Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires an action or proceeding against local zoning and planning decisions of a legislative body to be commenced and the legislative body to be served within a year of accrual of the cause of action if it meets certain requirements. Where the action or proceeding is brought in support of or to encourage or facilitate the development of housing that would increase the community's supply of affordable housing, a cause of action accrues 60 days after notice is filed or the legislative body takes a final action in response to the notice, whichever occurs first. This bill would authorize the notice to be filed any time within 5 years after a specified action pursuant to existing law. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that its provisions modify a specified court opinion. The bill would also provide that in that specified action or proceeding, no remedy pursuant to specified provisions of law abrogate, impair, or otherwise interfere with the full exercise of the rights and protections granted to a tentative map application or a developer, as prescribed. Existing law establishes a rebuttable presumption, in any action filed on or after January 1, 1991, taken to challenge the validity of a housing element, of the validity of a housing element or amendment if the Department of Housing and Community Development has found that the element or amendment substantially complies with specified provisions of existing law. This bill would provide that in any action brought against a city, county, or city and county to challenge the adequacy of a housing element, if a court finds that the adopted housing element or amended housing element for the current planning period substantially complies with specified provisions, the element or amendment be deemed to satisfy any condition of a state-administered housing grant program requiring a department finding of housing element compliance.
Sponsored bills
The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act contains various provisions that govern collective bargaining of local represented employees. The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. Existing law requires all contracts of employment between an employee and a local agency employer to include a provision which provides that regardless of the term of the contract, if the contract is terminated, the maximum cash settlement that an employee may receive shall be an amount equal to the monthly salary of the employee multiplied by the number of months left on the unexpired term of the contract, with a maximum of 18 months. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2011, additionally prohibit an employment contract for a local excluded employee, as defined, from including any clause that provides for an automatic renewal, an automatic compensation increase, as specified, or an automatic compensation increase in excess of a cost-of-living adjustment. The bill would also require the local agency, as defined, to complete a performance review of any excluded employee, as defined, before an increase in compensation in excess of a cost-of-living adjustment may be implemented for that individual. The bill would also specify that those records, procedures, and actions shall conform to the requirements of law, including, but not limited to, the Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act. By expanding the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would express a legislative finding and declaration that, to ensure the statewide integrity of local government, the procedures for the appointment and compensation of excluded employees are an issue of statewide concern and that, therefore, all counties and cities, including charter counties, charter cities, and charter cities and counties, would be subject to the provisions of the bill. 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 these statutory provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to adopt ordinances that regulate, among other things, signs and billboards. Existing law prohibits a local authority from enacting or enforcing an ordinance on matters covered by the Vehicle Code unless expressly authorized by the code. This bill would expressly authorize a local authority to regulate mobile billboard advertising displays, as defined, including the establishment of penalties. Existing law authorizes a peace officer, or a regularly employed and salaried public employee who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations, to remove a vehicle located within the territorial limits in which the officer or employee is allowed to act under specified and enumerated circumstances, including when a vehicle is parked or left standing where local authorities by resolution or ordinance have prohibited parking and have authorized the removal of vehicles. Existing law also requires that a vehicle may not be removed unless signs are posted giving notice of the removal. This bill would authorize the removal of a vehicle under these provisions when the vehicle is a mobile billboard advertising display and is parked or left standing in violation of a local resolution or ordinance, if the registered owner of the vehicle was previously issued a warning citation for the same offense. The bill would authorize a city or county, in lieu of posting signs with respect to the ordinance, to provide notice, prior to removal of a vehicle, by issuing a warning citation advising the registered owner of the vehicle that he or she may be subject to penalties, including the removal of the vehicle, upon a subsequent violation of the ordinance. The bill would provide that a city or county is not required to provide any further notice for a subsequent violation prior to enforcing those penalties. (2) This bill would incorporate changes to Section 21100 of the Vehicle Code proposed by both this bill and AB 2294, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, on and after January 1, 2014, requires a health insurance issuer offering health insurance coverage in the individual or group market to accept every employer and individual in the state that applies for that coverage, as specified, and allows premiums for coverage in the individual or small group market to vary only by rating area, age, tobacco use, and whether the coverage is for an individual or family, as specified. The act also prohibits a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage from imposing any preexisting condition for children with respect to plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, and for adults with respect to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. 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. