The Personal Income Tax Law and California Constitution impose taxes based upon taxable income of individuals, estates, and trusts at specified rates. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, in addition to those taxes, would impose an additional tax of at the rates of 1%, 3%, and 3.5% on that portion of a taxpayer's taxable income over specified thresholds, as provided. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various deductions in computing income that is subject to tax under that law. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income in connection with health savings accounts in conformity with federal law. In general, the deduction would be an amount equal to the aggregate amount paid in cash during the taxable year by, or on behalf of, an eligible individual, as defined, to a health savings account of that individual, as provided. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, would also provide related conformity to that federal law with respect to the allowance of rollovers from Archer Medical Savings Accounts, health flexible spending arrangements, or health reimbursement accounts to a health savings account, and penalties in connection therewith. The bill would repeal its provisions on December 31, 2027. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Pharmacy Law provides for the licensing and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law, except as specified, prohibits a person from possessing any controlled substance, except that furnished to a person upon the prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, veterinarian, or another of prescribed healing arts licensees pursuant to existing law. A violation of the Pharmacy Law is a crime. This bill, with certain exceptions, on and after June 30, 2022, would require a pharmacist who dispenses in solid oral dosage form a controlled substance in Schedule II or Schedule IIN of the federal Controlled Substances Act to dispense it in a lockable vial, as defined, provide a specified opioid factsheet, and, if the lockable vial uses an alphanumeric passcode or other code, include the code in any patient notes in the database or other system used by the pharmacy in the dispensing of prescription drugs. The patient, the patient's parent or legal guardian if the patient is a minor or otherwise unable to authorize medical care, or the conservator of the patient if the conservator has been given the power to make health care decisions for the patient, would choose the code, except as specified. The bill would require the manufacturer of a controlled substance to reimburse the pharmacy each month for the cost of lockable vials used by the pharmacy to dispense controlled substances within 30 days of receiving a claim for reimbursement, and would require the manufacturer to pay, among other costs, the net acquisition cost of the lockable vials and dispensing costs. The bill would make the manufacturer subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for each day the manufacturer is delinquent in reimbursing the pharmacy. The bill would require a vendor that contracts with a pharmacy to provide lockable vials to make available at all times assistance online or through a toll-free phone number for patient use. The bill would make a prescriber not liable for adverse consequences resulting from specified events relating to the lockable vials, except as specified. The bill would authorize the board to adopt regulations to carry out the bill. The bill would require the board to assess a fine for a violation of these provisions by a pharmacist, but would also authorize the board to choose not to take administrative action against a pharmacy if the board determines that compliance with the law would create a financial hardship on the pharmacy or that the pharmacy is temporarily out of stock of lockable vials, as provided. The bill would specify that a violation of these provisions shall not be punishable as a misdemeanor.
(1) Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system to compensate employees for injuries sustained in the course of their employment. Existing law establishes the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation in the Department of Industrial Relations and requires the commission to conduct a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases. Existing law requires the commission to issue an annual report on the state of the workers' compensation system, including recommendations for modifications that would improve the operation of the system. Existing law requires the report to be made available to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public on request. Existing law also requires the commission to periodically issue a report and recommendations on the improvement and simplification of notices required to be provided by insurers and self-insured employers, as it deems necessary. This bill would require the annual report on the workers' compensation system to be made available on the commission's internet website and to specifically be made available to the Assembly Committee on Insurance and the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement rather than to the Legislature generally. The bill would also require the commission to provide its periodic report on the improvement and simplification of notices to the Assembly Committee on Insurance and the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement. (2) Existing law requires the commission to conduct and periodically update a survey and evaluation of evidence-based, peer-reviewed, nationally recognized standards of care, as specified. This bill would repeal that requirement.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and sets forth its powers and duties, including, among other things, responsibility for coordinating federal-state relationships in housing and community development and assisting communities and persons to avail themselves of state housing programs. This bill would require the department to designate areas in this state as high-opportunity areas and sensitive communities, as provided, by January 1, 2023, in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the department to update those designations every 5 years, or more frequently at the discretion of the department..
Under existing law, public school employees have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law requires public school employers, as defined, upon receiving notice from an exclusive representative of public school employees who are in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, to deduct the amount of the fair share service fee from the wages and salary of affected employees and pay those amounts to the employee organization. Existing law prohibits an employee who is a member of a religious body whose traditional tenets or teachings include objections to joining or financially supporting employee organizations from being required to join, maintain membership in, or financially support any employee organization as a condition of employment, except that the employee may be required, in lieu of a fair share service fee, to pay sums equal to the fair share service fee either to a nonreligious, nonlabor organization, or a charitable fund exempt from taxation, as provided. Existing law requires the employer of a public school employee to provide the exclusive representative of the employee with the home address of each bargaining unit member. This bill would prohibit a public school employer from deducting the amount of the fair share service fee or the alternative fee described above from the wages and salary of a public school employee unless the employer has received explicit written permission from the employee, as specified, and would require an employee's authorization to only be valid for the calendar year in which it is given unless terminated, as provided. The bill would repeal the above provision requiring a public school employer to provide the exclusive representative with the home address of each bargaining unit member. Existing law authorizes an employee organization to become the exclusive representative for the employees of an appropriate unit for purposes of meeting and negotiating by filing a request with a public school employer alleging that a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit wish to be represented by the organization and asking the public school employer to recognize it as the exclusive representative. Existing law requires a public school employer to grant a request for recognition, except as specified. This bill would authorize the decertification of a recognized employee organization if a majority of all the employees in the negotiating unit vote to decertify, the request for a vote is supported by a petition containing signatures of 30% of the employees in the negotiating unit, and the signatures are obtained in one academic year. The bill would authorize the recertification of an employee organization as the exclusive bargaining representative by a similar petition and voting process no sooner than one year after decertification. The bill would require the Public Employment Relations Board to bear the cost of conducting decertification and recertification elections.
