AB 24

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law creates the State Department of Public Health and vests it with duties, powers, functions, jurisdiction, and responsibilities with regard to the advancement of public health. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2016, to award funding to local health departments, local governmental agencies, or on a competitive basis to other organizations, as specified, to support or establish programs that provide naloxone to first responders and to at-risk opioid users through programs that serve at-risk drug users. Existing law exempts from civil liability any person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. This bill would require a person or entity that owns or is responsible for a designated facility, defined as a bar, gas station, public library, or residential hotel, after receiving an opioid antagonist kit from the department, to post an opioid antagonist kit, which includes an instructional poster and opioid antagonist nasal spray, in areas that are readily accessible only by employees, to restock the opioid antagonist kit after each use or upon expiration of the opioid antagonist nasal spray contained in the opioid antagonist kit, and to request a replacement kit from the department, as specified. The bill would exempt from civil liability a person or designated facility that provides, or omits to provide, aid with the opioid antagonist kit, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from requiring its employees to render aid, or from disciplining an employee for not rendering aid, or from prohibiting employees to render aid with an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose. The bill would clarify, among other things, that a designated facility and its employees have no obligation to provide an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose. This bill would require the department to compile a list of all counties that are experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, as defined, and publish the list on its internet website. The bill would also require the department to provide opioid antagonist kits free of charge to as many designated facilities as possible in the counties on the list, to create the opioid antagonist poster with easy-to-understand instructions and graphics on the administration of the attached opioid antagonist nasal spray, and to make the determination on how best to allocate and distribute its limited supply of opioid antagonist among its various programs in the event of an opioid antagonist supply shortage. This bill would make a violation of these provisions subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100, except for public entities or public employees. The bill would require these provisions to be effective 6 months after the department publishes the list of counties experiencing an opioid crisis on its internet website. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented only upon an appropriation being made for these purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute. Existing law grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, with the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. This bill would require the division to investigate and enforce the provisions in this act. By requiring public libraries to provide opioid antagonist kits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.