Under existing law, it is the policy of the state that all children in foster care have specified rights, including the right to live in a safe, healthy, and comfortable home where they are treated with respect, the right to be free from physical, sexual, emotional, or other abuse, or corporal punishment, and the right to receive adequate and healthy food, adequate clothing, and medical, dental, vision, and mental health services. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, foster parents, caregivers, and current and former foster youth, to develop and implement a foster parent evaluation process. The bill would require that evaluation process to include a process to allow foster youth over 12 years of age and nonminor dependents to provide feedback on the quality of care received in licensed or certified foster homes and group homes at least once per year and upon any exit from those homes. The bill would also require the evaluation process to include the development of an evaluation tool in partnership with current and former foster youth and caregivers that allows youth to provide feedback on the quality of care received, as specified, including feedback on the caregiver's honoring of the rights of foster youth. The bill would require the department to implement the foster parent evaluation process and promulgate all necessary regulations pursuant to this provision on or before January 1, 2017.
Sponsored bills
(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.
Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The University of California operates 10 campuses located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct a study of, and report to the Legislature on, the feasibility of establishing a campus of the University of California devoted to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The bill would require the report to be submitted on or before January 1, 2017. The bill would appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund to the Controller for allocation, as specified, to the regents for establishment of the campus.
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.
Existing law provides specified requirements in awarding certain public contracts. This bill would authorize the Governor to sign agreements required by the United States Olympic Committee as part of the bid process for the City of Los Angeles or the City and County of San Francisco to become the United States applicant city and candidate city for the 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations that, among other things, the endorsing municipality, as defined, has developed a self-sufficient bid for financing the games. This bill would authorize the Governor to enter into an agreement for the state to be jointly liable, not to exceed a specified amount, with the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) , as specified, for obligations of the OCOG, and for any financial deficit relating to the games, as provided. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. That law provides various exemptions from that tax, including an exemption for food products, as specified. Existing law excludes food products from this exemption when certain conditions are met, including when the food products are sold through a vending machine. Existing law, however, provides a partial exemption from that tax for certain food products actually sold through a vending machine. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2016, exempt from that tax the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale at retail of food products actually sold through a vending machine, and would make other conforming changes. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. The amendments made by this bill would be incorporated into these laws. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Under existing law, a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage, or military service record may only be supplied by the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to an authorized person, as defined, who submits a written, faxed, or digitized image request accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the applicant is an authorized person. This bill would, if the request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made electronically, authorize the official to accept electronic acknowledgment verifying the identity of the requestor using a remote identity proofing process aligned with federal guidelines for security and privacy, and satisfying other specified requirements, ensuring that the requester is an authorized person. The bill would require the verification to comply with specified provisions and protect the personal information of the requester and guard against identity theft.
Existing law requires certain private not-for-profit acute hospitals to, every 3 years, complete a community needs assessment, as defined, and to annually adopt and update a community benefits plan, as defined. Existing law exempts certain hospitals from these provisions, including small and rural hospitals. Existing law requires a hospital to file a report on its community benefits plan and the activities undertaken to address community needs with the Statewide Office of Health Planning and Development. Existing law requires the office to make those reports available to the public. This bill would revise and recast these provisions to, among other things, specify the elements that are required to be included in a community health needs assessment (CHNA) report, which would replace the community benefits plan, and delete the exemption from these requirements for small and rural hospitals. The bill would instead require a hospital to adopt the CHNA report every 3 years, and to submit an update of the activities conducted under the report to the office annually. The bill would require the CHNA report to be widely available to the public, as prescribed.
Existing law provides for the out-of-home placement, including foster care placement, of children who are unable to remain in the custody and care of their parents. Existing law, the federal Social Security Act, provides for benefits for eligible beneficiaries, including survivorship and disability benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits for, among others, blind and disabled children. Existing law also provides for state supplemental payments (SSP) to supplement SSI benefits. Existing law requires the county to provide specified information relating to SSI payments to a foster youth receiving those benefits when he or she is approaching his or her 18th birthday. This bill would instead require the county to provide that information to the youth when he or she is approaching his or her 17th birthday. By increasing duties on counties, 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 authorizes a system of incentives to encourage high schools to operate International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs, and to encourage pupils in these schools to enroll in, attempt, and pass the International Baccalaureate course of study and examinations that lead to the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, from funds appropriated for the purpose of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, to annually allocate to each school district, on behalf of each high school or middle school within the district that offers the program, up to $25,000 for each participating high school and middle school to cover the costs of professional development required by the program and to help pay the test fees for low- and middle-income pupils in need of financial assistance. Existing law authorizes a school district receiving economic impact aid funds to expend any portion of those funds to pay for all or part of the costs of one or more advanced placement examinations that are charged to economically disadvantaged pupils, as defined. This bill would, subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other statute, establish a grant program, administered by the State Department of Education, for the purpose of awarding grants to cover the costs of advanced placement examination fees or International Baccalaureate examination fees, or both, for eligible economically disadvantaged or foster youth high school pupils, as defined. The bill would authorize a school district or charter school to apply to the department for grant funding under the program based on the number of economically disadvantaged or foster youth high school pupils in the school district or charter school who will take the next offered advanced placement or International Baccalaureate examinations and would require that grants be expended only to pay the fees required of eligible economically disadvantaged or foster youth high school pupils to take an advanced placement or International Baccalaureate examination, or both. The bill would authorize an eligible economically disadvantage or foster youth high school pupil enrolled in an advanced placement or International Baccalaureate course, or both, to apply to the designated school district or charter school staff for a grant to pay the examination fee, as provided. The bill would also make various findings and declarations relating to advanced placement courses and college outcomes.