Rep. Jessica Caloza

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 sets forth specified prior authorization and step therapy limitations for health care service plans and health insurers. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to require a health care service plan or health insurer to complete prior authorization within 30 days upon initial request, as specified, for a drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of a rare disease if the drug is prescribed by a specialist with expertise in the condition or disease being treated, the specialist has determined the drug is medically necessary, and the drug is the only FDA-approved treatment for the rare disease. Because a willful violation of these provisions 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.

This measure would call on Congress to enact legislation that restores and strengthens the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and it would call on the President to sign the legislation.

The Outdoor Advertising Act provides for the regulation by the Department of Transportation of advertising displays, as defined, within view of public highways. The act exempts from most of its provisions an advertising display used exclusively to advertise products, goods, or services that are either sold on the premises of an arena or marketed or promoted on the premises of an arena if, among other conditions, the advertising display has been authorized, as of January 1, 2021, by, or in accordance with, a local ordinance, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district adopted in connection with the approval of the arena, as provided. The act requires an advertising display that is located on the premises of an arena and that was erected pursuant to the exemption also to be authorized by, or in accordance with, an ordinance, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district, as provided. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, similarly exempt from most provisions of the act an advertising display used exclusively to advertise products, goods, or services that are either sold on the premises of an arena or marketed or promoted on the premises of the arena if, among other conditions, the advertising display has been authorized, as of January 1, 2032, by, or in accordance with a local ordinance or other discretionary approval, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district that benefits the arena, as specified. The bill would require, before one of these advertising displays may be placed, a determination from the department or the Federal Highway Administration that the display will not cause a reduction in federal aid funds or otherwise be inconsistent with federal law, federal regulations, or an agreement between the state and a federal agency or department, as specified. This bill would limit both of these exemptions to an arena that is fully constructed or under construction on or before January 1, 2027. The bill would instead require an advertising display that is located on the premises of an arena and that was erected pursuant to either of these exemptions to be authorized by an ordinance or other discretionary approval, including, but not limited to, a specific plan, sign district, or conditional use permit, as specified. The bill would prohibit an arena from having more than a total of 2 advertising displays pursuant to these exemptions. Except for advertising displays authorized by the existing exemption, the bill would require certain advertising displays placed pursuant to the new exemption for one arena to be located at least 5,000 feet from an advertising display authorized pursuant to an exemption for another arena. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5272 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 1228 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1228 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires, on and after January 1, 2023, a student health center on a California State University or University of California campus to offer abortion by medication techniques, as specified. Existing law establishes the College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund to be administered by the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and continuously appropriates the moneys in that fund to the commission for specified activities related to providing abortion by medication techniques at student health centers. This bill would require a student health center on a California State University or University of California campus, on or before January 1, 2028, to promote awareness of the services for abortion by medication techniques that the student health center offers, provide information on those services to students, and post the availability of those services on its internet website. This bill would require a community college that has a student health center, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to, on and after January 1, 2029, offer access to abortion by medication techniques, promote awareness of those services, provide information on those services to students, and post the availability of those services on its internet website. The bill would require the commission to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2030, that includes, but is not limited to, specified information relating to abortion by medication techniques at or through community college student health centers. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to develop a standardized reporting framework that minimizes administrative burden and protects student privacy. The bill would authorize funds appropriated for these provisions to be used for implementation readiness activities and ongoing operational costs, as specified.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires the board to appoint a chief executive officer, known as the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, under the administration of community college district governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate. Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law also creates the Cash Balance Benefit Program, which is administered by the board, to provide a retirement plan for the benefit of participating employees who provide creditable service for less than 50% of full time. Existing federal law requires public employers, which includes community college employers, to provide their employees with either social security coverage or membership in a qualified retirement plan. Existing law requires employers subject to STRS, including community college employers, to make available criteria for membership, including optional membership, in a timely manner to persons employed to provide creditable service subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program and to inform part-time and substitute employees that they may elect membership in the Defined Benefit Program at any time while employed, as specified. This bill would require STRS, in consultation with the Public Employees' Retirement System, on or before July 1, 2027, to provide on its internet website links to specified information regarding the Defined Benefit Program, the Cash Balance Benefit Program, and social security. The bill would require that information to include, among other things, the differences between membership and contributions made to the Defined Benefit Program and the Cash Balance Benefit Program and covered by social security. The bill would require a community college district, commencing July 1, 2027, to provide the information to a newly hired person who is classified as a temporary employee, as provided. The bill would require a person classified as a temporary employee, as specified, who is employed by a community college district to perform credible service to be provided with the option of membership in the Defined Benefit Program, the Cash Balance Benefit Program, if offered, or social security, as provided. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on a community college district, 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, 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 establishes, until January 1, 2028, the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to increase the pace and scale of the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning and to reduce barriers for conducting prescribed fires and cultural burning. Existing law creates the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund in the State Treasury to support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning by nonpublic entities, such as cultural fire practitioners, private landowners, and nongovernmental entities. Under existing law, moneys in the fund are under the control of the department, and the department or a contracted third-party administrator is authorized to direct payments for claims from the fund, consistent with specified guidelines adopted by the department. These guidelines include, among other things, (1) a requirement that an eligible claim relate to either a prescribed fire conducted or supervised by a burn boss, as defined, or a cultural burn conducted or supervised by a cultural fire practitioner, and (2) a requirement that a claim shall not be paid from the fund unless the department reviewed and approved a burn plan before the prescribed fire or cultural burning. Existing law requires, upon order of the Department of Finance, the $20,000,000 appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 2021 be transferred into the fund, and provides that all moneys deposited or transferred into the fund be continuously appropriated to the department for these purposes. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the limitation on public and governmental agencies enrolling in the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to the extent that the limitation would prohibit resource conservation districts and volunteer fire departments or districts from such enrollment. This bill would establish the Good Fire Act, which would indefinitely extend the Prescribed Fire Liability Program. The bill would explicitly state that the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund shall support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning on any lands within the state. The bill would also expand program eligibility by changing the entities who may receive coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning from nonpublic entities to individuals and entities other than the department or the federal government, as provided. By extending the term of a continuous appropriation and authorizing the expenditure of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would eliminate the requirement for department approval for a plan reviewed and approved by a burn boss, and would require a burn plan to be submitted to the claims fund portal before ignition. The bill would also require the guidelines to include methods for prioritizing broadcast burns and burns by non-public individuals or entities or California Native American tribes in the event the fund is oversubscribed. Within one year of a claim being paid from the fund, the bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the claim process and propose statutory changes related to the fund, as provided. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a curriculum for, or amend into an existing curriculum, a certification program for burn bosses who possess authority to engage in a prescribed burning operation and to enter into the necessary contracts related to a prescribed burning operation. Existing law requires this curriculum to provide for the initial certification as well as the continuing education of burn bosses. Under existing law, specified civil liability protections and eligibility for claims from the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund extend to prescribed burns that, among other things, are reviewed and approved by a burn boss certified pursuant to these provisions, as provided. This bill would require, as part of the continuing education of burn bosses, the State Fire Marshal to require recertification no sooner than every 3 years. The bill would also require the department to consider methods to increase the pool of available instructors for the certification program, including the use of non-department instructors. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a mechanism to allow specified individuals to be designated as a burn boss. The bill would authorize these individuals certified pursuant to this process to use the above-described recertification process to maintain currency. Existing law authorizes an entity that owns or controls brush-covered land, forest lands, woodland, grassland, shrubland, or a combination of those types of land within a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for permission to use prescribed burning for certain public purposes. Existing law requires the department, upon receipt of an application, to inspect the land in company with the applicant to determine whether a permit shall be granted, as provided. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the above-described requirement that the department conduct a site visit or inspection before issuing a state burn permit for projects undertaken by burn bosses or cultural fire practitioners. This bill would authorize the department to waive the inspection requirement or modify the standard precautions for an application submitted by specified individuals. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law exempts from CEQA specified wildfire risk reduction projects, including, among other projects, projects consisting of a prescribed fire or fuel reduction to reduce wildfire risk by reestablishing the fire return interval appropriate to the ecosystem for biodiversity or other benefits, excluding projects located on coastal sage scrub habitat or any other sensitive habitat. