This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to establish and chair a task force known as the Crime Laboratory Review Task Force to review and make recommendations as to how best to configure, fund, and improve the delivery of state and local crime laboratory services in the future and to report its findings to the Department of Finance and specified legislative committees by July 1, 2009. This bill would require the task force to be reconvened and to submit to the Legislature a supplemental report, on or before July 1, 2013, that includes recommendations regarding the composition of a statewide oversight body to perform tasks relating to crime laboratories, including overseeing investigations into acts of misconduct or negligence committed by any employee or contractor of a crime laboratory, as specified. The bill would include a statement of legislative findings and declarations.
Existing law requires a person's driving privilege to be suspended upon conviction of specified driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offenses for one year. Existing law terminates the licensing suspension if certain conditions are met, including if the person is eligible to apply for a restricted license. Under existing law, a person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of a person or property is guilty of reckless driving. Existing law provides that, when a person is charged with, and pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, reckless driving in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for, an original charge for a DUI, and the court accepts the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the conviction is a prior offense for purposes of specified laws relating to punishments imposed for DUI convictions. This bill would terminate a driver's license suspension, and make the person eligible for a restricted driver's license, for a person convicted of reckless driving in satisfaction of, or substitute for, an original charge of driving-under-the-influence, if certain conditions are met, including that the person complete a 90-day suspension period and install an ignition interlock device. The bill would require the department to advise the person of the above conditions. The bill would require that the restricted driver's license privilege be subject to certain restrictions, including, among other things, that upon receipt of notification from the installer that a person has attempted to remove, bypass, or tamper with the ignition interlock device, the privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall immediately be suspended. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes to these provisions.
Under existing law, every person engaged in the business of tattooing, body piercing, or permanent cosmetics is required to register with the county in which that business is conducted, obtain a copy of the county's sterilization, sanitation, and safety standards, as established by the California Conference of Local Health Officers and distributed by the State Department of Public Health, as specified, and pay a one-time registration fee of $25. Existing law allows the county to charge an additional fee, if necessary to cover the cost of registration and inspection, and allows a county to adopt regulations that do not conflict with, or are more comprehensive than, standards adopted by the department. Under existing law, a person who fails to register or who violates the sterilization, sanitation, and safety standards is liable for a civil penalty of up to $500, to be collected in an action brought by the prosecuting attorney of the county or city and county in which the violation occurred. This bill would, as of July 1, 2012, repeal these provisions and, instead, enact the Safe Body Art Act. The act would prohibit a person from performing body art, as defined, without registering annually with the local enforcement agency. The bill would require practitioners to comply with specified requirements, including, among other things, client information and questionnaires, vaccination, bloodborne pathogen training, and sanitation. The bill would also require the owner of a body art facility, as defined, to obtain and annually renew a health permit from the local enforcement agency, as specified, and to maintain the body art facility in a specified manner. This bill would exempt from the definition of body art the piercing of an ear with a disposable, single-use, presterilized stud or solid needle that is applied using a mechanical device to force the needle or stud through the ear, but would impose specified requirements on that practice. The bill would authorize a local enforcement agency to require facilities performing ear piercing in that jurisdiction to submit a notification form, as provided, with the local enforcement agency. The bill would authorize the local enforcement agency to charge a one-time facility notification fee in an amount between $25 and $45, but not in excess of the amount required to cover the actual costs of administering and enforcing the program. The bill would authorize a county, after December 31, 2015, to charge a different fee, established by local ordinance, so long as an increased fee amount is necessary to cover the actual costs of administering and enforcing the provisions. This bill would regulate the performance of body art in vehicles, temporary booths, and at body art events. The bill would require a person sponsoring a body art event to obtain a permit and fulfill specified requirements and would authorize a local enforcement agency to establish reasonable regulatory fees, including, but not limited to, a fee for body art events in an amount not to exceed, but sufficient to cover, the costs of enforcement. The bill would authorize specified inspection by an enforcement officer, and would provide for the suspension or revocation of a certificate of registration or a health permit in specified circumstances. The bill would make performing body art without being registered, operation of a body art facility without a health permit, or operation of a temporary body art event without a permit a misdemeanor and would authorize the local enforcement agency to assess an administrative penalty, in an amount not less than $25 and not more than $1,000, for violating a provision of the bill. The bill would also authorize the local enforcement agency, in addition to these penalties, to impose a penalty of up to three times the cost of the registration or permit on a practitioner, owner of a body art facility, or sponsor of a temporary body art event who fails to obtain needed permits. This bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to adopt regulations or ordinances that do not conflict with, or are more stringent than, the provisions of the bill as those provisions relate to body art. Because this bill would place the inspection and enforcement requirements on local governments and because it creates a new crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
Existing law provides that 2 unmarried, unrelated adults who have chosen to share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring may establish a domestic partnership by filing a declaration with the Secretary of State if certain requirements are met, including that both persons have a common residence and that both persons are at least 18 years of age. Existing law authorizes 2 unmarried persons, not minors, who have been living together as husband and wife to obtain a confidential marriage license, as specified. This bill would eliminate the requirement that domestic partners have a common residence. This bill would also permit a person who is under 18 years of age who otherwise meets the requirements for establishing a domestic partnership to do so upon obtaining a court order that provides that authority to the underage person. The bill would also provide for the consent of the underage person's parent or guardian, except as specified, and would require that the court order and the written consent be filed with the court clerk and submitted to the Secretary of State with a Declaration of Domestic Partnership. The bill would also require the Secretary of State to establish a process by which 2 persons could enter into a confidential domestic partnership and maintain each confidential Declaration of Domestic Partnership, as specified, and permit the Secretary of State to charge a reasonable fee in this regard. Existing law prohibits a judgment of dissolution of marriage from being entered unless one of the parties to the marriage has been a resident of this state for 6 months and of the county in which the proceeding is filed for 3 months before the filing of the petition. This bill would authorize a judgment for dissolution, nullity, or legal separation of a marriage between persons of the same sex to be entered if the marriage was entered in California and neither party to the marriage resides in a jurisdiction that will dissolve the marriage.
