(1) 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 imposes numerous duties on the board of governors with respect to these administrative responsibilities, including a requirement to review the accreditation status of community colleges in certain circumstances. This bill would add to the duties of the board of governors by requiring it to conduct a survey of the community colleges, including consultation with representatives of both faculty and classified personnel, to develop a report to be transmitted to the United States Department of Education and the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity that reflects a systemwide evaluation of the regional accrediting agency based on the criteria used to determine an accreditor's status. (2) Existing law requires the accrediting agency for the community colleges to report to the appropriate policy and budget subcommittees of the Legislature upon the issuance of a decision that affects the accreditation status of a community college and, on a biannual basis, to report any accreditation policy changes that affect the accreditation process or status for a community college. This bill would require the regional accrediting agency for the community colleges to report to the board of governors as soon as practicable after the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity has notified the regional accrediting agency of the date by which the agency's application for continued recognition is due.
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Existing law establishes a state policy that no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to prescribe rules under which approval shall be granted to persons who wish to keep or use animals for diagnostic purposes, education, or research. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to make, promulgate, modify, amend, or rescind reasonable rules and regulations relating to the use of animals in diagnostic procedures and medical research. A person who violates these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. Under existing law, the segments of postsecondary education in this state include the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education, as defined. This bill would require a campus of the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges, or an independent institution of higher education, as defined, or an employee or student thereof, that confines dogs or cats for science or research purposes, if the institution assesses the health of an animal and determines, after the completion of any testing or research, that the animal is suitable for adoption, the animal's destruction is not required, and the animal is no longer needed, and if the institution's existing procedures for adopting the animal do not result in an adoption, to offer the dog or cat to an animal adoption organization or animal rescue organization, as defined, prior to euthanizing the animal. The bill would not apply to animals suffering from a serious illness or severe injury, or to newborn animals that need maternal care and have been impounded without their mothers.
The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop standards for the implementation of quality child care programs. Existing law authorizes the County of San Mateo, as a pilot project, to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan, as provided. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2021, the County of Alameda to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan, as specified. The bill would require the plan to be submitted to the local planning council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for approval, as specified. The bill would require the Early Education and Support Division of the State Department of Education to review and approve or disapprove the plan and any subsequent modifications to the plan. The bill would require the County of Alameda to annually prepare and submit to the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Education a report that contains specified information relating to the success of the county's plan. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Alameda.
(1) Existing law requires a state agency, board, or commission that directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian and Pacific Islander groups, as specified. This bill would require 4 specific state departments, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity, except as specified. This bill would require these state departments, during the regular process of reporting of demographic data to the Legislature, to report the collected data and method used to collect the data and make the data available to the public in accordance with state and federal law, except for personal identifying information, which shall be deemed confidential and prohibited from disclosure. The bill would prohibit these state departments from reporting demographic data that would permit identification of individuals or would result in statistical unreliability. The bill would limit the use of the collected data by these state departments, as specified. The bill would require these state departments to come into compliance with these provisions as early as possible, but no later than July 1, 2018. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to this act. (2) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
(1) Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and limits on the amount of compensation the board may award, and requires the application for compensation to be verified under penalty of perjury. Existing law authorizes the board to recognize an authorized representative of a victim or derivative victim, including an attorney, the legal guardian, conservator, immediate family member, parent, or relative caregiver, certified victim assistance advocate, county social worker, or other persons, as specified, to represent the victim or derivative victim pursuant to rules adopted by the board. This bill would expand the term "authorized representative" to mean any person designated by law or any person who has written authorization by the victim or derivative victim, excluding a medical or mental health provider who has provided services to the victim or derivative victim. The bill would require the initial application materials sent by the board to an applicant to be written in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, East Armenian, Tagalog, Russian, Arabic, Farsi, Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi, and Lao, and further require, if the applicant selects one of these languages, the board to send all subsequent communications in that language. (2) Existing law requires the board to verify any information it deems pertinent to an application for compensation, and requires the victim and the applicant, if other than the victim, to cooperate with the staff of the board or a victim and witness assistance center in this task. Existing law authorizes the board to reject an application solely on the