Asm. Joaquin Arambula

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 that Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011, and conditions implementation of those payment reductions on receipt of any necessary federal approvals. Existing law, for dates of service on and after July 1, 2022, authorizes the maintenance of the reimbursement rates or payments for specified services, including, among others, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) trauma screenings and specified providers, using General Fund or other state funds appropriated to the State Department of Health Care Services as the state share, at the payment levels in effect on December 31, 2021, as specified, under the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016 that were implemented with funds from the Healthcare Treatment Fund, as specified. Existing law requires the department to develop the eligibility criteria, methodologies, and parameters for the payments and rate increases maintained, and would authorize revisions, as specified. This bill would require the department, as part of its above-described duties, to include (1) community-based organizations and local health jurisdictions that provide health services through community health workers and (2) doulas, that are enrolled Medi-Cal providers, as providers qualified to provide, and eligible to receive payments for, ACEs trauma screenings pursuant to the provisions described above. The bill would require the department to file a state plan amendment and seek any federal approvals it deems necessary to implement these provisions and condition implementation on receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation. The bill would also require the department to update its internet website and the ACEs Aware internet website to reflect the addition of the Medi-Cal providers described above as authorized to provide ACEs screenings.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts, locations of the California State University, and campuses of the University of California throughout the state. Existing law requires each California Community College to designate a staff person as the basic needs coordinator to, among other things, act as a broker in identifying, supporting, and linking students to on- and off-campus housing, food, mental health, and other basic needs services and resources. Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services and requires the department and the counties to administer public social services programs. Existing law requires a county human services agency to designate at least one employee as a staff liaison to serve as a point of contact for academic counselors and other professional staff at a campus of an institution of public higher education located within the county. Existing law requires a county human services agency, with input from the public institutions of higher learning in the county, to develop protocols for engagement between the agency and a campus of an institution of public higher education located within the county and encourages those entities to consult with specified stakeholders in the development of those protocols. This bill would require a county human services agency to additionally receive input from basic needs directors and basic needs coordinators, as specified, when developing the above-described protocols for engagement between the county human services agency and institutions of public higher education. The bill would require the department, in consultation with staff liaisons and basic needs directors or basic needs coordinators, to develop training on topics related to determining student eligibility for public social services, as specified. The bill would require the department to facilitate that training, as specified. The bill would require the department to convene a workgroup that includes all 58 county staff liaisons and representatives from the segments of postsecondary education, as specified. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the workgroup, to (1) discuss enrollment trends in public social services programs and (2) identify barriers to enrollment and action to resolve those barriers. By imposing additional duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the department, on or before May 1, 2026, and every 3 years thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature with findings and recommendations relating to enrollment success trends and services offered by the department that may be available to students attending a campus of an institution of public higher education. 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 requires instruction to be given in the elementary and secondary schools by appropriately trained instructors on drug education and the effects of the use of tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, dangerous drugs, as defined, and other dangerous substances. Existing law authorizes a public or private elementary or secondary school to determine whether or not to make emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist and trained personnel available at its school, and to designate one or more volunteers to receive related training to address an opioid overdose, as specified. Commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, existing law appropriates $3,500,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for allocation to county offices of education for the purpose of purchasing and maintaining a sufficient stock of emergency opioid antagonists for school districts and charter schools within their jurisdiction to maintain a minimum of two units at each middle school, junior high school, high school, and adult school schoolsite, as provided. This bill would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that voluntarily determine to make naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist available on campus to ensure that the naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist is placed in an appropriate location that is widely known and easily accessible, during school hours and after school hours. The bill would require the naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to be located on campus in at least one of several specified locations. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop an opioid overdose training program and program toolkit, as defined, to be made available to public high schools for public high school pupils to be trained on how to identify and respond to an opioid overdose, including by administering a federally approved opioid overdose reversal medication, as provided. The bill would require the department, by July 1, 2026, to notify public high schools of the availability of the program toolkit. The bill would require the department to provide the program toolkit upon request to those public high schools that opt to host the program on their campuses, and to collaborate with local, state, and national organizations, as provided, to provide pupils with integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased educational materials on opioid and drug overdose prevention, opioid and drug safety, and stigma reduction.

