Asm. Richard Gordon

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support H.R. 167, the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.

The Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act generally prohibits a manufacturer or supplier from offering for sale or for promotional purposes in this state a package or packaging component that includes intentionally introduced lead, mercury, cadmium, or hexavalent chromium in the package or in a packaging component. The act exempted from this prohibition, until January 1, 2010, a package or a packaging component if the manufacturer or supplier complied with specific documentation requirements and the package or packaging component did not contain any intentionally introduced lead, mercury, cadmium, or hexavalent chromium, but exceeded a specific maximum concentration level because of the addition of a recycled material. This bill would provide a similar exemption, until January 1, 2019, for a glass beverage, food, or drink container. The bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to evaluate the packaging of glass beverage, food, and drink containers, as specified, to determine if lead, mercury, cadmium, or hexavalent chromium is present in glass beverage, food, or drink containers sold in California. If the department determines that these metals are present, the bill would require the department to also evaluate whether and under what circumstances those metals can leach from the glass containers into the food or beverage and whether the presence of the metals in the glass containers presents a risk to human health and the environment. The bill would authorize the department to request any information and collect any samples necessary for the evaluations from glass manufacturers or feedstock or raw material suppliers in the state that are subject to the act, and would require the department to provide the results of the evaluations to the Legislature by January 1, 2018. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations, pursuant to existing authority, based on these evaluations. The bill would authorize the department to seek reimbursement from the glass manufacturers and feedstock and raw material suppliers to cover the reasonable costs directly related to collecting glass samples, reviewing and processing those samples, analyzing the samples, disseminating certain information, and implementing any regulations that are developed as a result of the evaluations. The bill would delete obsolete provisions and would make conforming changes.

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. One of the methods by which these services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care health plans. Existing federal law provides for the federal Medicare Program, which is a public health insurance program for persons 65 years of age and older and specified persons with disabilities who are under 65 years of age. Existing law requires the department to seek federal approval pursuant to a Medicare or a Medicaid demonstration project or waiver, or a combination thereof, to establish a demonstration project that enables beneficiaries dually eligible for the Medi-Cal program and the Medicare Program to receive a continuum of services that maximizes access to, and coordination of, benefits between the programs. Existing law requires, with some exceptions, the department to enroll dual eligible beneficiaries into a managed care plan that is selected to participate in the demonstration project unless the beneficiary makes an affirmative choice to opt out of enrollment or is already enrolled in a specified managed care organization on or before June 1, 2013. Existing law excludes a dual eligible beneficiary from enrollment in the demonstration project if, among other reasons, the beneficiary is receiving services through a regional center or state developmental center. Existing law also excludes a dual eligible beneficiary from enrollment in the demonstration project if, among other reasons, the beneficiary is enrolled in a home- and community-based waiver except for persons enrolled in Multipurpose Senior Services Program services. This bill would authorize a beneficiary receiving services through a regional center who resides in the County of San Mateo to participate voluntarily in the demonstration project if certain requirements are met. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of San Mateo.

This measure would proclaim April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.

Existing law authorizes the general manager of any park or open-space district, with district board approval, to bind the district, in accordance with board policy, and without advertising, for the payment of amounts not exceeding $25,000 for supplies, materials, labor, or other valuable consideration for any purpose. This bill would authorize the general managers of the East Bay Regional Park District and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to bind those districts, with district board approval and in accordance with board policy, for the payment of supplies, materials, labor, or other valuable consideration for any purpose, in amounts not exceeding $50,000. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the East Bay Regional Park District and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

This measure would urge each University of California campus to adopt a resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and racism, and would condemn any act of anti-Semitism at all publicly funded schools in the State of California.

This measure would state the Legislature's support for the memorandum of understanding for strategic partnerships for joint innovation, exchanges, and cooperation between California and Israel.

This measure would proclaim that the Legislature joins Taiwanese communities throughout the state in celebrating Taiwanese American Heritage Week. This measure would declare that warm relations and bilateral exchange between the people of California and Taiwan should grow. This measure would state that the Legislature supports the goals of Taiwanese American Heritage Week and recognizes the profound importance of Taiwanese Americans to California.

This measure would designate the week of June 1 through June 7, 2015, as Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week in California.