Existing law establishes a pilot program requiring the Division of Juvenile Facilities of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to purchase 2 medical laser devices for the removal of tattoos, as specified, from eligible participants who are at-risk youth, ex-offenders, and current or former gang members, as specified. This bill would additionally establish the California Voluntary Tattoo Removal Program. The bill would provide that, to the extent funds are appropriated, the California Emergency Management Agency may administer the program. The bill would require that the program be designed to serve individuals between 14 and 24 years of age, who are in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county probation departments, who are on parole or probation, or who are in a community-based organization serving at-risk youth, through a competitive grant process, as specified. The bill would describe who may apply for grants, and specify the criteria for program participants. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2017.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. A willful violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide benefits for specified conditions, including certain mental health conditions. This bill, effective July 1, 2012, would require those health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies, except as specified, to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment, as defined, for pervasive developmental disorder or autism. The bill would provide, however, that no benefits are required to be provided that exceed the essential health benefits that will be required under specified federal law. Because a violation of these provisions with respect to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. These provisions would be inoperative July 1, 2014, and repealed on January 1, 2015. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care, in conjunction with the Department of Insurance, to convene an Autism Advisory Task Force by February 1, 2012, to provide assistance to the department on topics related to behavioral health treatment and to develop recommendations relating to the education, training, and experience requirements to secure licensure from the state. The bill would require the department to submit a report of the Task Force to the Governor and specified members of the Legislature by December 31, 2012. Existing law establishes various communicable disease prevention and control programs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a list of reportable diseases and conditions and requires health care providers and laboratories to report cases of HIV infection to the local health officer using patient names and sets guidelines regarding these reports. Existing law requires the local health officers to report unduplicated HIV cases by name to the department. This bill would authorize the department to revise the HIV reporting form without the adoption of a regulation, as specified. Under the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, the State Department of Mental Health administers the provision of funds to counties for community mental health services programs. Existing law also permits counties to receive, under certain circumstances, Medi-Cal reimbursement for mental health services. Under existing law, negotiated net amounts or rates are used as the cost of services in contracts between the state and the county and between the county and a subprovider of services. Existing law establishes the method for computing negotiated rates. Existing law prohibits the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving service from a county mental health program from exceeding the actual or negotiated cost of the services. This bill would only allow the use of negotiated net amounts as the cost of services in a contract between the state and a county and the county and a subprovider of services, and would eliminate the use of negotiated rates. The bill would also specify that the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving a service from a county mental health program shall not exceed the actual cost of the service. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Under existing law, the State Department of Health Care Services promulgates regulations for determining reimbursement of Short-Doyle mental health services allowable under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health and the State Department of Health Care Services to jointly develop a ratesetting methodology for use in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system that maximizes federal funding and utilizes, as much as practicable, federal Medicare reimbursement principles. Existing law requires that this ratesetting methodology contain incentives relating to economy and efficiency. The bill would delete the requirement that the ratesetting methodology in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system include incentives relating to economy and efficiency. 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) Existing law requires the Governor, the designated agency of the State Bar responsible for the evaluation of judicial candidates, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to annually collect demographic data relating to judicial applicants, judicial appointees or nominees, judicial candidates, and justices and judges, as specified, relative to ethnicity, race, and gender. These entities are required to release the demographic data on or before March 1 of each year. This bill would expand these provisions to include the collection and release of demographic data relative to gender identity and sexual orientation. This bill would require a departing Governor to provide the demographic data collected for the year to the incoming Governor, as specified. The bill would require the incoming Governor to release the provided demographic data, as prescribed. The bill would require any demographic data disclosed or released pursuant to these provisions to indicate the percentage of respondents who declined to respond. This bill would also make technical changes. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 12011.5 of the Government Code proposed by AB 126, that would become operative only if AB 126 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State Board of Education, to develop an Academic Performance Index (API) , as part of the Public School Performance Accountability Program, to measure the performance of schools, especially the academic performance of pupils. The API consists of a variety of indicators including specified achievement test scores, attendance rates, and graduation rates. Existing law requires the Superintendent, with approval of the state board, to develop an alternative accountability system for specified types of schools, including, among others, community day schools and continuation schools. Existing law allows these schools to receive an API score, but prohibits them from being included in the API rankings of schools. This bill, until January 1, 2017, would require the Superintendent and the state board, as part of the alternative accountability system for schools, or any successor system, to allow no more than 10 dropout recovery high schools, as defined, to report the results of an individual pupil growth model that is proposed by the school and certified by the Superintendent pursuant to specified criteria instead of reporting other indicators.
