Assembly Arts Entertainment Sports And Tourism Committee

Well, good afternoon, everybody. I want to welcome you to today's hearing of the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism. Any absent members should be making their way to Capitol Room 126. We have one item on our agenda today referred to our committee, presented to Assembly Rule 77.2. As always, each bill will have up to two main witnesses in support and opposition, and each witness will receive up to two minutes to present. For those still wishing to do so, written testimony can be submitted through the position portal on the committee's website. And for those attending in person, a quick reminder that any conduct which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of this hearing is prohibited. Thank you. And with that, I'd like to invite our first only author to introduce item number one. This is AB 387. Oh, we do have to establish a quorum. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Present.

Lackey. Here.

El-Hawari.

Jeff Gonzalez here.

Ortega.

Valencia?

Isberg?

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. I am pleased to present AB 387, which continues our work under the Nevaeh Youth Sports Safety Act to help ensure the lifesaving automated external defibrillator, or AEDs, are available and accessible when children are participating in organized youth sports. This effort began several years ago following the tragic death of Nevaeh Johnson from sudden cardiac arrest. Since then, we have worked incrementally to strengthen California's youth sports cardiac emergency preparedness laws while making sure those requirements can work in the real world. AB 387 addresses the next piece of that effort by focusing on the relationships between youth sports organizations and their facilities where practices and games actually take place. Throughout the process, I have tried to approach this issue collaboratively. This has never been about simply placing a new mandate on schools, cities, park districts, or other facility operators. The goal has been to establish reasonable expectations so that youth sports organizations and facilities can work together to make AEDs accessible when they are needed. That has required a significant amount of negotiation. Over the course of this bill, my office has worked extensively with representatives of local governments, schools, parks, and recreational organizations, risk management organizations, youth sports groups, and other stakeholders. Many of the organizations initially raised significant concerns about the bill, particularly regarding implementation, responsibility, costs, and liability. We took those concerns seriously. Rather than moving forward over these objections, we continued negotiating and amended the bill repeatedly to address them. Those discussions continued through both houses and involved months of work to find language that protected the underlying purpose of the bill without creating unreasonable obligations for the facilities that host youth sports. The bill before you today reflects that compromise. Importantly AB 387 does not require a public or private local facility to purchase or install an AED When an AED is available at a facility the bill establishes a framework for making that device accessible during permitted youth sports activities When an AED is not available through the facility, the youth sports organization continues to bear the responsibilities for enduring an operational AED is available as required by law. The amendments also provide additional clarity regarding liability and make clear that the bill does not create a new mandatory duty for a public entity under the current law. Those changes were important to our stakeholders, and the negotiations ultimately resulted in the removal of the opposition to the bill. I think that it is significant because this legislation demonstrates that the process is what it's supposed to accomplish. We started with the legitimate public safety objective. Stakeholders identified legitimate concerns. We worked through those concerns, narrowed the bill where appropriate, and reached a compromise that preserves the fundamental purpose of this legislation. That same collaborative approach has been reflected in the bipartisan support AB 387 has received throughout the legislation process. Members, from both parties, we've recognized that sudden cardiac arrest is not a partisan issue. When children are participating in organized sports, parents, coaches, youth sports organizations, schools, cities, and facility operators all share an interest in making sure that life-saving equipment can be available and accessible during an emergency. The legislation has continued to advance with bipartisan support because we have been willing to listen, amend the bill, and focus on a particular solution rather than assigning unnecessary new responsibilities. Ultimately, 387 has a straightforward goal to improve the availability and accessibility of AEDs so that children participating in youth sports have the best possible protection when a cardiac emergency occurs. I want to thank the stakeholders who spent considerable time working with my office to reach this compromise, as well as the committee staff and members on both sides of the aisle who helped us improve the bill throughout this process. Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Move the bill.

I really want to thank you for your commitment on this issue. I know this is the third year that you've been, the third iteration of the Novia Youth Sports Safety Act, which has come before this committee. You are clearly committed to the health and safety of our youth as they are working through youth sports and just definitely should be commended for that. We want to make sure that this act is going to help expand access and alleviate the potential cost burden associated with the maintenance and upkeep of AED devices. So we're very happy to, I am very happy to support the bill today and have an eye recommendation with the changes that were made over in the Senate.

I want to thank you for those words. It has been a process, and we're doing what's right. And I also want to thank my ledge director here, David Monroy, for doing a lot of that negotiation and putting in a lot of that hard work with you guys as well. Thank you very much. That's for your vote.

AB 387, the motion of Senate amendments be concurred in. Ward? Aye. Ward, aye. Blackie? Aye. Blackie, aye. El-Hawari? Aye. El-Hawari, aye. Jeff Gonzalez? Aye. Jeff Gonzalez, aye. McKinner? Ortega? Aye. Ortega, aye. Cork-Silva? Aye. Cork-Silva, aye. Valencia? Yes. Valencia, aye. Zuber?

Thank you. Thank you.

Secretary, please open the roll. AB 387, the motion to Senate amendments be concurred in.

Spert, aye.

Thank you. Thank you.