Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, requires the California State Board of Pharmacy to license and regulate the practice of pharmacy by pharmacists and pharmacy corporations in this state. Existing law prohibits a pharmacy from compounding sterile drug products unless the pharmacy has obtained a sterile compounding pharmacy license from the board. Existing law requires the compounding of drug preparations by a pharmacy for furnishing, distribution, or use to be consistent with standards established in the pharmacy compounding chapters of the current version of the United States Pharmacopeia-National Formulary, including relevant testing and quality assurance. Existing law authorizes the board to adopt regulations to impose additional standards for compounding drug preparations. This bill would, for purposes of those provisions, specify that the addition of a flavoring agent to a conventionally manufactured product is not considered compounding if certain conditions are met, including that the flavoring agent does not alter a medication's concentration beyond the level of variance accepted by the United States Pharmacopeia. The bill would require the addition of the flavoring agent to be documented in the prescription record, as specified. The bill would make those provisions operative until January 1, 2030. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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Under the Swimming Pool Safety Act, upon the issuance of a building permit for the construction of a new swimming pool or spa, or the remodeling of an existing pool or spa, at a private, single-family home, the pool or spa is required to be equipped with at least 2 of 7 specified drowning prevention safety features. Under existing law, these features include, among others, an approved safety pool cover, as defined; exit alarms, as defined, on a private single-family home's doors that provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa, as specified; an alarm that, when placed in a swimming pool or spa, will sound upon detection of accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water; or other means of protection that afford an equal or greater degree of protection than those features specified in the act and that has been independently verified as meeting standards for those features established by ASTM International or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) . The act requires the local building code official to inspect and approve the drowning safety prevention features before the issuance of a final approval for the completion of permitted construction or remodeling work. This bill would remove the definition of an approved safety pool cover and would recast that drowning safety feature as a manually operated or power-operated safety pool cover to be accompanied by a label verifying that the cover meets certain specifications. The bill would remove the definition of exit alarms and would recast that drowning safety feature to include windows that provide direct access to the swimming pool or spa, as specified. The bill would require that an alarm that sounds upon accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water, as described above, be in good repair and operable as designed. The bill would also specify that the other means of protection may meet standards established by another nationally recognized standards development organization as an alternative to meeting the standards of the ASTM International or ASME, and require that the feature be accompanied by a label verifying that it meets those standards. The bill would specify that the requirements involving 2 of 7 drowning prevention safety features are not satisfied by specified combinations, including an exit alarm and a self-closing, self-latching device on the same door. Existing law, as part of the definition of home inspection for the transfer of real property, specifies that an appropriate inspection of real property with a swimming pool or spa includes noninvasive physical examination of the pool or spa and dwelling for the purpose of identifying which, if any, of the 7 specified drowning prevention safety features the pool or spa is equipped with. Existing law also requires this information to be included in the home inspection report. This bill would revise the specification of the above-described inspection to include identifying which, if any, of the 7 specified drowning prevention safety features is in good repair, operable as designed, and labeled, as specified, and to include this information in the home inspection report. The bill would require the report to include a written statement regarding pool isolation fences, as specified. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that, among other things, clarifies that a home inspector, as defined, is not required to determine whether an equipped drowning prevention safety feature, as specified, meets certain standards. By imposing additional requirements on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 115922 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 2866 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2866 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 establishes various boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate various health professionals. Existing law requires specified boards to expedite the licensure process of an applicant who can demonstrate that they intend to provide abortions within their scope of practice and specifies the documentation an applicant is required to provide to demonstrate their intent. This bill would require the Board of Behavioral Sciences, the Board of Registered Nursing, the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California, the California State Board of Pharmacy, the Dental Board of California, the Dental Hygiene Board of California, the Podiatric Medical Board of California, and the Physician Assistant Board to develop a process to expedite the licensure process by giving priority review status to the application of an applicant for a license who demonstrates that they intend to practice in a medically underserved area or in a health professional shortage area, as reflected in a specified federal database, or serve a medically underserved population, as defined, and who meets specified requirements for the expedited licensure process. The bill would require an applicant for a license to demonstrate their intent to practice in a medically underserved area or in a health professional shortage area, or serve a medically underserved population, by providing a letter addressed to the applicable board from an employer that includes prescribed information. The bill would require the employer to include a written statement, signed and dated by an authorized representative of the employer, on the employer letterhead, declaring that the information provided in the letter to the board is true and correct. Under the bill, no criminal or civil penalty would be imposed for a violation of that requirement. The bill would become operative on March 1, 2025. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Public Health of certain health facilities, including a chemical dependency recovery hospital, which is defined to mean a health facility that provides 24-hour inpatient care for persons who have a dependency on alcohol or other drugs, or both alcohol and other drugs. Existing law requires all beds in a chemical dependency recovery hospital to be designated for chemical dependency recovery services, as specified. Existing law authorizes chemical dependency recovery services to be provided in a freestanding facility, within a hospital building that only provides chemical recovery services, or within a distinct part of a hospital, as defined. Existing law also authorizes chemical dependency recovery services to be provided within a hospital building that has been removed from general acute care use. Existing law requires chemical dependency recovery services to comply with specified regulatory requirements for basic services, and optional services if the facility is approved by the department to provide them. Existing law only authorizes the colocation of chemical dependency recovery services as a distinct part with other services or distinct parts of its parent hospital, as specified. Existing law requires a separately licensed chemical dependency recovery hospital that is not a distinct part of a general acute care hospital to have agreements with one or more general acute care hospitals to provide specified additional services. This bill would expand the definition of "chemical dependency recovery services" to include medications for addiction treatment and medically supervised voluntary inpatient detoxification, but would specify that it does not include certain treatment of severe, potentially life threatening, intoxication and withdrawal syndromes. The bill would delete the requirement for chemical dependency recovery as a supplemental service to be provided in a distinct part of a general acute care hospital or acute psychiatric hospital, and instead would authorize those facilities to provide chemical dependency recovery services as a supplemental service within the same building or in a separate building on campus that meets specified structural requirements of a freestanding chemical dependency recovery hospital. The bill would also authorize chemical dependency recovery services to be provided in a general acute care hospital or acute psychiatric hospital without a distinct part, or outside the distinct part, in beds that are licensed for a service other than chemical dependency recovery if certain conditions are satisfied. The bill would require a general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, or distinct unit thereof, providing chemical dependency recovery services that meet specified federal program requirements, to provide the confidentiality protections required by specified federal regulations to the hospital's or unit's patients with a substance use disorder. The bill would also authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions by means of an All Facilities Letter or similar instruction.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons, including osteopathic physicians and surgeons. Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing. Existing law, the Psychology Licensing Law, establishes the Board of Psychology and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of psychologists. Existing law, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, establishes the Physician Assistant Board and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of physician assistants. Existing law, the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act, the Clinical Social Worker Practice Act, the Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor Act, and the Educational Psychologist Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practices of marriage and family therapy, clinical social work, professional clinical counseling, and education psychology, respectively, by the Board of Behavioral Sciences. Existing law establishes continuing education requirements for all of these various healing arts practitioners. This bill would require the above-specified boards, in determining their continuing education requirements, to consider including a course in menopausal mental or physical health. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2811.5 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 639 and AB 2581 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 3524.5, 4989.34, 4996.22, and 4999.76 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2581 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2581 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4980.54 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 1526 and AB 2581 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Under existing law, a person who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, any act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Under existing law, if the person solicited was a minor, and the person who solicited the minor knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of 2 days and not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This bill would make this offense applicable only to a defendant who is 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense. The bill would, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, or if the person solicited was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the person solicited was a victim of human trafficking, make the offense punishable as a wobbler by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. For a 2nd or subsequent offense under those conditions, the bill would require that the offense be punishable as a felony by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. By changing the elements and increasing the punishment of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires persons convicted of certain specified crimes to annually register as a sex offender, as specified, for a term of 10, 20, or 30 years. This bill would require a person who is 18 years of age or older, on or after January 1, 2025, is convicted of, and who has a prior conviction for, soliciting a minor, as specified, to annually register as a sex offender for a term of 10 years if, at the time of the offense, the person was more than 10 years older than the solicited minor. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 647 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 926, AB 1874, and AB 1962, to be operative only if this bill and some or all of those other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 to address homelessness, including requiring the Governor to create an Interagency Council on Homelessness and establishing the Homeless Emergency Aid program for the purpose of providing localities with one-time grant funds to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law commits to the Department of Housing and Community Development the administration of various housing assistance programs, including provisions relating to residential hotel rehabilitation and tasks the department, in consultation with each council of governments, with the determination of each region's existing and projected housing need. This bill would, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this express purpose, require the Department of Housing and Community Development, commencing January 1, 2025, to begin developing the Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities Housing Stability Pilot Program. The bill would require the department, in administering the program, to offer competitive grants to nonprofit community-based organizations, continuums of care, public housing authorities, and area agencies on aging, as specified, to administer a housing subsidy program for older adults and adults with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, as defined, in up to 5 geographic regions or counties. This bill would require the department, in establishing the program guidelines, to prioritize communities in which a higher proportion of older adult renters face severe rental cost burden than the state average. The bill would create the Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities Housing Stability Fund from which funds would be allocated by the department to selected recipients for a 3-year period for these purposes. This bill would require an award recipient to use grant funds for specified activities, including housing subsidies up to the rent cap, as defined, until the participant is able to access a longer-term subsidy, no longer requires the housing subsidy, or the specified expenditure period expires and would authorize the use of grant funds for relocation costs if a landlord decides not to continue participating in the program or evicts a tenant, as specified. The bill would authorize a grantee to utilize up to 15% of its allocation for landlord recruitment and tenancy acquisition services, landlord incentives, and housing navigation and tenancy transition services, as defined. This bill would require the department to conduct specified oversight activities, including imposing reporting requirements on award recipients and contracting with an independent evaluator to conduct an evaluation of program outcomes and submit that report to the Legislature, as specified.
