Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates health facilities, including hospice facilities, and the provision of hospice services. Existing law establishes the Medical Practice Act, which provides for the regulation and licensure of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. When a health care provider, as defined, makes a diagnosis that a patient has a terminal illness, existing law requires the health care provider to provide the patient, upon the patient's request, with comprehensive information and counseling regarding legal end-of-life options, as specified, and provide for the referral or transfer of a patient, as provided, if the patient's health care provider does not wish to comply with the patient's request for information on end-of-life options. This bill would apply these provisions to another person authorized to make health care decisions, as defined, for a patient with a terminal illness diagnosis. The bill would additionally require the health care provider to notify, except as specified, the patient or, when applicable, the other person authorized to make health care decisions, when the health care provider makes a diagnosis that a patient has a terminal illness, of the patient's and the other authorized person's right to comprehensive information and counseling regarding legal end-of-life care options.
Sponsored bills
The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth, among other things, the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as 2 of the public segments of postsecondary education in this state. A provision of the act requires the California State University and requests the University of California to establish a uniform set of model academic standards for high school courses for pupils who wish to attend those institutions. Existing law establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission and requires the commission to develop internationally benchmarked academic content standards in language arts and mathematics, at least 85% of which are required to be the common core academic standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium or another specified interstate collaboration. This bill would express the Legislature's intent that the University of California and the California State University align their respective model academic standards for high school courses in language arts and mathematics to these academic content standards developed by the commission. The bill would require the trustees and would request the regents to develop guidelines for high school computer science courses to be approved for purposes of recognition for admission to the California State University and the University of California, respectively, and would encourage the University of California to ensure that computer science courses that satisfy the mathematics subject area requirements for admission build upon fundamental mathematics content provided in courses that align with the academic content standards developed by the commission.
Existing law, the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, establishes a program of cooperative federalism for the regulation of telecommunications to attain the goal of local competition, while implementing specific, predictable, and sufficient federal and state mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, consistent with certain universal service principles. The universal service principles include the principle that consumers in all regions of the nation, including low-income consumers and those in rural, insular, and high-cost areas, should have access to telecommunications and information services, including interexchange services and advanced telecommunications and information services, that are reasonably comparable to those services provided in urban areas and that are available at rates that are reasonably comparable to rates charged for similar services in urban areas. Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including telephone corporations, and to fix just and reasonable rates and charges for the public utility. Existing law establishes the state's 6 universal service funds in the State Treasury, including the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund and the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund, and provides that moneys in each of the state's universal service funds are the proceeds of rates and are held in trust for the benefit of ratepayers and to compensate telephone corporations for their costs of providing universal service. Moneys in the funds may only be expended to accomplish specified telecommunications universal service programs, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon supplemental appropriation. Existing law, until January 1, 2015, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable program to establish a fair and equitable local rate structure aided by universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations that serve rural areas and are subject to rate-of-return regulation by the commission (the CHCF-A program) . Existing law, until January 1, 2015, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission (the CHCF-B program) . This bill would delete the provision stating that moneys in each of the state's universal service funds are the proceeds of rates and are held in trust for the benefit of ratepayers and to compensate telephone corporations for their cost of providing universal service and would instead provide that moneys in the funds are held in trust. The bill would encourage the commission, in administering the universal service program funds, and in administering state participation in federal universal service programs, to maximize the amount of federal funding to California participants in the federal programs. The bill would extend the repeal date of the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program requirements until January 1, 2019. The bill would renumber the statute establishing the programmatic requirements for the CHCF-B program so that it is located in the code adjacent to the statute establishing the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund, would delete outdated language, and would make other conforming changes. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order or direction of the commission is a crime. Because the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program, that are extended under the provisions of this bill, are within the act and a decision or order of the commission implements the programs' requirements, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, the State Department of Social Services licenses and regulates child day care facilities. Existing law requires the department, when it conducts a site visit of a licensed child day care facility, to publicly post at the facility a notice that indicates whether the facility was cited for violating any state standards or regulations. Existing law also requires each licensed child day care facility to make accessible to the public a copy of any licensing report or other public licensing document that documents a facility visit, a substantiated complaint investigation, a conference with a local licensing agency management representative and the licensee in which issues of noncompliance are discussed, or a copy of an accusation indicating the department's intent to revoke the facility's license. This bill would require the department to post licensing information on its Internet Web site for child day care facilities, including, among other things, the number of citations, substantiated and inconclusive complaint inspections, and noncomplaint inspections during the preceding 5-year period. The bill would require the department to update this information on at least a monthly basis.
