Asm. Buffy Wicks

Existing law requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain an online database known as the Prohibited Armed Persons File, sometimes referred to as the Armed Prohibited Persons System, to cross-reference persons who have ownership or possession of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, and who, subsequent to the date of that ownership or possession of a firearm, fall within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. The Budget Act of 2019 appropriated $3,000,000 to the Counties of Alameda, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Ventura to support local law enforcement activities related to seizing weapons and ammunition from persons who are prohibited from possessing them through a Gun Violence Reduction Pilot Program. This bill would require the Counties of Alameda, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Ventura on or before 15 months after receiving these funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2019, to submit a report to the Department of Justice and to the Legislature containing specified information relating to the efficacy of their programs.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to operate campuses and provide instruction to students. The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires a mandated reporter, which includes a specified employee or administrator of a community college district, to report whenever the mandated reporter, in a professional capacity or within the scope of employment, has knowledge of or has observed a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. This bill would establish the Mandated Child Abuse Reporting Employee Training Act of 2020, which would require each governing board of a community college district to: (1) annually train, using the online training module developed by the State Department of Education or other approved training, employees and administrators of the district who are mandated reporters on the mandated reporting requirements, as specified; (2) develop a process for those persons required to receive training under the bill to provide proof of completing this training within the first 6 weeks of each academic year or within 6 weeks of that person's employment; and (3) develop a process to identify the students who are minors enrolled in classes at the community college district and provide that information only to faculty members and other employees who are mandated reporters, as specified. The bill would provide that a person employed by more than one community college district or by more than one college in a single community college district is required to receive the required training only one time in each academic year. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11165.7 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 189 to be operative only if this bill and AB 189 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, 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 requires public and private postsecondary educational institutions and private vocational educational institutions to each adopt, and implement at each of their respective campuses or other facilities, a written procedure or protocols to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, that students, faculty, and staff who are victims of sexual assault receive treatment and information, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing boards of independent postsecondary institutions, in order to receive state funds for student financial assistance, to adopt a policy concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking involving a student both on and off campus. Existing law requires a public school, including a charter school, or a private school, that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and that issues pupil identification cards to have printed on either side of the pupil identification cards the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and authorizes those schools to have printed on either side of the pupil identification cards the Crisis Text Line and a local suicide prevention hotline telephone number. Existing law requires a public or private institution of higher education that issues student identification cards to have printed on either side of the student identification cards the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and authorizes the institution to have printed on either side of the student identification cards the Crisis Text Line, the campus police or security telephone number, or the local nonemergency telephone number, as provided, and a local suicide prevention hotline telephone number. This bill would require public schools, including charter schools, if they issue pupil identification cards, to have printed on either side of those identification cards the telephone numbers for the National Sexual Assault Hotline and a local resource that provides sexual and reproductive health care information that meets certain requirements. The bill would require a private school, if it issues pupil identification cards, to have printed on either side of those identification cards the telephone number for the National Sexual Assault Hotline. The bill would require public and private institutions of higher education, if they issue student identification cards, to have printed on either side of those identification cards the telephone number for a local sexual assault hotline or the National Sexual Assault Hotline. The bill would additionally require public and nonsectarian private institutions of higher education, if they issue student identification cards, to have printed on those identification cards the telephone number for a local resource that provides sexual and reproductive health care information that is medically accurate. The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2020. The bill would authorize schools and institutions subject to these requirements that have a supply of unissued, noncompliant identification cards as of January 1, 2020, to issue the noncompliant identification cards until that supply is depleted.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to inspect and license health facilities, as specified. Existing law requires a hospital that provides emergency medical services to, as soon as possible, but not later than 90 days prior to a planned reduction or elimination of the level of emergency medical services, provide notice of the intended change to the department, other specified entities, and the public. Existing law also requires a health facility to provide public notice, as specified, not less than 30 days prior to closing the facility, eliminating a supplemental service, as defined, or relocating the provision of supplemental services to a different campus. This bill would require a hospital that provides emergency medical services to provide notice, as specified, at least 180 days before a planned reduction or elimination of the level of emergency medical services. The bill would require a health facility to provide at least 180 days notice, as specified, prior to closing the facility and at least 90 days prior to eliminating or relocating a supplemental service, except as specified. Under existing law, violation of the provisions relating to health facility licensure is a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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.