Existing law authorizes a person in custody who has been charged with, or convicted of, a criminal offense to apply for inpatient or outpatient mental health services. Existing law establishes various grant programs to help local governments provide mental health services, including the primary intervention program and the California Emergency Solutions Grant Program. This bill would, upon appropriation, establish the Mental Health Response and Treatment Challenge Grant Pilot Program. The bill would provide that the purpose of the pilot program is to provide a statewide investment program to provide funds and flexibility to cities, counties, cities and counties, or other local governmental agencies that interact with the criminal justice system to develop programs that seek to improve services in 3 areas, as specified. The bill would require the Board of State and Community Corrections to administer the pilot program and award grants on a competitive basis.
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 other contracting providers, to comply with specified requirements and limitations on their utilization review or utilization management processes. This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer that implements an automated prior authorization system to use evidence-based clinical guidelines to program the system and to make the algorithms used for the system available for download on the plan's or insurer's provider internet website. The bill would require a plan or insurer that implements an automated prior authorization system to ensure that a licensed physician or a licensed health care professional makes the decision to deny or modify a request by examining the request specific to the enrollee or insured and does not simply ratify an automated response. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, that provides coverage for a specified service, including chiropractic services, physical or occupational therapy, and acupuncture and traditional medicine, from requiring prior authorization for the initial 12 treatment visits for that service within a new episode of care. 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 vests in the State Department of Developmental Services jurisdiction over various institutions, including developmental centers, for the provision of care to persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the State Department of Developmental Services to send to the Department of Veterans Affairs, whenever requested, a list of all persons who have been patients for 6 months or more in a state institution within the jurisdiction of the State Department of Developmental Services and who are known to have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. This bill would instead require that list to include all persons known to have served in the Armed Forces and who have been patients for 5 months or more in a state institution within the jurisdiction of the State Department of Developmental Services.
Existing law requires the State Department of Developmental Services to establish policies and procedures for the development of an annual community placement plan by regional centers, and requires the plan to provide dedicated funding for comprehensive assessments of developmental center residents, identified costs of moving individuals from developmental centers to the community, and deflection of individuals from developmental center admission. Existing law requires the department to provide to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, and to the contractor for regional center clients' rights advocacy services, annually on April 1, information on efforts to serve consumers with challenging service needs, as specified. This bill would instead require the department to provide that information to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, and to the contractor for regional center clients' rights advocacy services, annually on April 5.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages and prescribes various license fees based on the type of license issued, among other things. The act authorizes the department to adjust the fees annually based upon specified criteria and requires the department to transmit the adjusted fee list to the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee in writing no later than January 10 of the year before it becomes effective. This bill would require the department also to transmit the adjusted fee list annually to the Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization and the Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Governmental Organization and would change the date for the list to be transmitted to no later than January 31 of the year before it becomes effective.
Existing law provides for the procedure of approving and accepting bail, and issuing an order for the appearance and release of an arrested person. Existing law authorizes specified sheriff, police, and court employees to approve and accept bail in the amount fixed by the warrant of arrest, schedule of bail, or order admitting to bail. Existing law requires the superior court judges in each county to prepare, adopt, and annually revise a uniform countywide schedule of bail, as specified. This bill would require bail to be set at $0 for all offenses except, among others, serious or violent felonies, violations of specified protective orders, battery against a spouse, sex offenses, and driving under the influence. The bill would require the Judicial Council to prepare, adopt, and annually revise a bail schedule for the exempt offenses. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact further changes to current law to ensure that a defendant is not detained pending trial simply due to an inability to pay for the amount of bail in the statewide schedule. The bill would prohibit costs relating to conditions of release on bail from being imposed on persons released on bail or on their own recognizance. The bill would require the sheriff, police, and court employees above to approve and accept bail in the amount fixed by the bail schedule. This bill would require the court to order a return of money or property paid to a bail bond licensee by or on behalf of the arrestee to obtain bail if the action or proceeding against the arrestee who has been admitted to bail is dismissed, no charges are filed against the arrestee within 60 days of arrest, or the arrestee has made all court appearances during the pendency of the action or proceeding against the arrestee, as specified. The bill would authorize the bail bond licensee to retain surcharge not to exceed 5% of the amount paid by the arrestee or on behalf of the arrestee. The bill would require the court to order this return of money or property only for a bail contract entered into on or after January 1, 2022.
