Asm. Marc Steinorth

This measure would declare February 6, 2016, as Ronald Reagan Day.

This measure would declare that President Abraham Lincoln be honored on February 12, 2016, the anniversary of his birthday.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each city, county, and city and county to prepare and adopt a general plan that contains certain mandatory elements, including, but not limited to, a housing element that analyzes existing and projected housing needs. Existing law includes various legislative findings and declarations related to the statewide importance of housing availability and the responsibility of state and local government to address regional housing needs. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Existing law, in the case of any county taking over the responsibilities of an independent local health special district created pursuant to a specified statute, requires an increase in the state assistance payments, as defined, that are made to that county. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

Existing law generally requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenues to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally requires that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction's portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also requires a county auditor to make certain property tax revenue allocations to qualifying cities, as defined, in accordance with a specified Tax Equity Allocation formula, and to make corresponding reductions in the amount of property tax revenue that is allocated to the county. Existing law also requires the county auditor, in the case in which a qualifying city becomes the successor agency to a special district as a result of a merger with that district as described in a specified statute, to additionally allocate to that successor qualifying city that amount of property tax revenue that otherwise would have been allocated to that special district pursuant to general allocation requirements. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the provision pertaining to property tax revenue allocations to a qualifying city that merges with a special district.

This measure would declare the month of January 2016 as Pet Care Education Month and would request Californians to observe the month by ensuring that their companion animals receive the proper preventative care by establishing a financial plan for pet health emergencies and by contributing to charitable organizations that provide low-cost spay and neuter services and vaccinations or funds to help low-income individuals pay for veterinary care.

(1) Existing law establishes 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing law requires the department to develop and implement a Medi-Cal inpatient hospital reimbursement payment methodology based on diagnosis-related groups, subject to federal approval, that reflects the costs and staffing levels associated with quality of care for patients in all general acute care hospitals, as specified. Existing law generally requires the diagnosis-related group-based payments to apply to all claims. This bill would require claims for payments pursuant to the inpatient hospital reimbursement methodology described above to be increased by 16% for the 2015–16 fiscal year, and would require, commencing July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the department to increase each diagnosis-related group payment claim amount based, at a minimum, on increases in the medical component of the California Consumer Price Index. Commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, the bill would require managed care rates for Medi-Cal managed care health plans to be increased by a proportionately equal amount for increased payments for hospital services. (2) Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments to be reduced by 1% or 5%, and provider payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 1%, for dates of service on and after March 1, 2009, and until June 1, 2011. Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, Medi-Cal provider payments and payments for specified non-Medi-Cal programs to be reduced by 10% for dates of service on and after June 1, 2011. This bill would, instead, prohibit the application of those reductions for payments to providers for dates of service on or after June 1, 2011. The bill would also require payments for managed care health plans for dates of service following the effective date of the bill to be determined without application of some of those reductions. The bill would require the Director of Health Care Services to implement this provision to the maximum extent permitted by federal law and for the maximum time period for which the director obtains federal approval for federal financial participation for those payments. (3) Prior law required, beginning January 1, 2013, through and including December 31, 2014, that payments for primary care services provided by specified physicians be no less than 100% of the payment rate that applies to those services and physicians as established by the Medicare program, for both fee-for-service and managed care plans. This bill, commencing January 1, 2016, would require payments for specified medical care services to not be less than 100% of the payment rate that applies to those services as established by the Medicare program for services rendered by fee-for-service providers, and would require rates paid to Medi-Cal managed care plans to be actuarially equivalent to payment rates established by the Medicare program. The bill, commencing January 1, 2016, would require rates paid to Denti-Cal providers for dental services provided to adults and children to be increased by the equivalent percentage as the percentage increase required for other fee-for-service Medi-Cal providers. The bill would require those provisions to be implemented only to the extent permitted by federal law and that federal financial participation is available. The bill would authorize the department to implement those provisions through provider bulletins without taking regulatory action until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt those regulations by July 1, 2018. The bill would require, commencing July 1, 2016, the department to provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis until regulations have been adopted. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, and before January 1, 2021, allow a credit under the Personal Income Tax Law in an amount equal to 20% of the monetary contributions made to one or more qualified tuition programs, as defined, by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, during the taxable year, not to exceed $500. This bill would include findings and declarations regarding the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to provide that the credit amount in excess of tax liability is refundable in those years in which an appropriation for that purpose is made by the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.