This measure would recognize September 2020 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month and encourage the Legislature to appropriate funds for research, treatment, and monitoring of sickle cell disease, and for related education and outreach.

Existing law authorizes a county sheriff to discharge a person from a county jail at any time on the last day that the person may be confined that the sheriff considers to be in the best interests of that person. Existing law additionally authorizes a sheriff to offer a voluntary program to a person, upon completion of a sentence served or a release ordered by the court to be effected the same day, that would allow the person to stay in jail for up to 16 additional hours or until normal business hours, whichever is shorter, in order to offer the person the ability to be discharged to a treatment center or during daytime hours, as specified. Existing law authorizes the person to revoke consent and be discharged as soon as possible and practicable. Existing law requires a sheriff offering this program to, whenever possible, allow the person to make a telephone call to arrange for transportation or to notify a bail agent, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 1, 2020, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2021. The bill, beginning June 1, 2020, would instead require the sheriff to make the release standards, release processes, and release schedules of a county jail available to incarcerated persons, as specified. The bill would also require a person scheduled to be released from jail between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or sundown, whichever is later, to be released during that time. The bill would require the sheriff to offer a person scheduled to be released from jail between the hours of 5 p.m. or sundown, whichever is later, and 8 a.m. the option to voluntarily stay in jail for up to 16 additional hours or until normal business hours, as specified. The bill would require a sheriff to provide a person who declines that option with a safe place to wait to be picked up with adequate and sufficient ability to charge a personal cell phone and access to a free public telephone. The bill would also require the county jail to track the number of people released during those hours and to make that information available, as specified. Because this bill would impose new duties on sheriffs and county jails, it 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.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including various behavioral and mental health services. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. The act also requires funds to be reserved for the costs of the State Department of Health Care Services, the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) , the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, the State Department of Public Health, and any other state agency to implement all duties pursuant to certain programs provided for by the act, subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The act provides that it may be amended by the Legislature by a 23 vote of each house as long as the amendment is consistent with, and furthers the intent of, the act, and that the Legislature may also clarify procedures and terms of the act by majority vote. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish, no later than July 1, 2020, a statewide peer support specialist certification program, as a part of the state's comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder delivery system and the Medi-Cal program. The certification program's components would include, among others, defining responsibilities, practice guidelines, and supervision standards, determining curriculum and core competencies, specifying training and continuing education requirements, establishing a code of ethics, and determining a certification revocation process. The bill would require an applicant for the certification as a peer support specialist to meet specified requirements, including successful completion of the curriculum and training requirements. This bill would require the department to consult with OSHPD and other stakeholders in implementing the certification program, including requiring quarterly stakeholder meetings. The bill would authorize the department to use funding provided through the MHSA, upon appropriation, to develop and administer the certification program, and would authorize the use of these MHSA funds to serve as the state's share of funding to claim federal financial participation under the Medicaid program. This bill would authorize the department to establish a certification fee schedule and to require remittance of fees as contained in the schedule, for the purpose of supporting the department's activities associated with the ongoing administration of the certification program. This bill would require the department to amend the Medicaid state plan to include a certified peer support specialist as a provider type for purposes of the Medi-Cal program and to include peer support specialist services as a distinct service type for purposes of the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require Medi-Cal reimbursement for peer support specialist services to be implemented only if, and to the extent that, federal financial participation is available and the department obtains all necessary federal approvals. The bill also would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific its provisions by means of informal notices, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action, until regulations are adopted. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations by July 1, 2022, and, commencing July 1, 2020, would require the department to provide semiannual status reports to the Legislature until regulations have been adopted. This bill would declare that it clarifies terms and procedures under the Mental Health Services Act.