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law authorizes a health care service plan or health insurer to exclude an applicant from coverage for a specified time for preexisting conditions. A willful violation of provisions governing health care service plans is a crime. This bill would prohibit the exclusion or limitation of coverage for children due to any preexisting condition, except as specified. The bill would further require plans and insurers offering coverage in the individual market to offer coverage for a child subject to specified requirements. The bill would prescribe limits on the rates that may be imposed for coverage of a child depending on, among other things, whether the child applies for coverage during an open enrollment period, as defined, or is a late enrollee, as defined, and would, effective January 1, 2014, require plans and insurers to apply standard risk rates to child coverage, except as specified. The bill would prohibit a plan or carrier that does not or ceases to write new plan contracts or policies for children from offering new individual plan contracts or policies in this state for 5 years. The bill would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to issue guidance for purposes of implementing these provisions. By imposing new requirements on health care service plans, the willful violation of which would be 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 law generally provides for the confidentiality of juvenile court records and records relating to the administration of public social services. However, records connected to public social services programs are generally permitted to be disclosed for purposes related to the administration of those programs and for other prescribed purposes. Under existing law, counties are authorized to establish multidisciplinary personnel teams trained in the prevention, identification, or treatment of child abuse and neglect cases, or the abuse of elder or dependent persons. Existing law provides, for purposes of the disclosure of information, that the activities of multidisciplinary teams engaged in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse or the abuse of elder or dependent persons are activities performed in the administration of public social services. This bill would recast these provisions to provide that activities of multidisciplinary personnel teams engaged in the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, or the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of the abuse of an elder or dependent person, are activities performed in the administration of public social services. Existing law provides that testimony about discussions relative to the disclosure or exchange of the information or writings during multidisciplinary personnel team meetings is not admissible in any criminal, civil, or juvenile court proceeding. Existing law also provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. This bill would include in the definition of a multidisciplinary personnel team CalWORKs case managers, and social workers with experience or training in child abuse or neglect prevention, identification, management, or treatment. This bill would also include information relevant to the provision of child welfare services, as defined, as information that may be disclosed and exchanged by a multidisciplinary personnel team. Because the California Constitution provides that a statute excluding relevant evidence in a criminal proceeding requires a 23 vote for passage by the Legislature, this bill requires a 23 vote. Existing law permits a county to establish a computerized database system to allow provider agencies, as defined, to share specified information regarding families at risk for child abuse or neglect for the purpose of forming a multidisciplinary personnel team to prevent, identify, manage, or treat child abuse. This bill would require the database to include information about persons living in a child's home and a contact person instead of the employee assigned to the case from a provider agency. This bill would require a county that establishes this database system to install database system controls to monitor system use and to detect any violations of the system controls. This bill would in addition, with respect to the County of Los Angeles, authorize the database to include information about convictions of family members or persons living in the child's home for crimes that involved a child as a victim, as specified. Existing law requires the information obtained pursuant to the computerized database system to be kept confidential and to be used solely for the prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse, child neglect, or both. This bill would permit the information to be used for the provision of child welfare services. This bill would also provide that any person knowingly and intentionally violating the above confidentiality requirements shall be subject to prescribed administrative and civil penalties. Existing law makes all information and records obtained in the course of providing intake assessment and services under statutes relating to services for persons with developmental disabilities and persons with mental illness confidential, and permits disclosure only under prescribed conditions, including, but not limited to, the courts as necessary to the administration of justice. This bill would recast some, but not all, related confidentiality provisions, to provide that the above information, if relevant to the provision of child welfare services, as defined, or the investigation, prevention, identification, management, or treatment of child abuse or neglect, may be disclosed to multidisciplinary personnel teams. This bill would also recast some, but not all, related confidentiality provisions to expressly prohibit this information from being used in a criminal or delinquency proceeding, but that evidence identical to the information contained within the records is admissible if obtained by other means as permitted by law. Existing law permits a psychotherapist, when the psychotherapist opines that a patient presents a serious danger of violence to a reasonably foreseeable victim or victims, to release mental health information or records to that person or persons, and to law enforcement agencies. This bill would recast some, but not all, related confidentiality provisions to permit a psychotherapist to release the information or records to county child welfare agencies. By imposing a higher level of service on local government this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles. This bill would incorporate changes to Section 18961.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code made by AB 2229, to become operative only if both this bill and AB 2229 are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is enacted last. 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 these statutory provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes various programs for the prevention of disease and the promotion of health, including, but not limited to, the licensing and regulation of health facilities to be administered by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires specified health facilities to report patient adverse events to the department within 5 days. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would require the medical director and the director of nursing of a hospital to annually report adverse events and hospital acquired conditions to its governing board. By changing the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to convene a technical working group to evaluate options for implementing nonpayment policies and practices for hospital acquired conditions for the Medi-Cal program, as specified. This bill would require the technical working group to provide the best options to the Director of Health Care Services, the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, and the Legislature by February 1, 2011. This bill would also require the department to implement nonpayment policies and procedures for hospital acquired conditions for the Medi-Cal program, as specified. Existing law imposes various functions and duties on the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board with respect to the regulation and administration of various insurance programs, including the Healthy Families Program. This bill would require certain managed care plans contracting with the board to implement nonpayment policies and practices for hospital acquired conditions that are consistent with those adopted by the Medi-Cal program through their contracts with health care facilities, as defined. 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.
