(1) The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, "full cash value" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under "full cash value" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. The California Constitution authorizes the full cash value base to be reduced to reflect substantial damage, destruction, or other factors causing a decline in value. This bill would require each property located within a 5-mile radius of the center of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in the County of Los Angeles to be reassessed so that the full cash value base of the property reflects any decline in value of the property arising from the Chiquita Canyon elevated temperature landfill event, as defined. The bill would require reassessments to be retroactive to the January 1, 2022, lien date. The bill would require, following reassessment, the assessor to send a specified notice of the assessment value change to the taxpayer. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing property tax law authorizes any person to elect to pay delinquent taxes in installments (installment redemption plan) by a certain date before the tax collector obtains the power to sell the property in order to redeem certain tax-defaulted property. Existing property tax law prohibits restarting installment payments if those payments are started under these provisions and the amount required to be paid in any fiscal year is not paid as required (default) . This bill would prohibit an installment redemption plan, for which all payments due on or before January 7, 2025, have been timely made, from being considered in default until April 10, 2030, for property located within a 5-mile radius of the center of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in the County of Los Angeles. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing property tax law authorizes, for taxes due on escape assessments for prior fiscal years, those taxes to be paid over a four-year period (installment plan) at the option of the assessee if the additional tax is over $500 and a written request for installment payment is filed by the assessee with the tax collector by a certain time. This bill would suspend the taxes due on a property making payments pursuant to an installment plan as described above, would prohibit their collection, and would prohibit the taxes from being considered delinquent, all until April 10, 2030, for property located within a 5-mile radius of the center of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in the County of Los Angeles, provided that, on or before April 1, 2025, all payments required by the plan were timely made. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the auditor or tax collector to cancel any penalty, costs, or other charges resulting from tax delinquency upon certain findings, including if the cancellation was ordered by a local, state, or federal court. This bill would also authorize any penalty, costs, or other charges resulting from tax delinquency to be canceled if failure to make a timely payment is due to a documented hardship, as determined by the tax collector, arising from the Chiquita Canyon elevated temperature landfill event, as defined. (3) This bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds. (4) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles. (5) 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. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law declares the public policy of the state regarding labor organization, including, among other things, that it is necessary for a worker to have full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in state government as a means of resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of specified public employers and employees under various acts regulating collective bargaining. Under existing law, PERB has the power and duty to investigate an unfair practice charge and to determine whether the charge is justified and the appropriate remedy for the unfair practice. Existing law, the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) , establishes a comprehensive statutory scheme regulating unfair labor practices on the part of employers and labor organizations in industries affecting interstate commerce, and vests in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the power to conduct elections to determine employee representatives and to prevent unfair labor practices affecting commerce. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires that public records, as defined, be available to the public for inspection and made promptly available to any person. This bill would expand PERB's jurisdiction by authorizing a worker, to petition PERB to protect and enforce prescribed rights under specified circumstances, including if the worker is employed in a position subject to the NLRA but the NLRB has expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction. The bill would authorize PERB to, among other things, decide unfair labor practice cases pursuant to a specified timeline and order all appropriate relief for a violation, including civil penalties, as prescribed. In order to pursue relief from PERB, the bill would require a covered worker or their representative to file an unfair practice charge or petition that includes specified information, including, where applicable, the original charge or petition filed with the NLRB. The bill would require PERB to hold the supporting documentation and evidence confidential and maintain it as part of its investigatory file and would exempt this documentation and evidence from the California Public Records Act. If PERB determines, among other things, it has insufficient resources to process certain cases or doing so would prevent it from meeting specified statutory deadlines, the bill would require PERB to process and prioritize charges, as specified. The bill would also establish the Public Employment Relations Board Enforcement Fund (fund) in the State Treasury, would require the above-described civil penalties to be deposited into the fund, and would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to PERB for the purpose of administering the above-specified provisions. The bill would authorize PERB to rely on its own decisions and precedent under the NLRA and would authorize review of its decisions by a state appellate court, as specified. Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining, as specified, and prohibits agricultural employers and labor organizations from engaging in unfair labor practices. Those provisions establish the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) and empower the ALRB to prevent any person from engaging in those practices. Existing law establishes various definitions for these purposes. Existing law requires the ALRB to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA. This bill would specify that the ALRB has exclusive jurisdiction in all phases of the administration of the act, and to determine whether any person or entity meets one or more of those definitions. The bill would instead authorize the board to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA, but would not obligate the board to follow precedents where the ALRB deems it inappropriate to do so. This bill would make related findings and declarations and would make its provisions severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
