California governor signs measures aiding child-care centers, seniors

SACRAMENTO - Measures to help child-care centers obtain funding and keep experienced employees have been signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis.

Davis also signed measures to set up a public awareness campaign to combat elder abuse and help victims of Armenian genocide collect on old insurance policies, his aides said Thursday.

One of the child-care bills, by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley, sets up a $15 million program to provide additional pay or other incentives to keep experienced employees in state subsidized facilities.

The other measure, by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would require state school Superintendent Delaine Eastin to designate a nonprofit organization to help child-care centers get funding.

About a third of child-care workers leave their jobs each year, in large part because of low pay and a lack of advancement opportunities. In some communities the turnover rate is nearly 50 percent.

At the same time, the demand for child care is increasing.

Davis also signed legislation by Assemblyman Kevin Shelley, D-San Francisco, that will require training to help police officers recognize when an elderly person is being abused.

The bill requires Attorney General Bill Lockyer to create a media campaign make the public aware of physical and emotional abuse of the elderly. Lockyer's office has asked for $1.5 million in the next state budget to pay for the campaign.

''More than 2 million Americans over the age of 65 are abused very year, but less than 7 percent of these cases are ever reported,'' Shelley said. ''Public awareness is a key to solving the problem.''

The Armenian genocide bill, by Sen. Charles Poochigian, R-Fresno, is designed to help genocide survivors or their heirs recover benefits from insurance policies sold to Armenians living in Turkey in the early part of the 20th century.

The bill allows them to sue in California courts instead of going overseas to recover policy benefits. It extends the statute of limitations to cover lawsuits filed by 2010.

A total of 10,000 policies were sold to Armenians living in Turkey. Poochigian's office did not know how many of those policies were sold to survivors or heirs now living in California.

Other bills signed by Davis will:

- Let redevelopment agencies join forces to pool housing funds to pay for low-cost housing outside their jurisdictions.

- Limit the types of repairs or improvements a mobile-home park owner can require when a home is sold.

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On the Net:

Read AB212 by Aroner, AB2778 by Jackson, SB1915 by Poochigian and AB1819 by Shelley at www.sen.ca.gov or www.assembly.ca.gov.

The redevelopment bill, AB2041 by Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont, and the mobile home bill, AB2239 by Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, may also be found on those sites.