This measure would recognize the month of April 2016 as Citrus Strong Month for the purpose of celebrating California's vibrant citrus industry and the benefits it provides to the state's environment, economy, and people, and to affirm that California is citrus strong.
This bill would proclaim the week of April 3, 2016, to April 9, 2016, inclusive, as Adult Education Week, and would honor the teachers, administrators, classified staff, and students of adult education programs statewide for their efforts, persistence, and accomplishments.
This measure would designate the month of April 2016 as Autism Awareness Month and would encourage residents to show support for autism awareness by lighting their homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship with blue light bulbs.
This measure would commemorate March 30, 2016, as the 85th anniversary of the historic ruling in the case of Roberto Alvarez v. Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District, which invalidated that district's attempt to restrict its pupils of Mexican heritage to an inferior, segregated educational experience.
This measure would proclaim February 29, 2016, as Rare Disease Day in California and would provide for the recognition of Rare Disease Day in California in subsequent years, as specified.
This measure would recognize and honor the men and women of California agriculture for their dedication and productivity by observing March 15, 2016, as National Agriculture Day, and designating March 16, 2016, as California Agriculture Day.
Existing law provides for 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides for the county-administered 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. Existing law requires the provision of personal care services under the Medi-Cal program to eligible IHSS recipients. Under existing law, county welfare departments are required to provide visually impaired applicants and recipients with information on, and referral services to, entities that provide reading services to visually impaired persons. Existing law defines "supportive services" for purposes of the IHSS program. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2017, include within the definition of supportive services up to 2 hours per month of assistance in reading and completing financial and other documents for a recipient of services under the IHSS program who is blind. By expanding the scope of available services under the IHSS program, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the Director of Health Care Services to seek any federal approvals necessary to ensure that Medicaid funds may be used in implementing this provision. The bill would authorize the department to implement the provision through all-county letters or similar instructions from the director until emergency regulations are filed, and would require the adoption of emergency regulations by January 1, 2018, and final regulations by January 1, 2019, to implement this provision, as specified. 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.
(1) The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 provides for the regulation of private postsecondary educational institutions by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education in the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act also establishes the Student Tuition Recovery Fund and requires the bureau to adopt regulations governing the administration and maintenance of the fund, including requirements relating to assessments on students and student claims against the fund, and establishes that the moneys in this fund are continuously appropriated to the bureau for specified purposes. The act caps the amount that may be in the fund at any time at $25,000,000. This bill would raise the cap for the fund to $30,000,000. (2) This bill would appropriate the sum of $1,300,000 from the Student Tuition Recovery Fund to the Attorney General for the purposes of providing grants to eligible nonprofit community service organizations to assist eligible students affected by the closure of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., as defined, with loan discharge and other student loan-related requests and tuition recovery-related claims, and to pay an amount not to exceed $150,000 for the reasonable administrative costs of the Attorney General's office related to these grants, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the bureau to notify the Attorney General of all unlawful Corinthian Colleges, Inc., closures within 15 days of the effective date of these provisions. The bill would require the Attorney General to, among other things, within 90 days of the notification, solicit grant applications from eligible nonprofit community service organizations, select one or more of these organizations deemed to be qualified, and set additional terms and conditions of the grants as necessary. The bill would set a schedule for how grant funds are to be distributed. The bill would require the grantee to submit specified information to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis, and require the Attorney General to make these reports available to the Legislature and the bureau upon request. The bill would require the Attorney General to provide the Legislature and the bureau a final report summarizing all the information submitted to it by grantees, promptly following the time when all funds are expended by the grantees, or by August, 1, 2018, whichever is earlier. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to contract with another qualified entity to perform the Attorney General's duties under these provisions. (3) This bill would, for a period not to exceed 2 years from April 27, 2015, authorize state agencies that provide certification, registration, or licensure necessary to promote the safety and protection of the public to, on a case-by-case basis, consider for certification, registration, or licensure students who were enrolled in a program of Corinthian Colleges, Inc., that provided education or training aimed towards these students receiving certification, registration, or licensure from the state agency, and who did not receive that certification, registration, or licensure due to the closure of that institution. (4) The Cal Grant Program prohibits an applicant from receiving Cal Grant awards totaling in excess of the amount equivalent to the award level for a total of four years of full-time attendance in an undergraduate program, except as provided. This bill would partially exempt from this limitation on Cal Grant awards a student who was enrolled and received a Cal Grant award at a California campus of Heald College, and who was unable to complete an educational program offered by the campus due to its closure. (5) The California National Guard Education Assistance Award Program authorizes the renewal of California National Guard Education Assistance Awards, for a maximum of the greater of either four years of full-time equivalent enrollment or the duration for which the qualifying member would otherwise be eligible pursuant to the Cal Grant Program, if specified conditions are met. This bill would partially exempt from this limitation on California National Guard Education Assistance Awards a student who was enrolled and received a California National Guard Education Assistance Award at a California campus of Heald College, and who was unable to complete an educational program offered by the campus due to its closure. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