(1) Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including by requiring, on or before January 1, 2026, and before each time thereafter, that a generative artificial intelligence system or service, or a substantial modification to a generative artificial intelligence system or service, released on or after January 1, 2022, is made publicly available to Californians for use, the developer of the system or service to post on the developer's internet website documentation regarding the data used by the developer to train the generative artificial intelligence system or service, as prescribed. This bill would enact the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA) that would, among other things related to ensuring the safety of a foundation model, as defined, developed by a frontier developer, require a large frontier developer to write, implement, and clearly and conspicuously publish on its internet website a frontier AI framework that applies to the large frontier developer's frontier models and describes how the large frontier developer approaches, among other things, incorporating national standards, international standards, and industry-consensus best practices into its frontier AI framework. The TFAIA would also require a large frontier developer to transmit to the Office of Emergency Services a summary of any assessment of catastrophic risk, as defined, resulting from internal use of its frontier models, as specified. The TFAIA would require the Office of Emergency Services to establish a mechanism to be used by a frontier developer or a member of the public to report, as prescribed, a critical safety incident, as defined, and would also require the Office of Emergency Services to establish a mechanism to be used by a large frontier developer to confidentially submit summaries of any assessments of the potential for catastrophic risk resulting from internal use of its frontier models, as prescribed. The TFAIA would exempt from the California Public Records Act a report of a critical safety incident submitted to the Office of Emergency Services, a report of assessments of catastrophic risk from internet use, and a covered employee report made pursuant to the whistleblower protections described below. The TFAIA would impose a civil penalty for noncompliance with the TFAIA to be enforced by the Attorney General, as prescribed. (2) Existing law establishes the Department of Technology within the Government Operations Agency. Existing law requires the department to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency. This bill would establish within the Government Operations Agency a consortium required to develop a framework for the creation of a public cloud computing cluster to be known as "CalCompute" that advances the development and deployment of artificial intelligence that is safe, ethical, equitable, and sustainable by, among other things, fostering research and innovation that benefits the public, as prescribed. The bill would require the Government Operations Agency to, on or before January 1, 2027, submit a report from the consortium to the Legislature with that framework and would dissolve the consortium upon submission of that report. The bill would make those provisions operative only upon an appropriation in a budget act, or other measure, for its purposes. (3) Existing law prohibits employers and their agents from making, adopting, or enforcing a rule, regulation, or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to certain entities or from providing information to, or testifying before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry if the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation of a law, as specified, and prohibits retaliation against an employee for, among other things, exercising these rights. This bill would, among other things related to protecting whistleblowers working with foundation models, prohibit a frontier developer from making, adopting, enforcing, or entering into a rule, regulation, policy, or contract that prevents a covered employee, as defined, from disclosing, or retaliates against a covered employee for disclosing, information to the Attorney General, a federal authority, a person with authority over the covered employee, or another covered employee who has authority to investigate, discover, or correct the reported issue, if the covered employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses that the frontier developer's activities pose a specific and substantial danger to the public health or safety resulting from a catastrophic risk or that the frontier developer has violated the TFAIA. This bill would require a large frontier developer to provide a certain internal process through which a covered employee may anonymously disclose information to the large frontier developer if the covered employee believes in good faith that the information indicates that the large frontier developer's activities present a specific and substantial danger to the public health or safety resulting from a catastrophic risk or that the large frontier developer violated the TFAIA. The bill would specify provisions particular to the enforcement of those whistleblower protections and would authorize attorney's fees to a plaintiff who brings a successful action for a violation. This bill would preempt any rule, regulation, code, ordinance, or other law adopted by a city, county, city and county, municipality, or local agency on or after January 1, 2025, specifically related to the regulation of frontier developers with respect to their management of catastrophic risk. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The California State University comprises 23 institutions of higher education located throughout the state. The California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 requires all agencies and museums, which is defined to include higher education institutions, that receive state funding and have possession or control over collections of California Native American human remains and associated funerary objects to inventory those remains and objects for repatriation to the appropriate California Indian tribes, as specified. Existing law requires the California State University to comply with additional requirements regarding the handling, maintenance, and repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items under the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001, including adopting and implementing policies and procedures on the systemwide requirements for submitting, processing, and implementing claims for the repatriation of human remains and cultural items, as specified. This bill would require the California State University to develop a policy for the reburial of Native American human remains that have been repatriated on land owned by the California State University, as provided. The bill would require the policy to require the California State University to consult with California Indian tribes, including on specified topics. The bill would also require the policy to require that any proposed location for the reburial of repatriated Native American human remains be mutually agreed upon by the California State University and the California Indian tribes that are culturally affiliated with the potential reburial land.
