The enactment of AB 313 marks the culmination of many years of struggle to effectuate meaningful action to increase and enhance the employment opportunities for people with disabilities within the California State Civil Service. It places in statute many requirements that were embodied in the 2015 Joint Project Report conducted by CalHR, SPB and the Department of Rehabilitation, with participation from ACSED and other groups. These new legal requirements will go a long way toward making the reality match the rhetoric regarding disability employment in State government.
Among its requirements, AB 313 will require each State agency to develop a reasonable accommodation policy for people with disabilities consistent with State and Federal law. It also requires the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to annually review departmental affirmative action plans for employing people with disabilities, and require modifications if appropriate. It will further require that each State agency’s equal opportunity employment plan include a policy for the provision of reasonable accommodation.
Perhaps most importantly, AB 313 mandates that CalHR develop a model reasonable accommodation policy. Finally, it requires that by the end of 2025, CalHR report to the Legislature on a variety of things, including the number of people with disabilities hired by each appointing authority, the identification of agencies or departments required to submit corrective affirmative action plans, and specific recommendations to improve the hiring of people with disabilities.
This is truly an important piece of legislation. We are indebted to Assembly Member Christina Garcia for her patience and dedication by introducing and steering this bill through three separate iterations over three different legislative years before finally obtaining the Governor’s signature. I also would like to single out our own Ralph Black, Co-chair of the ACSED Legislative and Policy Committee for his diligent and tireless work shepherding this bill through the legislative process. Finally, we greatly appreciate the assistance and support of DRC through its invaluable co-sponsorship of the bill.
Although there is still much work to do to ensure the effective implementation of AB 313, we should all stop and savor the achievement of this tremendous legislative accomplishment. If you participate in our upcoming Symposium, you will hear more about AB313 there. Should you have any questions regarding the bill, please submit them to acsedonline.org@gmail.com.
To review AB 313 and related materials, you can go to:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB313
Scott Richmond
ACSED President