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the requirements of CEQA as applied to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to the extent necessary for the department to assist local agencies and beneficial fire practitioners to complete beneficial fire projects that limit dangerous wildfire conditions to the greatest extent feasible. This bill would exempt from CEQA those actions taken by the department to assist in the implementation of prescribed fire or cultural burning projects that do not otherwise require compliance with CEQA. Existing law establishes various grant programs for purposes of wildfire prevention. This bill would require a state agency, department, board, or commission that has awarded grant funds for a project that includes the preparation for, or implementation of, a beneficial fire project to include as an allowable expense of the grant the payment of overtime or double rates of pay to employees or contractors who prepare for or implement the beneficial fire project when such expenses are necessary for the implementation of the beneficial fire project. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law authorizes the director to authorize advance payments and requires grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report with the department 4 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 4 months thereafter. This bill would instead require grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report within 6 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 6 months thereafter. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2513 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2513 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Government Operations Agency. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code. Existing law, the California Factory-Built Housing Law, generally regulates the design, manufacture, and installation of factory-built housing, as defined and specified. That law specifically and entirely reserves to local jurisdictions certain local requirements, including local use zone requirements, snow load requirements, and wind pressure requirements. That law provides that any person who violates any of those provisions and other specified law is guilty of a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill also would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or district from imposing or enforcing local building standards applicable to a factory-built housing structure, as defined, that exceed or differ from the applicable mandatory standards contained in the California Building Standards Code. The bill would authorize a city or county to make changes or modifications in the requirements contained in the provisions published in the California Building Standards Code that are reasonably necessary to maintain minimum health and safety because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions, subject to the city or county making a specified finding. The bill would create a rebuttable presumption in favor of a determination that facilitates the use of factory-built housing and allows a project to qualify as a factory-built housing structure. This bill would define certain key terms for purposes of the California Factory-Built Housing Law. In this regard, the bill would define "building assembly" to mean assembled construction materials, components, subsystems, subassemblies or other systems designed for use in, or as part of, factory-built housing, and "factory-built housing structure" as a residential building where at least 23 of the new or converted square footage is designated for residential use and in which at least 30% of the residential use portion of the building is built using factory-built housing. The bill would recast the definition of "factory-built housing" to mean, among other things, a residential building, dwelling unit, building component, building assembly, or building system that is manufactured in a specified manner. The bill would make other conforming changes to definitions in the California Factory-Built Housing Law, the Sales and Use Tax Law, and the Vehicle Code. By adding to the duties of local officials, and expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that certain changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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 specified reasons.

Existing law designates specific days as holidays in this state. Existing law adopts state holidays as judicial holidays, with certain exceptions, including Admission Day and Columbus Day. Existing law designates holidays on which community colleges and public schools are authorized to close pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between the governing board and represented employees, including "Native American Day" on the 4th Friday in September. This bill would add "Eid al-Fitr" and "Eid al-Adha" to the list of state holidays. The bill would exclude "Eid al-Fitr" and "Eid al-Adha" from designation as judicial holidays. The bill would authorize community colleges and public schools to close on "Eid al-Fitr" and "Eid al-Adha," as specified. Existing law entitles state employees, with specified exceptions, to be given time off with pay for specified holidays. Existing law, in addition, authorizes state employees to elect to use 8 hours of vacation, annual leave, compensating time off, or personal holiday credit corresponding with specified dates. This bill would, similarly, permit the employee to elect to receive the holiday credit for the holidays of "Eid al-Fitr" or "Eid al-Adha," as specified. The bill would, for those holidays whose dates vary annually, instead authorize the above-described election to be made on the date designated by their group. The bill would make findings and declarations related to the purpose of the Eid holidays. The bill would make its provisions severable. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 2294 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2294 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The bill also would incorporate additional changes to Sections 45203, 79020, and 88203 of the Education Code proposed by SB 1394 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1394 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The bill further would incorporate additional changes to Section 6700 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2294 and SB 1394 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The bill further would incorporate additional changes to Sections 19853 and 19853.1 of the Government Code proposed by SB 1394 and AB 1841 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law imposes upon secondhand dealers and coin dealers a uniform, statewide, state-administered program of regulation of persons whose principal business is buying, selling, trading, auctioning, or taking in pawn tangible personal property, as defined, and requires a secondhand dealer or coin dealer to report secondhand tangible personal property that they acquire, except as specified, to the California Pawn and SecondhandDealer System (CAPSS) operated by the Department of Justice, as specified. Existing law defines "tangible personal property" for these purposes to include, among other things, all tangible personal property that the Attorney General statistically determines through the most recent Department of Justice crime data to constitute a significant class of stolen goods. Existing law further defines "significant class of stolen goods" to mean those items determined through the Department of Justice's most recent OpenJustice Web portal update to constitute more than 10% of property reported stolen in the calendar year preceding the annual posting of the list of significant classes of stolen goods. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would remove the term "principal" from the provisions that regulate secondhand dealers, making them applicable, instead, to persons whose business is buying, selling, trading, auctioning, or taking in pawn tangible personal property. By expanding the persons subject to the reporting requirement, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make the above-described provisions inapplicable to coin dealers and make other related and conforming changes. The bill would make the provisions that regulate secondhand dealers inapplicable to tangible personal property that has been acquired from a nonprofit organization or as a bulk purchase of donated items. The bill would also delete the definition of a "significant class of stolen goods," thereby potentially expanding the definition of "tangible personal property." By expanding the items subject to the reporting requirement, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the chief of police, sheriff, or police commission to accept an application for licensure and to grant a license to a qualified applicant, as specified. Existing law requires the licensing authority to submit the application to the Department of Justice before granting the license. If the Department of Justice does not comment on the application within 30 days after the submission, existing law authorizes the licensing authority to grant the applicant a license. This bill would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or any other state agency from issuing a license or permit to allow any entity to conduct business as a secondhand dealer without the entity having a state secondhand dealer license issued pursuant to the provisions described above. The bill would reiterate that any person conducting business as a secondhand dealer is required to report secondhand tangible personal property that they acquire to the CAPSS operated by the Department of Justice, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of that act, defines the term "public agency" to include various federal, state, local, and tribal entities. Existing law requires approval by the Department of General Services of certain joint powers agreements that include the state as a member, as provided. Existing law authorizes a joint powers authority to issue revenue bonds to pay the costs and expenses of acquiring, constructing, or conducting a program for, among other things, low-income housing projects owned or operated by a city, county, city and county, or housing authority. Existing law provides that the Treasurer and the Secretary of State are designated as elected representatives for federal tax purposes of a joint powers agency created to approve or certify the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by or on behalf of the joint powers agency to the extent approval is required by federal tax law. This bill would provide that the geographic jurisdiction of a joint powers authority is the area encompassed by the combined geographical boundaries of all of its member public agencies. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would additionally authorize the Treasurer to execute an agreement including the state as a member of a joint powers authority without obtaining approval from the Department of General Services only for the Treasurer to provide specified approvals for bonds issued by the joint powers authority to finance specified residential rental projects for which a city, county, or city and county that is a member of the joint powers authority has failed to provide specified approval required by federal tax law, as defined and provided. The bill would provide that its provisions do not expand, limit, or otherwise affect the authority of, among others, the state, or any officer or agency of the state, to enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement or cause the state to become a member of a joint powers authority, as specified. Existing law additionally authorizes, subject to specified limitations, any city or county to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing and for the provision of capital improvements in connection with, and determined necessary to, that multifamily rental housing. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of the above-described provisions, "city" or "county" is deemed to include the state when the state is a member of a joint powers authority pursuant to the bill's provisions only to provide the state with the power to issue bonds and provide approval, consent, or other action required to finance specified residential rental projects, as provided. Existing law provides that the State of California will not change the composition of a joint powers authority that has issued bonds, unless the change is authorized by a majority vote of applicable legislative bodies, as provided. Existing law defines "change in composition" to include, among others, the addition of a public agency, as defined, to a joint powers authority. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described definition, provide that the state becoming a member of an existing joint powers authority shall not, in and of itself, constitute a "change in composition." The bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes. Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, provides for the approval of tentative and final parcel maps by various local officials, as specified. The act authorizes an appeal of the local official's decision to the local legislative body, as provided. This bill would create an exception from the above-described authority as it applies to appeals by an interested person for maps that meet specified criteria, as provided. The bill would exempt from these provisions an appeal filed by an applicant, subdivider, tenant, advisory agency, or public agency or official, as specified. This bill would make the provisions of the act severable.