Existing law defines "disabled veteran" for purposes of the Vehicle Code as, among other things, a person who, as a result of injury or disease suffered while on active service with the Armed Forces of the United States, has a disability that has been rated at 100% by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Existing law also defines a "disabled veteran" as a veteran who is unable to move without the aid of an assistant device. This bill would instead define a disabled veteran as a veteran who cannot walk without the use of an assistant device. The bill would expand the definition of "disabled veteran" to include a veteran who cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, a veteran who is severely limited in the ability to walk because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, or a veteran who has visual acuity of 20/200 or less, among other conditions, as specified.

Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The University of California provides instruction and performs research at the 10 campuses it operates and maintains in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. The bill would, on or before July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter, appropriate $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Regents of the University of California for allocation to the University of California, Merced, Medical Education Collaborative, as defined. The bill would require the University of California, Merced, Medical Education Collaborative, as a condition of receiving the appropriation, to develop a program, consistent with its mission, and in conjunction with the health facilities of its medical residency programs, to identify eligible medical residents and to assist those medical residents in applying for physician retention programs, as specified.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates October 2024 as Menopause Awareness Month in California to highlight the health and societal impacts of menopause on women. It acknowledges that millions of women face symptoms that can affect their daily lives and work, noting that women of color are at higher risk for complications like premature menopause and heart disease. The resolution encourages the state to provide better health information and services to support women's well-being before, during, and after this transition. While the text outlines these goals, the bill itself is a formal recognition rather than a law that creates new funding or mandates specific programs.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, empowers the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency under certain circumstances. Existing law defines a state of emergency to mean the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by conditions such as, among others, air pollution, fire, flood, and storm. Existing law defines a local emergency to mean the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the territorial limits of a county, city and county, or city, caused by conditions such as, among others, air pollution, fire, flood, and storm. This bill would add climate change and climate change exacerbated conditions to the list of conditions for which a state of emergency or local emergency may be proclaimed. Existing law, the California Disaster Assistance Act, requires the Director of Emergency Services to provide financial assistance to local agencies for their personnel costs, equipment costs, and the cost of supplies and materials used during disaster response activities, incurred as a result of a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, subject to specified criteria. The act continuously appropriates moneys in the Disaster Assistance Fund and its subsidiary account, the Earthquake Emergency Investigations Account, without regard to fiscal year, for purposes of the act. Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would enact the California Individual Assistance Act to establish a grant program to provide funds to community-based organizations for specified costs related to a disaster, as prescribed. The bill would require the Director of Social Services to allocate moneys from the California Individual Assistance Act Account, which the bill would establish as a special account within the Disaster Assistance Fund, for purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the Director of Social Services to adopt regulations, as determined to be necessary, to govern the administration of the program. The bill would require the Controller to transfer $100,000,000 of the moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the California Individual Assistance Act Account for purposes of the act. By transferring moneys into a continuously appropriated fund, and by authorizing increased expenditure of moneys from a continuously appropriated fund for a new purpose, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would additionally enact the California Local Assistance Act to establish a grant program to provide funds to local and tribal governments, transportation systems, and communities for specified costs related to a disaster, as prescribed. The bill would require the Strategic Growth Council to allocate moneys from the California Local Assistance Act Account, which the bill would establish as a special account within the Disaster Assistance Fund, for purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the Strategic Growth Council to adopt regulations, as determined to be necessary, to govern the administration of the program. The bill would require the Controller to transfer $400,000,000 of the moneys in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the California Local Assistance Act Account for purposes of the act. By transferring moneys into a continuously appropriated fund, and by authorizing increased expenditure of moneys from a continuously appropriated fund for a new purpose, the bill would make an appropriation.

