Existing law provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that all public schools, teaching kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, operated by a school district, in cooperation with specified entities and individuals, develop a comprehensive school safety plan, as provided. Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools, as provided. Existing law requires a comprehensive school safety plan to, among other things, identify appropriate strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and address the school's procedures for complying with existing laws related to school safety. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, and the governing body of a charter school to, by July 1, 2026, develop and adopt a policy to limit or prohibit the use by its pupils of smartphones while the pupils are at a schoolsite or while the pupils are under the supervision and control of an employee or employees of that school district, county office of education, or charter school. Existing law, however, specifies circumstances in which a pupil may not be prohibited from possessing or using a smartphone, including, among others, in the case of an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger. This bill would instead authorize the prohibition on the use of a smartphone by a pupil in the case of an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger if that circumstance is explicitly addressed in a comprehensive school safety plan.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based upon specified characteristics or status. The FEHA makes certain discriminatory employment and housing practices unlawful, and authorizes a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice to file a verified complaint with the department. The FEHA requires the department to make an investigation in connection with a filed complaint alleging facts sufficient to constitute a violation of the FEHA, and requires the department to endeavor to eliminate the unlawful practice by conference, conciliation, and persuasion. Existing law authorizes a complaint to be filed by an aggrieved person or the department on behalf and as representative of a group or class if the alleged unlawful practice adversely affects, in a similar manner, a group or class of persons of which the aggrieved person is a member. This bill would define the term "group or class complaint" for purposes of the FEHA. Existing law tolls the time for a complainant to file a civil action alleging a violation of specified civil rights provisions commencing with the filing of a complaint with the department until the department files a civil action for the alleged violation or until one year after the department issues written notice that it has closed its investigation without filing a civil action. This bill would additionally toll the time for a complainant to file a civil action if the complainant timely appeals to the department the closure of their complaint until one year after the department issues written notice that it remains closed following the appeal. Existing law authorizes the director to bring a civil action in the name of the department, acting in the public interest, on behalf of an aggrieved person if conference, conciliation, mediation, or persuasion fails to eliminate an unlawful practice. Existing law imposes a deadline of one or 2 years for the department to bring a civil action, as specified. Existing law requires those deadlines to be tolled during a dispute resolution proceeding. This bill would additionally require those deadlines to be tolled pursuant to a written agreement by the complainant and the department, during the pendency of a petition to compel, and for the duration of an appeal to the department for the closure of a complaint. Under existing law, if the department does not file a civil action, the department is required to promptly issue the person claiming to be aggrieved a right-to-sue notice upon request, as specified, or upon completion of its investigation and not later than one year after the filing of the complaint. For a complaint treated as a group or class complaint, existing law requires the department to issue a right-to-sue notice upon completion of its investigation and not later than 2 years after the filing of the complaint. Existing law requires these deadlines to be tolled during a dispute resolution proceeding. Under this bill, if the department determines that an aggrieved person's complaint relates to a complaint filed in the name of the director or a group or class complaint, as specified, the department would be required to issue a right-to-sue notice after the director's or group or class complaint has been fully and finally disposed of and all administrative proceedings, civil actions, appeals, or related proceedings have terminated. The bill would require this deadline and the above-described deadlines relating to issuing a right-to-sue notice to additionally be tolled pursuant to a written agreement by the complainant and the department, during the pendency of a petition to compel, and for the duration of an appeal to the department for the closure of a complaint. Existing law authorizes the department, in the case of failure to eliminate specified violations relating to housing discrimination that have occurred, or that are about to occur, as specified, to bring a civil action in the name of the department. Existing law authorizes the action to be filed in any county where the unlawful practice is alleged to have been committed, the records relevant to that practice are maintained and administered, the aggrieved party would have resided, or the defendant's residence or principal office is located, as specified. This bill would remove the above-described provisions specifying the counties where the civil action may be filed.
