By law, RCFEs must carry liability insurance, and all facilities must have worker’s compensation for staff. According to Willy Halle, the cost of worker’s compensation has dropped 18%, and just this past month Willy saved a new client with two, six-bed facilities and a sizeable payroll over $16,000 a year. It is possible you can enjoy comparable savings. Call my good and long-time friend (and RCFE administrator) Willy Halle at (760) 835-1884, to get a free, no-obligation quote on liability and worker’s compensation insurance.
AB1993 is another attempt to increase facility capacity from 6 to 10 in “residential use of property.” If passed, and it has been delayed since February, it would require the State’s Fire Marshal to revise codes to redefine “residential use of property” to be a maximum of 10. To justify this increase, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness stated the increased capacity can be used to house California’s homeless population especially in the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. The bill’s author, Assembly Member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, said his bill is “…consistent with the Governor’s Master Plan on Aging.” A homeless person, placed into a facility would be SSI dependent. Although Mr. Kalra removed the “must accept SSI” language, the pushing of homeless into RCFEs is the overall agenda of the state. There is also a “racist” component to this bill claiming 30% of the unhoused aging population is black “due to a history of racial discrimination in housing.” If passed, the bill would amend Health and Safety Code 1569.85 redefining “residential use of property.” Mr. Kalra can be contacted at (408) 286-2535.
SB875, hopefully the last attempt at reforming referral agencies, has not progressed in the legislature since January 29. What is the legislature and governor’s hesitation to enact reform upon referral agencies?
AB2075, authored by David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, wants every resident in assisted living to have a “designated support person” to be available for “compassionate care.” If the bill is enacted it will allow visits to the facility even during a “public health emergency.” This bill may cause rifts between DSS, resident families and assisted living facilities. This support person will have specific rights including “in-person, onsite access to the resident during a ‘public health emergency’ in which visitation rights have been stopped by the state or local government,” and allow the resident to leave for an outing, despite any public health emergency. The bill is still active. Mr. Alvarez can be reached at (619) 498-8580.
AB1031 will add 226.77, a new section to California Labor Code. The bill, authored by Assembly Member Blanca Rubio, D-West Covina, will allow employers under Wage Order No. 5-2001 to exempt from the requirement that an employee be relieved of all duties when an employee is providing direct support to an individual with an intellectual or developmental disability. The bill would require an employee to interrupt a rest period to respond to the needs of a consumer, then be permitted to receive another rest period within a reasonable time after the circumstances that led to the interruption have passed. The bill would require the employer, if circumstances do not allow the employee to take another rest period, to pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for the rest period that was not provided. Ms. Rubio can be reached at (626) 960-4457.
Why would the California legislature want to create barriers for facilities to obtain a person’s criminal record clearance? What would its agenda be? Well, SB826, authored by State Senator Susan Rubio, D-Ontario, will require an employer to “retain a waiver” from an employee to release state and federal criminal history information, and an employee may “challenge the accuracy and completeness” of the information. This is an attempt to protect felons from having their criminal records reviewed by prospective employers. Ms. Rubio can be contacted at (626) 430-2499 or (909) 460-6064. AB2200, authored by Assembly Member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, would create a new program, CalCare, to “guarantee health care for all.” Eligibility would not be dependent upon a person’s “religious beliefs, practices, national origin, ethnicity, or immigration status.” It would also make California the payor for a person’s healthcare including federal Medicare (not likely to be approved by the federal government). The last reported budget shortfall in California was $73B, yet illegals will get full and complete healthcare.