Existing law, the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, otherwise known as the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into contracts with owners of agricultural land to preserve the land for agricultural use, as specified, in return for reduced property tax assessments. The act authorizes a landowner to petition the city council or board of supervisors, as applicable, for cancellation of the Williamson Act contract under specified circumstances and imposes a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the fair market value of the land without the restriction of the Williamson Act contract. The act also authorizes a landowner of specified agricultural land to petition the board to cancel the Williamson Act contract in order to designate the land as a farmland security zone, whereby the land is eligible for a specified property tax valuation and taxed at a reduced rate for specified special taxes. The act authorizes a landowner to petition the council or board, as applicable, to cancel a farmland security zone contract under specified circumstances and imposes a cancellation fee equal to 25% of the fair market value of the land without the restriction of the contract. This bill would authorize a landowner, if their land is located in the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, or Tulare, with a water basin in condition of critical overdraft, to petition the board or council to cancel a Williamson Act contract or a farmland security zone contract if the land meets specified criteria, including, among other things, not having permanent access to sufficient water to support commercially viable irrigated agricultural use on the land, and the landowner would be subject to a land use entitlement for specified energy projects. The bill would authorize a board or council to approve the cancellation if the board or council finds that the land does not have permanent access to sufficient water to support commercially viable irrigated agricultural use and the landowner would be subject to a land use entitlement for the specified energy projects that would use less water than the agricultural use on the land. The bill would require special energy projects to provide a community benefits package, as specified. The bill would impose a cancellation fee equal to 6.25% of the fair market value of the property without the restriction of the Williamson Act contract for cancellation of a Williamson Act contract, and would impose a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the fair market value of the property without the restriction of the contract for cancellation of a farmland security zone contract. The bill would require the cancellation fees to be collected by the county treasurer, remitted to the Controller, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, allocated to the Department of Conservation, and for community benefits packages within the county, as specified. The act requires a board or council, as applicable, to adopt rules governing the administration of agricultural preserves, including rules related to compatible uses consistent with specified principles of compatibility. This bill would specify that a cancellation under the bill's provisions does not prevent a board or council from determining that the specified energy projects are a compatible use on contracted land. Existing law authorizes any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that basin. This bill would require a landowner to submit a notification to the relevant groundwater sustainability agency when starting a cancellation petition and to report a completed contract cancellation to the relevant groundwater sustainability agency. The bill would prohibit a contract cancellation from precluding a landowner from voluntary participation in the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare.

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities and other conditions, and their families. Under existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers, or arrange for their provision through other publicly funded agencies. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , which is developed by the planning team according to specified procedures. Existing law defines "services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities" to mean specialized services and supports or special adaptations of generic services and supports directed toward the alleviation of a developmental disability or toward the social, personal, physical, or economic habilitation or rehabilitation of an individual with a developmental disability, or toward the achievement and maintenance of an independent, productive, and normal life. Under existing law, specialized medical and dental care are included within that definition. Under existing law, the determination of which services and supports are necessary for each consumer are made through the IPP process. This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2026, to enter into a contract with a dental school or college in the state that meets certain criteria relating to public status, accreditation, and a demonstrated record of working with regional centers, for the purpose of establishing a statewide program centered in the state's regional centers. The bill would require that the contract expire on June 30, 2031. Under the bill, the program would be established to improve the provision of dental care services to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and specifically to prevent or reduce the need for developmental services consumers to receive dental treatment using sedation and general anesthesia. The bill would require the dental school or college to establish an Oral Health for People with Disabilities Technical Assistance Center. The bill would require the center, among other responsibilities, to provide practical experience, systems development, and expertise in relevant subject areas, to train, monitor, and provide support for regional center and oral health personnel, and to collect and analyze program data with the support of participating regional centers and oral health providers. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report of the collected data to the Legislature. The bill also would specify regional center duties, including identifying consumers who can benefit from the program, and establishing vendor agreements with interested oral health professionals. Under the bill, duties of the department would include providing guidance and establishing protocols to support the program, and establishing procedures for regional center directors for participation in the program and allowing aggregation and publication by the center of deidentified results data, as specified.

Existing law regulates social media platforms, through various acts, including the Cyberbullying Protection Act, that requires a social media platform to, among other things and subject to specified exceptions, disclose all cyberbullying reporting procedures in the terms of service and the Online Violence Prevention Act that requires a social medial platform to, except as specified, clearly and conspicuously state whether it has a mechanism for reporting violent posts that is available to users and nonusers of the platform. Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes various state departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. This bill would establish, until December 31, 2029, the Social Media Harm Reduction Pilot Program and would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to designate a nonprofit organization to undertake the responsibilities of the program. The bill would require the program to do various specified tasks, including recommending statewide standards for the use of online social networks by kindergarten and grades 1 to 12 pupils, inclusive, and would require the program to coordinate with existing laws regulating social media platforms to ensure consistency and avoid duplication of effort.