Asm. Stephanie Nguyen

(1) Existing state and federal law, including the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, require the Secretary of State and county elections officials to provide language assistance to voters in order to access voting information, register to vote, and cast their votes at the polling place. Existing law requires a county elections official to provide a facsimile copy of the ballot with the ballot measures and ballot instructions printed in Spanish and other languages if the Secretary of State has determined that doing so is appropriate, as specified. This bill would, by December 15, 2025, and by December 15 of every subsequent year following a presidential election, require the Secretary of State to determine the number of residents of voting age in each county and precinct who are members of a single language minority group and who lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance, as specified. The bill would require that, by that same date, the Secretary of State make publicly available on the Secretary of State's internet website a list of languages used by single language minority groups, as specified. Beginning January 1, 2028, this bill would further require the Secretary of State and county elections officials to provide specified materials in the language of the applicable language minority group as well as in the English language. (2) Existing law requires the Secretary of State to make specified findings and determinations regarding the provision of ballot materials in languages other than English. Until January 1, 2028, this bill would direct the Secretary to make those findings and determinations by December 15 of each year following a presidential election, and it would further limit the expansion of categories of covered languages for the purpose of providing facsimile ballots. As of January 1, 2028, this bill would impose new requirements relating to translated ballots, including requiring the training of specified precinct board members. The bill would make conforming changes. By increasing the duties of county elections officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the elections official to send a voter information guide that contains the written statement of each candidate. Existing law requires the elections official to provide a Spanish translation of the written statement to each candidate who wishes to have one and to select a person to provide the translation who is, among other things, a certified and registered interpreter on the judicial council master list or a current voting member in good standing of the American Translators Association. This bill would add a language speaker with relevant experience in providing certified translations of legal documents who has been referred by a nonprofit agency to the list of eligible individuals that may provide the translation. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3019 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 3184 to be operative only if this bill and AB 3184 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The bill would incorporate changes to Section 4005 of the Elections Code proposed by SB 1450 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1450 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (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.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the public institutions of higher education, including the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. This bill would prohibit the University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges from disqualifying a student from being hired for an employment position due to the student's failure to provide proof of federal work authorization, except where that proof is required by federal law or where that proof is required as a condition of a grant that funds the particular employment position for which the student has applied. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to treat a specified prohibition in federal law on hiring undocumented noncitizens as inapplicable because that provision does not apply to any branch of state government. The bill would further provide that, to the extent student employment is considered a "benefit" for purposes of federal law, the bill constitutes authorization to provide that benefit for purposes of specified federal law. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to implement the bill by January 6, 2025. The bill's provisions would apply to the University of California, unless it is found inapplicable to the University of California and then only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to provide pension and other benefits to members of PERS. Existing law permits a member of PERS who retires on or before December 31, 2017, to elect from among several optional settlements for the purpose of structuring the member's retirement allowance. Existing law also permits a member of PERS who retires on or after January 1, 2018, to elect from among several other optional settlements for the purpose of structuring their retirement allowance. Existing law prohibits a member who elects to receive specified optional settlements from changing the member's optional settlement and designated beneficiary after election of an optional settlement unless a specified event occurs, including the death of a beneficiary who predeceased the member, a dissolution of marriage or a legal separation in which the judgment dividing the community property awards the total interest in the retirement system to the retired member, or in an annulment of marriage in which the court confirms the annulment. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2026, permit a member who elected to receive a specified optional settlement at retirement, if the member's former spouse was named as beneficiary and a legal judgment awards only a portion of the interest in the retirement system to the retired member, to elect to add their new spouse as the beneficiary of the member's interest, subject to meeting certain conditions. This bill would authorize a member to elect this option only once and would preclude elections that would be in derogation of the former spouse's interest in the retirement system. The bill would preclude elections that would result in additional costs to the employer.