Existing law authorizes a pupil to wear traditional tribal regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance as an adornment at school graduation ceremonies. Existing law prohibits that authorization from limiting a local educational agency's discretion and authority to prohibit an item that is likely to cause a substantial disruption of, or material interference with, the ceremony. Existing law defines "adornment" for these purposes as something attached to or worn with, but not replacing, the cap and gown customarily worn at school graduation ceremonies. This bill would extend a pupil's authorization to wear an adornment to school events that are related to graduation. The bill would clarify that what constitutes traditional regalia or recognized objects of religious or cultural significance is to be determined by the pupil and the pupil's family. The bill would prohibit a local educational agency from requiring (1) a preapproval process for a pupil to exercise their rights to wear an adornment and (2) a pupil to wear a cap if the cap is incompatible with the adornment. The bill would revise the definition of "adornment" as it relates to a cap customarily worn at school graduation ceremonies to instead mean something attached to, worn with, or worn in place of, the cap.
Existing law establishes the Tribal Nation Grant Fund, administered by the California Gambling Control Commission, for the receipt and deposit of moneys received by the state from Indian tribes pursuant to the terms of tribal-state gaming compacts. Under existing law, moneys in the Tribal Nation Grant Fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the discretionary distribution of funds to nongaming and limited-gaming tribes, as specified. Existing law establishes the Tribal Nation Grant Fund Program and authorizes Tribal Nation Grant Fund Panel to award grants from available moneys within the fund and make other distributions from the fund to eligible tribes, as specified. Existing law requires an eligible tribe requesting a grant to submit an application on a form approved by the panel and provided by the commission. Existing law authorizes the panel to distribute of the available moneys in the fund to all eligible tribes that submitted a completed grant application, as specified. Existing law authorizes the panel, in its discretion and based upon the purpose or project set forth in the application, to require an eligible tribe to encumber or expend any or all of a grant within a specified period of time, as described. Existing law requires each eligible tribe and each individual applying on behalf of each eligible tribe to agree to return to the fund any amount of a grant not encumbered or expended, as specified. This bill would additionally establish the fund for the receipt and deposit of moneys received by the state from Indian tribes pursuant to the terms of class III gaming secretarial procedures. The bill would revise the grant distribution provisions described above to authorize the panel to award grants as specific distribution grants to fund a specifically described purpose or project, or as equal shares grants for distribution to eligible tribes in equal amounts, as specified. The bill would require the panel to develop application forms for the specific distribution grants and the equal shares grants, as described, and would require the equal shares grants application form to include, among other things, a certification from the eligible tribe that the funds will be used for specified purposes. The bill would require the panel to distribute as equal shares grants $600,000 per eligible tribe, or at least 85% of the available moneys in the fund, whichever is greater, as specified. The bill would authorize the panel to distribute as specific distribution grants the remaining available moneys in the fund, as specified. The bill would no longer authorize the panel to require an eligible tribe to encumber or expend any or all of a grant within a specified period of time and would make a related conforming change. The bill would no longer require each eligible tribe and each individual applying on behalf of each eligible tribe to return to the fund any amount of a grant not encumbered or expended, as specified. The bill would make a related statement of legislative intent.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires each state and local agency, as defined, to make its records open to public inspection at all times during office hours, except as specifically exempted from disclosure by law. This bill would make any record that contains financial information provided by an Indian tribe to a state or local agency, as a condition of or requirement for receiving financial assistance to be confidential, not a public record, and not open to public inspection. The bill would require each state or local agency agreement or contract with an Indian tribe related to financial assistance to contain a provision stating that any financial information disclosed pursuant to the agreement or contract shall remain confidential, shall not be a public record, and shall not be open to public inspection. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The act specifically exempts from disclosure records that are exempted or prohibited from disclosure by federal or state law and lists records subject to that exemption, specifying that the listed exemptions are not inclusive of all exemptions under the act. This bill would revise the list of exempted records to add the above-described exemption. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 Pharmacy Law, establishes in the Department of Consumer Affairs the California State Board of Pharmacy to license and regulate the practice of pharmacy. Exiting law requires a pharmacist, when furnishing self-administered hormonal contraceptives, to follow specified standardized procedures or protocols developed and approved by both the board and the Medical Board of California in consultation with the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the California Pharmacists Association, and other appropriate entities. Existing law requires those standardized procedures or protocols to require that the patient use a self-screening tool that will identify related patient risk factors and that require the pharmacist to refer the patient for appropriate followup care, as specified. Existing law requires the pharmacist to provide the recipient of the drug with a standardized factsheet that includes the indications and contraindications for use of the drug, the appropriate method for using the drug, the need for medical followup, and