(a) The department, consistent with board rules, shall be responsible for the administration of the Limited Examination and Appointment Program. This program shall provide an alternative to the traditional civil service examination and appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with disabilities in the state civil service.

(b) For purposes of this chapter, “disability” includes “mental disability” and “physical disability” as those terms are defined in Section 12926, as that section presently reads or as it subsequently may be amended.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if the definition of “disability” used in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) would result in broader protection of the civil rights of individuals with a mental or physical disability, as defined in subdivision (b), then that broader protection shall be deemed incorporated by reference into, and shall prevail over conflicting provisions of, the definition in subdivision (b). The definition of “disability” contained in subdivision (b) shall not be deemed to refer to or include conditions excluded from the federal definition of “disability” pursuant to Section 511 of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 12211).

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2022.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 356, Sec. 3) by Stats. 2020, Ch. 367, Sec. 2. (SB 1264) Effective January 1, 2021. Section operative January 1, 2022, by its own provisions.)