Waldron - Track Record on Recovery Residences,
aka "Sober Living Homes"
State Assembly Member Marie Waldron (R - Temecula/Escondido), who was first elected the State Legislature in 2012, has served on the Assembly Health Committee and therefore has more opportunities to vote on the issue. We have only looked at her voting record for the last two years, and the dates below represent the last votes she may have entered on a bill, rather than every vote she made. She co-authored two bills in 2020: SB 855 and SB 1144. She is a member of the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group.
3/26/19 - Voted in favor of AB 682 (Eggman), which would attempt to count available beds for mental health and substance use disorders in California.
3/26/19 - Voted in favor of AB 704 (Patterson), which would require those involved in recovery and treatment be subjected to a criminal record review.
4/2/19 - Voted in favor of AB 615 (Brough), which assigned up to $10,000 in fines and jail for patient brokering. As of 2020, there are no defined penalties for patient brokering, though it is declared illegal for some individuals.
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 - As a founding member, joined the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group
6/25/19 - Voted in favor of SB 325 (Hill), which later became AB 920, to require state licensing of commercial addiction treatment centers.
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.
1/14/20 - Voted in favor of AB 940 (Melendez) which would have prohibited Recovery Residences from engaging in patient brokering.
2/19/20 - Co-authored SB 1144 (Bates), which would require DHCS to refer substantiated claims against unlicensed Recovery Residences to other enforcement agencies.
8/26/20 - Co-authored and 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 - 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.
3/26/19 - Voted in favor of AB 682 (Eggman), which would attempt to count available beds for mental health and substance use disorders in California.
3/26/19 - Voted in favor of AB 704 (Patterson), which would require those involved in recovery and treatment be subjected to a criminal record review.
4/2/19 - Voted in favor of AB 615 (Brough), which assigned up to $10,000 in fines and jail for patient brokering. As of 2020, there are no defined penalties for patient brokering, though it is declared illegal for some individuals.
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 - As a founding member, joined the bi-partisan Legislative Substance Abuse Treatment Working Group
6/25/19 - Voted in favor of SB 325 (Hill), which later became AB 920, to require state licensing of commercial addiction treatment centers.
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.
1/14/20 - Voted in favor of AB 940 (Melendez) which would have prohibited Recovery Residences from engaging in patient brokering.
2/19/20 - Co-authored SB 1144 (Bates), which would require DHCS to refer substantiated claims against unlicensed Recovery Residences to other enforcement agencies.
8/26/20 - Co-authored and 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 - 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.