Quirk-Silva - Track Record on Recovery Residences,
aka "Sober Living Homes"
Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) has served as:
2012-2020 Assembly Member, California State Assembly
Some of the dates below represent the last votes she may have entered on a bill, rather than every vote she made. She is not a member of the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group.
6/25/14 - Voted in favor of AB 2491, which initially was proposed to declare a third-party, certified residence as exempt form licensure. This is an old trick proposed by industry to exempt its business-operated houses from licensure.
2/15/17 - Introduced AB 572 to provide a single investigator of recovery residence abuses in Orange County...
Later, AB 572 was changed to just Costa Mesa, which would fund the investigator.
3/21/17 - Voted in favor of AB 285, which would provide for voluntary certification of business-operated recovery residences and deem them a 'residential use' of the property. This is an old ploy by industry to try to keep these houses from being regulated and licensed.
3/28/17 Did not vote on Harper's AB 1095, to define Treatment Centers and their residences as a single facility requiring a license and visit at all sites, in the Assembly Health Committee.
1/31/18 AB 1095 died.
4/04/17 - Voted in favor of AB 700 which would align California addiction counseling certification standards with national standards, in the Health Committee.
5/31/17 Again voted in favor of AB 700, on the floor.
11/6/17 Hosted a Public Forum on the issue in Costa Mesa.
5/29/19 - Voted in favor of AB 1779 (Daly), which was a bill to grant the National Association of Recovery Residences a monopoly in California to provide certification for unlicensed houses before the federal government even handed out guidelines. This is yet another third-party certification bill that is intended to derail licensing of houses; however, legislators fail to understand that voluntary certification is an attempt by industry to guarantee them a stream of clients coming out of the justice system.
6/4/19 - Joined the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group.
9/10/19 - Voted in favor of SB 445 (Portantino), which would repeal inoperative state law and create an advisory board to establish standards for "youth" addiction treatment up to age 26.
9/10/19 - Voted in favor of SB 589 (Bates), which would prohibit false claims and marketing by addiction treatment centers.
9/12/19 - Voted in favor of AB 919 (Petrie-Norris), which required Treatment Centers to have separate rental contracts for housing. This is one of four recovery related bills that have become law in the last four years, and the only one to become law in a non-election year.
9/13/19 - Voted in favor of AB 920 (Petrie-Norris), which in its final form was a bill to require state licensing of commercial addiction treatment centers.
10/30/19 - Spoke from the dais at an Assembly Oversight Hearing: Substance Abuse Treatment Industry Regulation in Costa Mesa.
8/26/20 - Voted in favor of SB 855 (Wiener) which would require insurance companies to pay bills for treatment even for those misdiagnosed and required payment of services based on "current practices" established by non-medical authorities. Current practices in rehab are less than scientific. Over this bill's life, it was tightened up, and it became less potentially damaging to addicts than originally written. We would have preferred the bill to die, but many legislators voted in favor of it, we believe, because it also cleared up some differences between federal and state law and ambiguities in state law around mental health insurance reimbursements.
8/30/20 - Introduced and voted in favor of AB 2265 (Quirk-Silva) which would require the counties to report numbers of people assessed for mental health and substance use disorders.
In general, Assembly Member Quirk-Silva has pushed long and hard to get an investigator into Orange County and Costa Mesa. It would be good if she could co-sponsor other important legislation dealing specifically with recovery housing as well.
2012-2020 Assembly Member, California State Assembly
Some of the dates below represent the last votes she may have entered on a bill, rather than every vote she made. She is not a member of the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group.
6/25/14 - Voted in favor of AB 2491, which initially was proposed to declare a third-party, certified residence as exempt form licensure. This is an old trick proposed by industry to exempt its business-operated houses from licensure.
2/15/17 - Introduced AB 572 to provide a single investigator of recovery residence abuses in Orange County...
Later, AB 572 was changed to just Costa Mesa, which would fund the investigator.
3/21/17 - Voted in favor of AB 285, which would provide for voluntary certification of business-operated recovery residences and deem them a 'residential use' of the property. This is an old ploy by industry to try to keep these houses from being regulated and licensed.
3/28/17 Did not vote on Harper's AB 1095, to define Treatment Centers and their residences as a single facility requiring a license and visit at all sites, in the Assembly Health Committee.
1/31/18 AB 1095 died.
4/04/17 - Voted in favor of AB 700 which would align California addiction counseling certification standards with national standards, in the Health Committee.
5/31/17 Again voted in favor of AB 700, on the floor.
11/6/17 Hosted a Public Forum on the issue in Costa Mesa.
5/29/19 - Voted in favor of AB 1779 (Daly), which was a bill to grant the National Association of Recovery Residences a monopoly in California to provide certification for unlicensed houses before the federal government even handed out guidelines. This is yet another third-party certification bill that is intended to derail licensing of houses; however, legislators fail to understand that voluntary certification is an attempt by industry to guarantee them a stream of clients coming out of the justice system.
6/4/19 - Joined the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group.
9/10/19 - Voted in favor of SB 445 (Portantino), which would repeal inoperative state law and create an advisory board to establish standards for "youth" addiction treatment up to age 26.
9/10/19 - Voted in favor of SB 589 (Bates), which would prohibit false claims and marketing by addiction treatment centers.
9/12/19 - Voted in favor of AB 919 (Petrie-Norris), which required Treatment Centers to have separate rental contracts for housing. This is one of four recovery related bills that have become law in the last four years, and the only one to become law in a non-election year.
9/13/19 - Voted in favor of AB 920 (Petrie-Norris), which in its final form was a bill to require state licensing of commercial addiction treatment centers.
10/30/19 - Spoke from the dais at an Assembly Oversight Hearing: Substance Abuse Treatment Industry Regulation in Costa Mesa.
8/26/20 - Voted in favor of SB 855 (Wiener) which would require insurance companies to pay bills for treatment even for those misdiagnosed and required payment of services based on "current practices" established by non-medical authorities. Current practices in rehab are less than scientific. Over this bill's life, it was tightened up, and it became less potentially damaging to addicts than originally written. We would have preferred the bill to die, but many legislators voted in favor of it, we believe, because it also cleared up some differences between federal and state law and ambiguities in state law around mental health insurance reimbursements.
8/30/20 - Introduced and voted in favor of AB 2265 (Quirk-Silva) which would require the counties to report numbers of people assessed for mental health and substance use disorders.
In general, Assembly Member Quirk-Silva has pushed long and hard to get an investigator into Orange County and Costa Mesa. It would be good if she could co-sponsor other important legislation dealing specifically with recovery housing as well.