Existing law requires the Division of Aeronautics in the Department of Transportation, in consultation with certain transportation planning agencies, to prepare a California Aviation System Plan with prescribed elements. Existing law requires the division to submit the plan to the California Transportation Commission, to revise biennially the capital improvement plan element of the plan, and to revise the remainder of the plan every 5 years. Existing law requires the commission to adopt the plan or to revise and adopt the plan. This bill would require the commission to prepare a funding needs assessment for the state's general aviation airports. As part of the funding needs assessment, the bill would require the commission to forecast the expected revenue to pay for the costs identified in the needs assessment, any shortfall in revenue to cover the costs, and recommendations on how any shortfall should be addressed. The bill would require the funding needs assessment to be informed by the California Aviation System Plan and the most recent capital improvement plan. The bill would require the commission to submit the funding needs assessment to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2026.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Pursuant to authority delegated by the Federal Communications Commission to state regulatory bodies and its existing statutory authority, the Public Utilities Commission has established procedures for implementing 2-1-1 dialing in California. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, authorized the commission, if it determined that doing so was an appropriate use of funds collected from ratepayers, to expend up to $1,500,000 from the California Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee Fund to help close 2-1-1 service gaps in counties lacking access to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information and referral services, where technically feasible, through available 2-1-1 service. Existing law establishes various public social services programs, administered by the State Department of Social services. This bill would, upon appropriation, require the department to establish, develop, implement, and administer the 2-1-1 Support Services Grant Program. The bill would require the department to allocate 85% of funds for grants to fund core activities of 2-1-1 agencies, including, among others, contact handling, as specified, and improving the statewide ability to manage resource and user needs data to support data sharing and delivery to health systems, government agencies and other key partners, and shared capacity for analytics and systems. The bill would also require the department to allocate 15% of funds to create a Statewide Innovation Program for the purpose of collective 2-1-1 statewide network coordination with a focus on, among others, building shared strategies and project management of state and regional initiatives and related information and services, and scaling up and assisting with the operations of 2-1-1 services in specified rural counties. This bill would require a grant recipient to adhere to the principles of Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) standards and guidelines for information and referral services. The bill would also require a grant recipient to prepare and submit an annual report to the department, which would include the activities or services funded by the grant, the number of individuals served, and specified measures of system performance. This bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law requires the department to adopt rules and regulations that allow the placement, near exits on freeways in rural areas, of information signs identifying specific roadside businesses, including a business offering electric vehicle charging facilities. This bill would require the department, in coordination with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to develop and design light-duty zero-emission vehicle charging and fueling station signage to be placed along state highways based on charger or fueling type and vehicle compatibility, in order to increase consumer confidence in locating electric vehicle chargers and hydrogen fueling stations. The bill would authorize the department to adopt rules and regulations for these purposes.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law generally authorizes a health care service plan or health insurer to use prior authorization and other utilization review or utilization management functions, under which a licensed physician or a licensed health care professional who is competent to evaluate specific clinical issues may approve, modify, delay, or deny requests for health care services based on medical necessity. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer, including those plans or insurers that delegate utilization review or utilization management functions to medical groups, independent practice associations, or to other contracting providers, to comply with specified requirements and limitations on their utilization review or utilization management functions. Existing law requires the criteria or guidelines used to determine whether or not to authorize, modify, or deny health care services to be developed with involvement from actively practicing health care providers. On or after January 1, 2026, this bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from requiring a contracted health professional to complete or obtain a prior authorization for any covered health care services if the plan or insurer approved or would have approved not less than 90% of the prior authorization requests they submitted in the most recent completed one-year contracted period. The bill would set standards for this exemption and its denial, rescission, and appeal. The bill would authorize a plan or insurer to evaluate the continuation of an exemption not more than once every 12 months, and would authorize a plan or insurer to rescind an exemption only at the end of the 12-month period and only if specified criteria are met. The bill would require a plan or insurer to provide an electronic prior authorization process. The bill would also require a plan or insurer to have a process for annually monitoring prior authorization approval, modification, appeal, and denial rates to identify services, items, and supplies that are regularly approved, and to discontinue prior authorization on those services, items, and supplies that are approved 95% of the time. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the governing board of any school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils. This bill would, commencing with the 2024–25 school year, require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to, upon receiving notice from a parent or guardian that a pupil has asthma, create an individualized asthma action plan for that pupil. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to provide professional development for school staff that includes, among other things, information about symptoms and common triggers of asthma. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law requires the board to assist the Governor with specified tasks in that regard, including the identification and dissemination of information on best practices, including the development and review of statewide policies affecting the coordinated provision of services through the state's one-stop delivery system, as specified. The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act requires local workforce development boards to be established in each local area of a state to assist the local chief elected official in planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce investment, and requires each local board to perform various duties consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Existing law requires each local board to develop and submit to the Governor a comprehensive 4-year local plan, in partnership with the appropriate chief local elected official, that includes specified elements. This bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to assist the Governor with partnering with the Labor Commissioner and other subject matter experts in developing workplace rights curriculum to be provided to all individuals receiving individualized career services, supportive services, or training services through the California workforce system, as specified. The bill would require each local workforce development board to ensure the provision of workplace rights training consistent with that workplace rights curriculum. The bill would require the comprehensive 4-year local plan to include a description of how the local board plans to comply with this requirement. By imposing additional duties on local workforce development boards, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to partner with the Employment Development Department and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to ensure that local workforce development boards and one-stop career center providers are complying with those requirements. Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature that universal access to career services is available to adult residents, regardless of income, education, employment barriers, or other eligibility requirements, and requires career services to include specified components, including job search and placement assistance. This bill would require career services to include workplace rights training consistent with the curriculum developed by the California Workforce Development Board for all individuals receiving individualized career services, supportive services, or training services through the one-stop system. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act of 1980, requires refiners, as defined, to report monthly to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , for each of their refineries, specified information, including the origin of petroleum receipts and the source of imports of finished petroleum products. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the Energy Commission monitor foreign countries that export oil to California and identify on its internet website which of those countries have demonstrated human rights abuses, as documented by the United States Department of State, and which of those countries have lower environmental standards for the production of oil than California. Existing law imposes various limitations on the emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to post on its internet website information on air quality conditions and trends statewide and to develop and conduct a program of monitoring airborne fine particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM 2.5) . This bill would require the state board to annually produce an assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation of oil in California, as specified, and to include that assessment on the board's internet website. The bill would also require the Energy Commission to annually provide data collected pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act of 1980 to the state board for the purposes of the assessment. Under existing law, the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. This bill would require the division to provide a link on its internet website to air quality emissions data associated with the transportation of oil imported into the state.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law generally authorizes a health care service plan or health insurer to use utilization review, under which a licensed physician or a licensed health care professional who is competent to evaluate specific clinical issues may approve, modify, delay, or deny requests for health care services based on medical necessity. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan contract that covers prescription drug benefits or a specified health insurance policy from limiting or excluding coverage for a drug on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which it was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration if specified conditions are met. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan that covers prescription drug benefits from limiting or excluding coverage for a drug that was previously approved for coverage if an enrollee continues to be prescribed that drug, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit limiting or excluding coverage of a drug, dose of a drug, or dosage form of a drug that is prescribed for off-label use if the drug has been previously covered for a chronic condition or cancer, as specified, regardless of whether or not the drug, dose, or dosage form is on the plan's or insurer's formulary. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy from requiring additional cost sharing not already imposed for a drug that was previously approved for coverage. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law establishes the Independent Medical Review System within each department, under which an enrollee or insured may seek review if a health care service has been denied, modified, or delayed by a health care service plan or disability insurer and the enrollee or insured has previously filed a grievance that remains unresolved after 30 days. This bill, commencing July 1, 2024, would require a health care service plan or a disability insurer that modifies, delays, or denies a health care service, based in whole or in part on medical necessity, to automatically submit within 24 hours a decision regarding a disputed health care service to the Independent Medical Review System, as well as the information that informed its decision, without requiring an enrollee or insured to submit a grievance, if the decision is to deny, modify, or delay specified services relating to mental health or substance use disorder conditions for an enrollee or insured up to 26 years of age. The bill would require a health care service plan or disability insurer, within 24 hours after submitting its decision to the Independent Medical Review System to provide notice to the appropriate department, the enrollee or insured or their representative, if any, and the enrollee's or insured's provider. The bill would require the notice to include notification to the enrollee or insured that they or their representative may cancel the independent medical review at any time before a determination, as specified. The bill would apply specified existing provisions relating to mental health and substance use disorders for purposes of its provisions, and would be subject to relevant provisions relating to the Independent Medical Review System that do not otherwise conflict with the express requirements of the bill. With respect to health care service plans, the bill would specify that its provisions do not apply to Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts. The bill would authorize the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate regulations subject to the Administrative Procedure Act to implement and enforce the bill, and to issue interim guidance, as specified. Because a willful violation of this provision by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law creates the Clean Transportation Program, administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to provide, among other things, competitive grants and revolving loans to specified entities for those entities to develop and deploy innovative technologies that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state's climate change policies. Under existing law, a project, as defined, that develops in-state production of raw materials and the manufacturing supply chain for zero-emission vehicle components is eligible to receive funding under that program. As part of that program, the commission has awarded grant moneys through a zero-emission vehicle battery manufacturing block grant to promote in-state battery manufacturing for zero-emission vehicles and related infrastructure. This bill would require the commission, or an entity it contracts with, to administer its Zero-Emission Vehicle Battery Manufacturing Block Grant Program, and would impose eligibility, application scoring, workforce, and reporting requirements on the program. The bill would authorize the commission, or an entity it contracts with, to adopt procedures and criteria to supplement these requirements.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, FQHC and RHC services are reimbursed on a per-visit basis, as specified. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between a patient of an FQHC or RHC and a physician or other specified health care professionals. Under existing law, "visit" also includes an encounter using video or audio-only synchronous interaction or an asynchronous store and forward modality, as specified. This bill would authorize reimbursement for a maximum of 2 visits that take place on the same day at a single site, whether through a face-to-face or telehealth-based encounter, if after the first visit the patient suffers illness or injury that requires additional diagnosis or treatment, or if the patient has a medical visit and either a mental health visit or a dental visit, as defined. The bill would require the department, by July 1, 2024, to submit a state plan amendment to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reflecting those provisions. The bill would include a licensed acupuncturist within those health care professionals covered under the definition of a "visit." The bill would also make a change to the provision relating to physicians and would make other technical changes.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board, before January 1, 2028, to develop, and publish on its internet website, a report on greenhouse gas emissions inventories for the calendar year 2025 for each city, county, or city and county that requests inclusion in the report, as provided. The bill would require the state board, consistent with the preparation of the updates to the scoping plan and before January 1, 2033, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the inventories, for each city, county, or city and county that requests inclusion in the respective update, for the calendar year 2030 and every 5th year thereafter. The bill would authorize the state board to solicit bids and enter into contracts for the development of the inventories. The bill would require the state board, before January 1, 2026, to establish a local government advisory committee to inform its development of the greenhouse gas emissions inventories. The bill would make available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, $2,500,000 in the 2024–25 fiscal year for above-described purposes.
