SACRAMENTO- Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) is pleased to announce several district legislative priorities have been signed into law by Governor Brown. Highlights include bills allowing Californians with disabilities to save for the future, strengthening our state cybersecurity infrastructure, and key budget allocations to improve community college success rates and bring in much needed funding to our Community Veteran’s Service Officers.
Currently a person diagnosed with a disability cannot have assets worth more than $2,000 or earn more than $680 per month without forfeiting eligibility for government programs like Medicaid and SSI. The passage of Irwin’s Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act (AB 449) changes this, and starting January 1, 2016 Californians with disabilities will be able to work and save for the future without losing access to essential public benefits. “This bill, brought to me by a constituent, provides people with disabilities a path to employment and greater independence and dignity,” said Irwin.
Earlier this year, the state auditor reported most of our state agencies are at “high-risk” to cyber-attacks. AB 670 requires our most vulnerable agencies to receive cybersecurity risk assessments annually and provides the resources to bring them to compliance with security standards. “The state is entrusted with our citizen’s valuable information and the state bears a responsibility to actively defend those assets,” remarked Irwin. AB 670 was passed with bi-partisan support and signed by the governor to take effect next year.
County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO) are the initial local point of contact for the thousands of veterans in Ventura County and connect them with the Federal benefits they have earned. CVSOs often save the state money by qualifying and shifting veterans away from state services such as Medi-Cal and into the appropriate federal veterans’ programs. Asm. Irwin’s bill, AB 171, to increase state funding for CVSOs was included in this year’s budget. This will increase the capacity for CVSO services to California’s 1.8 million veterans.
Also included in this year’s budget were funds to improve community college success rates. Over 70% of first-time community college students are unprepared for college level work and are in need of remedial courses and, as a result, are less likely to complete college-level courses. In Ventura County, only 40% of community college students requiring remedial courses ever finish a college-level course. Irwin’s AB 770 influenced the inclusion of $60 million to redesign and streamline basic skills courses statewide. “Ventura County is home to three outstanding community colleges, and it is our job to ensure that students are successful in their pursuit of a college degree,” said Irwin.