Existing law provides that the California Workforce Investment Board is responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system. Existing law requires the board to assist the Governor in targeting resources to specified industry sectors and providing guidance to ensure that services reflect the needs of those sectors. This bill would additionally require the board to assist the Governor in the development of an annual workforce metrics dashboard that measures the state's human capital investments in workforce development and that provides, among other things, a status report on credential attainment, training completion, degree attainment, and participant earnings from workforce education and training programs. The bill would also authorize the State Department of Education to collect the social security numbers of adults participating in adult education programs for these purposes, as specified. This bill would also require the Employment Development Department, among other things, to aggregate data, which the bill would require to be provided by participating workforce program partners, and to report this data to the board to assist the board in producing the annual workforce metrics dashboard, as specified.
Under existing law, all moneys in the possession of or collected by any state agency or department is state moneys and is subject to provisions governing its deposit and handling in trust accounts. Existing law creates the State Treasury System to deposit state moneys held by state agencies prior to expenditure. This bill would require each state agency, department, and entity to provide the Treasurer with its employer identification number. The bill would authorize the Treasurer to use those numbers to monitor state money deposited outside the centralized State Treasury System. The bill would also require a bank or financial institution to provide, upon request from the Treasurer, specified account information relating to these employer identification numbers to assist the Treasurer in monitoring accounts and state money deposited outside the centralized State Treasury System.
Existing law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of his or her income tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would additionally allow an individual to designate on his or her tax return that a specified amount in excess of his or her tax liability be transferred to the Habitat for Humanity Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would prohibit a voluntary contribution designation for this fund from being added until another designation is removed or space is available, whichever occurs first. The bill would require moneys in the Habitat for Humanity Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board, the Controller, and the Department of Housing and Community Development for reimbursement of costs, as provided, and the balance to the Department of Housing and Community Development to distribute grants to Habitat for Humanity affiliates in California that meet certain requirements, including having a specified tax-exempt status. The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to award grants through a competitive, project-specific grant process and be responsible for overseeing that grant program. The bill would prohibit a Habitat for Humanity affiliate from using a grant award for administrative expenses or for any purposes outside of California. The bill would provide that these provisions would remain in effect only until January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the first appearance of the Habitat for Humanity Fund on the tax return or January 1, 2021, whichever occurs first, but would further provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during a calendar year will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount, as defined, for that calendar year, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year.
Existing law prohibits a person from operating, or allowing a passenger in, a recreational off-highway vehicle unless the person and the passenger are wearing safety helmets, as specified. This bill would instead prohibit the above-described activities only on public lands.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialty license plates, including environmental license plates and specified special environmental design license plates. Under existing law, a state agency is authorized to apply to the DMV to sponsor a specialized license plate program, and the DMV is required to issue those license plates if the agency meets certain requirements. The DMV is required to charge specified fees for certain services related to the issuance of those plates. Existing law establishes the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund, and requires that funds in that account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated for the provision of early breast cancer detection services for uninsured and underinsured women. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to apply to sponsor a breast cancer awareness license plate program, and would require the DMV to issue the license plates if the State Department of Health Care Services meets certain requirements. The bill would authorize the State Department of Health Care Services to accept and use donated artwork from California artists for the license plate. The bill would require the revenue generated from the license plates, as specified, to be deposited in the Breast Cancer Control Account in the Breast Cancer Fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would declare November 8, 2014, as California Solar Professionals Day.