other appropriate information. Existing law authorizes a pharmacist furnishing an FDA-approved, self-administered hormonal contraceptive pursuant to the above-described protocols to furnish, at the patient's request, up to a 12-month supply at one time. This bill would limit the application of those requirements to self-administered hormonal contraceptives that are prescription-only, and would authorize a pharmacist to furnish over-the-counter contraceptives without following those standardized procedures or protocols. The bill would additionally authorize a pharmacist to furnish up to a 12-month supply at one time of over-the-counter contraceptives at the patient's request. The bill would make related conforming changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California (State Bar) , a public corporation governed by a board of trustees. The act provides for the investigation and discipline of members of the State Bar and authorizes the Supreme Court to suspend or disbar an attorney for specified causes, including for a conviction under the laws of another state or territory of the United States that is deemed a felony. Existing law provides that specified evidence that a licensee of the State Bar committed professional misconduct in another jurisdiction is conclusive evidence that the licensee is culpable of professional misconduct. This bill would provide that an excluded event shall not be grounds for disciplinary action or require an attorney or applicant to report the excluded event to the State Bar, supply evidence that an attorney is culpable of professional misconduct in this state, or serve as grounds to deny admission to the State Bar to an applicant. The bill would define "excluded event" to mean certain actions taken when based on the application of another state's law that interferes with any person's right to receive, provide, recommend, enable, or advocate for sensitive services, as defined, that would be lawful in this state.
Existing law provides that an emergency regulation adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board following a Governor's proclamation of a state of emergency based on drought conditions, for which the board makes specified findings, may remain in effect for up to one year, as provided, and may be renewed if the board determines that specified conditions relating to precipitation are still in effect. This bill would provide that specified emergency regulations adopted by the board for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds shall remain in effect until January 1, 2031, or until permanent rules establishing and implementing long-term instream flow requirements are adopted for those watersheds, whichever occurs first. The bill would require the board to provide annual public updates, including opportunities for public comment, on its progress toward developing permanent flow rules for the rivers, as provided. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds.
Existing law prohibits a person or business, as defined, from collecting, using, disclosing, or retaining the personal information of a person who is physically located at, or within a precise geolocation of, a family planning center, as defined, except as necessary to perform the services or provide the goods requested and prohibits a person or business from selling or sharing this personal information. Existing law authorizes an aggrieved person or entity to institute and prosecute a civil action against a person or business for a violation of these provisions and specifies the damages and costs authorized to be recovered. This bill would recast the above-described provisions, and instead prohibit the collection, use, disclosure, sale, sharing, or retention of the personal information of a natural person who is physically located at, or within a precise geolocation of, a family planning center, except under certain circumstances, including, among others, for the collection or use as necessary to perform the services or provide the goods requested. The bill would also provide that these provisions do not alter applicable law regarding use by a law enforcement agency, as defined, of personal information generated by an electronic monitoring device. The bill would authorize an aggrieved person to institute and prosecute a civil action against a natural person, association, proprietorship, corporation, trust, foundation, partnership, or any other organization or group of people acting in concert for a violation of these provisions. The bill would also make other nonsubstantive changes. This bill would, subject to specified exceptions, prohibit geofencing, or selling or sharing personal information with a third party to geofence, as defined, an entity that provides in-person health care services in California for specified purposes, and would prohibit the use of personal information obtained in violation of this provision. The bill would provide that violators are subject to an injunction and liable for a civil penalty assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General, and deposited in the California Reproductive Justice and Freedom Fund. The bill would require those penalties to be awarded by the State Department of Public Health for grants to implement a program or to fund an existing program that provides and promotes medically accurate and comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, as provided. The bill would also provide that a statement signed under penalty of perjury, as specified, that the personal information will not be used for selling or sharing personal information in violation of these geofencing provisions is prima facie evidence that the personal information was not sold or shared in violation of these geofencing provisions. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) , generally prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization, unless a specified exception applies. The CMIA prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or an employer from releasing medical information that would identify an individual or related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion in response to a subpoena or a request or to law enforcement if that subpoena, request, or the purpose of law enforcement for the medical information is based on, or for the purpose of enforcement of, either another state's laws that interfere with a person's rights to choose or obtain an abortion or a foreign penal civil action. This bill would, similar to the provisions of the CMIA, prohibit the release of research records, in a personally identifying form, developed or acquired by a person in the course of conducting research relating to anyone seeking or obtaining health care services, or relating to personal information, in response to a subpoena or a request or to law enforcement if that subpoena, request, or the purpose of law enforcement for the medical information is based on, or for the purpose of enforcement of, either another state's laws that interfere with a person's rights to choose or obtain an abortion or a foreign penal civil action. 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.
