This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.
This measure would mark May 6, 2017, as the 135th anniversary of the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in order to recognize the harm caused by racially discriminatory immigration measures, and to honor the contributions of all immigrants and refugees who have enriched our communities. The measure would also declare the opposition of the Legislature to recent executive orders signed by President Trump relating to immigration, call upon the President to revoke those orders, condemn the expansion of deportations being undertaken under the current presidential administration, and reaffirm that the state is open and welcoming to immigrants and refugees who are integral to life in our state.
Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of registered dental assistants by the Dental Board of California. The act authorizes the board to license a person as a registered dental assistant if he or she meets certain requirements, including a written and practical examination. Existing law requires the Dental Board of California, in consultation with the Office of Professional Examination Services, to conduct a review to determine on or before July 1, 2017, whether a practical examination is necessary to demonstrate the competency of registered dental assistants. Existing law authorizes the board to vote to suspend the practical examination if the review concludes that the practical examination is unnecessary or does not accurately measure the competency of registered dental assistants. Under existing law, the suspension of the practical examination commences on the date the board votes to suspend the practical examination and continues until July 1, 2017. If the board votes to suspend the practical examination, the board is required to post a notice on its Internet Web site. This bill would instead extend that suspension date until January 1, 2020, or until the board determines an alternative way to measure competency, whichever occurs first. The bill would also require the board to post an updated suspension date notice. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law prohibits the licensure requirements for professional personnel, including psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, in the state and other governmental health facilities licensed by the department from being less than for those professional personnel in health facilities under private ownership. Existing law authorizes the department to waive that requirement for persons in the profession of psychology who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure in that profession in this state, and prohibits the waiver from exceeding 3 years from the date the employment commences in this state. Existing law requires that a person employed or under contract to provide diagnostic, treatment, or other mental health services in the state or to supervise or provide consultation on these services in the state correctional system be a physician and surgeon, a psychologist, or other health professional, licensed to practice in this state. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to waive that requirement for persons in the profession of psychology who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure in that profession in this state, and prohibits the waiver from exceeding 3 years from the date the employment commences in this state. This bill would extend the applicable time for those waivers to 4 years from commencement of the employment in this state, and would authorize the extension of the waiver for one additional year. (2) Existing law, the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. The act requires persons employed or under contract to provide mental health services pursuant to these provisions to be subject to all applicable requirements of law regarding professional licensure, and prohibits a person from being employed to provide services for which a license is required unless the person possesses a valid license. The act requires the State Department of Health Care Services to waive these requirements for persons who have been recruited for employment from outside the state as psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, or professional clinical counselors and whose experience is sufficient to gain admission to a licensing examination, and prohibits the waiver from exceeding 3 years from the date of employment by, or contract with, a local mental health program. This bill would extend the applicable time for that waiver to 5 years from the date of employment by, or contract with, a local mental health program under the act. 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. Existing law provides that specialty mental health services are covered under the Medi-Cal program for eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries and coverage for those services is provided through mental health plans. The bill would also make the above-mentioned requirements and waivers regarding professional licensure applicable for persons employed or under contract to provide mental health services as part of a mental health plan that contracts with the department to provide specialty mental health services under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions by means of information notices, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions until regulations are adopted on or before December 31, 2020. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes a person who is a firefighter or a retired firefighter to apply for special license plates for his or her vehicle. The special license plates, which contain the words "California Firefighter" and run in a regular numerical series, are issued upon application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, presentation of proof of certain facts, and payment of certain fees. Existing law provides, upon the death of the person to whom the special firefighter license plates were issued, that the plates be transferred to the surviving spouse, and upon the death of the surviving spouse, or in the absence of a surviving spouse, the plates are to be returned to the department or destroyed within 60 days after the death of the plateholder or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs first. Existing law also allows a member of the deceased firefighter's family to retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to specified conditions, after the death of the surviving spouse, or after the death of the firefighter, if there is no surviving spouse. This bill would allow a surviving family member of a firefighter or retired firefighter, as defined, to apply for and receive a "California Firefighter" special license plate. The bill would also define spouse to include a domestic partner.
This measure would declare June 27, 2017, as the second annual Robotics Technology Day.
