Existing law, the Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Act, a violation of which is a misdemeanor, provides for the regulation of persons engaged in businesses relating to upholstered furniture, bedding and filling materials, and insulation, and provides for the enforcement and administration of those provisions by a chief under the Director of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings, and Thermal Insulation to establish grades, specifications, and tolerances for materials used in upholstered furniture and bedding or filling materials and requires a manufacturer of upholstered furniture to indicate whether a product contains flame retardant chemicals. This bill, on and after January 1, 2020, would prohibit a person, including a manufacturer, from selling or distributing in commerce in this state new, not previously owned juvenile products, mattresses, or upholstered furniture that contains, or a constituent component of which contains, covered flame retardant chemicals, as defined, at levels above 1,000 parts per million, except as specified, and would prohibit a custom upholsterer from, among other things, repairing upholstered furniture or reupholstered furniture using replacement components that contain covered flame retardant chemicals at levels above 1,000 parts per million, except as specified. The bill would authorize the director to adopt regulations and rules to implement and enforce the bill's provisions. The bill would require the bureau to (1) enforce and ensure compliance with these requirements, (2) provide the Department of Toxic Substances Control with a selection of samples from products regulated by the bill's provisions for testing, and (3) reimburse the department for certain testing costs. The bill would also authorize the bureau to assess fines against manufacturers for a violation of the bill's provisions, as specified. The bill would require the bureau to receive complaints from consumers concerning these regulated products that are sold in this state. The bill would require the International Sleep Products Association to conduct surveys of mattress producers, including those registered with the bureau, and to submit a survey report with prescribed information to the bureau by January 31, 2020, and every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require registered producers of new mattresses to respond to the survey. The bill would require the association to submit to the bureau a list of any producers who fail to respond to the survey and to post the list of nonresponders on its Internet Web site. The bill would define various other terms for these purposes. The bill would also make various findings and declarations in this regard. Because a violation of the bill's provisions would be a misdemeanor, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
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(1) Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of his or her parents or guardian, and establishes procedures to determine placement of a dependent child. This bill would, among other things, make various changes to these procedures relating to the placement of dependent children, including revising a prohibition on placement of a child in a home on an emergency basis pending a criminal records exemption to apply only when the person has been convicted of a misdemeanor conviction of specified crimes and waiving a 14-day notice requirement for the placement of a child outside the county when the child and family team has determined that the identified placement is in the best interest of the child, no member of the child and family team objects to the placement, and the child's attorney has been informed of the intended placement and has no objection. (2) Existing law establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardian Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) program to provide state-funded aid on behalf of a child under 18 years of age and to any eligible youth under 19 years of age who satisfies specified requirements, including that he or she has been residing for at least 6 consecutive months in the approved home of the prospective relative guardian, as specified. Existing law requires termination of eligibility for Kin-GAP upon the termination of the guardianship with a kinship guardian, except if, among other things, there is an alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian who is appointed and is also a kinship guardian, then the alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian shall be entitled to receive Kin-GAP on behalf of the child or youth. Existing law provides an exemption for a new period of six months of placement with the alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian if, among other things, that alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian has been assessed under specified provisions relating to considerations made by a county social worker and court in placing a child with a relative and a state-level criminal records check for emergency placement of a child. This bill would, in order to provide an exemption to the new period of 6 months of placement requirement, also require that the alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian has been assessed by the county welfare department to determine whether he or she, or any other person over 18 years of age living in the home, has ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation, as specified. In order to make that determination, the bill would require the county welfare department to require the prospective alternate guardian, coguardian, or successor guardian, and any other person over 18 years of age living in the home, to be fingerprinted and to secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency any criminal record of that person. By imposing new duties on county officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process in all counties and with all foster family agencies. Existing law defines a resource family as an individual or family that has successfully met both home environment assessment standards and permanency assessment criteria, which includes a psychosocial assessment, as specified. Existing law requires a resource family to demonstrate, among other things, an understanding of the safety, permanence, and well-being needs of children who have been victims of child abuse and neglect, and the capacity and willingness to meet those needs, as specified. This bill would make various changes to the resource family approval process by, among other things, revising requirements under which a county may place a child with a resource family applicant who has completed the home environment assessment prior to completion of a permanency assessment, referring to a psychosocial assessment as a family evaluation, clarifying certain hearing proceedings and timelines, and clarifying under which circumstances a resource family approval is required to be forfeited. Existing law provides that there is no fundamental right to approval as a resource family. Existing law prohibits a county from further review of an application if the applicant had a previous application denial by the department or a county within the preceding year, or if the applicant has had a previous rescission, revocation, or exemption denial or exemption rescission by the department or county within the preceding two years, as specified. This bill would further provide that a county is authorized to cease any further review of an application if, after notice to the applicant, the applicant fails to cooperate with the application requirements as specified in the written directives or regulations adopted by the department. