Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 613 (Allen) into law after hearing from more than 1,200 Alzheimer's advocates that this legislation is important to improve primary care physician practice to better manage Alzheimer's for the 600,000 Californians living with the disease.
Special thanks to Senator Ben Allen (Santa Monica) who authored SB 613 on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association. The bill had unanimous support through the legislative process, culminating in the Governor's signature today. We look forward to partnering with the California Department of Public Health on a 2016 update to the Guideline for Alzheimer's Disease Management.
Disappointingly, Governor Brown vetoed Assembly Bill 1526 (Brown), denying the opportunity to include family caregivers in California's annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. His veto message can be found here. Nevertheless, we thank Assemblymember Cheryl Brown (San Bernardino) for authoring the bill and for passionately representing the interests of all caregivers.
This success is due to persistent advocacy, starting with Advocacy Day in Sacramento, testifying in legislative hearings and continuing with letter writing to the Governor. Thank you to all who contributed to this victory!