Assembly Standing Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care

Alrighty, guys. Good afternoon. Welcome to the April 21 assembly aging and long term care committee hearing. We are hearing three measures today. Our hearing will be brief should be brief, and we need to be out of this room, oh, man, for another committee to have a hearing at four.

So let's get this show on the road. Welcome, everyone, and thank you assembly member Patterson, I believe, who has agreed to fill in for assembly member Gonzales who could not be here today. With that, I think we can let's call the roll to establish a quorum. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

We have a quorum. Alright. So as a reminder, primary witnesses and support must be those accompanying the author or who otherwise have a registered have registered a support position with the committee, and the primary witnesses in opposition must have their opposition registered with the committee. All other support and opposition can be stated at the standing mic when called upon to simply state name, affiliation, and position. Alright. We've got some mover Sanchez here. Please proceed.

I'll make it as brief as possible.

It's our favorite word today. Thank you,

chair and members. I accept the committee amend

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Thank you, Chair and Members. I accept the committee amendments to this bill and appreciate the work put in by committee staff. Also, would like to add that it passed on consent out of judiciary this morning. As California's population ages, the demand for proactive community-based health care grows. People over 55 face a higher risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases.

That's okay.

According to the American Heart Association, 9 in 10 cardiac arrest victims who receive a shock from an automatic Automated External Defibrillator or AED in the first minute survive the event. AB 1819 is a practical, cost-effective way to protect seniors while keeping them active and connected to their communities. The bill would require a building serving 50 or more people to have an AED on-site. AEDs are simple, life saving devices that can make a critical difference in the minutes before first responders arrive.

Thank you again for considering the bill, and I urge an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Assembly member Sanchez. Do you have any witnesses in support?

Can you say that again? Sorry. I'm still getting used to this.

Okay. Isha Iyer on behalf of California Association of Recreation and Park Districts in support.

Good afternoon, chair members. Jennifer Tannehill with Erin Reed and Associates on behalf of the California Society for Respiratory Care. This is Respiratory Therapists throughout the state, in support. Thanks.

Awesome. Anybody else in support? Anybody in opposition?

Thank you. Moved by Assemblymember Blanco, seconded by Assemblymember Arambula.

And any questions from the committee? Alright. Assembly member Sanchez, would you like to close on your bill?

Members, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Awesome. Thank you so much. As a physician, I've taken an oath to step in and provide aid in the emergency. Thank you so much for your work on this bill to support our aging population, and with the amendments you have my support.

This bill was dual referred and was passed out today to us from the Assembly Committee on Judiciary. Can you call the roll?

Motion is do passed as amended, and we refer to the committee on appropriations. Bains?

Aye.

Banes, aye. Ellis?

Aye.

Ellis, aye. Arambula?

Aye.

Arambula, aye.

Avila-Farias? Patterson? Blanca Rubio?

Aye.

Blanca Rubio, aye. Sharp-Collins.

That is four votes. We will hold the vote open for the rest of members and Assemblymember Blanca Rubio. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Chair and members, thank you for allowing me to present AB 1983. Currently, Continuing Care Retirement Communities or CCRCs operate under a repayable entrance fee model where residents and or their estates are entitled to receive a portion, typically 50 to 90%, of their entrance fee back when the contract ends. However, under existing law, that repayment is conditioned on the resale or re-occupancy of the specific unit.

Some units are reoccupied quickly, but others may remain vacant for months or even years due to market conditions or location within the community.

This leads to significant delays and uncertainty for families who are waiting for repayment often during difficult and emotional times. AB 1983 provides a practical solution by allowing CCRCs to adopt a sequential order repayment method under which repayments are no longer tied to the resell of a specific unit, but instead place residents, or their estates in a queued base on when their contract ends. As new residents move in and entrance fees are counts collected, those funds are, deposited into a dedicated repayment account.

Payments are then issued in order once sufficient funds are available and must be made within fourteen days. This approach levels the playing field, so repayment is not tied to the unit size or desirability, aligns incentives so provide its providers focus on filling all units and improves transparency by giving families clear expectations.

AB 1983 does not eliminate the current system. It simply provides an additional option for providers to adopt it, if it serves their residents better while maintaining existing consumer protections. At its core, the bill ensures a more predictable and equitable process for returning funds that's rightfully belong to residents and their loved ones. With me today to testify, I have Colin Sweetin, Director of Corporate Affairs for Ericsson Senior Living. Thank you.