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. Existing law prescribes the responsibilities of the counties and foster family agencies in the resource family approval process, including approving or denying resource family applications, which includes preparing a written evaluation of an applicant's capacity to foster, adopt, and provide legal guardianship of a child based on all of the information gathered through the resource family application and assessment processes. This bill would instead refer to that written evaluation as a written report, would require the written report to be confidential, and would authorize the release of the written report only to specified individuals and entities, including, among others, the applicant or resource family and the county child welfare agency or county probation department. The bill would further prohibit the receiving individuals and entities from further disseminating the written report to any individual or entities, other than those authorized. (4) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, which is defined to include foster family homes and foster family agencies, by the State Department of Social Services, and provides that the act does not apply to specified facilities, including any home of a relative caregiver or nonrelative extended family member, as specified, and a resource family. The act requires specified proceedings relating to, among other things, the suspension, revocation, or denial of a license, registration, special permit, or certificate of approval, against a foster family home or certified family home of a foster family agency to be confidential and not open to the public. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill would, among other things, expand the confidentiality of the above-mentioned proceedings to include proceedings against resource families. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would additionally provide that the act does not apply to an occasional short-term babysitter, a respite care provider certified by a county, and an alternative caregiver. The bill would authorize any licensed or certified foster parent, approved relative caregiver, or approved nonrelative extended family member, or approved resource family to arrange for occasional alternative care of their foster child and allow an alternative caregiver to provide care and supervision to the foster child, except as specified, and would require those caregivers to use a reasonable and prudent parent standard in determining and selecting an appropriate alternative caregiver. (5) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to develop an intensive services foster care program to serve children with specific needs, including intensive treatment and behavioral needs and specialized health care needs, whose needs for safety, permanency, and well-being require a specially trained intensive services foster care resource family and intensive professional and paraprofessional services and supports in order to remain in a home-based setting or to avoid or exit congregate care in a short-term residential therapeutic program, group home, or out-of-state residential center. Existing law defines an intensive services foster care resource family to include a resource family, and until December 31, 2019, a licensed foster family home or a certified family home of a licensed foster family agency, as specified. This bill would, until December 31, 2019, additionally include the approved home of a relative or nonrelative extended family member in the definition of an intensive services foster care resource family. Existing law prescribes specified replacement and ongoing training for intensive services foster care resource families and, for intensive services foster care resource families caring for children with special health care needs, authorizes training hours to be satisfied on an hour-by-hour basis by training specified in other provisions relating to training requirements for the placement of children with special health care needs in foster care. This bill would instead authorize an intensive services foster care resource parent who is also a health care professional to have those training hours satisfied by the training hours necessary to obtain or maintain his or her licensure or certification. (6) The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations necessary to implement these provisions, and would authorize the department to implement and administer the changes made by this bill through all-county letters or similar written instructions until regulations are adopted. (7) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (8) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 1517 and 1517.1 of the Health and Safety Code and Sections 16519.5 and 18360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 1083 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1083 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1522 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1437 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1437 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 212.5 and 361.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 3176, and would make an additional conforming change, to be operative only if this bill and AB 3176 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (9) 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 specified reasons.
Existing law makes it an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for a person to smoke a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product within 25 feet of a playground or tot lot sandbox area. This bill would make it an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $25 for a person to smoke, as defined, on a state coastal beach or to dispose of used cigar or cigarette waste on a state coastal beach unless the disposal is made in an appropriate waste receptacle. The bill would establish a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop and post signs at entrances or strategic locations, as determined by the Director of Parks and Recreation, of state coastal beaches to provide notice of the smoking prohibition. The bill would require the smoking prohibition to be enforced only after signs have been posted. The bill would authorize the Director of Parks and Recreation to designate, by posted order, areas within state coastal beaches as exempt from the smoking prohibition, 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 makes it an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for a person to smoke a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product within 25 feet of a playground or tot lot sandbox area. This bill would make it an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $25 for a person to smoke, as defined, in a unit of the state park system, as defined, or to dispose of used cigar or cigarette waste in a unit of the state park system unless the disposal is made in an appropriate waste receptacle. The bill would establish a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop and post signs at entrances or strategic locations, as determined by the Director of Parks and Recreation, of units of the state park system to provide notice of the smoking prohibition. The bill would require the smoking prohibition to be enforced only after signs have been posted. The bill would authorize the Director of Parks and Recreation to designate, by posted order, areas within units of the state park system as exempt from the smoking prohibition, 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.
