Asm. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

(1) Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2030, owners of all acute care inpatient hospitals to either demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings not in substantial compliance with specified seismic safety standards or to seismically retrofit all acute care inpatient hospital buildings so that they are in substantial compliance with those seismic safety standards. Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information to issue a written notice upon compliance with those requirements. This bill would authorize a Distressed Hospital Loan Program recipient, a small hospital, a rural hospital, a critical access hospital, or a health care district hospital, as defined, and except as specified, to seek approval from the Department of Health Care Access and Information for a delay to the January 1, 2030, compliance deadline described above by up to 3 years. The bill would require hospitals seeking a delay to submit a seismic compliance plan, as specified, and, if necessary, a Nonstructural Performance Category-5 evaluation report. The bill would also require the hospital and department to identify least 2 major milestones relating to the seismic compliance plan that will be used as the basis for determining whether a hospital is making adequate progress toward meeting the subject hospital's seismic compliance deadline. The bill would subject the submitted seismic compliance plans to departmental review for reasonableness and require the hospital seeking the delay to submit any documentation requested by the department to assist its review. The bill would require the department to approve or deny a seismic compliance plan and any delay to the seismic compliance deadline within 120 days. The bill would also authorize the department to additionally delay the deadline for compliance by 2 years, up to a maximum of January 1, 2035, as necessary, for hospitals that continue to experience financial distress or that need to deal with contractor, labor, or material delays, acts of God, governmental entitlements, or other circumstances beyond the hospital's control. The bill would require hospitals eligible to delay compliance under these provisions to comply with the seismic safety standards described above by no later than January 1, 2035. The bill would impose a fine of $5,000 per calendar day for a hospital's failure to comply with a revised construction schedule or to meet any major milestone established by the department until the requirements or milestones, respectively, are met. The bill would also prohibit these hospitals from being issued a building permit for any building in the facility except those required for seismic compliance, maintenance, and emergency repairs until the milestone is met and the hospital is adequately progressing toward meeting the subject hospitals seismic compliance, as determined by the department. The bill would require the department to implement the above-described provisions by regulation, as specified. The bill would require the department to support a hospital requesting a delay under the above-described provisions to explore the opportunities under the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Program to assist with seismic compliance and to annually post a list of hospitals that have been granted a delay on its internet website, as specified. (2) Existing law establishes the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Program for the purpose of funding seismic safety compliance with respect to small hospitals, rural hospitals, and critical access hospitals in the state. Existing law requires the department to provide grants to small, rural, and critical access hospital applicants that meet certain criteria, including that seismic safety compliance, as defined, imposes a financial burden on the applicant that may result in hospital closure. Existing law also creates the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund for purposes of administering and funding the grant program. This bill would require the department to expand eligibility for grants for single- and 2-story general acute care hospitals located in remote or rural areas with fewer than 80 general acute care beds and general acute care hospital revenue of $75 million or less. The bill would require grants under the program to provide general acute care hospitals with funds to secure an SPC-4D assessment for purposes of planning for, and estimating the costs of, compliance with certain seismic safety standards, as specified. The bill would authorize specified general acute care hospitals to apply for a grant for purposes of complying with those seismic safety standards. If state funds are appropriated to the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund in the future for the purpose of complying with the seismic safety standards described in paragraph (1) , the bill would require a hospital that qualifies for assessment grants under the program to submit specified financial information relating to, among other things, the accuracy of the hospital's SPC-4D cost estimates to the department before being awarded state funds.

Existing law prohibits a person employed by or engaged in a public school from inflicting, or causing to be inflicted, corporal punishment upon a pupil. Existing law prohibits the use of certain restraint and seclusion techniques. Existing law authorizes staff trained in prone containment to use the procedure on a pupil who is an individual with exceptional needs in a public school program as an emergency intervention. If prone restraint techniques are used, existing law requires a staff member to observe the pupil for any signs of distress throughout the use of prone restraint. This bill instead would prohibit the use of prone restraint, defined to include prone containment, by an educational provider. The bill would also prohibit the use of prone restraint, including prone containment, on a pupil who is an individual with exceptional needs in a public school program.