Existing law, for policy years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, requires student health insurance coverage, as defined, to be considered individual health insurance coverage. Existing law, except as specified, requires a blanket disability insurance policy that meets the definition of student health insurance coverage to comply with insurance provisions that are applicable to nongrandfathered individual health insurance, including, among others, essential health benefits requirements and annual limits on out-of-pocket expenses. Existing law exempts student health insurance coverage from certain requirements otherwise applicable to health insurers and health benefit plans, including the establishment of specified enrollment periods, guaranteed availability and renewability, specified coverage level requirements, and single risk pool rating requirements. Existing law requires a notice to be provided in the student health insurance enrollment materials stating that California requires residents and their dependents to obtain and maintain health coverage, either through student health insurance, or through a different method, including Medi-Cal, Covered California, or, if under 26 years of age, their parent's coverage. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, authorize a student certificate holder to request to terminate their student health insurance coverage during the policy year if the student graduates, takes a leave of absence, or is no longer enrolled at the institution of higher education. The bill would require the request to be provided to the institution of higher education at least 30 days before the effective date of termination and would, upon receipt of the request to terminate coverage, require the institution to terminate coverage effective within the same calendar month if feasible, but no later than the last day of the calendar month in which the 30-day period ends. The bill would authorize the student to pay only the premium through the date of the termination, as specified. The bill would require a student or dependent of a student to be notified of premium liability to them, if any, if they choose not to terminate coverage pursuant to these provisions. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, if a student requests a waiver from student health insurance coverage, require the waiver to be granted if the student obtains or maintains health coverage that is minimum essential coverage, as specified. The bill would prohibit charging the student a fee or premium if the waiver is granted. Existing law requires a health insurer to file with the Department of Insurance all required rate information for grandfathered individual and specified group health insurance policies at least 120 days before implementing any rate change. This bill would authorize the department to prohibit a requested rate change if the insurer fails to comply with the above-described timelines. This bill would also authorize the Insurance Commissioner to exercise their existing authority to enforce the above-described provisions and prohibits an administrative penalty, if assessed, from exceeding $5,000 for each violation, or $10,000 for a willful violation. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to encourage self-funded student health coverage offered by the University of California Student Health Insurance Plan and the University of California Voluntary Dependent Plan to maintain or exceed coverage standards of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and to comply with the above described provisions.
The California State Lottery Act of 1984 authorizes a California State Lottery and provides for its operation and administration by the California State Lottery Commission and the Director of the California State Lottery. The act establishes the State Lottery Fund as a continuously appropriated fund for carrying out the purposes of the act and requires the fund to receive all proceeds from the sales of lottery tickets or shares, the temporary line of credit for initial startup costs, and all other moneys credited to the lottery from any other source. Existing law authorizes the California State Lottery to draw funds from its continuous appropriation for the purpose of making immediate payment through its revolving fund to lottery prizewinners of $1,000 or less, provided that regulations to support the action are adopted by the commission. This bill would increase the amount that may be paid immediately to lottery winners under these provisions to $100,000.
The Outdoor Advertising Act regulates placement of advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances of highways that are part of the national system of interstate and defense highways and federal-aid highways. The act prohibits a person, as defined, from placing an advertising display within the areas affected by the act without a permit. The act authorizes the Director of Transportation to adopt regulations for the enforcement of the act. Pursuant to that authority, existing regulations only require the Department of Transportation to process an application for placing a new advertising display along a new alignment of an interstate or primary highway if the application is accepted on or after the date that the department accepts the highway project for the new alignment as complete. This bill would prohibit the department from denying or delaying the acceptance of a permit application for a new advertising display along a portion of a new alignment of an interstate or primary highway on the basis that the highway project has not been accepted as complete if the section of highway is open to the use of the public for vehicular travel within 1,000 feet of the location specified in the permit application.
Existing law establishes the California Board of Accountancy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to license and regulate accountants in this state. Existing law, the Tax Preparation Act, provides for the registration and regulation of tax preparers by the California Tax Education Council. The act requires a tax preparer to register with the California Tax Education Council and, among other things, requires a tax preparer to provide specified written disclosures to a client in connection with tax preparation services. Existing law exempts certain persons from these requirements, including, among others, a person with a current and valid license issued by the California Board of Accountancy. This bill would instead exempt an individual with a current and valid license issued by the board, as described above. The bill would additionally exempt an individual who is authorized to practice public accountancy pursuant to specified law and a firm, including the firm's partners, shareholders, owners, or employees, provided the firm has a current and valid license issued by the board. The bill would apply these changes to tax returns prepared for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.
Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, direct primary election, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act creates the Habitat Conservation Fund and requires the moneys in the fund to be used for specified purposes generally relating to the acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wildlife habitat. The act requires the Controller, until June 30, 2020, to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Habitat Conservation Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds. The act, until July 1, 2020, continuously appropriates specified amounts from the Habitat Conservation Fund to the Department of Parks and Recreation, the State Coastal Conservancy, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the California Tahoe Conservancy, and continuously appropriates the balance of the fund to the Wildlife Conservation Board. Chapter 31 of the Statutes of 2019 requires the Controller to continue to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds, to the Habitat Conservation Fund until June 30, 2030, and continuously appropriates that amount on an annual basis in the same proportions to the specified entities until July 1, 2030. This bill would require the Controller to continue to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds, to the Habitat Conservation Fund until June 30, 2035, and would continuously appropriate that amount on an annual basis in the same proportions to the specified entities described above until July 1, 2035.
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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation, to make Medi-Cal payments to designated public hospitals (DPHs) and their affiliated government entities, as defined, in recognition of the Medi-Cal managed care share of graduate medical education (GME) costs. Existing law requires that the payments consist of direct and indirect GME payments made in recognition and support of the direct costs incurred in the operation of GME programs and the increased operating and patient care costs associated with teaching programs, respectively. Under existing law, the nonfederal share of these payments consists of voluntary intergovernmental transfers (IGTs) of funds provided by DPHs or their affiliated government entities, or other eligible public entities, as specified. Under existing law, the continuously appropriated DPH GME Special Fund is established for these purposes. This bill would require the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation, to make additional Medi-Cal payments to district and municipal public hospitals (DMPHs) , defined as nondesignated public hospitals, and to their affiliated government entities, in recognition of the Medi-Cal managed care share of GME costs. Under the bill, these payments would be made in a manner consistent with the methodology for GME payments to DPHs and their affiliated government entities and would consist of the above-described direct and indirect GME payment components. The bill would authorize the department to seek federal approval for other forms of GME payments to DMPHs and their affiliated government entities, as specified. Under the bill, the nonfederal share of payments under these provisions would consist of voluntary IGTs of funds provided by DMPHs or their affiliated government entities, or other eligible public entities, to the extent permitted under certain federal regulations and other applicable federal Medicaid laws, and with no state General Fund moneys being used to fund the nonfederal share of payments. The bill would establish the DMPH GME Special Fund, with moneys deposited being continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of these provisions. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals for GME payments, effective no sooner than January 1, 2026. The bill would authorize the Director of Health Care Services to modify the requirements set forth in these provisions to the extent necessary to meet federal requirements or to maximize federal financial participation, as specified.