(1) Existing law prohibits a person from using or operating, or assisting in using or operating, a boat, aircraft, net, trap, line, or other appliance to take fish for commercial purposes unless the person holds a commercial fishing license issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law prohibits the taking of shark and swordfish for commercial purposes with drift gill nets except under a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit (DGN permit) issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked and is issued to at least one person aboard the boat, except as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of Fish and Wildlife to close the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery if, after a public hearing, the director determines the action is necessary to protect the swordfish or thresher shark and mako shark resources and requires the director to reopen the fishery if he or she determines that the conditions that necessitated the closure no longer exist. Existing law authorizes a DGN permit to be transferred to another person under certain circumstances. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a crime. The California Ocean Protection Act creates the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund in the State Treasury and authorizes moneys deposited in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the Ocean Protection Council for, among other things, grants or loans to public agencies, nonprofit corporations, or private entities for, or direct expenditures on, projects or activities that protect, conserve, and restore coastal waters and ocean ecosystems including through the acquisition from willing sellers of vessels, equipment, licenses, harvest rights, permits, and other rights and property, to reduce threats to ocean ecosystems and resources. This bill would require the department by March 31, 2020, to establish a voluntary permit transition program that includes specified conditions, including a condition that a permittee who voluntarily surrenders his or her DGN permit and shark or swordfish gill net or nets receive, to the extent that funds for the transition program are available, a specified payment, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to enter into an agreement with a fiscal agent, as defined, for the fiscal agent to receive state and nonstate funds for purposes of the transition program and, upon receipt of adequate funds, to make the payment to a participating permittee. If the department enters into an agreement with a fiscal agent that is a state entity, the bill would continuously appropriate any funds received from nonstate sources to that state entity for purposes of the transition program. The bill would require the Ocean Protection Council to use $1 million of an appropriation made to it in the Budget Act of 2018 for whale and sea turtle entanglement to fund the transition program. The bill would require the department to notify the Legislature within 10 days of the date that the fiscal agent receives $1 million from nonstate sources and secures $1 million through an agreement with the Ocean Protection Council. The bill would require a DGN permit issued pursuant to these provisions to be surrendered or revoked as of January 31 of the 4th year following the department's notification to the Legislature. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, beginning March 31, 2019, prohibit the transfer of a DGN permit. The bill would provide that the provisions dealing with the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery do not create or recognize a property right in fish expected to be caught using a DGN permit. (2) Existing law establishes a swordfish permit that authorizes a person holding that permit to take, possess aboard a boat, and land swordfish for commercial purposes using specified methods but not including use of a drift gill net. Existing law establishes a fee of $330 for a swordfish permit, as adjusted pursuant to the above-described index, but exempts the holder of a DGN permit from payment of that fee. This bill would also exempt any person who participates in the permit transition program established by the department from payment of the fee for a swordfish permit. (3) Existing law makes it unlawful to use fishing lines, including, but not limited to, troll lines and handlines more than 900 feet in length unless they are used as set lines, as specified. This bill would also exempt from this prohibition fishing lines more than 900 feet in length if they are used as part of deep-set buoy gear authorized under federal law. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, homeless youth emergency service pilot projects, and Housing First and the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, to provide assistance to homeless persons. Existing law establishes the council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations, and, among other things, identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would require the council to assume additional responsibilities, including setting specific, measurable goals aimed at preventing and ending homelessness among youth in the state and defining outcome measures and gathering data related to those goals. The bill would also require the council, in order to coordinate a spectrum of funding, policy, and practice efforts related to young people experiencing homelessness, to coordinate with certain stakeholders and, to the extent that funding is made available, provide technical assistance and program development support.
