Existing law establishes the Governor as the primary state officer representing California's interest in international affairs, to the extent that representation is not in conflict with federal law or the California Constitution. Existing law establishes the Lieutenant Governor as the Chair of the Commission for Economic Development to improve trade opportunities for California, and develop international partnerships for foreign companies to do business in the state and for California. Existing law requires the Office of Planning and Research to maintain and update a list of all state agreements made with foreign governments. Existing law additionally requires the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to provide the Legislature with an updated strategy for international trade and investment, that includes, at a minimum, specified components, once every five years. This bill would require the Governor to establish the California-Ireland Trade Commission within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development as an advisory body to the Governor and the Legislature, consisting of specified appointed members, upon availability of sufficient funding resources for this purpose, as provided. The bill would establish the various purposes of the commission, which would include advancing bilateral trade and investment between California and Ireland. This bill would require the commission to report its findings, results, and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature within one year of its initial organizational meeting and by February 1 of each succeeding year, as specified. The bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to consider the commission's recommendations when updating its strategy for international trade and investment. The bill would include related legislative findings.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities. Existing law also requires, with certain exceptions, an individual providing counseling services within a program to be registered with or certified by a certifying organization approved by the department. This bill would create, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Licensed Alcohol Drug Counselor Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The bill would require the board to establish regulations and standards for the licensure of alcohol drug counselors, as specified. The bill would authorize the board to collaborate with the Department of Health Care Access and Information regarding behavioral health professions, review sunrise review applications for emerging behavioral health license and certification programs, and refer complaints regarding behavioral health workers to appropriate agencies, as specified. The bill would require an applicant to satisfy certain requirements, including, among other things, passing a certification examination, as specified. The bill would, commencing no later than 5 years after the board commences approving licenses, impose additional requirements on an applicant, including possessing a doctoral or master's degree in alcohol drug counseling that meets specified requirements, completion of a supervised practicum from an approved educational institution, and documentation that either the applicant is certified by a certifying organization or the applicant has completed 2,000 hours of postgraduate supervised work experience. The bill would impose requirements related to continuing education and discipline of licensees. The bill would prohibit a person from using the title of "Licensed Alcohol Drug Counselor" unless the person has applied for and obtained a license from the board, and would make a violation of that provision punishable by an administrative penalty not to exceed $10,000. The bill would specify that it does not require a person employed or volunteering at an outpatient treatment program or residential treatment facility certified or licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services to be licensed by the board. The bill would require the board to establish fees for licensure, as specified.
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and regulates application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses within the state. Existing law, until July 1, 2026, authorizes the department to permit licensees to exercise license privileges in an expanded license area authorized pursuant to a COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization, as specified. Existing law includes duplicative provisions relating to COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorizations. This bill would authorize an on-sale licensee located in an airport terminal to, under a COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization, sell alcoholic beverages for on-sale consumption in an expanded license area that includes the airside terminal space if certain requirements are complied with. Those requirements include, among others, the licensee receiving written approval from the airport operator, serving the alcoholic beverages in distinguishable and labeled containers, selling no more than 2 containers to each customer per transaction, and posting appropriate signage regarding open container laws, as specified. The bill would make all licensees holding a COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization within a shared common licensed area jointly liable for compliance with laws that may subject their license to discipline in that shared common licensed area. The above-described provisions of the bill would be repealed on July 1, 2026. The bill would repeal the duplicative COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization provisions.
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 also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plans and health insurers to provide coverage for prosthetic devices in connection with specified health conditions and procedures. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, to cover cranial prostheses, as defined, for individuals experiencing permanent or temporary medical hair loss. The bill would require a licensed provider to prescribe the cranial prosthesis for an individual's course of treatment for a diagnosed health condition, chronic illness, or injury, as specified. The bill would limit coverage to once every 12 months and $750 for each instance of coverage. The bill would not apply these provisions to a specialized health care service plan or specialized health insurance policy. Because a violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law also 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Commencing January 1, 2025, this bill would require coverage for cranial prostheses for individuals experiencing permanent or temporary medical hair loss. or treatment for those conditions as a Medi-Cal benefit, subject to the same requirements with respect to provider prescription, coverage frequency, and amount. The bill would not apply these provisions to a specialized health care service plan. 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 defines extortion as the obtaining of property from another, with consent, or the obtaining of an official act of a public officer, induced by a wrongful use of force or fear, or under color of official right. Existing law further provides that fear sufficient to constitute extortion may be induced by certain threats, including a threat to accuse the threatened individual, or the individual's relative or family, of a crime. This bill would provide that a threat to post, distribute, or create AI-generated images or videos of another may also induce fear sufficient to constitute extortion. By expanding the crime of extortion, this 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 California Department of Aging to establish a task force of certain members to study and make recommendations to the Legislature on the improvement of legal services delivery to senior citizens in California by exploring specified matters, including ways to ensure uniformity in the provision of legal services throughout the state and the possible establishment of a statewide legal hotline for seniors. Existing law requires the task force to report and make its recommendations to the Legislature on or before September 1, 2002. This bill would require the department to establish a similar task force or to utilize an existing subcommittee, working group, task force, or committee to assess the implementation of the recommendations made pursuant to the above-mentioned provisions, make additional recommendations by exploring the same matters explored by the initial task force, and to report the assessment and make its recommendations to the Legislature on or before September 1, 2026, either in a separate report or as part of an existing report. If the department creates a task force, the bill would require the director of the department to service on or appoint a representative, and would require the task force to include a broad array or state agencies and stakeholder organizations with resources and expertise related to elder justice initiative and legal services for older adults.