Existing law creates, within the Counties of Sonoma and Marin, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District with specified duties and powers relative to the provision of a passenger and freight rail system within the territory of the district. Under existing law, the district is governed by a 12-member board of directors appointed by various local governmental entities. Existing law authorizes the board to submit to the voters of the district a measure proposing a retail transactions and use tax ordinance. This bill would also authorize those special taxes to be imposed by a qualified voter initiative if that initiative complies with certain requirements. The bill would require the board of supervisors of the Counties of Sonoma and Marin to call a special election on a tax measure proposed by the district's board of directors or a qualified voter initiative in their respective counties and would require the district to reimburse the counties upon request for the incremental cost of submitting the measure to the voters, as specified. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on a county elections official, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would delete a provision that limits the district, in the County of Sonoma north of the City of Healdsburg, to locating commuter stations only within incorporated areas. The bill would require the district to obtain coverage for the district and its employees under the appropriate federal and state workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, and disability and unemployment insurance laws, instead of only under laws of this state. Existing law renamed the North Coast Railroad Authority the Great Redwood Trail Agency on March 1, 2022. Existing law requires the agency to convey and transfer all of its rights, interests, privileges, and title relating to its rail right-of-way south of the county line separating the Counties of Mendocino and Sonoma to the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. This bill would delete various obsolete references to the North Coast Railroad Authority located within provisions governing the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. Existing law requires the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District's contracts for the purchase of supplies, equipment, and materials to be let to the lowest responsible bidder when the expenditure required exceeds $40,000. This bill would increase that threshold to $75,000 and would authorize the contract to be let to the lowest responsible bidder, or, in the district's discretion, to the responsible bidder who submitted a proposal that provides the best value to the district on the basis of the factors identified in the solicitation. The bill would require the district, to the extent practicable, to obtain a minimum of 3 quotations, either written or oral, that permit prices and terms to be compared whenever the expected expenditure required for the purchase of supplies, equipment, or materials exceeds $10,000 but does not exceed $75,000. 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 existing federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution prohibits the Legislature from authorizing casinos of the type operating in Nevada and New Jersey and authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude tribal-state gaming compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. Existing law, the Gambling Control Act, provides for the regulation, oversight, and licensure of gambling establishments by the California Gambling Control Commission. Existing law prohibits a list of specified gambling games or any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device, for money, checks, credit, or any representative of value, and provides that any person who offers for play or participates in these games is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable as specified. Existing law authorizes gambling establishments to operate controlled games utilizing a player-dealer position, as defined, and to contract with a third party for the provision of proposition player services subject to specified conditions and regulatory requirements. Existing law generally specifies the persons or entities that may bring a civil action as prescribed for relief. Existing law authorizes a court to grant a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order at any time prior to judgment, if the verified complaint or affidavits provide sufficient grounds to do so and the opposing party has been given notice. This bill would authorize a California Indian tribe, under certain conditions, to bring an action solely against licensed California card clubs and third-party proposition player services providers to seek a declaration as to whether a controlled game operated by a licensed California card club and banked by a third-party proposition player services provider constitutes a banking card game that violates state law, including tribal gaming rights under the constitutional provisions described above, and to request injunctive relief. The bill would require that any review of such a challenge be conducted de novo. The bill would prohibit a claim for money damages, penalties, or attorney's fees and would require that actions be filed no later than April 1, 2025, as specified. The bill would clarify that it does not intend to authorize an action, or otherwise impose any liability, against the state and would prohibit a court from issuing a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order under certain circumstances. This bill would provide that its provisions are severable.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act establishes stewardship programs for various products, including, among others, carpet. The act requires a manufacturer of carpets sold in this state, individually or through a carpet stewardship organization, to submit a carpet stewardship plan to the department, which is required to include specified elements, including achieving specified carpet recycling rates and a funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to carry out the plan. The act requires the funding mechanism to establish and provide for a carpet stewardship assessment to be added to the purchase price of carpet sold in the state by a manufacturer to a California retailer or wholesaler or otherwise sold for use in the state and requires each retailer and wholesaler to add the assessment to the purchase price of all carpet sold in the state. The act requires a manufacturer or carpet stewardship organization submitting a carpet stewardship plan to pay the department an administrative fee, as determined by the department, and imposes administrative civil penalties upon a person who violates these provisions. The act requires the carpet stewardship organization to provide various reports to ensure compliance with these provisions. This bill would require a carpet stewardship organization to include nonvoting board members, as specified, and would require the carpet stewardship organization to pay the travel costs and other expenses for those nonvoting members to participate in all board meetings. The bill would require a carpet stewardship organization to be responsible for, and make decisions regarding, a carpet stewardship plan, as specified. The bill would prohibit a carpet stewardship organization from delegating any responsibility of its board of directors or any decisionmaking responsibility to a person who is not a member of its board of directors. The bill would require a carpet stewardship organization to allocate 8% of the assessments it collects for grants to apprenticeship programs, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to audit a carpet stewardship organization and a manufacturer annually. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations to bring a carpet stewardship organization or manufacturer into compliance with the product stewardship for carpet program, as specified. The bill would increase the penalties for a violation of the program from $5,000 per day to $10,000 per day, and from $10,000 per day to $25,000 per day if the violation is intentional, knowing, or negligent. This bill would make the above-discussed product stewardship for carpet program, as amended by this bill, inoperative upon the completion of specified conditions, including that the department submits a letter to the relevant committees of the Legislature indicating that specified conditions have been met and that the department is prepared to implement a carpet producer responsibility program as discussed below. This bill would establish a carpet producer responsibility program that would require producers of covered products to form and join a single producer responsibility organization (PRO) for the collection and recycling of a covered product. This bill would define a "covered product" as carpet, as defined. The bill would require the PRO to develop a producer responsibility plan for the collection, transportation, recycling, and the safe and proper management of covered products in the state. The bill would require the PRO to perform specified public outreach regarding the plan before submitting it to the department for approval. The bill would require the PRO to review the plan at least every 5 years after approval. The bill would also require the PRO to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require all reports and records provided to the department to be provided under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would restrict public access to certain information collected for the purpose of administering this program. This bill would require the department to post on its internet website a list of producers that are in compliance with the requirements of the program. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations governing the program. The bill would require the PRO to establish and provide for a covered product assessment to be added to the purchase price of covered product sold in the state by a producer to a California retailer or wholesaler or otherwise sold for use in the state and would require each retailer and wholesaler to add the assessment to the purchase price of all covered product sold in the state. The bill would require the PRO to pay fees to the department, not to exceed the department's actual and reasonable regulatory costs to implement and enforce the program. The bill would rename the Carpet Stewardship Account to be the Carpet Responsibility Fund and would rename the Carpet Stewardship Penalty Subaccount to be the Carpet Responsibility Penalty Account. The bill would require the deposit of all moneys received from the PRO into the Carpet Responsibility Fund and would make the moneys in that fund available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would also authorize the department to impose administrative penalties for a violation of the program's requirements, not to exceed $10,000 per day, or not to exceed $25,000 per day for an intentional or knowing violation, as specified. 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.