Existing law prohibits specified conduct inside public buildings owned and occupied, or leased and occupied, by the state. Existing law provides that a judicial officer has the power to preserve and enforce order in judicial proceedings and to compel obedience to judicial orders, as specified. This bill would clarify the power of judicial officers to prevent activities that threaten access to courthouses, including by protecting the privilege from arrest. The bill would provide that no person shall be subject to civil arrest in a courthouse while attending a court proceeding or having legal business in the courthouse, and that a violation of these provisions constitutes contempt of court. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action to obtain equitable and declaratory relief for a violation of this section, and it would allow a party in a successful action to enforce liability for a violation of this section to recover court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this 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 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 that federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services, as defined, are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is obtained, to providers on a per-visit basis. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between a patient of an FQHC or RHC and specified health care professionals, including a physician. Under existing law, "physician," for these purposes, includes, but is not limited to, a physician and surgeon, an osteopath, and a podiatrist. This bill would authorize reimbursement for a maximum of 2 visits taking place on the same day at a single location if after the first visit the patient suffers illness or injury requiring additional diagnosis or treatment, or if the patient has a medical visit and a mental health visit or a dental visit, as defined. The bill would authorize an FQHC or RHC that currently includes the cost of a medical visit and a mental health visit that take place on the same day at a single location as a single visit for purposes of establishing the FQHC's or RHC's rate to apply for an adjustment to its per-visit rate, and after the department has approved that rate adjustment, to bill a medical visit and a mental health visit that take place on the same day at a single location as separate visits, in accordance with the bill. Implementation of these provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act and the availability of federal financial participation. This bill would also make an FQHC or RHC visit to a licensed acupuncturist reimbursable on a per-visit basis. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2020, to submit a state plan amendment to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reflect certain changes described in the bill, and to seek necessary federal approvals. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132.100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 2428 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2428 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain a canteen at any prison or institution under the department's jurisdiction for the sale of toilet articles and other sundries, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to deposit any funds of inmates in his or her possession in trust in the Treasury, as specified. This bill would require that an inmate in a state prison who has maintained an inmate trust account with $25 or less for 30 consecutive days be deemed indigent. The bill would require that an inmate who is indigent receive basic supplies necessary for maintaining personal hygiene and be provided with sufficient resources to communicate with and access the courts, as specified.
The Mobilehome Residency Law governs the terms and conditions of residency in mobilehome parks. That law, among other things, requires the rental agreement between the management of a mobilehome park and the homeowner to be in writing and to contain specified terms and provisions, requires the management to meet and consult with homeowners, either individually, collectively, or with representatives of a group of homeowners, on specified matters within 30 days of a written request to do so, and prohibits management from terminating or refusing to renew tenancy within a park, except for specified reasons and upon giving written notice to the homeowner. This bill would enact the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Act. Beginning July 1, 2020, the bill would establish the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program within the Department of Housing and Community Development, pursuant to which the bill would require the department to provide assistance in resolving and coordinating the resolution of complaints from homeowners relating to the Mobilehome Residency Law, as provided. The bill would require the department to refer matters within its jurisdiction to its Division of Codes and Standards and authorize it to refer matters not within its jurisdiction to the appropriate enforcement agency. The bill would require the department to select complaints for evaluation under the program, as provided. The bill would require the department to contract with one or more qualified and experienced nonprofit legal services providers and, if a complaint submitted to the program is not resolved during a 25-day period for negotiation between management and the complaining party, the bill would require the referral of complaints selected for evaluation to an appropriate enforcement agency or one of those nonprofit legal services providers, as provided. The bill would require management to provide specified information to the department within 15 business days from the postmark date or electronic transmission of a request for that information and require the imposition of a noncompliance citation of $250 for each failure to comply. Beginning January 1, 2019, the bill would require the department to assess upon, and collect from, the management of a mobilehome park subject to the Mobilehome Residency Law an annual registration fee of $10 for each permitted mobilehome lot located within the mobilehome park, to be paid at the time of payment of the annual operating fee imposed under the Mobilehome Parks Act. The bill would authorize management to pass this fee on to the homeowners within the mobilehome park. The bill would require that all moneys collected pursuant to its provisions be deposited into the Mobilehome Dispute Resolution Fund, which this bill would establish, and make those moneys available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of implementing the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Act, as provided. The bill, on January 1, 2023, would require the department to submit a written report to the Legislature outlining data collected from the program and make that report available on its Internet Web site. The bill would require that the data collected include specified information. The bill would also require the department to additionally report certain information to a task force convened pursuant to specified law to provide input to the department on the conduct and operation of a certain mobilehome park maintenance inspection program. The bill would repeal the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Act as of January 1, 2024. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 18502 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 46 to be operative only if this bill and SB 46 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.