SACRAMENTO \u2013 Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), a former social worker who served in communities affected by drug abuse and who has authored and co-authored several bills to end abuses in the addiction treatment industry over the past five years, participated in a bipartisan oversight hearing in Costa Mesa today to advocate for meaningful reforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s hearing underscores the obvious \u2013 the need for the Legislature and Governor Newsom to work together to end abuses in the addiction treatment industry,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>said Bates.\u00a0\u201cWhile we have passed some reforms, more needs to be done to protect the health of patients and the public safety of affected communities. My panel colleagues and I have worked on several bills over the past few years that provide a framework for solutions and we intend to introduce more reforms next year. It is my hope the additional interest in this issue will generate more bipartisan progress moving forward.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review conducted the public hearing, which took place at Costa Mesa\u2019s City Hall. Senator Bates participated in discussions with the committee\u2019s chair, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach); Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton); state and local government officials; operators of substance abuse facilities; and concerned community members.<\/p>\n Senator Bates is a member of the Bipartisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group. She has participated in numerous public and private meetings regarding the addiction treatment industry over the past five years, including co-hosting town halls attended by hundreds of constituents in\u00a0Oceanside<\/a>,\u00a0Laguna Hills<\/a>, San Clemente, and Ladera Ranch.<\/p>\n She has worked with the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department to author legislation that would help protect Californians from the dangers of fentanyl (a synthetic opioid) and pursue illegal distributors. In March 2019, the Senate Public Safety Committee declined to pass\u00a0Senate Bill 161<\/a>. The committee also blocked\u00a0SB 1103<\/a>\u00a0in 2018 and\u00a0SB 176<\/a>\u00a0in 2017. In 2016, the Assembly Appropriations Committee did not approve\u00a0SB 1323<\/a>.<\/p>\n In regard to sober living homes and recovery facilities, she has authored and co-authored several bills to end abuses since her election to the Senate. Some of these bills are highlighted below.<\/p>\n 2019<\/u><\/strong> She also authored\u00a0SB 589<\/a>\u00a0to prohibit an operator of a licensed residential treatment facility, a certified alcohol or other drug program, a recovery residence, or a third party, from providing any form of false advertising or marketing services, including making a false or misleading statement about the entity\u2019s products, goods, services, or geographical locations. SB 589 also authorizes the state to investigate allegations of misconduct and impose sanctions.\u00a0Governor Newsom vetoed the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2018<\/u><\/strong> Anti-kickback statutes like SB 1290 are designed to prevent insurance fraud and abusive practices resulting from provider decisions that are based on self-interest rather than cost, quality of care, or necessity of services. Unfortunately, both of these bills died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n Two bills that Senator Bates co-authored were signed by Governor Brown:\u00a0SB 992<\/a>\u00a0(Hernandez) and\u00a0AB 3162<\/a>\u00a0(Friedman). SB 992 requires all alcoholism and drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities to disclose specified information to the California Department of Health Care Services and requires residential treatment facilities to develop a plan to address relapses.<\/p>\n AB 3162 makes initial licenses for residential treatment facilities provisional for one year, requires services offered by the residential treatment facility to be specified on the license and provided within the licensed residential treatment facility, and increases civil penalties for the violation of licensing law.<\/p>\n 2017<\/u><\/strong> Senator Bates co-authored\u00a0AB 1095<\/a>\u00a0(Harper) to allow local governments to zone integral facilities, which are two or more \u201c6 and under\u201d licensed treatment homes, similar to \u201c7 and over\u201d licensed treatment homes, if they operate in a campus-like environment. This would include sharing meal services, treatment programs, counseling sessions, transit, management, etc. This bill died in the Assembly Health Committee.<\/p>\n 2016<\/u><\/strong> Senate Bill 1283 was defeated in the Senate Health Committee, while facing strong opposition from certain operators of sober living homes who mischaracterized the bill\u2019s purpose and intent.<\/p>\n
\nSenator Bates authored\u00a0SB 486<\/a>\u00a0to add commercially-operated recovery residences to the list of entities that cannot give or receive anything of value for the referral of an individual seeking alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment services, as established by SB 1228 last year. It also adds a $50,000 penalty for violations. This bill was made into a two-year bill and will be heard again in January 2020.<\/p>\n
\nSenator Bates authored two bills on sober living homes and residential treatment facilities:\u00a0SB 902<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0SB 1290<\/a>. SB 902 requires background checks for licensed operators of residential treatment facilities. SB 1290 prohibits patient brokering, modeled after Florida\u2019s \u201cPatient Brokering Act\u201d spearheaded by Dave Aronberg, the Democratic State Attorney for Palm Beach County.<\/p>\n
\nSenator Bates authored\u00a0SB 34<\/a>\u00a0to direct the Department of Health Care Services to develop guidelines on how the department should report to the Legislature about its work related to residential treatment facilities. The\u00a0Senate Appropriations Committee did not pass the bill.<\/p>\n
\nSenator Bates authored, with Assemblyman Bill Brough as principal co-author,\u00a0Senate Bill 1283<\/a>. This bill would have authorized a city or county to adopt health and safety standards for structured sober living homes. City and county ordinances could include, but would not be limited to, mandatory registration requirements, in-home supervision requirements for the residents, and an operation plan that addresses maintenance of the property and noise abatement. This bill was modeled on legislation that the Arizona Legislature passed on a bipartisan vote and signed into law by Arizona\u2019s governor in 2016.<\/p>\n