Existing law, the Early Education Act, among other things, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, by rule or regulation, establish requirements for the issuance and the renewal of permits authorizing, among other things, service in the care, development, and instruction of children in childcare and development programs, as specified. Existing law additionally requires the commission to, by rule or regulation, establish requirements for the periods of duration of the above-mentioned permit. This bill would, on or before April 30, 2025, require the commission to, by rule or regulation, authorize a holder of a Child Development Associate Teacher Permit to renew their permit without a limitation on the number of renewals if the permitholder completes specified hours of professional growth activities, as provided.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services (department) , 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. Under existing law, specialty mental health services include federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) services provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries under 21 years of age. This bill would require, when a child or youth 21 years of age or younger who is receiving Medi-Cal specialty mental health services changes residence from one county to another, the receiving county to provide specialty mental health services to the child or youth, if the transfer of those services from one county to another is not otherwise governed by a process established in statute. The bill also would require the State Department of Health Care Services to collect specified data related to the receipt of specialty mental health services by children and youth who move outside of the county where they originally received specialty mental health services, and to include the data in the department's Medi-Cal specialty mental health services performance dashboard. The bill would require the department to issue guidance, as specified, to define the requirements placed on a receiving county for the continued provision of specialty mental health services, to coordinate and expedite the transfer of services from one county to another, and reduce the burden on children and youth and their caregivers to reestablish services in the receiving county. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific its provisions by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, until regulations are adopted, as specified.

