As the 2006-2007 legislative activity has come to a close. Governor Schwarzenegger had until October 14, 2007 to either sign, veto or let a bill “sit” without taking action. The following list includes legislation that was tracked by the FDAC/Cal Chiefs Legislative Task Force:

SIGNED/CHAPTERED

AB 220 (Bass) – Firefighters. The bill enacts the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act to prescribe various rights of firefighters, defined as any firefighter employed by a public agency, including a firefighter who is a paramedic or emergency medical technician.

AB 304 (Huff) – Community care facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly: disaster and mass casualty plans. In general this bill requires a community care facility or residential care facility that is licensed or has a special permit there for to provide a copy of the disaster and mass casualty plan required pursuant to specified regulation to any fire department, law enforcement agency, or civil defense or other disaster authority in the area or community in which the facility is located, upon request of the fire department, law enforcement agency, or civil defense or other disaster authority.

AB 384 (Portantino) - Firefighters. The bill enacted the California Fallen Federal Firefighter Survivor Assistance Act of 2007, which would extend that health benefit coverage to the surviving spouse, as defined, or eligible family member of a firefighter employed by the federal government who was a resident of, and whose regular duty assignment was to perform firefighting services in, this state, and who dies as a result of an injury or disease sustained in the line of duty. FDAC supported AB 384.

AB 775 (Niello) – County employees’ retirement: employment of retirees: prohibition. Under current law a retired member may not work more than 90 working days or 720 hours, in a fiscal year or any other designated 12-month period, except as specified in Contra Costa County. This law authorizes a board of supervisors to extend that reemployment period to permit a retired member to work up to 120 days or 960 hours, whichever is greater, in a fiscal year on any other designated 12-month period. The bill makes other changes to retiree reemployment.

AB 932 (Jeffries) - Convict labor: fire camps; weight training equipment. The bill requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide inmates assigned to fire suppression efforts with access to weight training equipment in accordance with the regulations provided for the use of weight training equipment in correctional facilities.

AB 1047 (Houston) – Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act: notification. The bill requires the State Controller to send a notice, on or before January 1, 2009, to all public agencies describing the provisions of, and the benefits of, using the bidding procedures authorized under the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act.

AB 1098 (Saldana) – Hazardous materials: administrative: penalties: liability. Removes the requirement that the amount of the administrative penalty be set by the governing board of the administrative agency when a business, as defined, violates certain hazardous materials regulations. FDAC supported this bill.

AB 1130 (Laird) – Aboveground storage tanks. The bill requires the unified program agencies (UPAs) to implement the unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management regulatory program and would make conforming changes. FDAC supported this legislation.

AB 1196 (Gaines) – Flamethrowing devices. Current law requires a State Fire Marshal permit to use or possess a flamethrowing device. Violations to these provisions are a crime. The bill provides that the provisions shall not apply to the sale, purchase, possession, transportation, storage, or use of a flamethrowing device that is used in fire suppression by a person who is regularly employed by or a paid officer, employee or member of a fire department fire protection district, or firefighting agency, as specified, while on duty and acting within the course and scope of his or her employment.

AB 1296 (Torrico) - Public employee health benefits: disclosures. The bill makes changes to the Public Employees’ Medical and Hospital Care Act regarding disclosing information on hospital costs.

AB 1448 (Niello) – Peace officers: impersonation: uniforms. The bill requires law enforcement vendors to verify that a person buying a uniform is an employee of the law enforcement agency identified on the uniform. It is now a crime for a vendor to see a law enforcement uniform with vertifying the information unless the uniform is sold as a prop, as specified.

AB 1732 (Committee on Elections and Redistricting) – Elections. Existing law defines “elections official” to include, among other persons, a county clerk, city clerk, registrar of voters, elections supervisor, or governing board having jurisdiction over elections within any county, city or district within the state. The bill deletes “governing board” from this definition.

ACR 74 (Fuentes) – California Firefighters Memorial Day. The measure proclaimed September 29, 2007, 2007, as California Firefighters Memorial Day.

SB 41 (Battin) – Taxation: California Fallen Firefighters Assistance Tax Clarification Act of 2006. The bill provides that payments made by an exempt organization, as defined, on or after October 26, 2006, and before June 1, 2007, to any family member of a firefighter who died as a result of the October 2006 Esperanza Incident fire in Southern California would be treated as payments made in furtherance of the charitable purpose of that organization. FDAC supported this bill.