(1) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California and requires the board to adopt and administer standards for the continuing education of those licensees. Existing law requires general internists and family physicians who have a patient population of which over 25% are 65 years of age or older to complete at least 20% of all mandatory continuing education hours in a course related to geriatric medicine or the care of older patients. This bill would revise the above-described course requirements to include the special care needs of patients with dementia. (2) Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing to license and regulate the practice of nursing. Existing law requires the board to establish standards for continuing education consisting of specified approved coursework. Existing law requires a licensee under the act to submit a statement to the board, under penalty of perjury, indicating compliance with those continuing education requirements. This bill would require a nurse practitioner who provides primary care to a patient population of which over 25% are 65 years of age or older to certify that they have completed at least 20% of all existing mandatory continuing education hours in a course in the field of gerontology, the special care needs of patients with dementia, or the care of older patients at the time of renewal. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, establishes the Physician Assistant Board for the licensure and regulation of physician assistants. Existing law authorizes the board to require a licensee to complete specified continuing education coursework as a condition of license renewal. This bill would require a physician assistant who provides primary care to a patient population of which over 25% are 65 years of age or older to complete at least 20% of all mandatory continuing education hours in a course in the field of geriatric medicine, the special care needs of patients with dementia, or the care of older patients. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2811.5 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2270 and AB 2581 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act provides for the issuance of various categories of alcoholic beverage licenses, including the imposition of fees, conditions, and restrictions in connection with the issuance of those licenses. The act provides that any on-sale licensee authorized to sell wine may also sell soju, an imported Korean alcoholic beverage, as specified, and shochu, an imported Japanese alcoholic beverage, as specified. This bill would provide that any on-sale licensee authorized to sell wine may also sell domestically produced soju and shochu, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Office of Vital Records within the State Department of Public Health. Existing law prescribes the duties of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics (State Registrar) and local registrars of births and deaths with respect to the registration of certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and marriage licenses. Existing law prescribes the information to be listed on a certificate of live birth. Existing law requires the State Registrar, upon request and payment of a fee, as specified, to provide an applicant a decorative heirloom certificate of any birth registered to that official, containing only identification information and the seal of the State of California and a facsimile of the State Registrar's signature. This bill would require the State Registrar to, upon request and payment of a fee, provide an applicant a decorative Asian Zodiac heirloom certificate, as specified. The bill would require the decorative Asian Zodiac heirloom certificate to be of a distinctive design as determined by the department to include Asian Zodiac artwork by local artists, the seal of the State of California, and a facsimile of the State Registrar's signature. The bill would require the certificate to contain only identification information, as determined by the State Registrar. The bill would require the department to set the fee for the decorative Asian Zodiac heirloom certificate to capture the reasonable costs of developing, preparing, and providing the decorative Asian Zodiac heirloom certificate. The bill would require the moneys collected by the State Registrar to be deposited with the Treasurer for credit to the Health Statistics Special Fund. The bill would specify that, upon appropriation, the moneys in the fund may be used by the department for the administrative costs of developing, preparing, and providing the decorative Asian Zodiac heirloom certificate, including payment of local artists.

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, under fee-for-service or managed care delivery systems. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing federal law, in accordance with third-party liability rules, Medicaid is generally the payer of last resort if a beneficiary has another source of health care coverage in addition to Medicaid coverage. Under this bill, in the case of a Medi-Cal managed care plan enrollee who also has other health care coverage and for whom the Medi-Cal program is a payer of last resort, the department would be required to ensure that a provider that is not contracted with the plan and that is billing the plan for Medi-Cal allowable costs not paid by the other health care coverage does not face administrative requirements significantly in excess of the administrative requirements for billing those same costs to the Medi-Cal fee-for-service delivery system. Under the bill, in the case of an enrollee who meets those coverage criteria, except as specified, a Medi-Cal fee-for-service provider would not be required to contract as an in-network provider with the Medi-Cal managed care plan in order to bill the plan for Medi-Cal allowable costs for covered health care services. The bill would authorize a Medi-Cal managed care plan to require a letter of agreement, or a similar agreement, under either of the following circumstances: (1) if a covered service requires prior authorization, or if a service is not covered by the other health care coverage but is a covered service under the plan, as specified, or (2) if an enrollee requires a covered service and meets the requirements for continuity of care or the completion of covered services through a Medi-Cal managed care plan pursuant to specified provisions under existing law regarding services by a terminated or nonparticipating provider. The bill would require the department to solicit input from specified stakeholders regarding the coordination of payment for services between Medi-Cal enrollees' other commercial health care coverage and their Medi-Cal managed care plans, with a specific emphasis on Medi-Cal recipients receiving regional center services. The bill would require the department to include an item on the agenda of the first meeting of the Medi-Cal Managed Care Advisory Committee of 2025 to discuss this topic and, within 6 months of the advisory committee meeting, take the actions that it deems necessary to provide clarification regarding the conditions for billing plans to providers that render services to enrollees who also have other health care coverage. The bill would specify the intent of the Legislature that the department offer educational resources to an enrollee who needs assistance with understanding continuity of care and coordinating Medi-Cal and their other health care coverage when requested by the enrollee. The bill would require the department, annually from 2025 through 2028, to update the legislative health committees on the effectiveness of implementing these provisions. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through plan letters or similar instructions. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation.

