This measure would proclaim January 26, 2015, as India Republic Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India Republic Day.
Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and maintain a plan, known as the County Administrative Cost Control Plan, whereby costs for county administration of CalFresh are effectively controlled within the amounts annually appropriated for that administration, and whereby standards and performance criteria are established and are required to be adhered to by counties. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with key stakeholders, to establish statewide customer service standards and performance goals with regard to CalFresh, revise the standards and goals to reflect changes in CalFresh performance over time, measure the progress made toward the execution of the standards and goals on an annual basis, and make the standards and goals publicly available for the purpose of informing the Legislature and the public. The bill would also require the department to develop a data management tool that includes specified data, including, but not limited to, data regarding CalFresh applications received through multiple channels. This bill would require data from the data management tool to be made publicly available on an ongoing basis and updated at least on a quarterly basis within 60 days following the end of each quarter, and would require the department to use the data from the tool to measure the progress made towards the standards and goals established pursuant to these provisions. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
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 Program provisions. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also require payments for managed care health plans for dates of service following the effective date of the bill to be determined without application of some of those reductions. The bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to implement this provision to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and for the maximum time period for which the director obtains federal approval for federal financial participation for those payments. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) , upon registering a vehicle, to issue to the owner 2 license plates, as specified. Existing law also requires that the license plates be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued, and makes a violation of this requirement a crime. Existing law requires vehicle dealers and lessor-retailers to attach numbered report-of-sale forms issued by the DMV to a vehicle at the time of sale, and to submit to the DMV an application for registration of the vehicle, and the applicable fees, within a specified period after the date of sale. This bill would require the DMV to contract with a private industry partner for the development of a temporary license plate system to enable vehicle dealers and lessor-retailers to print temporary license plates on weatherproof paper or other media selected by the DMV. The bill would require the DMV to ensure that the system is operational on or before January 1, 2016. This bill would also require, commencing January 1, 2016, a motor vehicle dealer or lessor-retailer to install temporary license plates at the time of sale, and to electronically record and transmit certain information to the temporary license plate system, including the temporary license plates' number and vehicle's make and model. The bill would authorize vehicle dealers and the DMV to impose fees for temporary license plate processing, as specified. The bill would make failure to display temporary license plates an infraction, and would make counterfeiting a temporary license plate a felony, as specified. By creating a new crime and expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make other related and conforming changes. 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.
Under existing law, the Department of Food and Agriculture is responsible for enforcing provisions relating to the importation of animals, milk and milk products, produce dealers, and other agricultural regulations. Existing law, the California Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, establishes a meat and poultry inspection program and, in connection with the operation of that program by the department, authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to adopt, by regulation, standards and requirements that meet those prescribed by the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. This bill would prohibit a livestock or poultry product from being sold in California if the livestock or poultry product is constituted of livestock or poultry that was administered a medically important antimicrobial for nontherapeutic use, such as growth promotion, feed efficiency, weight gain, or disease prevention. The bill would also prohibit a livestock or poultry product sold in California to be constituted of livestock or poultry that was administered a medically important antimicrobial for nonroutine disease control unless certain conditions are met. The bill would prohibit a livestock or poultry product from being sold in California unless the livestock or poultry product is constituted wholly or in part of livestock or poultry that was slaughtered at a registered slaughter facility and the slaughter facility annually reports specified information to the department regarding the use of medically important antimicrobials. The bill would also prohibit a medically important antimicrobial from being administered to a food-producing animal unless the medically important antimicrobial is administered for a therapeutic use and consistently with specified veterinarian provisions. The bill would require the department to establish, by regulation, a schedule for the implementation of these provisions and require that they be fully implemented on or before on January 1, 2020. The bill would require the department to post the information reported by the slaughter facilities on an Internet Web site commencing on or before December 31, 2017. This bill would require the department to adopt any regulations necessary to implement the provisions of the bill.