Good afternoon, chair vanes, committee members. I'm Colin Sweetin, and I am the Director of Corporate Affairs for Ericsson Senior Living, testifying in support of AB 1983. Ericsson is developer, owner, and manager of Continuing Care Retirement Communities or CCRCs. Today, we serve more than 30,000 seniors across 11 states, and we're excited to add California in the very near future. When someone moves into a CCRC, they pay an entrance fee, which is comparable to the area's local home values.

A portion of that entrance fee is repaid to the resident or their estate when they leave the community or pass away under the terms outlined in their contract. Today, California statute ties those repayments to when a resident's exact unit is reoccupied. This seems logical, but it's not always the most efficient or predictable way to repay entrance fees. Some units naturally take longer than others to reoccupy due to size, location, or layout.

And as a result, families may wait many months or even years without a reliable estimate of when the repayment will be made.

AB 1983 simply offers another option to repay entrance fees with the potential to expedite the process while keeping all consumer protections in place. Under this proposed option called the sequential order method, each resident is assigned a position in the queue based on when they leave the community, and repayments are made in that order regardless of when the resident's exact unit is reoccupied. The only difference between this method and the current method is the order in which entrance fees are repaid.

The proposed method prioritizes the person waiting the longest rather than the one with the most in demand unit at that given time. This ensures all residents are treated fairly regardless of how long their individual unit takes to resettle.

So if the current method works well for for a provider that can keep using it and this bill simply expands choice and, where appropriate, improves outcomes for both providers and consumers, thank you for the time today, and a special thank you to the committee staff for their work on this bill. Respectfully urge your support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Anybody else in, support?

Amber King with Leading Edge California in support. Thank you.

Danielle Parsons with the California Assisted Living Association in support. Thank you.

Anybody in opposition? Seeing none, bring me back to the committee. Any questions? Anything?

Move the bill.

Moved by Assemblymember Ellis, seconded by Assemblymember Arambula. And Assemblymember Rubio, would you like to close?

Thank you. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember Rubio, for your work on this bill. And we've got our first and second, so Lily, please call the roll.

Item number two, AB 1983. Motion is do passed and re refer to the Committee on Human Services. Bains?

Aye.

Bains, aye. Ellis?

Ellis, Aye. Arambula.

Aye.

Aye.

Arambula, Aye. Avila Farias? Patterson? Blanca Rubio?

Aye.

Blanca Rubio, aye. Sharp Collins?

We have four and that has passed, But we'll have to leave the role open for other members to add in. And now we are waiting for a swimmer, Patterson, who is on our way. Let's go ahead and open the roll for add ons.

[Roll Call]

Well, thank you so much. Sorry to be a little late. As you know, we got a few things going on today but I really appreciate the work of this committee on this legislation. It's one, I think that's important to both of us but the engagement from the committee staff has been really great on it.

Many areas of this state, there are wildfires and really nobody's immune to that anymore but we've had some pretty devastating wildfires in Placer and El Dorado Counties and we're continuing to see people rebuild to this today but one thing that kinda came up is what what can we do and you never really know where the budget situation is going to be.

If we're going to bring down insurance rates and or at least stabilize them, we have to make sure people are doing their job in maintaining their own property.

What this legislation does is it sets up a grant program for seniors and people with disabilities to be able to participate in that process where they can get help and that can be funded in a way so we can make sure that properties are properly taken care of and doesn't spread wildfires it as it comes through.

With that, we just learned that you wanted to testify ten minutes ago, so we have Dan Okenfuss who's going to speak in support of this measure.

Thank you. Doctor Banes and committee members, my name is Dan Oakenfuss. I am the public policy manager from the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, here in support for Senate bill two zero three seven and as background, CFILC, we're a state association, comprising 24 independent living centers.

We prioritize inclusion access to ensure that disabled people have the option to live independently in the community.

This bill definitely caught our attention because it helps our consumers live independently by working to harden their homes against wildfires. Thousands of our consumers in the independent living centers network live in high fire risk zones and unfortunately, they don't have the ability either physically or financially to harden their homes and property to reduce their exposure.

This is why the pilot program suggested in, Sunnyvale 2037 will help bridge that affordability gap so these consumers can hire contractors to make these protective modifications. Thank you so much.

On behalf of Los Angeles Alzheimer's, Orange County and Alzheimer's San Diego in support. Thank you.

Peter Hansel on behalf of AARP California in support.

Clifton Wilson on behalf of the Placer County Board of Supervisors in support. Thank you.

I don't think I said either I was going to accept the committee amendments, which I'm happy to do including another county in that pilot project. So thanks again for the work and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

I will get this one day. With that, you have my full support and if you can open up the role.

Item number three, AB 2037[ROLL CALL]