SB 114 (Florez) – Disaster relief. The bill provides for state allocations with respect to property tax revenue reductions resulting from a reassessment for damages incurred within the counties of El Dorao, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura, and Yuba that were declared by the Governor to be in a state of emergency due to the severe freezing conditions that commenced January 11, 2007. FDAC supported this bill.

SB 296 (Dutton) – Office of Emergency Services: disaster preparedness. The bill renames the Disaster Resistant Communities Account in the State’s general fund to the Disaster Resistant Communities Fund in the State Treasury and would delete the requirement that any new activity be contingent upon the receipt of donations to the account. It would instead require that these provisions be implemented only to the extent that in-kind contributions or donations are received from the private sector, or grant funds are received from the federal government, for these purposes.

SB 581 (Wiggines) - Firefighters: volunteer firefights length of service awards. This bill establishes the Volunteer Firefighters Length of Service Award Act and authorizes local agencies with regularly organized fire departments to contract with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System to make the volunteer firefighters of those local agencies members of the service award system. FDAC supported this bill.

SB 548 (Hollingsworth) – California Emergency Services Act. The bill repealed provisions that had earlier repealed an allocation to the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account under the California Emergency Services Act. This bill appropriates funds until January 1, 2009.

SB 629 (Correa) – Automobile insurance: peace officers. Repealed the law which requires a peace officer or firefighter who has been involved in an accident to submit to his or her private automobile insurer a written declaration stating whether or not at the time of the accident he or she was operating an emergency vehicle in the performance of his or her duty during the hours of his or her employment. FDAC supported this bill.

SB 819 (Hollingsworth) – Local government: consolidation. The bill deleted the July 1, 2008 expiration date on the authorization to consolidate two or more special districts not formed pursuant to the same principal act.

SB 839 (Calderon) – Fireworks. This bill makes it unlawful for a person to possess a specified amount of dangerous fireworks, and upon conviction, is guilty of a public offense punishable by a fine or by imprisonment. The bill also requires the State Fire Marshal to identify and evaluate fireworks data, furnish that information as requested as well as send notices out on unauthorized shipments of fireworks. FDAC supported this bill.

SCR 61 (Lowenthal) – Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week. Declares the 2nd week of November as Caron Monoxide Awareness Week and urges the State Fire Marshal, local fire departments, public schools, and all other interested persons or organizations to initiative awareness activities during that week to alert the general public to the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and ways to reduce the risk factors in their homes. FDAC supported this bill.

VETOED

AB 81 (Torrico) – Child protection: safe surrender. The bill would have expanded the scope of the safe-surrender site provisions to allow the provisions to apply to children who are seven days or younger. The bill would have also permitted a local fire agency, upon the approval of the appropriate governing body of the agency, to designate a safe-surrender site. FDAC supported this bill.

AB 553 (Hernandez) – Public Employment Relations Board. The bill would have provided that, under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Public Employment Relations Board was exclusively authorized to make a determination whether to seek from a court of competent jurisdiction injunctive relief involving or growing out a strike, work stoppage, or lockout involving an employee organization and a public agency.

AB 864 (Davis) – Substandard buildings: new ownership interest; registration. The bill would have required a person or entity that acquires an ownership interest in a property for which an enforcement agency has recorded with the county recorder any of specified documents relating to substandard building violations, to provide that enforcement agency with specified information and documents, concurrently with the completion of sale, an exchange of property, or closure of escrow.

AB 941 (Torrico) - Emergency medical technicians; certificates; discipline. The bill would have required the Emergency Medical Authority to maintain a centralized system for monitoring and tracing EMT-1 and EMT-II certification status and EMT-P licensure status to be used by employers and local EMS agencies as part of the background check.

AB 1135 (Strickland) - State government: reports: declarations. The bill would have required when a written report is submitted to the Legislature from any state agency or department to the Legislature, a member of the legislature, or any state legislative or executive body include a signed statement by the head of the agency or department declaring that the factual contents of the written report are true, accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge.

SB 828 (Padilla) - Firefighters: accelerant detecting canines. The bill would have required the State Fire Marshal, in conjunction with recognized statewide fire investigation entities, to update and amend standards and procedures for accelerant detecting canines and their handlers.

SB 942 (Migden) Workers compensation: disability. This bill would have added a supplemental job displacement benefit for employees who were injured after January 1, 2008 and the injury caused permanent partial disability.