Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine, and establishes examination, training, and other requirements for licensure as a physician and surgeon. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill, through November 30, 2024, would authorize a physician licensed to practice medicine in Arizona who meets certain requirements to practice medicine in California for the purpose of providing abortions and abortion-related care to patients who are Arizona residents traveling from Arizona, upon application for registration with the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable. The bill would prohibit the physician from providing care or consultation for other purposes or to other patients, except under specified circumstances. The bill would require an Arizona physician, before practicing in California, to submit specified information to the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable, including, among other information, written verification from the Arizona Medical Board or the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, or documentation printed from an online licensing system, that the physician's Arizona license to practice medicine is in good standing and confers on the physician the authority to practice abortions and abortion-related care. The bill would require the applicant to provide an affidavit attesting that, among other things, the applicant meets all of the requirements for registration, as specified, and would make it a misdemeanor for a person to provide false information. The bill would limit the information the California boards are required to disclose about a registrant. The bill would deem a physician registered pursuant to the bill's provisions a licensee of the applicable board, would authorize the applicable board to take enforcement against a person registered pursuant to the bill's provisions, and would prohibit the applicable boards from collecting any fees for registration. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal the bill's provisions on January 1, 2025. 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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. 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.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 17, 2024, as Bike to School Day in California to encourage students to ride bicycles or electric bikes to their schools. The resolution highlights the environmental, health, and recreational benefits of cycling while acknowledging the state's existing bike-friendly infrastructure and recent cycling events. It serves as a commemorative measure rather than a law that changes regulations or funding, and it directs the Assembly's Chief Clerk to distribute copies of the text for public awareness.
Maddy summaryThis bill establishes April 27 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. The resolution recognizes Milk's legacy as a civil rights leader who fought against discrimination and advocated for LGBTQ+ visibility and unity among minority communities. It recounts key events in his life, including his assassination in 1978 and the subsequent legal proceedings against his killer. The measure serves as a commemorative acknowledgment of Milk's impact on California and national history rather than creating new laws or policies.
Under existing law, a person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not exempted by law is subject to compulsory full-time education. Existing law excludes a child under 6 years of age from the public schools, subject to specified exceptions. Existing law requires a school district maintaining a kindergarten to admit a child who will have their 5th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year. Existing law also requires a child who will have their 6th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year to be admitted to the first grade of an elementary school. Existing law authorizes a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California and who is judged by the administration of the school district to be ready for first-grade work to be admitted to the first grade, as specified. This bill, beginning with the 2026–27 school year, would require a child to have completed one year of kindergarten before that child may be admitted to the first grade at a public elementary school, except for a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California, but has not yet completed one school year, and is judged to be ready for first-grade work, as specified, thereby imposing 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 vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to adopt new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing electrical service to residential customers. Under existing law, the commission may authorize fixed charges for any rate schedule applicable to a residential customer account. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2024, to authorize a fixed charge for default residential rates. Existing law requires these fixed charges to be established on an income-graduated basis, with no fewer than 3 income thresholds, so that low-income ratepayers in each baseline territory would realize a lower average monthly bill without making any changes in usage. This bill would prohibit modifications to the amount of the income-graduated fixed charge from exceeding changes in inflation, as provided. The bill would make the provisions authorizing the income-graduated fixed charge inoperative on July 1, 2028. The bill, commencing July 1, 2028, would instead permit the commission to authorize fixed charges that, as of January 1, 2015, do not exceed $5 per residential customer account per month for low-income customers enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program and that do not exceed $10 per residential customer account per month for customers not enrolled in the CARE program. The bill would authorize these maximum allowable fixed charges to be adjusted by no more than the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the prior calendar year, beginning January 1, 2016. The bill would require the commission to adopt any modification to an existing fixed charge for the collection of a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing electrical service to residential customers in a stand-alone proceeding. The bill would prohibit a fixed charge from resulting in an increase to an electrical corporation's revenue requirement. The bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2027, but no sooner than 2 years after the adoption of the income-graduated fixed charge, to submit a public report to the relevant policy committees of both houses of the Legislature on the electrical corporations' implementation of the income-graduated fixed charge and other cost-saving options, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and therefore a violation of the bill's requirements or of a commission action implementing its requirements would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Maddy summaryThis bill designates October 2024 as Menopause Awareness Month in California to highlight the health and societal impacts of menopause on women. It acknowledges that millions of women face symptoms that can affect their daily lives and work, noting that women of color are at higher risk for complications like premature menopause and heart disease. The resolution encourages the state to provide better health information and services to support women's well-being before, during, and after this transition. While the text outlines these goals, the bill itself is a formal recognition rather than a law that creates new funding or mandates specific programs.
Existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, requires a state agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people, as defined, and that finds other specific factors to exist to distribute specified written materials in the appropriate non-English language through its statewide and local offices or facilities to those non-English-speaking persons. As an alternative, the act requires the state agency to furnish translation aids or guides or to provide assistance, through use of a qualified bilingual person, in completing English forms or questionnaires and in understanding English forms, letters, or notices. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, commencing with the 2025–26 fiscal year, to establish and administer the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program to distribute funding to community-based nonprofit organizations that provide equitable language access to individuals seeking social services. Under the bill, grants awarded pursuant to the program would be used to provide a pay differential to direct service professionals whose primary job responsibilities include communicating in a language or medium other than English, as defined. The bill would require the department to prioritize funding to organizations who are current state program grantees or subgrantees, but would not limit the department from awarding funds to organizations that are not current grantees or subgrantees, as long as they are eligible to receive a grant under these provisions. The bill would require 40% of funds appropriated for its purposes to be awarded as Multilingual Success Grants to community-based organizations serving those limited-English-proficient Californians whose language communities represent 2% or more of California's total population. The bill would require 60% of the appropriated funds to be awarded as Multilingual Access Grants to community-based organizations serving those limited-English-proficient populations that do not meet that threshold. The bill would establish the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program Fund, which would consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of providing the grants described in the bill. The bill would require, beginning July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, grantees and subgrantees to report specified information to the department. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department to report specified information to the Legislature.
Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law authorizes certain Medi-Cal recipients to receive waiver personal care services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law permits services to be provided under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the provision of services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. This bill would require the department, by March 1, 2025, or when the Case Management Information and Payrolling System (CMIPS) can implement the necessary automation changes, whichever is later, to develop and issue guidance, in consultation with specified entities, to ensure that individuals without satisfactory immigration status, as defined, are able to receive IHSS benefits using a provider of their choice, including a provider who is related to the 5th degree to the recipient, as specified, and who has, or is in the process of obtaining, an individual taxpayer identification number. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2025, and in consultation with specified stakeholders, to develop recommendations to enable any recipient of services to select a related provider of their choice, as specified. Existing law requires a county to investigate the background of a person who seeks to become a supportive services provider or is already providing those services, and who is not listed on the registry of a public authority or nonprofit consortium. Existing law requires that investigation to include criminal background checks conducted by the Department of Justice, as prescribed. Existing law requires the county to deny or terminate an individual's request to provide IHSS upon notice from the Department of Justice that the person has a conviction for any specified offense. This bill would exempt a person who meets the requirements to be a related provider of IHSS, as described above, or who is related to the 5th degree to the IHSS recipient from those criminal background check requirements, but would require the person to attest to any convictions for the specified offenses. The bill would prohibit a person with a conviction for any of those offenses from providing IHSS. Under existing law, a new applicant to provide in-home supportive services, or a person whose application has been denied on the basis of a conviction and for whom an appeal of that denial is pending, is ineligible to provide or receive payment for providing supportive services for 10 years following a conviction for, or incarceration following a conviction for, specified felony offenses. Existing law permits a recipient who wishes to employ a provider applicant who has been convicted of one of the specified offenses to submit to the county an individual waiver of the exclusion provided for in those provisions. This bill would require a person who meets the requirements to be a related provider of IHSS, as described above, or who is related to the 5th degree to the IHSS recipient to attest to any convictions for an offense subject to the 10-year exclusion. The bill would permit a recipient of IHSS who wishes to employ a related provider applicant who has been convicted of an eligible offense to submit to the county an individual waiver of that exclusion. To the extent that these provisions would increase duties of counties administering the IHSS program, 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 federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. PPACA defines a "qualified health plan" as a plan that, among other requirements, provides an essential health benefits package. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state. Under the bill, CalCare would be a health care service plan subject to Knox-Keene. The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children's Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare Program. The bill would make specified persons eligible to enroll as CalCare members during the implementation period, and would provide for automatic enrollment. The bill would require the board to seek all necessary waivers, approvals, and agreements to allow various existing federal health care payments to be paid to CalCare, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill would create the CalCare Board to govern CalCare, made up of 9 voting members with demonstrated and acknowledged expertise in health care, and appointed as provided, plus the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee as a nonvoting, ex officio member. The bill would provide the board with all the powers and duties necessary to establish CalCare, including determining when individuals may start enrolling into CalCare, employing necessary staff, negotiating pricing for covered pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, establishing a prescription drug formulary, and negotiating and entering into necessary contracts. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1 of an unspecified year, to conduct and deliver a fiscal analysis to determine whether or not CalCare may be implemented and if revenue is more likely than not to pay for program costs, as specified. The bill would establish an Advisory Commission on Long-Term Services and Supports to advise the board on matters of policy related to long-term services and supports. The bill would require the board to convene a CalCare Public Advisory Committee to advise the board on all matters of policy for CalCare, an Advisory Committee on Public Employees' Retirement System Health Benefits to provide recommendations related to public employee retiree health benefits, and a CalCare Health Workforce Working Group to provide the board with input on issues related to health care workforce education, recruitment, and retention. The bill would establish an Office of Health Equity within CalCare and under the direction of the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to ensure health equity under the program and other health programs of the California Health and Human Services Agency and to support the board through specified actions. This bill would provide for the participation of health care providers in CalCare, including the requirements of a participation agreement between a health care provider and the board, provide for payment for health care items and services, and specify program participation standards. The bill would prohibit a participating provider from discriminating against a person by, among other things, reducing or denying a person's benefits under CalCare because of a specified characteristic, status, or condition of the person. This bill would prohibit a participating provider from billing or entering into a private contract with an individual eligible for CalCare benefits regarding a covered benefit, but would authorize contracting for a health care item or service that is not a covered benefit if specified criteria are met. The bill would authorize health care providers to collectively negotiate fee-for-service rates of payment for health care items and services using a third-party representative, as provided. The bill would require the board to annually determine an institutional provider's global budget, to be used to cover operating expenses related to covered health care items and services for that fiscal year, and would authorize payments under the global budget. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would develop a revenue plan, taking into consideration anticipated federal revenue available for CalCare. The bill would create the CalCare Trust Fund in the State Treasury, as a continuously appropriated fund, consisting of any federal and state moneys received for the purposes of the act. The bill would specify uses for moneys in the CalCare budget, including special projects for which not-for-profit or governmental entities may apply. Because the bill would create a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. This bill would prohibit specified provisions of this act from becoming operative until the Secretary of California Health and Human Services gives written notice to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly that the CalCare Trust Fund has the revenues to fund the costs of implementing the act. The California Health and Human Services Agency would be required to publish a copy of the notice on its internet website. 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.
This measure would proclaim the week of April 14, 2024 to April 20, 2024, to be Cities Week, and would encourage all Californians to be involved in their communities and be civically engaged with their local government.