Asm. Blanca Rubio

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 (AUMA) , an initiative measure, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cannabis Control. Existing law authorizes local jurisdictions to enforce the provisions of MAUCRSA and to regulate cannabis businesses, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2025, establishes a task force on state and local regulation of commercial cannabis activity to promote communication between state and local entities engaged in the regulation of commercial cannabis activity and facilitate cooperation to enforce applicable state and local laws, consisting of specified members from state agencies and all local jurisdictions regulating commercial cannabis activity that opt to participate. Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based on specified characteristics or status. Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California and improve their working conditions, among other functions. This bill would expand the task force on regulation of commercial cannabis activity to include representatives from the Civil Rights Department and the Department of Industrial Relations.

Existing law, the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority Act, establishes the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority and provides for its powers and duties. Among other things, the act authorizes the authority to impose an annual pumping right assessment for specified purposes in an amount not to exceed $10 per acre-foot. This bill would increase the maximum allowable annual pumping right assessment to $20 per acre-foot.

Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of health facilities, including, but not limited to, long-term health care facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Health Care Services. A violation of the provisions relating to these facilities is a crime. Existing law requires a contract for admission to a long-term care facility to state that a resident shall not be involuntarily transferred within, or discharged from, a long-term health care facility unless the resident is given reasonable notice in writing, and transfer or discharge planning, as specified. Existing law requires the notice to state the reason for the transfer or discharge. Existing law requires the facility to immediately notify the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman if the discharge is involuntary. When a resident is notified in writing of a facility-initiated transfer or discharge from a long-term health care facility, existing law requires that the local long-term care ombudsman be sent a copy of the notice. This bill would require the facility to provide, within 48 hours of the written notice of a facility-initiated transfer or discharge, a copy of the resident's discharge needs and discharge plan. The bill would require the facility to provide a copy of the resident's discharge summary prior to the proposed transfer or discharge date. The bill would require the facility to provide these documents at no cost to the resident. If the resident requests a transfer or discharge appeal hearing, the bill would require both the resident and the facility to provide all documents and records to be used by the party at the hearing, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements by a long-term health care facility 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) Existing law establishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, administered by the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, for teachers seeking to provide instruction in bilingual and multilingual settings. Existing law, for the 2023–24 fiscal year, appropriates $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for purposes of the program, to be available for grants totaling $4,000,000 each fiscal year, from the 2023–24 fiscal year to the 2027–28 fiscal year, inclusive, as provided. Existing law requires the department to allocate grant funding to eligible local educational agencies, including county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, or a consortia of local educational agencies for purposes of providing professional development services to teachers or paraprofessionals who satisfy specified requirements, but exempts participants who are currently enrolled in, or have completed, the Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program from those requirements that apply to teachers. This bill would also exempt participants who are currently enrolled in, or have completed, programs to support bilingual teacher education in languages in the classroom, such as Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, and other languages, as represented in an instructional program, from those specified requirements that apply to teachers. By expanding the scope of eligibility for purposes of an appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing requires Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program grant recipients to provide to the department, by July 1, 2026, a preliminary report, and, by January 1, 2029, a final report, on the number of participants who were issued bilingual authorizations, the number of previously authorized teachers who have participated in the program and subsequently returned to bilingual teaching assignments, and the number of teachers who are still working at least 50% of the time in a bilingual setting. This bill would extend the deadline for the final report by one year to January 1, 2030. (3) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

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. Existing law prohibits the copayment, coinsurance, or any other form of cost sharing for a covered outpatient prescription drug for an individual prescription from exceeding $250 for a supply of up to 30 days, except as specified. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy for a nongrandfathered individual or small group product that maintains a drug formulary grouped into tiers, and that includes a 4th tier, to define each tier of the drug formulary, as specified. Existing law defines Tier 4 to include, among others, drugs that are biologics. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2024. This bill would delete drugs that are biologics from the definition of Tier 4. The bill would require a health care service plan or a health insurer, if there is a generic equivalent to a brand name drug, to ensure that an enrollee or insured is subject to the lowest cost sharing that would be applied, whether or not both the generic equivalent and the brand name drug are on the formulary. The bill also would delete the January 1, 2024, repeal date of the above provisions, thus making them operative indefinitely. Because extension of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would extend the existence of 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 state 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. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes. This bill, on or after April 1, 2024, and before April 1, 2029, would exempt the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, breast pumps, breast pump collection and storage supplies, breast pump kits, and breast pads. Existing law requires a 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 make findings detailing the goals of the above-described tax expenditure and performance indicators for determining whether the tax expenditure meets those goals. 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 laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to 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.

