Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed three more bills by Senator Nell Soto (D – Pomona):

• SB 141, concerning residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs);
• SB 513, offering temporary debt relief for members of the National Guard;
• SB 1069, regarding redevelopment bonds.

          SB 141 requires refunds of the pre-admission fees paid to RCFEs under specific conditions. Soto introduced her bill because current law allows care facility licensees to decide whether or not their preadmission fees are refundable (and there is no cap on the amount that can be charged).

          Facilities that do not offer refunds can deprive residents of the financial wherewithal to pay the pre-admission fee at another facility, if they have to leave their initial RCFE for any reason. SB 141 will reduce the amount of the refund with each month that a resident remains at a facility, with a lifting of the refund mandate after the third month of residency (although they would still be voluntary).

          “California’s residential care residents deserve honest treatment and a sense of financial stability once they’ve reached the point of institutionalization,” the Senator says.

          SB 513 will assist families of members of the California National Guard killed in the line of duty. Under the provisions of the bill, a beneficiary’s payments of interest and principal to private debts will be suspended for six months, with regular payments resuming at the end of that period.

          “By allowing deferral of payments and interest accrual for half a year, we will provide some financial relief to husbands, wives and children during a time of great emotional – and often financial – hardship,” Soto says.

          Finally, the Senator introduced SB 1069 because existing law does not allow redevelopment agencies with older projects to refinance their bonds and retain their current maturity dates if the bonds mature after 2019.

          “My bill will allow redevelopment agencies with older bonds to take advantage of historically low rates and refinance them, reaping the benefits of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money,” Soto notes. “And these older bonds can only be refinanced if their principal and interest rates are lower than what they are currently paying.”

          SB 1069 will not extend the life of existing redevelopment projects, nor will it allow redevelopment agencies to extend the terms for repaying debt beyond the existing maturity dates of their bonds.