Asm. Ash Kalra

Existing law proscribes the crime of human trafficking. Existing law establishes procedures governing the admissibility of evidence in civil and criminal actions in this state and recognizes various evidentiary privileges, including a victim‑caseworker privilege, under which a human trafficking victim may refuse to disclose, or may prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication made to a human trafficking caseworker, as defined. Existing law also establishes the right of a victim of domestic violence or abuse, as defined, to have a domestic violence advocate and a support person of the victim's choosing present at any interview by law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, or defense attorneys, except as specified. Existing law requires a domestic violence advocate to advise the victim of any applicable limitations on the confidentiality of communications between the victim and the domestic violence advocate. Existing law requires the attending law enforcement authority or prosecutor to notify or advise the victim of certain rights, as specified. This bill would establish the right of a victim of human trafficking, as defined, to have a human trafficking advocate and a support person of the victim's choosing present at any interview by law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, or defense attorneys, and require the attending law enforcement authority or prosecutor to notify or advise, as specified, a victim of human trafficking in a manner similar to the notification or advice provided to victims of domestic violence. The bill would also require a human trafficking advocate to advise the victim of any applicable limitations on the confidentiality of communications between the victim and the human trafficking advocate prior to being present at any interview conducted by law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, or defense attorneys. By imposing a higher level of service on local officers, 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.

The Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973 generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate long-term health care facilities and to establish an inspection and reporting system to ensure that long-term health care facilities are in compliance with state statutes and regulations. The term "long-term health care facility" includes, among other types of facilities, a skilled nursing facility and intermediate care facility. The act defines a class "A" violation as a violation that the department determines presents either (1) imminent danger that death or serious harm to the patients or residents of the long-term health care facility would result therefrom, or (2) substantial probability that death or serious physical harm to patients or residents of the long-term health care facility would result therefrom. The act defines a class "AA" violation as a class "A" violation that the department determines to have been a direct proximate cause of death of a patient or resident of the facility. The act defines a class "B" violation as a violation that the department determines has a direct or immediate relationship to the health, safety, or security of long-term health care facility patients or residents, other than class "AA" or "A" violations. Class "B" violations are also, unless otherwise determined by the department to be a class "A" violation, any violation of a patient's rights as set forth in specified regulations that is determined by the department to cause, or under circumstances likely to cause, significant humiliation, indignity, anxiety, or other emotional trauma to a patient. The act requires the department to prove specific elements to enforce a citation for a class "AA" violation, including the element that death resulted from an occurrence of a nature that the regulation was designed to prevent. This bill would redefine a class "AA" violation as a class "A" violation that the department determines to have been a substantial factor, as described, in the death of a resident of a long-term health care facility. The bill would increase the civil penalties for a class "A," "AA," or "B" violation by a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, as specified. The bill would delete numerous references to the "patients" of a long-term health care facility.

Existing law 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to develop a federal waiver program, known as the Assisted Living Waiver program, to test the efficacy of providing an assisted living benefit to beneficiaries under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires that the benefit include the care and supervision activities specified for residential care facilities for the elderly, and conditions the implementation of the program to the extent federal financial participation is available and funds are appropriated or otherwise available for the program. This bill would, subject to the department obtaining federal approval and on the availability of federal financial participation, require the department to submit to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services a request for an amendment of the Assisted Living Waiver program to increase its provider reimbursement tiers to compensate for mandatory minimum wage increases. The bill would require the department, before submitting the waiver amendment request, to conduct open in-person meetings with stakeholders, and to release a draft of the proposed waiver amendments for stakeholder comment. The bill would require the department to establish requirements and procedures to allow a person on the Assisted Living Waiver program's waiting list to know their position on the waiting list. If the Assisted Living Waiver program is combined with, or converted to, another program or programs providing for Medicaid home and community-based services, the bill would require these requirements to apply to the combined or converted program.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law also establishes the Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT) Program, administered by the Office of Family Planning within the department, under which comprehensive clinical family planning services are provided to a person who has a family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, and who is eligible to receive these services. Existing law provides that comprehensive clinical family planning services under the program includes preconception counseling, maternal and fetal health counseling, and general reproductive health care, among other things. This bill would expand comprehensive clinical family planning services under the program to include the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for persons of reproductive age.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law establishes, among other funds related to telecommunications, the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in the State Treasury. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the CASF to encourage the deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law requires the commission to approve infrastructure projects supported by expenditures from the fund that provide last-mile broadband access to households that are unserved by an existing facilities-based broadband provider. This bill would establish the Rural Broadband and Emergency Infrastructure Grant Act of 2020 to ensure that all California fairgrounds are equipped with adequate broadband and telecommunications infrastructure to support local, regional, and state emergency and disaster response personnel and systems. The bill would, upon appropriation, require the Department of Technology, Department of Food and Agriculture, Public Utilities Commission, California Broadband Council, and Office of Emergency Services to jointly develop the Rural Broadband and Emergency Infrastructure Grant Program to provide each California fairground with grant moneys to support broadband and telecommunications infrastructure deployment.

This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Existing law authorizes a pupil to be excused from school for specified reasons, including for the purpose of serving as a member of a precinct board for an election. Existing law provides that an excused absence for those specified reasons are absences for the purpose of computing average daily attendance and do not generate state apportionment payments. Existing law requires that the attendance of pupils participating in independent study for 5 or more consecutive days, as specified, be included in computing the average daily attendance of the school district. This bill would provide that, for the purpose of computing average daily attendance for pupils in independent study, a pupil serving as a member of a precinct board for an election is not required to participate in that activity for 5 or more consecutive days if specified requirements are met, and would specify that an absence to serve as a member of a precinct board generates state apportionment payments. The bill also would delete an obsolete reference and make other nonsubstantive changes.

Existing law requires a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, and authorizes the school district or county superintendent of schools to use funds available from any federal or state program to comply with that requirement, as provided. Existing law generally requires a school district or a county superintendent of schools to provide breakfast and lunch free of charge to all pupils at a very high poverty school, as defined. This bill would require a school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide a pupil, eligible to receive a reduced-priced meal, that meal free of charge. By creating a new duty on a school district or a county superintendent of schools, the bill would create a state-mandated program. To comply with the above, the bill would authorize a school district or county office of education to use funds made available through any federal, to the extent allowed, or state program relating to the provision of meals to pupils, as provided. 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 generally prescribes the procedure for the prosecution of persons arrested for committing a crime, including pleadings, bail, pretrial proceedings, trial, judgment, sentencing, and appeals. Existing law allows a person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of their liberty to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of their imprisonment or restraint. Existing law allows a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted for, among other things, relief based on the use of false evidence that is substantially material or probative to the issue of guilt or punishment that was introduced at trial. This bill would prohibit the state from seeking a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified. The bill would allow a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted on the basis of that prohibition. The bill would require the prosecution to disclose, pursuant to a written request, all evidence relevant to a potential violation of that prohibition. By expanding the duties of local prosecutors, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a court that finds a violation of that prohibition to dispose of the case against the defendant as specified. The bill would apply its provisions to commitments in the juvenile justice system. 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.