basis that the victim or applicant failed to cooperate as required. This bill would instead require the applicant to cooperate in verifying the application and would specify the circumstances under which an applicant may be found to have failed to cooperate with the board. The bill would prohibit the board from requiring an applicant to submit documentation from the Internal Revenue Service, the Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, the Social Security Administration, or the Employment Development Department to determine eligibility for compensation, but would specifically authorize the board to require and use documentation from these entities to verify the amount of compensation for income or support loss. (3) Existing law requires every law enforcement and social service agency in the state to provide to the board or to a contracted victim center reports involving the crime, public offense, or incident giving rise to a claim, for the specific purpose of the submission of a claim or the determination of eligibility to submit a claim. This bill would instead require law enforcement and social service agencies to provide a complete copy of the law enforcement report and other supplemental reports and documents for the purpose of determining the eligibility of a claim. (4) Existing law requires a victim or derivative victim seeking compensation to have sustained one or more specified physical or emotional injuries, or pecuniary losses, as a direct result of the crime. Existing law includes among those injuries emotional injury that occurred due to a violation of provisions prohibiting child abduction, as specified, if the deprivation of custody endured for 30 calendar days or more. This bill would include among those injuries emotional injury that occurred due to a violation of provisions prohibiting publishing or disseminating via an electronic communication device personal identifying information or a digital image of another person, without consent of the other person, and for the purpose of causing that other person injury or harassment, by a 3rd party. The bill would also require, in the case of emotional injury caused by a child abduction, only that criminal charges were filed. The bill would also include among those injuries emotional injury to a minor victim that incurred as a direct result of the nonconsensual distribution of pictures or video of sexual conduct in which the minor appears. The bill would limit compensation for this type of injury to mental health counseling for the victim, and prohibit compensation to a derivative victim in this regard. (5) Existing law, until January 1, 2017, authorizes the board to reimburse a crime victim or derivative victim for the amount of outpatient violence peer counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim from, among others, a service organization for victims of violent crime, as specified, and defines the term "violence peer counselor" as a provider of formal or informal counseling services who is employed by a service organization for victims of violent crime and meets specified requirements, including, among others, that he or she possesses at least 6 months of full-time equivalent experience in providing peer support services. This bill would specify that a service organization for victims of violent crime is a nonprofit and charitable organization instead of a nongovernmental organization. The bill would require that any peer counseling services that fall under the scope of practice of certain acts, including, among others, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, be performed by a licensee or a registrant of the Board of Behavioral Sciences or other appropriately licensed professional unless in an exempt setting. The bill would change the definition of "violence peer counselor" to a provider of supportive and nonpsychotherapeutic peer counseling services. (6) Existing law requires the board to deny an application if it finds that the victim or derivative victim knowingly and willingly participated in the commission of the crime that resulted in the pecuniary loss for which compensation is being sought, except as specified. This bill would instead authorize an application for compensation to be denied, in whole or in part, if the board finds that denial is appropriate based upon consideration of specified factors in determining the nature of the victim's or other applicant's involvement in the events leading to the crime, or the involvement of the person whose injury or death gives rise to the application, and specified factors that may be considered to mitigate or overcome that involvement. (7) Existing law requires an application to be denied if the victim failed to cooperate reasonably with law enforcement in apprehending and convicting the person who committed the crime. This bill would prohibit a victim of domestic violence from being determined to have failed to cooperate based on his or her conduct with law enforcement at the scene of the crime, and would prohibit lack of cooperation from being found solely because a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, or human trafficking delayed reporting the qualifying crime. The bill would also prohibit a claim based on a sexual assault from being denied solely because a police report was not made by the victim. The bill would require the board to adopt guidelines that allow it to consider and approve applications for assistance based on a sexual assault relying upon evidence other than a police report to establish that a sexual assault crime has occurred. (8) Existing law prohibits any person who is convicted of a felony from being granted compensation until he or she has been discharged from probation or has been released from a correctional institution, and has been discharged from parole, if any. Existing law prohibits compensation from being granted to an applicant being held in a correctional institution. Existing law prioritizes the applications of victims who are not felons over those who are felons who have been discharged from probation or have been released from a correctional institution, and have been discharged from parole. This bill would instead prohibit any person who is convicted of a violent felony, as specified, from being granted compensation until he or she is discharged from probation or released from a correctional institution, and discharged from parole, or until he or she is discharged from postrelease community supervision or mandatory supervision. This bill would also prohibit compensation from being granted to an applicant while he or she is required to be registered as a sex offender. This bill would remove provisions prioritizing the applications of victims who are not felons. (9) Existing law authorizes derivative victims, including parents and siblings, of a victim of a crime that directly led to the death of the victim, to be reimbursed for the expense of their outpatient mental health counseling. This bill would include grandparents and grandchildren among those derivative