Existing law, the Optometry Practice Act, establishes the State Board of Optometry within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth the powers and duties of the board relating to the licensure and regulation of the practice of optometry. Existing law regulates the ownership and operation of mobile optometric offices, as defined, including, among other things, requiring the owner and operator of a mobile optometric office to file a quarterly report containing specified information. Existing law requires the board, by January 1, 2023, to adopt regulations establishing a registry for the owners and operators of mobile optometric offices, as specified. Existing law prohibits the board, before January 1, 2023, from bringing an enforcement action against an owner and operator of a mobile optometric office based solely on its affiliation status with an approved optometry school in California for remotely providing optometric service. Existing law makes these and other provisions related to the permitting and regulation of mobile optometric offices effective only until July 1, 2025, and repeals them as of that date. This bill would authorize the owner and operator of a mobile optometric office to instead file the above-described quarterly reports as a single, annual report during the first renewal period of 2 years, as specified. The bill would also extend the deadline for the board to adopt the above-described regulations to January 1, 2026. The bill would prohibit the board from bringing the above-described enforcement action before January 1, 2026, or before the board adopts those regulations, whichever is earlier. The bill would extend the repeal date of the provisions related to the permitting and regulation of mobile optometric clinics to July 1, 2035.
Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging in the California Health and Human Services Agency and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or the least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department to designate various private nonprofit or public agencies as area agencies on aging to work within a planning and service area and provide a broad array of social and nutritional services. Existing law includes various findings and declarations relating to the purposes of the act. This bill would update and revise those legislative findings and declarations, including recognizing the state's major demographic shift towards an older, more diverse population and declaring the intent to reform provisions of the act related to various functions of the area agencies on aging. The bill would require the department, by September 30, 2026, to take various actions, including, among others, identifying the core programs and services to be provided to older adults and family caregivers, and developing a statewide consumer engagement plan. The bill would require the department to develop regulations that address specified topics relating to area agency on aging designations. The bill would require those deliverables to be informed by data from validated sources, which may include, among others, the United States Census. This bill would also recast and revise various other provisions of the act, including by replacing use of the word "senior" and similar terminology with the term "older adult." The bill would repeal obsolete provisions, such as the Senior Center Bond Act of 1984. Existing law establishes the Senior Housing Information and Support Center within the department to serve as a clearinghouse for information for seniors and their families regarding available innovative resources and senior services, subject to appropriation for these purposes. This bill would repeal the provisions establishing the Senior Housing Information and Support Center.
Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Commission on Aging, comprised of 25 members, appointed as specified, including 19 members appointed by the Governor. Existing law requires the commission to be comprised of actual consumers of services provided under the federal Older Americans Act. Under existing law, the commission's mission is, among other things, to serve as the principal advocate body in the state on behalf of older individuals, to participate with and advise the California Department of Aging in various ways relating to the State Plan on Aging, and to develop a method for the selection of delegates to the statewide legislative meeting of senior advocates. Existing law sets forth the duties and powers of the commission, including participating with the department in training workshops for community, regional, and statewide senior advocates, to help older individuals to understand legislative, regulatory, and program implementation processes, and meeting at least 6 times annually in order to study problems of older individuals and present findings and make recommendations. This bill would reduce the number of members of the commission to 18, and require 12 members to be appointed by the Governor, with at least 2 appointed from a list of nominees submitted by, among others, area agency on aging directors and the Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council of California. The bill would require the members of the commission be comprised of consumers and providers of services under the federal Older Americans Act, instead of just consumers, who have professional, lived, or academic expertise both within and outside of the field of aging, in specified areas, including health, behavioral health, and housing. The bill would clarify that the commission is an "advisory commission" as described by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, and is therefore subject to applicable teleconferencing provisions. The bill would revise the existing duties and purpose of the commission by removing the requirement that the commission develop a method for the selection of delegates to the statewide legislative meeting of senior advocates. The bill would also revise the duties of the commission to require, among other things, the commission's advisory participation in consideration of initiatives for programs and services affecting older adults, adults with disabilities, and caregivers, as well as to monitor and, when deemed appropriate, engage in federal advocacy efforts on, among others, federal rulemaking packages affecting older adults, adults with disabilities, and caregivers. The bill would also reduce the annual meetings of the commission from 6 to 4.