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 by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, incontinence medical supplies are covered by the Medi-Cal program. This bill would establish diapers as a covered Medi-Cal benefit for a child greater than 3 years of age who has been diagnosed with a condition, as specified, that contributes to incontinence, and for an individual under 21 years of age if necessary to correct or ameliorate a condition pursuant to certain federal standards. The bill would limit the provided diapers to an appropriate supply based on the diagnosed condition and the age of the Medi-Cal beneficiary. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals to implement these provisions. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on receipt of any necessary federal approvals, the availability of federal financial participation, and an appropriation by the Legislature.

Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. This bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to report to the department a collision on a public road that involved one of its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that is operating under a testing or deployment permit that resulted in damage of property, bodily injury, or death within 10 days of the collision. The bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to annually submit to the department specified information regarding the deactivation of the autonomous mode for its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that were operating under a testing or deployment permit that authorized the vehicle to operate on public roads. The bill would prohibit the operation of an autonomous vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more on public roads for testing purposes, transporting goods, or transporting passengers without a human safety operator physically present in the autonomous vehicle at the time of operation. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles, by January 1, 2030, or 5 years after commencement of testing, whichever occurs later, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature evaluating the performance of autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on public safety and employment in the transportation sector for autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more. The bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Transportation, the State Air Resources Board, and other relevant state agencies to provide additional information needed to research the report.

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, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires that FQHC services and RHC services be reimbursed on a per-visit basis and defines a visit as a face-to-face encounter, or other modality of interaction, as specified, between a patient and specified practitioners. This bill would add to that list of practitioners a licensed professional clinical counselor. Existing law authorizes an FQHC or RHC to apply for an adjustment to its per-visit rate based on a change in the scope of services provided by the FQHC or RHC and includes in the definition of a change in the scope of services any changes in any of the federally defined FQHC services or RHC services, among other things. Existing law requires an FQHC or RHC that does not provide certain services, including marriage and family therapist services, and later elects to add those services and bill them as a separate visit to process the addition of the services as a change in scope of service, as specified. This bill would remove the requirement for an FQHC or RHC that does not provide marriage and family therapist services, but later elects to add those services and bill them as a separate visit, to file for a change in scope of service. Existing law requires the department to seek any necessary federal approvals and issue appropriate guidance to allow an FQHC or RHC to bill, under a supervising licensed behavioral health practitioner, for an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and an associate clinical social worker or associate marriage and family therapist when certain conditions are met, including, among others, that the FQHC or RHC is otherwise authorized to bill for services provided by the supervising practitioner as a separate visit. This bill would add a psychological associate or associate professional clinical counselor to those provisions, requiring the department to seek any necessary federal approvals and issue appropriate guidance to allow an FQHC or RHC to bill for an encounter between a patient and a psychological associate or associate professional clinical counselor under those conditions. The bill would make conforming changes with regard to supervision by a licensed behavioral health practitioner, as required by the associate's applicable clinical licensing board.