victims who are eligible to be reimbursed for their mental health counseling. Because an application for reimbursement is required to be submitted under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the definition of a crime and thus impose a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law limits the reimbursement amount for outpatient mental health counseling of a victim of a crime of unlawful intercourse with a minor in which a person 21 years of age or older engaged in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who was under 16 years of age to an amount not exceeding $5,000. Existing law prohibits a derivative victim of that crime from being eligible to receive reimbursement for mental health counseling expenses. This bill would remove provisions limiting this reimbursement of a victim of a crime of unlawful intercourse with a minor, as described above, and remove provisions prohibiting a derivative victim of that crime from being eligible to receive reimbursement for mental health counseling expenses. (11) Existing law authorizes the board to grant reimbursement for pecuniary loss of the expense of nonmedical remedial care and treatment rendered in accordance with a religious method of healing recognized by state law if it determines it will best aid the person seeking compensation. This bill would remove this provision authorizing reimbursement for this type of care or treatment. (12) Existing law authorizes the board to grant for pecuniary loss if it determines it will best aid the person seeking compensation reimbursement for the expense of installing or increasing residential security, if it receives verification by law enforcement that the security measures are necessary for the personal safety of the claimant or verification by a mental health treatment provider that the security measures are necessary for the emotional well-being of the claimant. This bill would remove the provisions requiring the verification by law enforcement or a mental health treatment provider described above. (13) Existing law also allows reimbursement for renovating or retrofitting a victim's residence or vehicle for a victim permanently disabled by the crime, as specified. The bill would also allow reimbursement for the purchase of a vehicle for a victim permanently disabled by the crime. (14) Existing law authorizes the board to provide a cash payment to a victim for expenses incurred in relocating, as specified, and requires a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence, who receives a relocation payment to, among other things, agree not to allow the offender on the premises at any time. Existing law also authorizes the board to provide reimbursement to any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay the reasonable costs to clean the scene of the crime inside a residence in an amount not to exceed $1,000, or a crime victim's funeral or burial expenses, up to $7,500, as specified. This bill would authorize the board to require a victim to repay the relocation payment or reimbursement to the board if he or she violates those terms. The bill would also require the board to be named as the recipient of funds upon the expiration of a rental agreement if a security deposit was required for a relocation. This bill would also authorize the board to reimburse any individual who voluntarily, and without anticipation of personal gain, pays or assumes the obligation to pay the reasonable costs for a trauma scene waste practitioner to clean the scene of the crime if the crime occurred inside a vehicle. The bill would prohibit the board from creating or complying with a regulation or policy that mandates a lower maximum potential amount of an award for the compensation of a crime victim's funeral or burial expenses than prescribed by statute. (15) Existing law authorizes the board to pay attorney's fees for legal services rendered to an applicant, in an amount equal to 10% of the amount of the award, or $500, whichever is less, for each victim and each derivative victim. This bill would authorize the board to request that an attorney provide verification, and to contact an applicant to verify, that legal services were provided. (16) Existing law requires the board to grant a hearing to an applicant who contests a staff recommendation to deny compensation. Existing law requires the board to schedule the hearing in as convenient a location as possible if the applicant's presence is required. Existing law authorizes the board to grant no more than one request for reconsideration with respect to any one decision on an application for compensation. This bill would also authorize the hearing to be conducted by telephone. The bill would also prohibit evidence submitted after the board has denied a request for reconsideration from being considered unless the board chooses to reconsider its decision on its own motion. (17) Existing law provides that the board is entitled to a lien on any judgment, award, or settlement in favor of or on behalf of the recipient for losses suffered as a direct result of the crime that was the basis for receipt of compensation in the amount of the compensation granted by the board. If a claim is filed within one year of the date of recovery, the board is required to pay 25% of the amount of the recovery that is subject to a lien on the judgment, award, or settlement, to the recipient responsible for recovery thereof from the perpetrator of the crime, provided that the total amount of the lien is recovered and the remaining 75% is deposited in the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would instead require the board to pay 25% of the amount of the recovery that is subject to a lien on the judgment, award, or settlement, to the recipient responsible for recovery only if the recipient notified the board of the action prior to receiving any recovery with the remainder being deposited into the Restitution Fund. By increasing deposits to be made to a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (18) Under existing law, a person who has been overpaid pursuant to these provisions governing victim compensation is liable for that amount, except as specified. This bill would require that all actions to collect overpayments be commenced within 7 years of the date of the overpayment, except as specified. The bill would also authorize any recipient of an overpayment to contest the related staff recommendation. (19) Existing law authorizes a private citizen, his or her surviving spouse, his or her surviving children, or a person dependent upon the citizen for his or her principal support to file a claim for indemnification, as specified, if the private citizen incurred personal injury, death, or damage to his or her property in preventing the commission of a crime, in apprehending a criminal, or rescuing a person in immediate danger of injury or death as a result of fire, drowning, or other catastrophe. Existing law defines "private citizen" for this and related provisions as a natural person except as specified. This bill