Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures and imposing other reporting and recordkeeping requirements on campaign committees. This bill would require each campaign committee to identify its principal officer or officers, as defined, and would require each principal officer to maintain the committee's accounts and records. In addition, the bill would require a committee's principal officer, in the event the committee files a statement or report disclosing an independent expenditure, to sign a verification verifying that the committee has not received unreported contributions or reimbursements to make the independent expenditure and has not coordinated with the candidate or the opponent of the candidate or the proponent or the opponent of the state measure that is the subject of the expenditure. The Political Reform Act of 1974 defines "late contribution" and "late independent expenditure" as any contribution or independent expenditure totaling in the aggregate $1,000 or more that is made for or against any specific candidate, committee, or measure involved in an election that is made or received before the date of the election but after the closing date of the last campaign statement required to be filed prior to the election. This bill would instead define "late contribution" and "late independent expenditure" to mean a contribution or independent expenditure made within 90 days before the date of the election at which the candidate or measure is to be voted on. The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires that broadcast and mass mailing advertisements supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures include disclosure statements that reflect specified information. This bill would require any advertisement supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures to include such disclosure statements. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Under the Knox-Keene Act, the Health Care Providers' Bill of Rights prohibits a contract between a health care service plan and a health care provider from including a term authorizing the plan to change a material term of the contract unless the parties have agreed to it or it is required to comply with state or federal law or with accreditation requirements of a private sector accreditation organization. Under existing law, if a change is made by amending a manual, policy, or procedure document referenced in the contract between a plan and a provider, the plan is required to provide at least 45 business days' notice to the provider, as specified. This bill would require a plan providing dental coverage that automatically renews dental provider contracts to annually make available, as specified, to the provider, within 60 days following a request by the provider, a copy of its current contract and a summary of all of those changes made since the contract was issued or last renewed. The bill would also require a plan providing dental coverage to provide at least 45 business days' notice to dentists providing services under its plan contracts of any material change to the plan's rules, guidelines, policies, or procedures concerning dental provider contracting or coverage of or payment for dental services, as specified. Because a willful violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law authorizes health insurers to contract with providers for alternative rates of payment and authorizes the contract to contain provisions permitting a material change to the contract if the insurer provides at least 45 business days' notice to the provider and the provider has the right to terminate the contract prior to implementation of the change. This bill would require an insurer providing dental coverage that automatically renews dental provider contracts to annually make available, as specified, to the provider, within 60 days following a request by the provider, a copy of its current contract and a summary of all those changes made since the contract was issued or last renewed. The bill would also require an insurer providing dental coverage to provide at least 45 business days' notice to dentists contracting with the insurer to provide services under its health insurance policies of any material change to the insurer's rules, guidelines, policies, or procedures concerning dental provider contracting or coverage of or payment for dental services, as specified. 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 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. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, which includes inpatient hospital services subject to utilization controls. Existing federal law requires a hospital to provide appropriate medical screening or treatment to determine whether an emergency medical condition exists if any individual comes to the emergency department and requires an examination or treatment for a medical condition, as specified. This bill would, for Medi-Cal fee-for-service beneficiaries, add emergency services and care that are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition and medical care directly related to the emergency medical condition to the schedule of benefits. This bill would provide that specified definitions shall apply for the purposes of this provision and that this provision shall not be construed to change the obligation of Medi-Cal managed care plans to provide emergency services and care.
This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to enact legislation that would add comprehensive, preventative dental care coverage to Medicare benefits.
This measure would recognize September 2012 as Recovery Month in California, in order to raise awareness of the importance of substance use disorders treatment and to help people living with substance use disorders and their families to receive treatment.
This measure would recognize the 25th anniversary of the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial on November 23, 2013, and encourage all Californians to take part in ceremonies, organized by the California State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America along with assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans service organizations. This measure would call upon the state archives to display memorabilia in a special display on the Vietnam War, as provided, the California State Military Museum to prepare and display exhibits on the Vietnam War, as provided, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to add names to the memorial, as provided.
