Asm. Mark Stone

This measure would call upon the Biden Administration to cancel all federal student debt.

(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include certain areas of study, including, among others, English, mathematics, social sciences, science, and visual and performing arts, as specified. This bill, with respect to both of the above-referenced adopted courses of study, would require the science area of study to include an emphasis on the causes and effects of climate change and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The bill would require that appropriate coursework including this material be offered to pupils as soon as possible, commencing no later than the 2023–24 school year. Because the bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish the Children's Crisis Continuum Pilot Program for the purpose of developing treatment options that are needed to support California's commitment to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. Existing law requires the department to establish guidelines for foster youth eligibility and the selection, operation, and evaluation of the 5-year pilot, including guidelines on specified aspects of the structure of the pilot. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to take specified actions, including providing technical assistance to applicants and participating entities, awarding grants to participating entities, and developing a request for proposal process and selection criteria to determine which applicants will participate in the pilot program. Existing law requires the selection criteria to include certain components, including submission of a plan by an applicant. Existing law requires proposals to be submitted no later than January 31, 2022, and grant funds to be disbursed no later than March 31, 2022. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to seek any necessary federal approvals no later than June 1, 2022. Existing law requires participating entities to develop, in collaboration with a workgroup, a highly integrated continuum of care for foster youth served in the pilot program, and requires the continuum of care, across all service settings, to reflect specified core program features and service approaches, including highly individualized and trauma-informed services. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to appropriate moneys to the State Department of Social Services in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purpose of administering a grant program to provide funding to participating entities for the duration of the pilot program. Existing law requires the department, no later than April 1, 2025, to submit an interim report relating to the pilot program to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Human Services. Existing law authorizes the pilot program to be implemented through all-county letters or other similar instruction and requires any guidance issued pursuant to that authorization to be issued by March 1, 2022. This bill would expand the pilot program to provide services to a child or youth who meets the eligibility requirements to enroll in the Medi-Cal program and who meets medical necessity standards for the care components in the pilot program. The bill would include respite care as a component of the continuum of services provided by the pilot program to allow primary caregivers of pilot program-eligible youth and resource family caregivers of foster youth to access periods of relief from full-time caregiving duties. The bill would make additional changes to the pilot program relating to, among other things, family-based treatment settings, as defined. The bill would extend the date for proposals to be submitted to no later than January 31, 2023, and the date for grant funds to be disbursed to no later than March 31, 2023. The bill would extend the deadline for the State Department of Health Care Services to seek any necessary federal approvals to July 1, 2023. The bill would extend the deadline for the issuance of guidance through all-county letters or similar instructions to March 1, 2023. The bill would also extend the deadline for the submission of the interim report to April 1, 2026, and would additionally require its submission to the legislative health committees.

This measure would proclaim the week of May 23 through May 27, inclusive, as Firefighter Mental Health Awareness Week.

This measure would proclaim Friday, May 27, 2022, as National Poppy Day.

This measure would declare June 8, 2022, as California Nonprofits Day in recognition of the importance of nonprofit organizations to the economy and well-being of this state.

(1) The Personal Income Tax Law, beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The law provides that the amount of the credit is calculated as a percentage of the eligible individual's earned income and is phased out above a specified amount as income increases and provides alternative calculation factors under specified circumstances. The law requires, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2019, specified earned income amounts, phaseout amounts, and the amount of disqualified income that would disallow this credit to be recomputed annually in the same manner as the recomputation of income tax brackets, as prescribed. This bill, upon appropriation, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, would revise the alternative calculation factors and phaseout amounts and remove the earned income threshold at which the phaseout ends, thereby increasing the amount of eligible taxpayers. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law allows a young child tax credit against the taxes imposed under that law and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to a qualified taxpayer in a specified amount multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as provided. Existing law defines "qualified taxpayer" for this purpose to include an eligible individual who has a qualifying child, as defined, and is allowed an earned income tax credit, as specified. That law limits the definition of "qualifying child" for this purpose to a child younger than 6 years of age. This bill, for taxable years for which an appropriation is made by the Legislature, would increase the amount of the young child tax credit, would allow a young child tax credit to a qualified taxpayer for each qualifying child, would expand the definition of "qualifying child," as specified, and would expand the definition of "qualified taxpayer," as specified.