would also authorize any person who is legally liable for the citizen's pecuniary losses to file a claim for indemnification. This bill would revise the definition of "private citizen" to mean a person, except as specified. (20) Existing law provides that if a parolee or a prisoner owes a specified order of restitution, any moneys owing are collected from the parolee or prisoner, as specified, and transferred to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for direct payment to the victim. Existing law requires that the victim be paid within 60 days from the date the restitution revenues are received, however, the restitution payment need not be forwarded to that victim unless it is $50 or more, or until 180 days from the date the first payment is received, whichever occurs sooner. This bill would provide instead that the payment need not be forwarded to the victim until it is $25 or more, or the victim requests payment of the lesser amount. (21) Existing law requires board hearings to be informal and authorizes these hearings to not be conducted according to the technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. This bill would require the board to allow a service animal to accompany and support a witness while testifying at a board hearing. (22) Existing law requires the court to order a person who is convicted of a crime to pay restitution to the victim or victims for the full amount of economic loss, unless the court finds compelling and extraordinary reasons for not doing so and states them on the record. Existing law provides the defendant the right to a hearing before a judge to dispute the determination of the amount of restitution and authorizes the court to modify the amount of restitution. This bill would authorize a victim at a restitution or modification hearing to testify by live, 2-way audio and video transmission, if that type of transmission is available at the court. (23) The bill would make other conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (24) By expanding the authorizations for use of moneys in the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (25) 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.
Existing law authorizes an adult to give an individual health care instruction and to appoint an attorney to make health care decisions for that individual in the event of his or her incapacity pursuant to a power of attorney for health care. This bill, until January 1, 2026, would enact the End of Life Option Act authorizing an adult who meets certain qualifications, and who has been determined by his or her attending physician to be suffering from a terminal disease, as defined, to make a request for a drug prescribed pursuant to these provisions for the purpose of ending his or her life. The bill would establish the procedures for making these requests. The bill would also establish specified forms to request an aid-in-dying drug, under specified circumstances, an interpreter declaration to be signed subject to penalty of perjury, thereby creating a crime and imposing a state-mandated local program, and a final attestation for an aid-in-dying drug. This bill would require specified information to be documented in the individual's medical record, including, among other things, all oral and written requests for an aid-in-dying drug. This bill would prohibit a provision in a contract, will, or other agreement from being conditioned upon, or affected by, a person making or rescinding a request for the above-described drug. The bill would prohibit the sale, procurement, or issuance of any life, health, or annuity policy, health care service plan contract, or health benefit plan, or the rate charged for any policy or plan contract, from being conditioned upon or affected by the request. The bill would prohibit an insurance carrier from providing any information in communications made to an individual about the availability of an aid-in-dying drug absent a request by the individual or his or her attending physician at the behest of the individual. The bill would also prohibit any communication from containing both the denial of treatment and information as to the availability of aid-in-dying drug coverage. This bill would provide a person, except as provided, immunity from civil or criminal liability solely because the person was present when the qualified individual self-administered the drug, or the person assisted the qualified individual by preparing the aid-in-dying drug so long as the person did not assist with the ingestion of the drug, and would specify that the immunities and prohibitions on sanctions of a health care provider are solely reserved for conduct of a health care provider provided for by the bill. The bill would make participation in activities authorized pursuant to its provisions voluntary, and would make health care providers immune from liability for refusing to engage in activities authorized pursuant to its provisions. The bill would also authorize a health care provider to prohibit its employees, independent contractors, or other persons or entities, including other health care providers, from participating in activities under the act while on the premises owned or under the management or direct control of that prohibiting health care provider, or while acting within the course and scope of any employment by, or contract with, the prohibiting health care provider. This bill would make it a felony to knowingly alter or forge a request for drugs to end an individual's life without his or her authorization or to conceal or destroy a withdrawal or rescission of a request for a drug, if it is done with the intent or effect of causing the individual's death. The bill would make it a felony to knowingly coerce or exert undue influence on an individual to request a drug for the purpose of ending his or her life, to destroy a withdrawal or rescission of a request, or to administer an aid-in-dying drug to an individual without their knowledge or consent. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that nothing in its provisions is to be construed to authorize ending a patient's life by lethal injection, mercy killing, or active euthanasia, and would provide that action taken in accordance with the act shall not constitute, among other things, suicide or homicide. This bill would require physicians to submit specified forms and information to the State Department of Public Health after writing a prescription for an aid-in-dying drug and after the death of an individual who requested an aid-in-dying drug. The bill would authorize the Medical Board of California to update those forms and would require the State Department of Public Health to publish the forms on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the department to annually review a sample of certain information and records, make a statistical report of the information collected, and post that report to its Internet Web site. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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.
