted with state funds to include, when appropriate, women in all categories, including minority and over-40 women. Status: vetoed by the governor in 1998; Year 2000 active.

PUBLIC SAFETY/CONSUMER ISSUES:

AB 488 - Regulates sale of junk guns (joint author). Status: vetoed by the governor in 1998.

AB 537 - California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 - Prohibits discrimination in instructional services and program for any act that constitutes a hate crime (co-author).

AB 1709 - Requires funeral directors to provide customers information about funeral fraud. Status: signed into law.

AB 1897 - Allows courts in California to order individuals convicted of destroying or vandalizing property to reimburse local law enforcement agencies up to $250 for the costs incurred in their identification and apprehension. Status: signed into law.

AB 2704 - Contractors Board Internet Access - Regulates independent contractors who perform work under service contracts and warranties. Status: signed into law. A new bill to require website posting of information about contractor violations is being drafted and will be introduced this month, 2/00.

SB 23 - Restricts assault-type weapons (co-author). Status: signed into law.

TRANSPORTATION:

AB 379 - Allows CHP to enforce commuter lanes on expressways in Santa Clara County. Status: signed into law.

AB 872 - CALTRANS Streamlining - Cuts through bureaucratic red tape in Sacramento and shortens process for CALTRANS projects to be approved and started. Status: signed into law; Chapter 572 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 904 - Design/Build Contracting - Allows the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority to use a design and construct approach to erect transit centers, transit park-and-ride lots, bus and light rail maintenance facilities, and administrative office buildings, saving time and money. Status: signed into law; Chapter 109 of the Statutes of 1999.

AB 1316 - Establishes district authority for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency. Status: signed into law.

WOMEN & CHILDREN:

AB 105 - Child Care Development Master Plan - California spends more than $2 billion annually for child care programs but has not had an official child care development master plan since 1976! This measure establishes a committee to create a new state master plan for submission to the legislature. Status: Senate Health and Human Services.

AB 1396 - Requires people doing business with the State to acknowledge compliance with child support orders. Status: signed into law.

AB 1837 - Makes domestic violence an express factor for courts to consider when issuing counseling orders in custody and visitation disputes. Also expands the counseling provision to all parties to these disputes. Status: signed into law.

HUMAN RIGHTS, WORKING FAMILIES & HOUSING:

AB 537 - California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 - Prohibits discrimination in instructional services and programs for any act that constitutes a hate crime (co-author). Status: in process.

AB 1696 - Down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in 1998.

AB 1701 - Requires notice to tenants and local governments when Section 8 housing is to be removed from the program. Section 8 housing benefits primarily lower income individuals. Status: signed into law.

SB 16 - Clarifies provisions of prevailing wage and sets out requirements for establishing wages, salaries and working conditions (co-author). Status: signed into law

SB 26 - Protects older workers from age discrimination (co-author). Status: signed into law. Additionally, a new bill is being drafted for introduction this month. This bill will require the Department of Housing and Community Development, the California Housing Finance Agency and the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee to increase funding to areas where the median home price exceeds the state average by 25%. These funds will assist new home buyers of middle and lower income.