Well, it’s the season of legislative accomplishments. I can’t possibly point out all of them as the sheer volume would be rather oppressive for a blog format. But I do want to point out a couple of bills here and there.  Specifically, SB 275 and SB 2, both from Senator Gil Cedillo.

SB 275 creates civil penalties for dumping the homeless against their will.  Initially, as drafted by Cedillo and LA City Atty Rocky Delgadillo, the bill was supposed to have a criminal charge associated. However, the criminal charges were stripped under pressure from the hospital lobby. However, the bill will prohibit a hospital from transporting a patient to a location other than their residence without written consent and make such offenses subject to civil penalties of $150,000 on second offense and $300,000 on a third offense. These penalties are large enough to attract attorneys to file on behalf of the dumping victims. I do not yet know if an attorney’s fees provision is included, but that would certainly also be helpful.

SB 2, the Fair Share Zoning bill would require cities and counties to include an inventory of sites suitable for emergency shelters, supportive housing, transitional housing and residential rental developments in the housing element of their general plan. SB 2 includes provisions allowing these facilities as permitted use rather than conditional use or other discretionary permits.

The scuttlebutt around Sacto surrounding the Hospital Dumping Bill (SB 275) yesterday was that the Hospital Association and its legislative allies were going to try another hostile amendment to remove the misdemeanor provision of SB 275. Hospitals said that fines were sufficient to stop the practice, but that was quickly shown to be a fallacy.  Kaiser, in the face of all this publicity, dumped two more patients on Skid Row. You’d figure common decency would be sufficient to stop this practice, but that’s not something the for-profit hospitals have in spades.

At any rate, the misdemeanor for the corporation survived.  While some have claimed that federal funding would be pulled, this is not clear.  The misdemeanor would be charged against the corporation that owns the hospital not the hospital itself. And, of course, there’s a really simple way not to get this misdemeanor: don’t force a patient to Skid Row.  Given that the previous hostile amendments (3rd dumping=crime), this bill is more than lenient and only requires the patient’s consent.

“I am pleased we were able to retain the misdemeanor charge and move forward. We are not prescribing that hospitals do anything other than obtain a patient’s consent prior to transporting them. If they can not do this, and patients are subjected to abandonment in public places, we should afford the same criminal charges associated with dumping a couch in an alley, a dog on the street or a cigarette on the sidewalk,” remarked Sen. Gil Cedillo.

After getting blocked by two Senators who think money from the California Hospital Association (CHA) is more important that basic human dignity, SB 275 has made it to the Senate Floor. (Btw, the two senators in question have lost their Appropriation Cmte. seats as a result). 

Well, now that the ModSquad has faded to black (hopefully to stay permanently in the Seventies), the bill will likely pass the Senate shortly.  Whether Correa and Calderon have decided whether human decency or corporate lobbying cash is more important is still an open question.

HOSPITAL HOMELESS DUMPING BILL (SB 275) HEADS TO SENATE FLOOR WITH STRONG SUPPORT

After delaying a vote on the hospital homeless discharge bill (SB 275) in order to engage the California Hospital Association (CHA) in another round of negotiations, Sen. Gilbert Cedillo’s (D-Los Angeles) bill heads to the Senate floor for a final vote in that house. SB 275 passed out of the Appropriations Committee today on a strong vote, 11 to 4, with Republican Sen. Roy Ashburn included in the bi-partisan support for the bill.

The bill makes it a specific crime to discharge hospital patients to any facility other than a residence without patient consent.  Sponsored by Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, SB 275 seeks to address a deficiency in the law when prosecuting cases specific to patient dumping.

The CHA, a lobbying association representing the state’s hospitals, has contented they have policies in place to address the safe transfer of homeless patients to shelters upon discharge.  However on May 14th as Cedillo presented the bill to committee, a new dumping incident was reported in Los Angeles. The incident occurred at the Union Rescue Mission, a shelter located in downtown Skid Row, which has dealt with prior episodes of patient abandonment.

Detractors feel that SB 275 sets too high of a standard for the medical facilities.  “What does it say about our ethics and humanity? These people are more vulnerable than when they went in to the hospital. Currently there is no law that punishes the transportation of patients without their consent,” said Cedillo.

Cedillo has introduced a series of bills on issues surrounding homelessness – SB 2, Fair Share Zoning, which would require cities and counties to plan for emergency shelters, special needs facilities and transitional housing, SB 119, Medical Drug Treatment for Minors, and SB 275, hospital homeless discharge bill. “I acknowledge there are larger issues at hand involving lack of adequate care offered to homeless populations. This is why we have proposed a package of bills to proactively address the interrelated issues that cause homelessness before they become acute,” remarked Cedillo.