Asm. Rudy Salas, Jr.

This measure would declare the month of September 2022 as California Emergency Preparedness Month.

(1) Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards. Existing law requires the work of the state board to be divided into at least 2 divisions, known as the Division of Water Rights and the Division of Water Quality. Existing law requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. This bill would create a Drought Section within the state board, as specified. The bill would require the state board, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to adopt principles and guidelines for diversion and use of water in coastal watersheds, as specified, during times of water shortage for drought preparedness and climate resiliency. The bill would require that the principles and guidelines provide for the development of watershed-level contingency plans to support public trust uses, public health and safety, and the human right to water in times of water shortage, among other things. The bill also would require the state board, prior to adopting those principles and guidelines, to allow for public comment and hearing, as provided. The bill would require the state board to adopt those principles and guidelines no later than March 31, 2024. (2) Existing law authorizes the state board to issue a cease and desist order against a person who is violating, or threatening to violate, certain requirements relating to water use. Existing law authorizes a person or entity in violation of a term or condition of a permit, license, certificate, or registration issued by, an order adopted by, or regulations adopted by, the state board to be held civilly liable for an amount not to exceed $500 for each day that the violation occurs. This bill would authorize the state board to issue a cease and desist order when a diversion or use violates or threatens to violate an applicable limitation or requirement adopted by the state board for the diversion and use of water in specified coastal watersheds during times of water shortage. The bill would authorize a person who violates a principle, guideline, or requirement adopted by the state board for the diversion and use of water in specified coastal watersheds during times of water shortage to be held liable in an amount not to exceed the sum of $500 for each day that the violation occurs.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, which provides for comprehensive medical-legal evaluations to assist in the resolution of contested claims. Under existing law, fees for medical-legal evaluations are charged at a rate not to exceed a physician's regular fee, or the fee schedule set by the administrative director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, whichever is lower. Existing law requires that the schedule set fees for procedures according to relative values and a conversion factor, allowing for modifiers, as specified. Existing law requires the medical-legal fee schedule to be revised at the same time the fee schedule for medical treatment is revised. This bill would require that the medical-legal fee schedule be reviewed every 2 years, and updated if necessary, to increase the conversion factor by the percentage increase in the most recent federal Medicare Economic Index.

Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs under the direction of the Director of Consumer Affairs. Existing law establishes various boards within the department for the licensure and regulation of various health care providers, including physicians and surgeons and nurses. Existing law generally provides for mental health services, including the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, which contains provisions governing the organization and financing of community mental health services for persons with mental disorders in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs, and the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative statute enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election that establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. This bill would require the director to establish a mental health resiliency program, as specified, to provide mental health services to licensed health care providers who provide or have provided consistent in-person healthcare services to COVID-19 patients. The bill would require the relevant boards to notify licensees and solicit applications for access to the program immediately upon the availability of services. The bill would require an applicant to make an attestation that states, among other things, that the applicant is an eligible licensee, as defined. The bill would make an applicant who willfully makes a false statement in their attestation guilty of a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025. The bill would require the department and relevant boards, no later than June 30, 2025, to report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature prescribed information regarding the program. The bill would exempt the records associated with the mental health resiliency program from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. 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. 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 declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would recognize that the Antelope Valley will henceforth be affectionately and acceptably referred to by the State of California as the Aerospace Valley.

This measure would proclaim the week of August 1, 2022, to August 7, 2022, inclusive, as California HPV Vaccine Week in order to increase awareness of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a cancer prevention tool and to promote the vaccination of all adolescents who are 9 to 13 years of age, inclusive, throughout California. The measure would urge all health providers and community members to get California adolescents caught up on all routine vaccinations, especially the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine.