Asm. Mariko Yamada

Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which, either through employment by the recipient or by or through contract by the county, qualified, aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes. Counties are responsible for the administration of the IHSS program. This bill would establish the California Independence Program, a voluntary program for the provision of in-home supportive services to certain aged, blind, and disabled individuals who are otherwise ineligible for IHSS services. The bill would make recipients and providers of services under the California Independence Program subject to specified requirements.

Existing law requires various state agencies to administer programs relating to water supply, water quality, and flood management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Johnston-Baker-Andal-Boatwright Delta Protection Act of 1992 (Delta Protection Act) creates the Delta Protection Commission and requires the commission to prepare and adopt a comprehensive long-term resource management plan for specified lands within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Resources Agency to convene a committee to develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2008, recommendations for implementing a specified strategic plan relating to the sustainable management of the Delta. This bill would revise and recast the provisions of the Delta Protection Act to, among other things, reduce the number of commission members to 15 members, as specified. The bill would require the commission to appoint at least one advisory committee consisting of representatives from specified entities to provide input regarding the diverse interests within the Delta. The bill would require the commission to adopt, not later than July 1, 2011, an economic sustainability plan containing specified elements and would require the commission to review and, as determined to be necessary, amend the plan every 5 years. The bill would require the commission to prepare and submit to the Legislature, by July 1, 2010, recommendations on the potential expansion of or change to the primary zone or the Delta. The bill would establish the Delta Investment Fund in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would be required to be expended by the commission to implement the regional economic sustainability plan. The bill would establish in the Natural Resources Agency the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. The conservancy would be required to act as a primary state agency to implement ecosystem restoration in the Delta and to support efforts that advance environmental protection and the economic well-being of Delta residents. The bill would specify the composition of the conservancy and grant certain authority to the conservancy, including the authority to acquire real property interests from willing sellers or transferors. The conservancy would be required to use conservation easements to accomplish ecosystem restoration whenever feasible. The conservancy would be required to prepare and adopt a strategic plan to achieve the goals of the conservancy. The strategic plan would be required to be consistent with the Delta Plan and certain other plans. The bill would establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Fund in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation, to finance projects, including ecosystem restoration and economic sustainability projects. These provisions would only become operative if AB 39, AB 49, SB 12, and SB 229 of the 2009–10 Regular Session of the Legislature, relating to water use and resource management, are each enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2010.

Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law permits services to be provided under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the provision of services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. Under existing law, IHSS recipients who are eligible for the Medi-Cal program are provided with personal care option services, as defined, in lieu of receiving these services under the IHSS program. Existing law, enacted in 2009, makes various statutory changes with respect to the provision of in-home supportive services, relating to matters, including, but not limited to, provider enrollment procedures, criminal background checks, orientation, and duties, as well as eligibility standards for recipients, unannounced home visits, and program integrity and fraud prevention. This bill would make the operation of the statutory changes described above subject to a stakeholder process, to be conducted, as specified, by the State Department of Social Services, prior to the implementation of those changes. The bill would require implementation of any of the statutory changes described in the bill to occur either on the date specified in an applicable statute, or 60 days after the department notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the changes may be implemented, whichever is later. This bill would prohibit information notices relating to the implementation of these statutory changes from being sent to recipients or providers until the stakeholder process is completed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The California Adult Day Health Care Act provides for the licensure and regulation of adult day health care centers, with administrative responsibility for the adult day health care program shared among the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Health Care Services, and the California Department of Aging pursuant to an interagency agreement. The Adult Day Health Medi-Cal Law establishes adult day health care services as a Medi-Cal benefit for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who meet certain criteria. Under existing law, participation in an adult day health care program requires prior authorization by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to implement a moratorium on the certification and enrollment into the Medi-Cal program of new adult day health care centers on a statewide basis or within a geographic area, subject to certain limitations. Existing law provides that the moratorium shall not apply to certain applicants. This bill would add 2 specified veterans homes of California, to the list of applicants that are not subject to the moratorium. This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training within the Department of Justice. Under existing law, the commission is required to develop and implement training programs for peace officers relative to certain areas of criminal law or procedure. This bill would require the commission to create and make available to all law enforcement agencies training content on how to recognize and interact with persons carrying a kirpan, as specified. The bill would require that the training content include instruction on how arrests of Sikhs carrying a kirpan have historically been treated and the alternatives to those arrests and detentions that have successfully been used. This bill would define a kirpan as a blade that resembles a sword and is required to be carried as an integral part of the practice of the Sikh faith.

Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer that provides maternity coverage may not restrict inpatient hospital benefits, as specified, and is required to provide notice of the maternity services coverage. This bill would require new forms for health insurance policies submitted to the department after January 1, 2010, to provide coverage for maternity services, as defined. With respect to policy forms on file with the department as of January 1, 2010, the bill would require health insurers to submit to the department, on or before March 1, 2010, revised policy forms that provide coverage for maternity services and would require insurers to include that coverage in the corresponding policies that are issued, amended, or renewed following the department's approval of the revised forms, as specified.

Existing law authorizes a local, special, or consolidated election to be conducted as an all-mailed ballot election, so long as specified conditions are satisfied. This bill would authorize as a pilot program, until December 31, 2016, elections in Yolo and Santa Clara Counties, other than statewide primary or general elections or special elections to fill a vacancy in a state office, the Legislature, or Congress, to be conducted as all-mailed ballot elections if specified conditions are satisfied.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including long-term health care facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. Violation of these provisions constitutes a misdemeanor. Existing law also requires long-term health care facilities to implement a theft and loss program, as specified, including a written patient personal property inventory. This bill would require, as part of the written patient personal property inventory in long-term health care facilities, a listing, by a unique identification number, of all patient-owned mobility, hearing, or breathing equipment, including, but not limited to, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, hearing aids, and oxygen equipment. Because the bill would create a new 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, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, creates the California Department of Aging, with prescribed duties, including the development of the state plan on aging. This bill would require the department to report data from the Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) , as defined, for each service area included in the state plan, if specified conditions are met. Existing law requires each area agency on aging to create a plan for its planning and service area that considers available data and population trends, assesses the need for services, identifies sources of funding for services, and develops and implements a plan for the delivery of services based on the need. This bill would also require that the plan utilize the Elder Index, specify the cost of meeting basic needs for elders in each planning and service area, and identify which elders are living at or below the Elder Index, as prescribed.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to furnish the legal owner of record of a vehicle, upon his or her request, information regarding the current registration status of the vehicle, including the license plate number and address of the registered owner of the vehicle. Existing law also authorizes the department to charge a fee to pay for the cost of furnishing this information. Existing federal law establishes the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) program in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide an electronic means to verify and exchange titling, brand, and theft data among motor vehicle administrators, law enforcement officials, prospective purchasers, and insurance carriers in participating states. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2010, to be in full compliance with the federal Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 and the DOJ's rules governing the federal National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) , to the extent practicable. The bill also would require the department, by that date, to eliminate any restrictions to consumer access to titling, branding, and theft information provided by the department to NMVTIS, to ensure that prospective purchasers have instant and reliable access to California's data.