Bill Text: CA AB1738 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-09-22 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB1738 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1738-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 05, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1738

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Introduced by Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo

February 17, 2023

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An act to add and repeal Article 8 (commencing with Section 13040) of Chapter 1 of Division 6 of the Vehicle Code, relating to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1738, as amended, Wendy Carrillo. Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program.

Existing law requires a fee of $26 to be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles upon an application for an identification card. Existing law waives that fee for an original or replacement identification card issued to any person who can verify their status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth, and authorizes a homeless services provider with knowledge of the person’s housing status to verify the person’s status for this purpose. Existing law requires a fee of $30 to be paid to the department upon application for an original class C or M driver’s license.

This bill, until January 1, 2029, would require the department to establish the Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program in specified areas to assist persons experiencing homelessness with obtaining a driver’s license or other needed an identification card. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report about the program to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2026, and on or before each January 1 thereafter.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Article 8 (commencing with Section 13040) is added to Chapter 1 of Division 6 of the Vehicle Code, to read:

Article  8. Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program

13040.

 This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program.

13041.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) California has the largest number of residents experiencing homelessness, with over 171,000 people experiencing homelessness on a given night, almost 30 percent of the nation’s number, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.

(b) The vast majority of people experiencing homelessness in California are from California or lived in California for years before becoming homeless.

(c) Homelessness is solvable with sustained investments in proven solutions and accountability in solving homelessness to the people of the State of California.

(d) Persons experiencing homelessness must have a state-issued identification card, among other documents, in order to access a range of key services, including permanent supportive housing, affordable housing, and rental subsidy programs.

(e) Assisting persons experiencing homelessness with obtaining identification cards will enable homeless service providers to move people into permanent housing more expeditiously.

13042.

 For purposes of this article:

(a) “Continuum of care” has the same meaning as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(b) “Department” means the Department of Motor Vehicles.

(c) “Homeless services provider” includes:

(1) A governmental or nonprofit agency receiving federal, state, or county or municipal funding to provide services to persons experiencing homelessness or that is otherwise sanctioned to provide those services by a local homeless continuum of care organization.

(2) A human services provider or public social services provider funded by the state to provide homeless children or youth services, health services, mental or behavioral health services, substance use disorder services, or public assistance or employment services.

(d) “Persons experiencing homelessness” has the same meaning as “homeless” as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as that section read on January 10, 2019.

(e) “Pilot program” means the Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program.

13043.

 (a) Upon appropriation, the department shall establish a pilot program in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and Sacramento and the City and County of San Francisco to assist persons experiencing homelessness with obtaining a driver’s license or other needed an identification card, subject to all of the following requirements:

(1) The department shall develop guidelines for the pilot program in collaboration with the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

(2) The department shall provide direct outreach in collaboration with local homeless services providers that contract with the local continuum of care.

(3) The department shall identify and prioritize locations identified by the local continuum of care.

(b) On or before January 1, 2026, and on or before each January 1 thereafter, the department shall submit an annual report to the Legislature that includes information on the number of persons experiencing homelessness engaged, the number of identification cards issued, and any other metrics determined by the department and the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

(c) This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.