Existing law, commonly known as the code of ethics, prohibits a Member of the Legislature, state elective or appointive officer, or judge or justice from having any interest, engaging in any business, transaction, or professional activity, or incurring any obligation that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of their duties in the public interest and of their responsibilities, as specified. Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures, and regulates the making of gifts to public officials. Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, creates the Department of Human Resources and grants to the department the powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system. Existing law requires that a California Science and Technology Policy Fellow provided by the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) be selected according to criteria, and pursuant to a process, approved by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules and requires the CCST to execute an agreement for a policy fellow to be bound to abide by standards of conduct, economic interest disclosure requisites, and other requirements specified by the Senate Committee on Rules, the Assembly Committee on Rules, or the Joint Committee on Rules, to be considered duly authorized by those rules committees. Under existing law, for purposes of the code of ethics, the services of a duly authorized policy fellow provided by the CCST are not compensation, a reward, or a gift to a Member of the Legislature and are not an interest, business, transaction, professional activity, or obligation of a Member of the Legislature, state elective or appointive officer, judge, or justice that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of their duties in the public interest or of their responsibilities, and a policy fellow is not an employee of either house of the Legislature. Existing law also provides that the services of a duly authorized policy fellow are not a gift for purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 and not compensation of a state elective or appointive officer, and the policy fellow is not included in "state civil service" for the purposes of the State Civil Service Act, as specified. The bill would provide that the services of a policy fellow provided by an association, as defined, are not compensation, a reward, a gift, an interest, a business, a transaction, a professional activity, or an obligation, and a policy fellow is not an employee of the Legislature or included in the state civil service, similar to the above-described provisions that apply to a California Science and Technology Policy Fellow provided by the CCST. The bill would state that these provisions are declaratory of existing law.

Existing law, the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act of 1983, establishes, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health Care Access and Information, a program of seismic safety building standards for certain hospitals constructed on and after March 7, 1973. Existing law requires that, by January 1, 2030, owners of these hospitals must either demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings that are not in compliance with these standards or seismically retrofit all acute care inpatient hospital buildings so they are in substantial compliance with these standards, unless subject to an abeyance. This bill would authorize a hospital owner or operator to submit an application, by specified dates, to the department for additional extensions to the compliance deadline. The bill would require the department to grant or deny an extension of the deadline for substantial compliance with seismic safety regulations or standards up to January 1, 2035. The bill would require the application to contain a seismic compliance plan, a specified evaluation report, a financial plan, and an attestation to the department that the appropriate governing board of that hospital is aware that the hospital building is required to be in substantial compliance with the seismic safety regulations or standards. By imposing the above-described attestation, this bill would expand the crime of perjury and impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the hospital and the department to identify specified milestones that are used for determining whether the hospital is making progress towards meeting the hospital's seismic compliance deadline. The bill would require the hospital to demonstrate efforts to comply with the seismic compliance deadline by providing the department with a plan outlining how seismic construction costs and other financial responsibilities will be met and what funding sources will be used if the hospital fails to meet an agreed-upon milestone due to circumstances that were within the hospital owner's or operator's control. The bill would require the owner or operator of that hospital to submit to the department an attestation that the appropriate governing board of that hospital is aware of the hospital's responsibility to comply with the associated construction costs to meet the seismic compliance deadlines. By requiring the owner or operator of a hospital to submit to the department an attestation, this bill would expand the crime of perjury and impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the department, before granting an extension past January 1, 2030, to provide public notice of a hospital's request for an extension, provide copies, upon request, of any publicly available material submitted by the hospital in support of their extension to interested parties, and allow the public to submit written comments on the extension proposal, as specified. The bill would require the department, beginning January 1, 2027, to post on the department's internet website specified information, including, among other things, its decision to grant or deny any extension. The bill would require the department to notify the county board of supervisors, the city council, and the Assembly and Senate representative in writing and electronically if a hospital within their district has been granted or denied an extension. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt regulations and standards or revise regulations and standards, or both, to extend the deadlines for meeting the structural performance and nonstructural performance requirements. The bill would specify that regulatory submissions made by the department to the California Building Standards Commission are deemed to be emergency regulations and that the adoption of these regulations are to be deemed an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare. Existing law requires, before January 1, 2024, the owner of an acute care inpatient hospital that includes a building that does not substantially comply with seismic safety regulations or standards to post in a lobby or waiting area generally accessible to patients or the public a notice provided by the department that the hospital is not in compliance with the seismic safety requirements the hospital is required to meet by January 1, 2030. Existing law requires, on or before January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the owner of an acute care inpatient hospital that includes a building that does not substantially comply with seismic safety regulations or standards to provide an annual status update on the Structural Performance Category ratings of the buildings and the services provided in each hospital building on the hospital campus to specified entities until each of the hospital buildings owned by that hospital building owner is compliant. This bill would require, before January 1, 2025, the owner or operator of an acute care inpatient hospital that includes a building that does not substantially comply with the seismic safety regulations or standards to post in any lobby or waiting area generally accessible to patients or the public the notice mentioned above. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the owner or operator to provide an annual status update, as specified. This bill would specify that the provisions of this act are severable. 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.

State law, repealed as of January 1, 2018, required a court to impose an additional term of imprisonment, as specified, on a person who takes, damages, or destroys property in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, create sentencing enhancements for taking, damaging, or destroying property in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, as specified. By adding new sentencing enhancements, 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.