This measure would recognize the month of February 2012 as American Heart Month in California and recognize February 3, 2012, as Wear Red Day in California.
Existing law authorizes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth, and, in that capacity, to carry out various powers and duties relating to encouraging economic development in the state. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation relating to economic development.
Existing law provides for the licensure of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires that the licensure requirements for professional personnel, including psychologists, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists, among others, in state and other governmental health facilities, be not less than for those in privately owned health facilities. The department may grant a waiver from licensure requirements for persons in the professions of psychology, marriage and family therapy, or clinical social work who are employed in publicly operated health facilities who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure. The waiver cannot exceed 3 years from the commencement of employment in the state in the case of psychologists or 4 years for marriage and family therapists or clinical social workers, with one additional year to be granted to marriage and family therapists or clinical social workers under extenuating circumstances. Existing law requires the department to grant the extension of a waiver for extenuating circumstances if specified conditions are met. Existing law provides for the licensure of psychiatric health facilities by the State Department of Mental Health. This bill would authorize the State Department of Mental Health to grant the above-described waiver and an extension of the waiver for persons employed in facilities licensed by the State Department of Mental Health.
Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Commencing January 1, 2014, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires every individual to be covered under minimum essential coverage, as specified, and requires every health insurance issuer issuing individual or group health insurance coverage to accept every employer and individual who applies for coverage. Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1, 2014. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high-quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, and would authorize the collection of penalty moneys for deposit into the Healthcare Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would create the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2014, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2013, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the earlier of the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System and the date the secretary receives the necessary federal waiver under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, and independent medical review. 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.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
(1) Under existing law, public school employees have the right to form, join, and participate in activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law defines the term "public school employer" or "employer" for the purposes of negotiations on collective bargaining agreements covering public school employees, as the governing board of a school district, a school district, a county board of education, a county superintendent of schools, or certain charter schools. Existing law also authorizes public agencies to agree to join together as joint powers agencies for specified purposes. This bill would expand the definition of "public school employer" or "employer" to include specified auxiliary organizations established by the California Community Colleges, and joint powers agencies created as an entity separate from the parties to the joint powers agreement with separate employees that meet certain additional criteria. By requiring community college auxiliary organizations and joint powers agencies to engage in collective bargaining with their separate employees, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law defines the term "exclusive representative" as the employee organization recognized or certified as the exclusive negotiating representative of certificated or classified employees in an appropriate unit of a public school employer. This bill would change the definition of "exclusive representative" to the employee organization recognized or certified as the exclusive negotiating representative of all public school employees, as defined. To the extent that this would increase the duties on school districts or community college districts with respect to collective bargaining, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would make various technical, nonsubstantive changes. (4) 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law generally requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, as specified, be paid to workers employed on a public work, as defined. Existing law requires a contractor or subcontractor to submit, to the state or political subdivision on whose behalf a public work is being performed, a penalty of not more than $50 per calendar day, and not less than $10 per calendar day except in certain cases of a good faith mistake, as provided and determined by the Labor Commissioner, for violations of these prevailing wage provisions. This bill would increase that maximum penalty to $200 for each calendar day and would increase the minimum penalty except in certain cases of a good faith mistake to no less than $40 for each calendar day. The bill would also increase the penalty assessed to contractors and subcontractors with prior violations from $20 to $80, and from $30 to $120 for willful violations. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor performing work on a public work to keep accurate payroll records regarding his or her employees. Existing law requires that these records contain the information specified by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and provides that a contractor or subcontractor has 10 days in which to comply after receipt of a written notice requesting the records, or is subject to forfeiting a penalty of $25 for each calendar day for each worker until strict compliance is effectuated. This bill would increase the amount of that penalty to $100 for each calendar day for each worker. Under existing law, whenever a contractor or subcontractor performing a public works project is found by the Labor Commissioner to be in violation of certain provisions of law relating to payment of prevailing wages, with intent to defraud, or in willful violation of those provisions of law, the contractor or subcontractor or a firm, corporation, partnership, or association in which the contractor or subcontractor has a substantial interest is ineligible to bid on or to receive a public works contract for specified periods of time. This bill would revise that provision to instead make a contractor or subcontractor on a public works project that is found to have committed 2 or more separate willful violations within a 3-year period ineligible for a period of up to 3 years to either bid on or be awarded a contract or perform work as a subcontractor of a public works project. The bill would also require, whenever a contractor or subcontractor performing work on a public works project has failed to provide a timely response to a request by the Division of Apprenticeship Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, or the awarding body to produce certified payroll records, the Labor Commissioner to notify the contractor or subcontractor that he or she will be subject to debarment if the certified payroll records are not produced within 30 days after receipt of the written notice, and would make the contractor or subcontractor ineligible to bid on or be awarded a contract or perform work as a subcontractor on a public works project for a period of not less than one year and no more than three years, except as specified. Existing law also requires the Labor Commissioner, not less than semiannually, to publish and distribute to awarding bodies a list of contractors who are ineligible to bid on or be awarded a public works contract, or to perform work as a subcontractor on a public works project. This bill would instead require the Labor Commissioner to publish the list described above on the commissioner's Web site, to notify the Contractors' State License Board when the list is updated, and to at least annually notify awarding bodies of the availability of the list of debarred contractors, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1776 of the Labor Code, proposed by AB 766, to be operative only if AB 766 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.