Existing law, including, but not limited to, property tax law, the Sales and Use Tax Law, the Personal Income Tax Law, the Corporation Tax Law, the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law, the law governing the taxation of insurers, the Use Fuel Tax Law, and the Diesel Fuel Tax Law provide for tax expenditures, including exemptions, deductions, exclusions, and credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would establish in state government the California Tax Expenditure Review Board as an independent advisory body to comprehensively assess major tax expenditures, as defined, and make recommendations to the Legislature. The bill would require the board to be composed of 5 members, as specified, who would serve without compensation. This bill would request the University of California, through a new or existing research center, to perform a comprehensive assessment of the major tax expenditures and to present a comprehensive, peer-reviewed assessment to the board by July 1, 2021, at a public hearing of the board. The bill, to the extent that the University of California needs access to taxpayer data and information, would require the Franchise Tax Board or the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to ensure relevant taxpayer data is made available and ensure appropriate levels of data security and protections are in place for transferred and sensitive data. This bill would set forth the scope of the comprehensive assessment, which would include certain specified information, including a brief description of the beneficiaries of the tax expenditure, and would require the board to post the comprehensive assessment on its internet website after receipt. The bill would require the board to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the major tax expenditures, and to provide a report to the Legislature that compiles all of its recommendations regarding those tax expenditures, after a vote of the members of the board, by January 1, 2022, as specified. The bill would also require the board to submit the report to the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation, and post it on its internet website. The bill would require the Senate Committee on Governance and Finance and the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation, after receipt of the report by the Legislature, to hold a joint public hearing on the report by August 15 of the second year of the legislative session.

Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, subject to certain modifications. Existing law requires an annual reallocation of property tax revenue from local agencies in each county to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) in that county for allocation to specified educational entities. Existing law authorizes certain local agencies to form an enhanced infrastructure financing district, affordable housing authority, transit village development district, or community revitalization and investment authority for purposes of, among other things, infrastructure, affordable housing, and economic revitalization. This bill would establish in state government the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Program, which would be administered by the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee. The bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, joint powers agency, enhanced infrastructure financing district, affordable housing authority, community revitalization and investment authority, transit village development district, or a combination of those entities, to apply to the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to participate in the program and would authorize the committee to approve or deny plans for projects meeting specific criteria. The bill would also authorize certain local agencies to establish an affordable housing and community development investment agency and authorize an agency to apply for funding under the program and issue bonds, as provided, to carry out a project under the program. The bill would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to adopt guidelines for plans. Subject to the Legislature enacting a budget bill for the applicable fiscal year that specifies the amount for the committee to allocate pursuant to the program, the bill would require the committee to approve no more than $200,000,000 per year from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2026, and $250,000,000 per year from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2030, in transfers from a county's ERAF for applicants for plans approved pursuant to this program. This bill would provide that eligible projects include, among other things, the predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of workforce and affordable housing, certain transit-oriented development, and projects promoting strong neighborhoods. The bill would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee, upon approval of a plan and subject to specified conditions, to issue an order directing the county auditor to transfer an amount of ad valorem property tax revenue that is equal to the affordable housing and community development investment amount approved by the committee, except as provided, from the county's ERAF. The bill would require the county auditor to either deposit that amount into the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Fund, which this bill would create in the treasury of each county, or, if the applicant is a specified type of authority or special district to transfer to the city or county that created the authority or district an amount of property tax revenue equal to the amount approved by the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee for that authority or district. The bill would require the city or county that created the district to, upon receipt, transfer those funds to the authority or district in an amount equal to the affordable housing and community development investment amount for that authority or district. By imposing additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize applicants to use approved amounts to incur debt or issue bonds or other financing to support an approved project. The bill also would require each applicant that has received funding to submit annual reports, as specified, and would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to provide a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, if it approves funding under the program, that includes certain project information. Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution sets forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts for each fiscal year. This bill would require the Director of Finance to adjust the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts for these purposes in a manner that ensures that the transfers from a county's ERAF pursuant to the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Program have no net fiscal impact upon the total amount of the General Fund revenue and local property tax revenue allocated to school districts and community college districts pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified. 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.