(1) Existing law requires the governing association of a common interest development and the builder of the development to comply with specified dispute resolution procedures. However, existing law, until July 1, 2010, provides that if the parties have not settled the matter, the association or its assignee may file a complaint in superior court, as provided. This bill would extend the operation of these latter provisions to July 1, 2017. (2) Existing law specifies various uniform fees for filing specified documents in connection with certain civil proceedings. The fee for filing in the superior court an application to appear as counsel pro hac vice is $250. This bill would increase the fee for filing in the superior court an application to appear as counsel pro hac vice to $500. This bill would provide for $250 of the fee to be deposited into the Immediate and Critical Needs Account of the State Court Facilities Construction Fund and for $250 of the fee to be deposited into the Trial Court Trust Fund.
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 also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, no change in premium rates or coverage in a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy may become effective without prior written notification of the change to the contractholder or policyholder. Existing law prohibits a plan or insurer during the term of a group plan contract or policy from changing the rate of the premium, copayment, coinsurance, or deductible during specified time periods. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from altering the rates, as defined, that apply to individual health care service plan contracts or individual health insurance policies, or altering any benefits included in individual contracts or policies, more than once each calendar year, except as specified. Among those exceptions, the bill would provide that, if a brand name drug becomes available as a generic drug, the application of a lower cost-sharing rate for the generic drug would not constitute an alteration of benefits. The bill's provisions would apply to a new individual plan contract or policy issued to an enrollee or insured who transfers from another plan or policy, as specified, and would prohibit the issuance of new plan contracts or policies more often than annually. Because a willful violation of these 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.
(1) The Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and Management Review Act of 1989 requires specified generators of hazardous waste to maintain certain plans and reports, and summaries with regard to hazardous waste reduction practices. The act also requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a technical assistance and outreach program to promote implementation of model source reduction measures in priority industry categories. The act requires the department to select at least 2 priority categories of generators by SIC Code every 2 years. This bill would instead require the department to select at least 4 priority industry categories of generators by SIC code every 2 years. (2) The act requires, among other things, that at least one selected category of generators be a category that consists primarily of small businesses. This bill would additionally require that at least one selected category of generators be a category that consists primarily of businesses that are affected by actions taken by the department that, among other things, identify and prioritize chemical or chemical ingredients in consumer products that may be considered a chemical of concern.
Existing federal law requires that fur products be labeled with the names of any animals used, manufacturer, country of origin, and other specified information. Fur products with a relatively small quantity or value of fur that is worth $150 or less are exempt from these labeling requirements. This bill, commencing September 1, 2011, would prohibit the sale or display for sale of any coat, jacket, garment, or other clothing apparel made wholly or partially of fur, regardless of the price of the apparel or the amount or value of the fur contained therein, without having attached thereto and conspicuously displayed a tag or label including the names of the animals from which the fur was acquired and the country of origin of any imported furs. Used articles of clothing would be exempt from these labeling requirements. The bill would provide that any violation of the labeling requirements is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for the first violation, and not more than $1,000 for each subsequent violation, except as specified.