Existing law makes it a crime to import into the state for commercial purposes, to possess with intent to sell, or to sell within the state, the dead body, or any part or product thereof, of an elephant. Existing law exempts the possession with intent to sell, or sale of the dead body, or any part or product thereof, of any elephant before June 1, 1977, or the possession with intent to sell or the sale of any such item on or after June 1, 1977, if the item was imported before January 1, 1977. This bill would delete this exemption. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make it unlawful to purchase, sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, or import with intent to sell ivory or rhinoceros horn, except as specified, and would make this prohibition enforceable by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would make a violation of this provision or any rule, regulation, or order adopted pursuant to this provision a misdemeanor subject to specified criminal penalties. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. In addition to the specified criminal penalties, the bill would authorize the department to impose an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 for a violation of this provision or any rule, regulation, or order adopted pursuant to this provision. This bill would provide that the provisions of this bill are severable. This bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2016. 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.
Existing law creates the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and requires it to develop and disseminate guidelines and training for all law enforcement officers, as described. Existing law prohibits a peace officer from engaging in racial profiling and requires the training to prescribe patterns, practices, and protocols that prevent racial profiling, as defined. Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct a study of the data that is voluntarily collected by jurisdictions that have instituted a program of data collection with regard to racial profiling. This bill would enact the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which would, among other changes, revise the definition of racial profiling to instead refer to racial or identity profiling, and make a conforming change to the prohibition against peace officers engaging in that practice. The bill would require, beginning July 1, 2016, the Attorney General to establish the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) to eliminate racial and identity profiling and improve diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement. The bill would specify the composition of the board. The bill would require the board, among other duties, to investigate and analyze state and local law enforcement agencies' racial and identity profiling policies and practices across geographic areas in California, to annually make publicly available its findings and policy recommendations, to hold public meetings annually, as specified, and to issue the board's first annual report no later than January 1, 2018. The bill would require each state and local agency that employs peace officers to annually report to the Attorney General data on all stops, as defined, conducted by the agency's peace officers, and require that data to include specified information, including the time, date, and location of the stop, and the reason for the stop. The bill would require an agency that employs 1,000 or more peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2019. The bill would require an agency that employs 667 or more but less than 1,000 peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2020. The bill would require an agency that employs 334 or more but less than 667 peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2022. The bill would require an agency that employs one or more but less than 334 peace officers to issue its first annual report by April 1, 2023. By imposing a higher level of service on local entities that employ peace officers, 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law requires state agencies, boards, or commissions that directly or by contract collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, and state agencies conducting surveys as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of state civil service employees, to use separate collection categories for each major Asian and Pacific Islander group. This bill would require any state agency, board, or commission that directly or by contract collects demographic data, as soon as reasonably feasible and in no event later than January 1, 2022, to provide forms that offer respondents the option of selecting one more ethnic or racial designations.
Existing law establishes the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office to, among other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access. This bill would establish the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, and would create the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program and funds from other public and private sources, to encourage the purchase and consumption of California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables by nutrition benefit clients, as defined. The bill would provide that the program shall only provide grants upon the deposit of sufficient funds, as specified, into the account. The bill would require that moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account be awarded in the form of grants to qualified entities, as defined, for consumer incentive programs, as defined, subject to specified regulations and in accordance with certain priorities. The bill would require the Office of Farm to Fork to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, as specified.