(1) The California Constitution provides for the fundamental rights of privacy and to choose to have an abortion. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before the viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. Existing law prohibits conditions or restrictions from being imposed on abortion access for incarcerated persons and committed juveniles. Existing laws requiring parental consent for abortion and making assisting in or advertising abortion a crime have been held to be unconstitutional. This bill would repeal those unconstitutional provisions and delete obsolete references to criminal abortion penalties. The bill would make technical changes to provisions authorizing abortion for incarcerated and committed persons. (2) Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for labeling requirements of drugs and devices. The Pharmacy Law requires a pharmacist to dispense a prescription in a container that is correctly labeled with specified information, including the name of the prescriber and the name address of the pharmacy. A violation of the Pharmacy Law is a misdemeanor. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to include or exclude mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs from the requirements of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, but would exclude the drugs from those requirements if the drugs are no longer approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , as specified. The bill would authorize a pharmacist to dispense mifepristone or other drug used for medication abortion without the name of the patient, the name of the prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the pharmacist to maintain a log, as specified, that is not open to inspection by law enforcement without a subpoena, and would prohibit the disclosure of the information to an individual or entity from another state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a pharmacist for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in specified other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs, and would prohibit the California State Board of Pharmacy from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Pharmacy Law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law establishes various healing arts boards in the Department of Consumer Affairs that license and regulate various healing arts licensees. This bill would prohibit subjecting a healing arts practitioner who is authorized to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer dangerous drugs to civil, criminal, disciplinary, or other administrative action for prescribing, furnishing, ordering, or administering mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy under federal law, as specified. The bill would state that the laws of another state or federal actions that interfere with the authority of a healing arts practitioner to take specified actions relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs are against the public policy of this state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing actions against an applicant or licensee for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs. (4) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinics and health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. This bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a licensed clinic or health facility for transporting or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. The bill would prohibit the department from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. (5) Existing law prohibits a health care provider from knowingly disclosing, transmitting, transferring, sharing or granting access to identifiable medical information related to an individual seeking, obtaining, providing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion that is lawful under the laws of this state, as specified and subject to specified exclusions. Existing law exempts a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for failing to comply this prohibition before January 31, 2026, if the health care provider is working diligently and in good faith to comply with the prohibition. This bill would exempt a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for an additional year, until January 31, 2027. (6) 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 and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan contract or a group or individual disability insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage of a drug on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA. Existing law prohibits a contract between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care services provider from containing any term that would result in termination or nonrenewal of the contract or otherwise penalize the provider based on a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan or health insurer from discriminating against a licensed provider solely on the basis of a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or a group or individual health insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone solely on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would require those contracts and policies to include coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone, even if it has not been approved by the FDA if specified requirements are met, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would prohibit a plan or insurer from contracting with a health care services provider to terminate or nonrenew the contract or otherwise penalize the provider, or from discriminating against a licensed provider, for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. Because a violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (7) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4076 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1503 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1503 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (8) 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. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