This measure encourages the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California to consider and adopt the American Council on Education credit recommendations to give veterans due credit for their military experience.
Existing law provides for the licensure of weighmasters who weigh, measure, or count any commodity and issue a statement or memorandum that is used as the basis for either the purchase or sale of that commodity. Existing law requires that a weighmaster issue a signed weighmaster certificate whenever payment for the commodity is dependent on a written or printed weight, measure, or count. Under existing law, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture may adopt rules and regulations that are reasonably necessary for the purpose of carrying out provisions of law related to weighmasters. Existing law requires a weighmaster to pay to the Department of Food and Agriculture various license fees, including a $75 fee if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed location and a $200 fee if the weighmaster is operating at other than a fixed location. This bill would authorize any weighmaster weighing any vehicle moving construction materials, including, but not limited to, earth, stone, rock, sand, gravel, limestone, ready mixed concrete, cementitious materials, recycled construction materials, or asphalt paving materials to use an unattended weighing system to weigh the vehicle and to issue a weighmaster certificate to buyers who opt to utilize the unattended system, as provided. The bill would define an unattended weighing system as an automated system not directly under the supervision of a weighmaster that meets the approval, testing, and sealing requirements specified in existing law. The bill would state that it would not impact existing weighing and ticketing systems. The bill would require a weighmaster for an unattended weighing system to pay, only until January 1, 2020, various license fees, including a $200 fee if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed location and a $300 fee if the weighmaster is operating at other than a fixed location, not to exceed the reasonable regulatory costs to the department of enforcing this provision. On and after January 1, 2020, the fees would be the same as the fees described above for other weighmasters, as specified. The bill would, until January 1, 2020, require a weighmaster for an unattended weighing system to keep the same number of deputy weighmaster licensees as were licensed in the average of the last 2 years proceeding the use of an unattended weighing system.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (department) , with the approval of the Department of General Services, to purchase land for lookout sites and for other administrative purposes. This bill would delete that authority for the purchase of land for lookout sites or other administrative purposes and would instead authorize the department, to enter into agreements, easements, licenses, or permits to acquire real property rights for the purposes of establishing fire protection, fire prevention, fire suppression, demonstration state forests, pest control, forest and range protection, and enhancement activities and related uses. The bill would require these agreements, easements, licenses, or permits to be for no more than fair market value and would require the Department of General Services to sign all applicable certificates of acceptance. This bill would authorize the department to lease, for any use, all or any portion of any parcel of real property acquired for forestry and fire protection purposes if the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection finds that the use would be compatible with the department's use. The bill would authorize the department to provide permits for temporary means of ingress to, egress from, and movement across all property under the jurisdiction of the department in order to provide ready access for the purposes of harvesting timber, conducting studies, and passing and placing equipment upon the department's lands, as prescribed. This bill would further authorize the department, with the consent of the Department of General Services, to lease any real or personal property that the department deems necessary for temporary use for fire station facilities, modular facilities, storage, warehouse, or office purposes when existing departmental facilities are inadequate. Existing law authorizes the department, in providing communications and necessary powerlines in connection with the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, with the approval of the Department of General Services, to enter into contracts with the owners of similar facilities for the use of their facilities. This bill would additionally authorize the department, in providing telecommunications in connection with the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, with the approval of the Department of General Services, to enter into contracts with the owners of real property in specified locations for the use of their lands or facilities or to install certain telecommunications facilities. Exiting law authorizes the department to enter into cooperative agreements with the federal government, for the purpose of maintaining a fire patrol system for the prevention and suppression of forest fires, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize the department to enter into special use permits with the federal government for these purposes and would include staffing and facilities for the prevention and suppression of forest fires in the definition of a fire patrol system for purposes of these provisions.
This measure would acknowledge the 75th anniversary of the federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program and recognize, among others, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for its leading role in restoring healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and other natural resources throughout the nation.