Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R-Riverbank) announced Friday that most of the bills from her 2016 legislative package have passed the Assembly and will be heard in the Senate in the coming weeks.
“This year I am focused on providing educational opportunity for students, protecting neighborhoods from human trafficking, and improving the business climate for employers to invest in our state and create jobs,” said Olsen. “As my bills move through the process, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate and the Governor’s office to help ensure their passage.”
Here is a brief review of Olsen’s bills.
Education
AB 2237 – (STEM Partnership Academies) - California Partnership Academies represent a high school movement that is focused on smaller learning communities with a career theme. By providing funding for 100 Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) Partnership Academies, AB 2237 would provide stronger access to quality STEM learning opportunities in schools so that students are better prepared for the jobs and careers of the future.
AB 2336 – (Emergency Teaching Permits for Special Education) – Extends the current timeline of eligibility on emergency substitute teaching permits for special education. This bill would allow a substitute permit holder to work up to 40 days provided they undergo certain training and receive ongoing mentoring from a fully credentialed teacher.
AB 2580 – (Long-Term Foster Parents: Dependency Proceedings) – Provides stability for foster children by allowing former caregivers to notify the social worker of their willingness to receive a child into their home should the child return to the foster care system.
AB 2738 – (School Bond Protection) – Protects taxpayers by preventing school and community college districts from withdrawing funds from voter-approved bond measures to invest on the open market.
Economic Need
AB 54 – (Commission on Disability Access Complaint Forms: Standard Formatting) - Requires disability access complaint letters to be submitted to the Commission on Disability Access in a standardized format, in order to streamline the Commission’s ability to evaluate complaints and identify high-frequency litigants.
AB 2551 – (Water Storage Projects: Alternative Delivery) – Authorizes surface storage projects that receive Proposition 1 funding to use alternative methods of project delivery, thereby expediting project completion.
AB 2805 – (Cargo Theft Task Force) - Establishes the California Agriculture Cargo Theft Crime Prevention Program consisting of a task force charged with developing and adopting standards for detecting and tracking cargo theft. The task force will be comprised of members from diverse law enforcement groups and businesses from participating counties.
AB 2632 – (Private Investigator Licenses: Hours of Experience) – Specifies that persons seeking to be licensed as private investigators may use the hours performed in investigative journalism when applying to sit for the licensing exam.
SB 269 – (ADA Reform) – Strikes a balance between the need to ensure that the disabled community has greater access to private and public buildings with the need to ensure that small businesses of 50 or fewer employees have the ability to correct access violations without being sued. Those who have hired a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) have 120 days to make minor repairs to their establishments before they could be sued. Businesses that have been made aware of lawsuits filed against them have 15 days to address violations before lawsuits could proceed. The legislation also requires state agencies and local government building departments to send regular updates of changing ADA laws. SB 269 was signed into law by Governor Brown on May 10, 2016. Co-Authored with Senators Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) and Richard Roth (D-Riverside).
Government Reliability/Transparency
AB 1546 - (Intaglio Print Alternative) – California state law requires that birth and death certificates and marriage licenses be printed on chemically sensitive paper that features Intaglio print, water marks, fluorescent fibers and other security features. However, last Fall, Sekuworks, the only company in the United States to produce paper with Intaglio print went out of business without warning, causing the Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder’s office to limit the number of vital records citizens could obtain, and was eventually forced to redirect them to the State for assistance. This bill will require the State to perform a study into long-term alternatives to current security requirements for vital records, such as birth, death and marriage certificates, in order to ensure that counties have ample supply of it well into the future.
Human Trafficking
AB 1730 – (Human Trafficking Victims: Safe House Funding) – Provides funding to probation officers in counties across the state to provide temporary housing and comprehensive wraparound mental health, educational, and other services to children who have been commercially sexually exploited.
AB 1731 – (California Interagency Taskforce to Combat Human Trafficking) - Creates the California Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Taskforce, comprised of representatives from a wide variety of state entities, such as the Department of Justice, State Department of Social Services, State Department of Public Health, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State Department of Education, and California Judicial Council. The taskforce, among other things, is responsible for gathering statewide data about human trafficking, recommending interagency protocols and best practices for training and outreach, and evaluating and implementing approaches to increase public awareness about human trafficking.
AB 1822 – (California Sex Trade Buyer First Offender Program) – Would establish statewide standards for local Sex Trade Offender Programs (STOP) that educate convicted sex trade buyers about the harms of the sex trade. The education required by STOP would include the legal consequences of subsequent offenses, health education including the increased risk of HIV and other STDs, effects of the sex trade on sellers of sex and sex trafficking victims, dynamics of sex trafficking, effects of the sex trade on the community, including drug use, violence, and the sex buyers’ vulnerability to being robbed or assaulted while participating in the sex trade.
Assemblymember Olsen represents the 12th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes portions of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties in the Central Valley.
