Assembly Standing Committee on Business and Professions

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Assembly Business and Professions Committee's first hearing of the session. Do I need to go through these talking points before quorum or can we establish quorum? We're going to go ahead and establish quorum while we have everybody here. I appreciate a majority of you showing up on time, Madam Secretary, please call the vote or call the roll. Call a quorum.

[Roll call].

Yes, we have a quorum. And y'all, this is how I want every hearing to go. This is a beautiful thing and I strongly encourage us to continue this prompt timeliness. Good morning. Welcome to the Assembly Business and Professions Committee's first hearing of the session. I'd like to welcome the Members who are new to this Committee, including Assembly Member Essayli, who is replacing Assembly Member Chen for today's hearing only. For today's hearing, we will be accepting testimony both in person and through a moderated telephone service.

The call-in number for this hearing is 888-369-1426. Once again, that's 888-369-1426. Access code is 18501100. Again, the access code is 18501100. We have two items before us today. First, the adoption of our Committee Rules for the 2023-2024 session that I know everyone read very closely. These were distributed to Committee Members' offices in advance. Is there a motion and a second? Got a motion and a second on the adoption of our Committee Rules. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

The motion is that the Committee Rules be adopted.[Roll call].

Great. That's 12 Ayes. That adopts the Committee Rules. We'll leave the roll open for absent Members. We have one Bill on today's agenda. AB 269. My Bill. So I'm going to turn the gavel over to Vice Chair Flora and present the Bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And whenever you are ready.

Mr. Chairman. It's a good bill. I move the bill.

You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you, Mr. Gibson. Colleagues.

I'll second it.

Appreciate you. Thank you, Vice Chair. Colleagues, AB 269 is an urgency measure that would codify two waivers that have been in place during the Covid-19 State of Emergency. When the Governor announced that this emergency will be terminated at the end of this month, he requested the statutory changes in this bill to prevent these two important waivers from expiring.

First, the bill will continue to allow any laboratory profession who meets federal standards to analyze Covid tests as they have been allowed to since the start of the pandemic. Second, the bill will allow the Department of Public Health's Test to Treat program to continue for an additional year by allowing for doctors and nurses to store and dispense Covid therapeutics at approved sites in low access communities.

Members, while the formal State of Emergency may be ending, we know that testing and treatment for Covid-19 will remain absolutely critical. Respectfully ask for an aye vote. And with me today is Maral Farsi from the Department of Public Health to answer any technical questions.

Thank you very much. Just answer technical questions. No testimony?

Do you have testimony? No.

All right. Looking for any other in person support of AB 269.

So good morning. Mike Robson here on behalf of Quest Diagnostics. Quest is the largest clinical lab provider in the State of California and very much in support of the bill. Be important for to understand that about 20% of the personnel at Quest Diagnostics labs that are doing COVID testing are doing so, are doing that testing under the authority of the executive order.

If the executive order were to expire without codifying it, it would impact the ability of Quest Diagnostics to not only continue to do COVID testing, but to do all the other testing they do in the State of California as well. There is a severe workforce shortage in the lab industry. It's been documented the Department of Public Health has put out a report on the workforce shortage.

It'd be important for this Committee to consider long-term changes to really what is antiquated rules and regulations applying to the lab personnel in DPH. And we'd support the bill as it is, but we would encourage people to look at strategies to really update the rules and regulations as they apply to lab personnel so that we can get more people into this industry and meet all the testing demands, not just Covid. So again, I appreciate your support. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Next witness in support. Name and organization, please.

Hi, Kristian Foy here on behalf of the California Clinical Laboratory Association, and we are the State Association of Clinical Labs. We have as our members Quest and also Labcorp. And we're here today in strong support of the bill. We do think it will be instrumental in helping the continued fight against Covid-19. And so we ask for your strong support. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Next witness.

Good morning. Norland Asbrik, representing the County Health Executives Association of California. We represent all the public health departments, including the public health labs across the state. And we're in support. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else in the building in support of AB 269? Seeing none, we'll go to the phone lines. Anyone in support on the phone lines for AB 269?

To speak in support, press one then zero at this time.

Would you please re-queue me? I oppose this bill.

Perfect. We're on support.

And if there is any support for the bill, please press one then zero at this time. Mr. Chairman, there are no lines in queue.

Thank you so much. Moving to opposition. Anyone in opposition to AB 269 in the room? Yes, sir.

Mr. Vice Chair, Members. Matt Broad here on behalf of the California Teamsters and the Engineers and Scientists of California. Both unions represent clinical lab scientists, MLTs. We have opposed unless amended position. And I apologize to the Chair. We were communicating with staff last night. We're really just looking for a sunset added to the bill. It's really not so much about COVID itself and COVID testing. I think we would be first to recognize the importance of having a testing regime in place.

Our concern is making kind of a precedent setting change in statute to a high complexity test recognized by CLIA and doing it without having a full sort of sense of what the long-term impact is. So I've talked to the think, you know, what we're asking for is reasonable. We can come back in a few years and reassess from there. And so that's the basis for our request for an amendment. And we're looking for a soft landing there. Thank you.

Appreciate it. Anyone else in opposition to AB 269 in the room? Seeing none, we'll go to the phone lines. Any opposition on the phone lines?

To speak in opposition, press one then zero at this time. We do have lines queuing up. We will first go to line 14. Go ahead, please.

Yes, my name is Linda Musser. I live in Placer County. And I am strongly, strongly, strongly opposed to this bill. Please do not pass it. Thank you.

We have one other line in queue. One moment while we provide them their line number. We'll go to line 10. Go ahead, please.

Doesn't exist.

Line 10, your line is open. Go ahead, please.

Covid don't exist.

We'll go to next in line. Go ahead, please.

Hi. Am I line 11?

You are line 11. Go ahead, please.

Excellent. In terms of you having already not followed your process by waiving the 30 day.

Next caller, please.

I would respectfully ask for a moment to speak.

Next caller, please.

There are no lines in queue at this time, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you so much. Bring it to the Committee. Any questions, comments from the Committee Members? Seeing none, Mr. Chair, would you like to close?

Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

The motion is do pass to the Committee on Health. [Roll Call]

Sixteen votes. That bill's out. I will leave the roll open for absent Members.

Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Thank you, everybody, for getting here. That is all we have on business. We'll keep the hearing open for five minutes for absent Members to show up and add their vote onto the roll. If they're able to make it here, let's say eight minutes. Let's say by, what is it, 9:50. And then we'll close the hearing at 9:50. Thanks so much, everyone. Appreciate it. Happy Valentine's Day.

And for those who missed the vote on the rules, why don't we open that up for colleagues who are here right now to add on to the rules? Madam Secretary, please open up the roll on adoption of the rules.

The motion is that the Committee rules be adopted. [Roll Call]

Mr. McCarty, AB 269. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

The motion is do pass to the Committee on Health. AB 269. [Roll Call]

Thank you very much. And with that, would you like to vote on the rules as well?

The motion is that the Committee rules be adopted. [Roll Call]

All right. With that, this meeting is adjourned.