(1) The Political Reform Act of 1974 authorizes specified campaign disclosure reports and statements of financial interest to be filed by fax, provided that the required originals or paper copies are sent by first-class mail or by any other personal delivery within 24 hours of the applicable deadline. The act generally authorizes other reports filed by candidates for elective office, committees formed primarily to support or oppose a candidate for public office or a ballot measure, and other entities to be filed by various means, including personal delivery, guaranteed overnight delivery, facsimile transmission, and online transmission. This bill would eliminate the option to file various statements and reports by facsimile transmission and would authorize certain reports to be filed by email. (2) Existing law defines "campaign statement" for purposes of the act to mean an itemized report that is prepared on a form or in a manner prescribed by the Fair Political Practices Commission and that provides specified information. The act requires specified committees to file a statement of organization online or electronically with the Secretary of State. This bill would replace the term "campaign statement" with "campaign report" and the term "statement of organization" with "registration" throughout the act. The bill would further define "campaign report" to mean an itemized report that is prepared in a manner prescribed by the commission. (3) Under the act, if a committee is required to file a campaign statement or report disclosing an independent expenditure, a verification statement must accompany the campaign statement or report, as specified. The bill would clarify that this provision applies to both semiannual and preelection statements disclosing an independent expenditure. (4) Existing law requires the commission to provide a short form for filing reports for candidates and officeholders who receive contributions of less than $2,000, and who make expenditures of less than $2,000, in a calendar year. This bill would repeal that provision. (5) Existing law prohibits a candidate for elective state, county, or city office from personally loaning to the candidate's campaign an amount for which the outstanding balance exceeds $100,000. The act prohibits a candidate from charging interest on any such loan. This bill would remove the $100,000 cap on the outstanding balance of a candidate's personal loan to their campaign. (6) The act requires the Fair Political Practices Commission to annually publish a booklet by March 1 that sets forth the provisions of the act and includes other information that the commission deems pertinent to the interpretation and enforcement of the act. This bill would instead require the commission to annually publish the provisions of the act by that date. (7) The act requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Fair Political Practices Commission, to develop online and electronic filing processes for persons and entities that are required to file statements and reports with the Secretary of State's office. Before making the system available for public use, the act requires the Secretary of State to certify that the system meets all statutory requirements. Once all requirements have been met, the act requires the Secretary of State to make public their availability to accept reports online or electronically and authorizes any filer to voluntarily file specified reports and statements with the Secretary of State. This bill would delete the provision regarding the voluntary filing of reports and it would require persons who, and entities that, are required to file online or electronically to file all subsequent reports online or electronically. The bill would make other conforming changes in anticipation of reports being filed online or electronically using the new system. A violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By imposing new requirements on persons and entities filing reports with the new electronic filing system, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program. (8) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 84224 of the Government Code proposed by SB 760, to be operative only if this bill and SB 760 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 89517.5 of the Government Code proposed by AB 789, to be operative only if this bill and AB 789 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (9) This bill would make its provisions contingent upon the Secretary of State certifying the above-described online electronic filing system for public use. (10) The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. (11) 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 an individual or a business that conducts business in California, and that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information, to disclose a breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the data to a resident of California whose unencrypted personal information was compromised, as specified, and requires that disclosure to be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as specified, or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system. This bill would require that data breach disclosure to be made within 30 calendar days of discovery or notification of the data breach but would authorize an individual or business to delay the disclosure to accommodate the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as specified, or as necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system. Existing law also requires an individual or business that is required to issue the security breach notification described above to more than 500 California residents as a result of a single breach of the security system to electronically submit a single sample copy of that security breach notification, excluding any personally identifiable information, to the Attorney General. This bill would require that submission to the Attorney General to be made within 15 calendar days of notifying affected consumers of the security breach.
Existing law, the End of Life Option Act, until January 1, 2031, authorizes an adult who meets certain qualifications, including, among other things, being a resident of the State of California, and who has been determined by their attending physician to be suffering from a terminal disease, as defined, to make a request for an aid-in-dying drug for the purpose of ending their life. Existing law makes specified violations of the act a crime, including knowingly coercing or exerting undue influence on an individual to request or ingest an aid-in-dying drug for the purpose of ending their life. This bill would repeal the January 1, 2031, expiration date of the act, thereby extending the operation of the act indefinitely. By extending the operation of crimes within the act, 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 establishes the California Fire Service Training and Education Program in the office of the State Fire Marshal. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with policy guidance and advice from the State Board of Fire Services, to carry out the management of the program. Existing law authorizes the State Fire Marshal to, among other things, establish and collect admission fees and other fees that may be necessary to be charged for seminars, conferences, and specialized training given, as provided. Existing law also authorizes the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect fees to implement the California Fire and Arson Training Act, which requires the State Fire Marshal to, among other things, establish and make recommendations related to minimum standards for fire protection personnel and fire personnel instructors, develop course curricula for arson, fire technology, and apprenticeship training, and promote the California Fire Academy System, as provided. This bill would instead authorize the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect the admission fees and other fees associated with the California Fire Service Training and Education Program, and to establish the fees to implement the California Fire and Arson Training Act, only to the extent that state appropriations and other funding sources are insufficient to cover the necessary costs of the activities eligible to be paid from those fees.