Existing law provides that all property has an owner, whether that owner is the state, and the property is public, or the owner is an individual, and the property is private. Existing law establishes the California National Guard and regulates the operation of that force. The United States Constitution authorizes Congress to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. This bill would require the Military Department to develop statewide policy recommendations regarding ownership and use of real property on sensitive land, as specified. The bill would require the department to submit its recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature, as specified. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2026.
Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the use of electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen-fueling stations and to limit obstacles to their use. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , working with the State Air Resources Board and the Public Utilities Commission, to prepare, and update at least once every 2 years, a statewide assessment of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of electric vehicle adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least 5,000,000 zero-emission vehicles on California roads by 2030 and of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. This bill would require the Energy Commission, beginning January 1, 2025, to biennially conduct an assessment, in consultation with applicable state and federal agencies, of the abidance of electric vehicle charging stations, as defined, with electric vehicle charging station-related accessibility requirements and related guidance from relevant state and federal agencies, as provided. The bill would require the biennial assessment to include a biennial report, and would require the Energy Commission to submit the report to the Legislature concurrently with the Energy Commission's updates to the statewide assessment of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2036.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sets forth the duties of the department, which include administering various programs for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife resources. Existing law, except as provided, authorizes any owner or tenant of land or property that is being damaged or destroyed or is in danger of being damaged or destroyed by certain animals, including, among others, the beaver, to apply to the department for a permit to kill the animals. Under existing law, it is unlawful for any person to trap any fur-bearing mammal for purposes of recreation or commerce in fur. A violation of any provision of the Fish and Game Code, or any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under those provisions, is a misdemeanor, unless otherwise specified. This bill would require the department to develop a program to facilitate the translocation of beavers across California for conservation purposes, as provided. Because a violation of any rule, regulation, or order related to the beaver translocation program 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 Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. This bill would require each community mental health service to have a local youth mental health board (board) , appointed as specified, consisting of members between 15 and 23 years of age, inclusive, at least 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, mental health consumers who are receiving, or have received, mental health services, or siblings or close family members of mental health consumers and 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, enrolled in schools in the county. The bill would require the board, among other duties, to review and evaluate the local public mental health system and advise the governing body and school district governing bodies on mental health services related to youth that are delivered by the local mental health agency or local behavioral health agency, school districts, or others, as applicable. The bill would require the governing body to include the board in the county planning process and provide a budget for the board sufficient to facilitate the purposes, duties, and responsibilities of the board. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, among other things, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, commencing January 1, 2025, revises and recasts the MHSA by, among other things, renaming the commission the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and changing the duties of the commission to include promoting transformational change in California's behavioral health system through research, evaluation and tracking outcomes, and other strategies to assess and report progress. This bill would require the commission, on or before December 30, 2027, and once every 5 years thereafter, to assess the extent to which the local youth mental health boards have been established and to make recommendations on ways to strengthen the youth voice to support appropriate behavioral health services. 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 provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Qualified individuals under the Medi-Cal program include medically needy persons and medically needy family persons who meet the required eligibility criteria, including applicable income requirements. Existing law requires the department to establish income levels for maintenance need at the lowest levels that reasonably permit a medically needy person to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, and for which federal financial participation will still be provided under applicable federal law. In calculating the income of a medically needy person in a medical institution or nursing facility, or a person receiving institutional or noninstitutional services from a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly organization, the required monthly maintenance amount includes an amount providing for personal and incidental needs in the amount of not less than $35 per month while a patient. Existing law authorizes the department to increase, by regulation, this amount as necessitated by increasing costs of personal and incidental needs. This bill would increase the monthly maintenance amount for personal and incidental needs from $35 to $50, and would require that the amount be increased annually, as specified. The bill would make these changes subject to receipt of necessary federal approvals.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution and air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. This bill would require the state board to adopt regulations to improve air quality in population centers located in valleys and would require each local air district to implement those regulations with regard to stationary sources located within its jurisdiction. The bill would make those requirements inoperative on January 1, 2029, and would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2030, to submit a report to the Legislature and specified committees of the Legislature describing any air quality improvements resulting from those regulations. By adding to the duties of local air districts, this 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.
