Asm. Catherine Stefani

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the month of May 2026 as National Stroke Awareness Month. The primary effect is to officially recognize this time period for public education and awareness campaigns regarding stroke prevention and treatment. It does not alter laws, allocate funding, or impose new requirements on individuals or organizations. The measure serves as a symbolic gesture to highlight the importance of stroke awareness during the specified month.

This measure would recognize the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans and urge the federal government to work alongside tribal leaders to address historic injustices, uphold treaty obligations, and ensure equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, and to create and issue a series of specialized license plates, consisting of one or more of 3 specified designs that replicate license plates from the state's past. Existing law imposes additional fees for the issuance, renewal, replacement, and transfer of these license plates and requires that those additional fees be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help our Kids" special license plates that include specified shapes and imposes additional fees, as specified, for their issuance, renewal, replacement, and transfer. Existing law requires that those additional fees be deposited in the Child Health and Safety Fund, as specified. This bill would authorize, commencing July 1, 2027, an applicant for a California Legacy License Plate to apply to use a shape from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help our Kids" special license plates for an additional fee, and would require that funds from the fees generated be deposited in the California Environmental License Plate Fund and the Child Health and Safety Fund, as specified. The bill would additionally increase the fees, commencing July 1, 2027, for the initial issuance and renewal of the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates. Existing law requires that 50% of the funds derived from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates be available, upon appropriation, to the State Department of Social Services for administering various provisions related to childcare licensing, as specified. Existing law requires that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the remaining balance be available, as described, for programs that address other categories of potential childhood injury, as specified. This bill would require moneys allocated to the Child Health and Safety Fund from the "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plates and the California Legacy License Plates to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, including allocating 25% to the State Department of Social Services for administering various provisions related to childcare licensing, as specified. The bill would allocate the remaining for programs that address specified child health and safety concerns and specified child abuse prevention purposes. The bill would also include provisions that would permit a portion of these funds, allocated to the Emergency Medical Services Authority, to be expended for the preparation of a specified report to the Legislature required by AB 1639 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, and would make those provisions operative contingent upon the enactment of that bill, as specified.

This measure would recognize the significance of Vesak Day to people of Buddhist faith and extend sincere best wishes to the state's Buddhist community in celebrating Vesak Day.

Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the board. Existing law authorizes the board to grant for pecuniary loss, when the board determines that it will best aid the person seeking compensation, as specified. Existing law authorizes the board to reimburse, among other things, the amount of medical or medical-related expenses and outpatient psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim, as specified. This bill would also authorize the board to reimburse the expense of tuition at an educational institution, not to exceed $10,000, to a full- or part-time student who is a victim of sexual assault or violence if the victim is unable to continue attendance or suffers an academic setback, as described. The bill would authorize the board to limit compensation to the term the crime occurred and the immediately following term, and would require the calculation of an award based on certain factors, as specified. By expanding the board's authorization for use of moneys in the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the week of May 17 to May 24, 2026, as National Public Works Week throughout California to honor the contributions of public works professionals. It directly affects engineers, managers, and employees in government and the private sector who maintain essential infrastructure like transportation systems, water supplies, and public buildings. The resolution requests that the Governor issue a proclamation encouraging the public to observe the week with educational programs and activities that highlight the importance of these workers.

Existing law, the Medi-Cal Act, establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Under existing law, early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment (EPSDT) services, including private duty nursing services, are covered under Medi-Cal for an individual under 21 years of age in accordance with certain federal provisions. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would require the department to measure and assess whether private duty nursing services provided as part of the EPSDT benefit are in compliance with federal Medicaid requirements, as specified. The bill would require the assessment to include a comparison of the hours of EPSDT private duty nursing services authorized by the Medi-Cal program to the hours actually provided to eligible beneficiary children and a determination of whether the reimbursement rates for those services are sufficient to ensure that all authorized hours are able to be provided. The bill would require the department to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the findings of the assessment by no later than March 1, 2027.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, provides for the issuance, suspension, revocation, and conditions upon licensure for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. Existing law makes every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold, furnished or given away any alcoholic beverage to any person under 21 years of age guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law also makes it unlawful for a person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or the combined influence of both, to drive a vehicle and requires a court, when granting probation following conviction of a driving under the influence offense, to impose certain terms and conditions, including that the individual not drive a vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol in their blood, among others. This bill would require everyone who sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to first review bona fide evidence of majority and identity, as described. The bill would authorize a court when granting probation for certain driving under the influence offenses to prohibit the person from purchasing alcohol and would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue an identification card or driver's license with an appropriate designation on the face upon the receipt of an abstract of the record of a court. The bill would authorize the court to prohibit the purchase of alcohol when the offense occurred within 10 years of 2 or more driving under the influence offenses that resulted in conviction or certain other prior convictions, or if the conviction was for vehicular manslaughter, as specified. The bill would require a seller of alcoholic beverages to refuse to sell or serve someone subject to such an order. To the extent this bill would require a higher level of service from court staff who are county employees, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes various food assistance programs, including, among others, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law declares that it is the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to access sufficient affordable and healthy food. Existing law defines "food insecurity" to mean the occasional or constant lack of access to the food one needs to live a healthy life and the uncertainty of being able to acquire enough food to meet the needs of an individual or household due to insufficient money or other resources. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to annually conduct a statewide survey to assess food insecurity in the state, modeled after a specified federal survey. The bill would require the first statewide food insecurity survey to be completed on or before July 1, 2028. The bill would require the department, on or before October 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to make the results of the statewide food insecurity survey publicly available on its internet website. The bill would authorize the department to collaborate or contract with a public research institution or other external vendor to implement these provisions. The bill would prohibit the department from conducting a statewide food insecurity survey during a year in which a federal food security survey is conducted, as specified.

This measure would proclaim the week of April 20, 2026, to April 24, 2026, inclusive, as California Home Visiting Week, and would encourage all Californians to recognize and celebrate the contributions of home visiting programs and professionals and the families they serve.