This measure would recognize the month of January 2024 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
This measure would designate, in perpetuity, the 4th week of January as Data Privacy Week and the last Sunday of January as Data Privacy Day.
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 through various health care delivery systems, including managed care pursuant to Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2026, certain time or distance and appointment time standards for specified Medi-Cal managed care covered services, consistent with federal regulations relating to network adequacy standards, to ensure that those services are available and accessible to enrollees of Medi-Cal managed care plans in a timely manner, as specified. Existing law sets forth various limits on the number of miles or minutes from the enrollee's place of residence, depending on the type of service or specialty and, in some cases, on the county. This bill would require the department, no later than January 1, 2025, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature that includes certain information, including an analysis of the adequacy of each Medi-Cal managed care plan's network for pediatric primary care, including the number and geographic distribution of providers and the plan's compliance with the above-described time or distance and appointment time standards. Under the bill, the report would also include data, disaggregated as specified, on the number of children and pregnant or postpartum persons who are Medi-Cal beneficiaries receiving certain health care services during the 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24 fiscal years. The report would also include additional information regarding the department's efforts to improve access to pediatric preventive care, as specified. The bill would require that the report be made publicly available through its posting on the department's internet website. The bill would repeal these reporting provisions on January 1, 2029.
Existing law requires each ballot that is delivered to a vote by mail voter to be accompanied by a state voter information guide, except as specified. Existing law requires the state voter information guide to display the internet website address for a voter to check the status of their vote by mail or provisional ballot. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this provision.
Existing federal law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law requires the Exchange to administer a program of financial assistance to help low- and middle-income Californians, by providing financial assistance to residents with household incomes at or below 600% of the federal poverty level, including appropriate subsidies designed to make health care coverage more accessible and affordable for individuals and households. Existing law requires a premium assistance subsidy provided by the program to be able to be advanced to a program participant and remitted by the Exchange to a qualified health plan issuer, based on specified factors. Existing law establishes the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund, and authorizes the Controller to use funds in the Health Care Affordability Reserve Fund for cashflow loans to the General Fund. Existing law requires the fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of health care affordability programs operated by the Exchange. Existing law requires the Exchange to consult with the Legislature and stakeholders to develop options to reduce cost sharing for low- and middle-income Californians, as specified. This bill would require the Exchange to annually update the proposed program design for cost-sharing reduction, as specified, and would require the Exchange, in developing benefit designs, to maximize the number of low- and middle-income Californians with zero deductibles. The bill would provide that the premium assistance subsidy program would not be operative in any year in which federal premium subsidies are equal to or greater than those provided for the 2023 program year, and would require the program to include subsidies for cost sharing and maximum out-of-pocket limits until January 1, 2029, if federal premium subsidies continue at the level for the 2023 coverage year. The bill would make related conforming changes and delete obsolete provisions.
The California Constitution provides various veteran's real property tax exemptions, including a $1,000 exemption for veterans meeting certain criteria, a $1,000 exemption for unmarried spouses of deceased veterans meeting certain criteria, and a $1,000 exemption for parents of deceased veterans meeting certain criteria (regular veteran's exemptions) . The California Constitution also authorizes the Legislature to exempt from property taxation in whole or in part the home of a person or a person's spouse, including an unmarried surviving spouse, if the person incurred specified injuries or died while on active duty in military service, as described. Existing property tax law, pursuant to this authorization, provides a disabled veteran's property tax exemption for the principal place of residence of a veteran, the veteran's spouse, or the veteran and veteran's spouse jointly, and the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran, as provided, if the veteran is blind in both eyes, has lost the use of 2 or more limbs, or is totally disabled as a result of injury or disease incurred in military service, or if the veteran has, as a result of a service-connected injury or disease, died while on active duty in military service (disabled veteran's exemption) . Existing law exempts that part of the full value of the residence that does not exceed $100,000, or $150,000 if the household income of the claimant does not exceed $40,000, as adjusted for inflation, as specified. Existing property tax law provides that a disabled veteran's exemption granted to a claimant is in lieu of the regular veteran's exemptions and any other real property tax exemption to which the claimant may be entitled. This bill, for property tax lien dates occurring on or after January 1, 2024, would instead allow a claimant to combine the disabled veteran's exemption with any other real property exemption to which the claimant may be entitled, including the regular veteran's exemptions. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to comply with these requirements. 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 requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law gives control of the state park system to the Department of Parks and Recreation, and requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to promote and regulate the use of the state park system in a manner that conserves the scenery, natural and historic resources, and wildlife for the enjoyment of future generations. Existing law authorizes the department to collect fees, rents, and other returns for use of any state park system area, as provided. Existing law prohibits the department from collecting from any group of pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, or their escorts, any fee, rental, or other return for use of any unit in the state park system when the group is visiting the area pursuant to a school outing or field trip under the direction of a school personnel, as provided. This bill, commencing on July 1, 2024, would require the department to waive the day use entrance fees to a unit of the state park system for any child in the 4th grade, or the 4th grade equivalent, who holds a valid federally issued "Every Kid Outdoors" pass, as provided. The bill would require the department to post on its internet website information on how to obtain the federal "Every Kid Outdoors" pass, including a hyperlink to the federal program establishing the pass.
The Emergency Services Act establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, as specified. This bill would enact the Emergency Fairgrounds Communications Grant Act and would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the office to establish a grant program to provide fairgrounds with grant funding for the purpose of building and upgrading communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would require the office to establish standards to determine the awarding of grant funding that award funding based on a fairground's need for internet capabilities in order to service an emergency response operation. The bill would authorize the office to prioritize the order of grant disbursements based on prescribed criteria. The bill would also require the office to consult with the Department of Technology and the Department of Food and Agriculture to coordinate the statewide building and upgrading of communication and internet infrastructure on fairgrounds. The bill would provide that the program is operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.