Existing law defines "bullying" as any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, as defined, and including one or more acts of sexual harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, committed by a pupil or a group of pupils, that would cause a reasonable pupil, as defined, to be in fear of harm to his or her person or property, to experience a substantially detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health, to experience substantial interference with his or her academic performance, or to experience substantial interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. This bill would enact the Michael Joseph Berry Peer Abuse Prevention and Awareness Act of 2013, pursuant to which the California Bullying Prevention Clearinghouse would be established, to be administered by the State Department of Education. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint members to a clearinghouse, California Bullying Prevention Advisory Council which would include individuals who have experience in specified areas, including, among others, hotline telephone services, social media, and behavioral health services. The bill would require the department to maintain the clearinghouse under the guidance of the clearinghouse advisory council, and would, among other things, require that the clearinghouse act as a repository of information on antibullying resources, links, and available services. The bill would require the department to recommend to school districts appropriate guidelines, best practices, and information that school districts may disseminate to pupils and their families about the existence, goals, and objectives of the California Bullying Prevention Clearinghouse, as specified. The bill would provide that its operation in any fiscal year is contingent upon the certification by the Superintendent that sufficient funding is available for the implementation of this bill in that fiscal year, and would prohibit the use of General Fund moneys to implement the bill.
Existing law requires each board, department, and office within the state Environmental Protection Agency to review its programs, policies, and activities and identify and address any gaps in its existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice. Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to, no later than January 1, 2004, and every three years thereafter, prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a report on the implementation of provisions of law relating to environmental justice. This bill would require this report to identify and address any gaps in the agency's existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the achievement of environmental justice. The bill would require the report to also identify and evaluate new programs, policies, or activities intended to further promote the achievement of environmental justice.
Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to make surveys in each county and city and county to determine the adequacy of the procedures and practices employed by the county assessor in the valuation of property. Existing law requires the board to provide a right to each county assessor to appeal to the board appraisals made within his or her county where differences have not been resolved before completion of a field review. This bill would require the board, when appropriate, to also provide a similar right to each former county assessor whose administration is being reviewed to appeal the board appraisals made within his or her county. Existing law requires the board to proceed with the surveys of the assessment procedures and practices in the several counties and cities and counties as rapidly as feasible. This bill would eliminate the requirement to proceed with the surveys as rapidly as feasible, and would, instead, require the board to complete each survey within 3 months after the date the board began the survey. Existing law requires the board, upon completion of the survey of the procedures and practices of a county assessor, to prepare a written survey report setting forth its findings and recommendations, and requires the board, before preparing its written survey report, to meet with the assessor to discuss and confer on those matters which may be included in the written survey report. Existing law requires the final survey report to be issued by the board within 2 years after the date the board began the survey. This bill would require the written survey report to include recommendations specific to the context of the issues identified and comparable examples of practices in other counties or properties the county assessor may adopt to improve existing practices, and would require the board, before preparing its written survey report, to also meet, when appropriate, with the former assessor whose administration is being reviewed. This bill would shorten the period of time the board has to issue the final survey report from 2 years to 18 months for any survey commenced on or after January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, inclusive, and from 2 years to 9 months for any survey commenced on or after January 1, 2016.
Existing law requires that each live birth, fetal death, death, and marriage that occurs in the state be registered. Existing law charges the State Registrar with the execution of provisions regulating these and other vital records. Existing law requires the registrar to prescribe and furnish all record forms for use in carrying out those purposes, or to prescribe the format, quality, and content of forms electronically produced in each county for those purposes, and provides that no record forms or formats other than those prescribed by the registrar may be used. Existing law also provides for the registration of domestic partnerships and requires 2 persons desiring to become domestic partners to complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State, who returns to the parties a copy of the registered form and a Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership. Existing law also requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue drivers' licenses and identification cards. Existing law prescribes the form and content of Certificates of Registered Domestic Partnership, drivers' licenses, and identification cards. This bill would require the State Registrar to ensure that diacritical marks on English letters are properly recorded on all certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and all marriage licenses, including, but not limited to, accents, tildes, graves, umlauts, and cedillas. The bill would require the registrar to develop procedures to include other reasonable requests relating to names on certificates of live birth. The bill would impose similar requirements on the Secretary of State, with respect to Certificates of Registered Domestic Partnership, and on the Department of Motor Vehicles, with respect to drivers' licenses and identification cards. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature relative to the use of diacritical marks on certificates of live birth and other forms of state-issued identity documentation.
This measure would request the Congress of the United States to, among other things, act immediately to avert federal spending cuts known as "sequestration" to protect the California and national economies.