(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation and provides that the department has full possession and control of all state highways and property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law authorizes the department to construct, improve, and maintain state highways. Existing law requires the department to update guidance by July 1, 2021, to specify the appropriate use of positive protection measures with the goal of isolating workers or work zones from traffic. Existing law requires the department to provide compensation for the use of a safety device where the updated guidance allows, but does not require, the optional safety device when requested by a contractor on a public works project. Existing law requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2024, that includes findings and recommendations on the use of positive protection measures used pursuant to these provisions. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would eliminate the January 1, 2025, repeal date, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely. The bill would specify that the department is only required to compensate for an optional safety device requested for use on a public works project of the department. After the submittal of the report due on January 1, 2024, the bill would require the department to prescribe standards and specifications to require the appropriate use of positive protection on all covered activities on the state highway system, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations as necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of these provisions, and would exempt those regulations from the Administrative Procedures Act. (2) 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. This bill would require a contractor that has requested and received compensation from the department for an optional safety device to use the optional safety device in conformance with the department's guidance. The bill would authorize the division to adopt regulations as necessary or appropriate to enforce this requirement.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities to have written policies regarding the rights of patients. This bill would add to these rights the right of every resident to receive the information that is material to an individual's informed consent decision concerning whether to accept or refuse the administration of psychotherapeutic drugs, as specified. This bill would also add the right to be free from psychotherapeutic drugs used for the purpose of resident discipline or convenience, or from psychotherapeutic drugs used as a chemical restraint except in an emergency, as specified. Under the bill, all residents of skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and hospice facilities would have the right to appeal an involuntary transfer or discharge through the appeal process, as specified, regardless of a resident's payment source or the Medi-Cal or Medicare certification status of the facility in which the resident resides. The bill would make the prescriber responsible for disclosing the material information relating to psychotherapeutic drugs to the resident and obtaining their informed consent, as defined. The bill would require facility staff to verify that a resident's health record contains a signed, written consent form before initiating treatment with psychotherapeutic drugs, except as specified. The bill would require the facility, within 6 months after the consent form is signed, and every 6 months thereafter, to provide a written notice to the resident and their representative of any recommended dosage adjustments and the resident's right to revoke consent, as specified. The bill would permit the use of remote technology, including telehealth, to allow a prescriber to examine and obtain informed written consent. The bill would declare the willful or repeated violation of these provisions to be punishable as a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with interested stakeholders, to develop a standardized informed consent form. The bill would require the informed consent form to be available to skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities by December 31, 2025, and would exempt the facilities from including the written consent form in the resident's health record until the informed consent form is available. Under the bill, the above-described provisions would be inapplicable to an individual under the care of the State Department of State Hospitals. 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 establishes the State Department of Public Health under the direction of the State Public Health Officer. Existing law requires that each death be registered with the local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the death was officially pronounced or the body was found. Existing law sets forth the persons responsible for completing the certificate of death and the required contents of the certificate, including, but not limited to, the decedent's name, sex, and birthplace. Existing law requires a person completing the certificate of death to record whether the decedent was ever in the Armed Forces of the United States. Existing law also requires the State Department of Public Health to access data within the electronic death registration system to compile a report on veteran suicide in California and requires the department to annually provide that report to the Legislature and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to access data within the electronic death registration system to compile a report on veteran drug overdose deaths in California and require the department to annually provide that report to the Legislature and the Department of Veteran Affairs on or before March 15 each year. The bill would require the report to include a cross-tabulation of the specified data and compare it to the data from the previous year. The bill would also require the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard to reflect overdose deaths by veterans.

Existing law prohibits the governing authority of a school or other institution from unconditionally admitting any person as a pupil of any private or public elementary or secondary school, childcare center, day nursery, nursery school, family daycare home, or development center, unless prior to their admission to that institution they have been fully immunized. Existing law requires the documentation of immunizations for certain diseases, including, among others, measles, mumps, pertussis, and any other disease deemed appropriate by the State Department of Public Health, as specified. Existing law authorizes certain exemptions from these provisions subject to specified conditions. This bill, the Cancer Prevention Act, would declare that pupils in the state are advised to adhere to current immunization guidelines, as recommended by specified health entities, regarding full human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization before admission or advancement to the 8th grade level of any private or public elementary or secondary school. The bill would, upon a pupil's admission or advancement to the 6th grade level, require the governing authority to submit to the pupil and their parent or guardian a notification containing a statement about that public policy and advising that the pupil adhere to current HPV immunization guidelines before admission or advancement to the 8th grade level, as specified. The bill would require that the notification also include a statement containing certain health information. The bill would incorporate that notification into existing provisions relating to notifications by school districts. By creating new notification duties for school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University and, subject to a resolution, the Regents of the University of California to require the first-time enrollees at those institutions who are 18 years of age or younger to provide proof of full immunization against the hepatitis B virus prior to enrollment, with certain exemptions. This bill would declare the public policy of the state that students who are 26 years of age or younger are advised to adhere to current immunization guidelines, as specified, regarding full HPV immunization before first-time enrollment at an institution of the California State University, the University of California, or the California Community Colleges. The bill would make a conforming change to a consultation-related provision. 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 law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2002, as specified, to provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test, including an HPV screening test that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) . This bill would expand the coverage requirement for an annual cervical cancer screening test to disability insurance policies that provide coverage for hospital, medical, or surgical benefits and would require a health care service plan contract, or a disability insurance policy that provides coverage for hospital, medical, or surgical benefits, issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, to provide coverage without cost sharing for the HPV vaccine for persons for whom the vaccine is FDA approved. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.