Bill Text: CA AB1663 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1663 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Group homes: immigrant children.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-26 - Re-referred to Com. on RLS. [AB1663 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB1663-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate June 25, 2018

Amended IN Assembly January 22, 2018

Amended IN Assembly April 18, 2017

Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1663

Introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Eggman)

February 17, 2017

~~An act to amend Sections 25215.1, 25215.2, 25215.25, 25215.45, and 25215.56 of, and to add Sections 25215.3 and 25215.48 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.~~ An act to add Sections 1520.12 and 1534.6 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to care facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1663, as amended, Cristina Garcia. ~~Lead-acid batteries.~~ Group homes: immigrant children.

Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including group homes, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law subjects every licensed community care facility, except as specified, to unannounced inspections by the department, and authorizes the department to inspect these facilities as often as necessary to ensure the quality of care provided. A violation of this act is a misdemeanor.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state.
This bill would require a group home with children who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, to, among other things, report the number of children under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who are placed in the group home and their length of stay and arrange a meeting for those children to meet with a qualified organization that has received a certain grant to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors if the child is an unaccompanied undocumented minor, as defined. The bill would require a county child welfare department to meet with each child under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who is placed in a group home to assess the well-being of the child and to offer mental health services to the child, and would require the department to inspect group homes with those children at least once each quarter to ensure compliance with the act and the quality of care provided. Because the failure of a group home to comply with these provisions would be a misdemeanor, and the bill would impose new requirements on county officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act of 2016 prohibits a person from disposing, or attempting to dispose, of a lead-acid battery at a solid waste facility or on or in any land, surface waters, watercourses, or marine waters, but authorizes a person to dispose of a lead-acid battery at certain locations. The act requires a manufacturer battery fee of $1 on and after April 1, 2017, until March 31, 2022, and $2 on and after April 1, 2022, to be imposed on a manufacturer of lead-acid batteries for each lead-acid battery it sells at retail to a person in California, or that it sells to a dealer, wholesaler, distributor, or other person for retail sale in California. The act requires the manufacturer battery fee to be paid to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and requires dealers and manufacturers of lead-acid batteries to register with the department. The act defines “manufacturer” for these purposes.
This bill would authorize a person who manufactures a lead-acid battery and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the state to agree in writing with the importer, as defined, of that lead-acid battery to pay the manufacturer battery fee on behalf of the importer. The bill would exempt an importer who has an agreement of this type with a manufacturer, and who meets other specified requirements, from the requirement to register with the department. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2020, to submit to the Legislature a report that includes, among other things, any regulations or policies adopted by the department for purposes of ensuring compliance with the registration, returns, reporting, payments, audits, refunds, or collection requirements related to the manufacturer battery fee.
The act requires manufacturer battery fees remitted pursuant to these provisions to be credited against amounts owed by the manufacturer to the state under a judgment or determination of liability under specific hazardous materials provisions or any other law for removal, remediation, or other response costs relating to a release of a hazardous substance from a lead-acid battery recycling facility.
This bill would additionally require that manufacturer battery fees remitted pursuant to these provisions be credited to the account of the manufacturer remitting those fees. The bill would require that a person who agrees in writing to pay the manufacturer battery fee on behalf of an importer be credited for a payment of the manufacturer battery fee only if certain conditions are met, including that the person provide to the purchaser of a lead-acid battery a statement that includes specified information on the invoice, contract, or other record documenting the transaction. The bill would relieve a purchaser of a lead-acid battery who receives that statement in a timely manner, and any subsequent purchaser of that battery, from liability for the manufacturer battery fee that would otherwise be imposed on the sale of that battery, provided that the manufacturer remits payment of the manufacturer battery fee to the state for the sale of that battery. The bill would authorize an importer who has paid the manufacturer battery fee and who receives an untimely statement that the fee has been paid for that battery to file a claim for a refund of any overpaid fees.
The bill would authorize the department to disclose the name, address, account number, and account status of a person registered with the department to pay the manufacturer battery fee. The bill would provide that account status does not include the amount of the manufacturer battery fee paid by any person.
~~The act imposes a California battery fee on a person for specified types of replacement lead-acid batteries purchased from a dealer.~~
This bill would provide, if a new motor vehicle dealer sells or leases to a person a used vehicle into which the new motor vehicle dealer has incorporated a replacement lead-acid battery, that the California battery fee does not apply to the person with regard to that replacement lead-acid battery.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOYES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 1520.12 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1520.12.
(a) A group home with children who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement shall do all of the following:
(1) Report both of the following to the department on a quarterly basis:
(A) The number of children under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who are placed in the group home.
(B) The length of stay for children under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
(2) Arrange a meeting for each child under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to meet with a qualified organization that has received a grant to provide legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors pursuant to Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 13300) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code if the child is an unaccompanied undocumented minor, as defined in Section 13300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3) Provide access to the county child welfare department to meet with children under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, so that the children may be assessed and offered mental health services.
(b) A county child welfare department shall meet with each child under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement who is placed in a group home to assess the well-being of the child and to offer mental health services to the child.

SEC. 2.

Section 1534.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1534.6.
At least once each quarter, the department shall inspect a group home with children who are under the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement to ensure compliance with this chapter and the quality of care provided.

SEC. 3.
To the extent that this act has an overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local agency for programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011 Realignment Legislation within the meaning of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, it shall apply to local agencies only to the extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost increase. Any new program or higher level of service provided by a local agency pursuant to this act above the level for which funding has been provided shall not require a subvention of funds by the state or otherwise be subject to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
With regard to certain other costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district, no reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.