Asm. Pilar Schiavo

The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,995,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 17, 2024, as Bike to School Day in California to encourage students to ride bicycles or electric bikes to their schools. The resolution highlights the environmental, health, and recreational benefits of cycling while acknowledging the state's existing bike-friendly infrastructure and recent cycling events. It serves as a commemorative measure rather than a law that changes regulations or funding, and it directs the Assembly's Chief Clerk to distribute copies of the text for public awareness.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes April 27 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. The resolution recognizes Milk's legacy as a civil rights leader who fought against discrimination and advocated for LGBTQ+ visibility and unity among minority communities. It recounts key events in his life, including his assassination in 1978 and the subsequent legal proceedings against his killer. The measure serves as a commemorative acknowledgment of Milk's impact on California and national history rather than creating new laws or policies.

The Consumers Legal Remedies Act makes unlawful certain unfair methods of competition and certain unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by a person in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to a consumer, including charging or receiving an unreasonable fee, as defined, to prepare, aid, or advise any prospective applicant, applicant, or recipient in the procurement, maintenance, or securing of public social services, as defined to include, among other things, veterans pensions. This bill would expand the definition of public social services to also include other veterans benefits. The bill would also expand the definition of an unreasonable fee to include a fee charged with respect to federal veterans benefits that exceeds the amount that could be charged for those services by an attorney or claims agent accredited by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Existing law prohibits a person from, in connection with any transaction or any sale of goods or services, electronically accessing a Common Access Card (CAC) issued to a service member, placing or requiring the placement of such a CAC in a smart card reader, requesting or requesting entry of the personal identification number (PIN) associated with such a CAC, or requiring a service member to log in to any United States Department of Defense or, in the case of a member of the United States Coast Guard, United States Department of Homeland Security computer system. Existing law makes void a transaction or sale entered into in violation of these provisions. This bill would extend the above-described restrictions to prohibit requiring a former or current service member to log in or share their credentials for accessing, or accessing with another person's credentials, any United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or United States Department of Homeland Security computer system. Except as provided, the bill would prohibit a person from, in connection with any transaction or any sale of goods or services, directly or indirectly soliciting, contracting for, charging, or receiving, or attempting to solicit, contract for, charge, or receive, any fee or compensation with respect to the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for benefits under the laws administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill would also make void a contract performed in violation of these provisions. The bill would make violations of these provisions a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a 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 federal law provides for the Medicare Program, which is a public health insurance program for persons 65 years of age and older and specified persons with disabilities who are under 65 years of age. Existing federal law specifies different parts of Medicare that cover specific services, such as Medicare Part B, which generally covers medically necessary services and supplies and preventive services. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing federal law additionally provides for the issuance of Medicare supplement policies or certificates, also known as Medigap coverage, which are advertised, marketed, or designed primarily as a supplement to reimbursements under the Medicare Program for the hospital, medical, or surgical expenses of persons eligible for the Medicare Program, including coverage of Medicare deductible, copayment, or coinsurance amounts, as specified. Existing law, among other provisions, requires supplement benefit plans to be uniform in structure, language, designation, and format with the standard benefit plans, as prescribed. Existing law prohibits an issuer from denying or conditioning the offering or effectiveness of any Medicare supplement contract, policy, or certificate available for sale in this state, or discriminating in the pricing of a contract, policy, or certificate because of the health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, or medical condition of an applicant in the case of an application that is submitted prior to or during the 6-month period beginning with the first day of the first month in which an individual is both 65 years of age or older and is enrolled for benefits under Medicare Part B. Existing law requires an issuer to make available specified Medicare supplement benefit plans to a qualifying applicant under those circumstances who is 64 years of age or younger who does not have end stage renal disease. This bill would delete the exclusion of otherwise qualified applicants who have end stage renal disease, thereby making the specified Medicare supplement benefit plans available to those individuals. The bill, on and after January 1, 2025, would prohibit an issuer of Medicare supplement coverage in this state from denying or conditioning the issuance or effectiveness of any Medicare supplement coverage available for sale in the state, or discriminate in the pricing of that coverage because of the health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical condition, or age of an applicant, if an application for coverage is submitted during an open enrollment period, as specified in the bill. The bill would entitle an individual enrolled in Medicare Part B to a 90-day annual open enrollment period beginning on January 1 of each year, as specified, during which period the bill would require applications to be accepted for any Medicare supplement coverage available from an issuer, as specified. The bill would require the open enrollment period to be a guaranteed issue period. Because a violation of the bill's requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, the 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 grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, with the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified, and charges the division with enforcement of the act. Other existing law relating to occupational safety imposes special provisions on certain industries and charges the division with enforcement of these provisions. This bill would require an employer, defined to be a school district, county office of education, or charter school, to ensure that COVID-19 cases, defined as specified school employees, who have a positive COVID-19 test, are excluded from the workplace until prescribed return-to-work requirements are met. To the extent administering these provisions imposes additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill, with specified exceptions, would require an employer to continue and maintain an excluded school employee's earnings, wages, seniority, and all other employee rights and benefits, including the employee's right to their former job status, as if the employee had not been excluded from the workplace, as prescribed. The bill would require the standards board, by February 3, 2025, to adopt a standard that extends these protections to any occupational infectious disease covered by any permanent infectious disease standard adopted to succeed an existing standard for COVID-19 prevention for those school employees. The bill would require the division to enforce the bill by the issuance of a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty, as specified. The bill would authorize any person who receives a citation and penalty to appeal the citation and penalty to the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board. 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 authorizes school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to school nurses or voluntary trained personnel, and authorizes those nurses and voluntary trained personnel to use naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose, as provided. This bill would require each individual public school operated by a school district, county office of education, or charter school that has elected to make a school nurse or trained personnel available at the school pursuant to those provisions to maintain at least 2 units of naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist for purposes of those authorizations.

Existing federal law, the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, creates the Crime Victims Fund and authorizes federal financial assistance to states for the purpose of supporting eligible crime victim assistance programs. Existing law creates various programs under the Office of Emergency Services related to crime prevention and education, including, among other things, programs concerning family violence prevention and domestic violence prevention. This bill would require the office to allocate funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fill the gap in the federal Victims of Crime Act funding and to prioritize continuity and stability of crime victim services if the federal grant funding that is awarded to the office is 10% or more lower than the amount awarded in the prior year. The bill would require the office to regularly consult, collaborate with, and consider the recommendations regarding allocation of funding from the Victims of Crime Act Steering Committee.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates October 2024 as Menopause Awareness Month in California to highlight the health and societal impacts of menopause on women. It acknowledges that millions of women face symptoms that can affect their daily lives and work, noting that women of color are at higher risk for complications like premature menopause and heart disease. The resolution encourages the state to provide better health information and services to support women's well-being before, during, and after this transition. While the text outlines these goals, the bill itself is a formal recognition rather than a law that creates new funding or mandates specific programs.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities. Existing law establishes within the commission the independent Public Advocate's Office to represent and advocate on behalf of the interests of public utility customers and subscribers within the commission's jurisdiction, as provided. Under existing law, the goal of the office is to obtain the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. This bill would revise and recast the above-described goal to instead require the office to advocate for lower rates before the commission and for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels.