Asm. David Chiu

The California Constitution authorizes a United States citizen at least 18 years of age and a resident of the State to vote. This measure, in addition, would authorize a person who is at least 16 years of age and a resident of the state to vote in a school or community college district governing board election in which that person would be qualified to vote based on residence.

Existing law requires any person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation desiring a license for a clinic or a special permit for special services to file with the State Department of Public Health a verified application on forms prescribed and furnished by the department. A clinic corporation, on behalf of a primary care clinic that has held a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended license for at least the immediately preceding 5 years, with no demonstrated history of repeated or uncorrected violations of specified provisions that pose immediate jeopardy to a patient, and that has no pending action to suspend or revoke its license, is authorized to file an affiliate clinic application to establish a primary care clinic at an additional site or a mobile health care unit. The department, upon receipt of the completed affiliate clinic application submitted by the clinic corporation, is required to approve a license for the affiliate clinic, without the necessity of first conducting an initial onsite survey, if specified conditions are satisfied. This bill would require the centralized application unit to publish on the department's Internet Web site current checklists and instructions concerning how to complete an application for a new affiliate clinic license, as well as how to report changes to an existing affiliate primary care clinic. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions.

Existing law prohibits a person from discriminating against a member of the military forces because of his or her membership or service, as prescribed. Existing law makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law also provides civil remedies for violations of those provisions. This bill would prohibit a person from requiring a waiver of the protections afforded under those provisions as a condition of employment, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person from retaliating against a person who refuses to waive his or her rights under those provisions, as prescribed. The bill would require any waiver of the protections afforded under those provisions to be knowing and voluntary, in writing, and expressly not made as a condition of employment, as specified. The bill would require a person seeking to enforce that waiver to have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and voluntary and not made as a condition of employment. The bill would apply its provisions to any waiver agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2017, including an agreement that requires private arbitration. A violation of these provisions would not constitute a crime. The bill would include a severability clause.

This measure would recognize May 24, 2016, as Slavic Heritage Day.

Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers, and meets certain other requirements. PPACA specifies that an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States shall not be treated as a qualified individual and may not be covered under a qualified health plan offered through an exchange. Existing law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange (the Exchange) for the purpose of facilitating the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. This bill would require the Exchange to apply to the United States Department of Health and Human Services for a waiver to allow individuals who are not eligible to obtain health coverage through the Exchange because of their immigration status to obtain coverage from the Exchange. The bill would require the Exchange, after that waiver has been granted, to require an issuer that offers a qualified health plan in the individual market through the Exchange to concurrently offer a California qualified health benefit plan, as specified, to these individuals. The requirement to offer California qualified health plans would become operative on January 1, 2018, for coverage effective for California qualified health plans beginning January 1, 2019, as specified. The bill would require that individuals eligible to purchase California qualified health plans pay the cost of coverage without federal assistance and meet other specified requirements. The bill would require that information provided by an applicant for coverage under the bill be used only for the purposes of, and to the extent necessary for, ensuring the efficient operation of the Exchange, including verifying the eligibility of an individual to enroll through the Exchange, and would prohibit that information from being disclosed to any other person except as provided by the bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would proclaim that Monday, January 18, 2016, be observed as the official memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and his work in the Civil Rights Movement.

Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular days each year as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and encourages those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on those dates. This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim the date corresponding with the start of the lunar calendar as Lunar New Year's Day, would designate that date each year as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions, and would encourage those entities to observe that date by conducting culturally appropriate activities and exercises observing the Lunar New Year.

This measure would recognize May 2016 as Celiac Disease Awareness Month.

This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year Celebration on February 8, 2016.

This measure would commend the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on the celebration of its 150th anniversary and for the myriad contributions it has made to the health and well-being of animals nationwide and would extend best wishes for continued success in the future.