The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,995,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 17, 2024, as Bike to School Day in California to encourage students to ride bicycles or electric bikes to their schools. The resolution highlights the environmental, health, and recreational benefits of cycling while acknowledging the state's existing bike-friendly infrastructure and recent cycling events. It serves as a commemorative measure rather than a law that changes regulations or funding, and it directs the Assembly's Chief Clerk to distribute copies of the text for public awareness.
Maddy summaryThis bill establishes April 27 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. The resolution recognizes Milk's legacy as a civil rights leader who fought against discrimination and advocated for LGBTQ+ visibility and unity among minority communities. It recounts key events in his life, including his assassination in 1978 and the subsequent legal proceedings against his killer. The measure serves as a commemorative acknowledgment of Milk's impact on California and national history rather than creating new laws or policies.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish the California Legacy License Plate Program, and to create and issue a series of specialized license plates, consisting of one or more of 3 specified designs that replicate license plates from the state's past. Existing law requires the department to collect and hold paid applications for the plates, as specified, and prohibits the department from issuing a specialized license plate until it has received not less than 7,500 paid applications for any one of the particular plates on or before January 1, 2015. This bill would extend the deadline for receipt of the required number of paid applications to January 1, 2026, for plate designs that did not receive the required number of applications by January 1, 2015. This bill would also add an additional plate design to the program, as specified.
Existing law, the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. This bill would require each community mental health service to have a local youth mental health board (board) , appointed as specified, consisting of members between 15 and 23 years of age, inclusive, at least 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, mental health consumers who are receiving, or have received, mental health services, or siblings or close family members of mental health consumers and 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, enrolled in schools in the county. The bill would require the board, among other duties, to review and evaluate the local public mental health system and advise the governing body and school district governing bodies on mental health services related to youth that are delivered by the local mental health agency or local behavioral health agency, school districts, or others, as applicable. The bill would require the governing body to include the board in the county planning process and provide a budget for the board sufficient to facilitate the purposes, duties, and responsibilities of the board. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, among other things, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, commencing January 1, 2025, revises and recasts the MHSA by, among other things, renaming the commission the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and changing the duties of the commission to include promoting transformational change in California's behavioral health system through research, evaluation and tracking outcomes, and other strategies to assess and report progress. This bill would require the commission, on or before December 30, 2027, and once every 5 years thereafter, to assess the extent to which the local youth mental health boards have been established and to make recommendations on ways to strengthen the youth voice to support appropriate behavioral health services. 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 the Department of Housing and Community Development and sets forth its powers and duties. Existing law creates a housing authority in each county or city, which functions upon the adoption of a specified resolution by the relevant governing body. Existing law authorizes these housing authorities, within their jurisdictions, to construct, reconstruct, improve, alter, or repair all or part of any housing project. Existing law establishes various programs that provide housing assistance. This bill would enact the Social Housing Act and would create the California Housing Authority as an independent state body, the mission of which would be to ensure that social housing developments that are produced and acquired align with the goals of eliminating the gap between housing production and regional housing needs assessment targets and preserving affordable housing. The bill would prescribe a definition of social housing that would describe, in addition to housing owned by the authority, housing owned by other entities, as specified, provided that all social housing developed or authorized by the authority would be owned by the authority. This bill would prescribe the composition of the California Housing Authority Board, which would govern the authority, and which would be composed of appointed members and members who would be elected by residents of social housing developments, as specified. The bill would set forth the powers and duties of the authority and the board. The bill would require the authority to seek to achieve revenue neutrality, as defined, and would require the authority to seek to recuperate the cost of development and operations over the life of its properties through mechanisms that maximize the number of Californians who can be housed without experiencing rent burden. This bill would require the authority to prioritize the development of specified property, including vacant parcels and parcels near transit, and would establish a process for the annual determination of required social housing units. Under the bill, social housing would accommodate a mix of household income ranges and would provide specified protections for residents, who would participate in the operation and management of the units in which they reside. This bill would require the California Housing Authority to employ 2 leasing models in social housing developments, referred to as the rental model and the ownership model, and would set forth the characteristics of both models. Under the ownership model, the authority would extend a 99-year lease, in the form of a limited equity arrangement, as defined, to individuals who commit to a minimum 5-year term of residence, and would authorize the authority to act as a lender for residents. The bill would specify how the units may be sold and transferred. The bill would establish eligibility requirements for social housing residents and would provide for the selection of residents by lottery, as specified, providing that people who may have been displaced from a property as part of its development would be granted a preference for occupancy. The bill, among other things, would require the authority to accept a local jurisdiction's preference for a project parcel if specified conditions are met. This bill would establish the Social Housing Revolving Loan Fund within the State Treasury to provide, upon appropriation by the Legislature, zero-interest loans for the purposes of constructing housing to accommodate a mix of household incomes. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to provide financing for the activities of the authority through the issuance of general obligation bonds. The bill would authorize the authority to issue revenue bonds, as specified. The bill would require the board to provide for regular audits of the authority's accounts and records, as specified. The bill would also require the authority to prepare and submit specified reporting information regarding its business plan and progress to the Legislature on an annual basis.
Maddy summaryThis bill designates October 2024 as Menopause Awareness Month in California to highlight the health and societal impacts of menopause on women. It acknowledges that millions of women face symptoms that can affect their daily lives and work, noting that women of color are at higher risk for complications like premature menopause and heart disease. The resolution encourages the state to provide better health information and services to support women's well-being before, during, and after this transition. While the text outlines these goals, the bill itself is a formal recognition rather than a law that creates new funding or mandates specific programs.
(1) Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to implement a unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management regulatory program, known as the unified program. Existing law requires every county to apply to the secretary to be certified to implement the unified program, and authorizes a city or local agency that meets specified requirements to apply to the secretary to be certified to implement the unified program, as a certified unified program agency. Existing law authorizes a state or local agency that has a written agreement with a certified unified program agency, and is approved by the secretary, to implement or enforce one or more of the unified program elements as a participating agency. Existing law defines "unified program agency" to mean a certified unified program agency or its participating agencies, as provided. Existing law requires a business that handles a hazardous material, or an employee, authorized representative, agent, or designee of that business, to, upon discovery, immediately report any release or threatened release of a hazardous material, or an actual release of a hazardous substance, as defined, to the unified program agency and the Office of Emergency Services, as provided. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, on or before January 1, 2022, to adopt regulations to implement these reporting requirements. This bill would require this reporting to be made to the California Environmental Protection Agency instead of the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would delete the requirement on the Office of Emergency Services to adopt regulations, and would instead require the California Environmental Protection Agency to be responsible for the adoption and revision of the regulations and for the oversight of the enforcement of the regulations. The bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency, on or before January 1, 2028, to review and revise the regulations that implement the reporting requirements. This bill would require the Office of Administrative Law, on or before January 1, 2025, to report to the Legislature on whether the Office of Emergency Services has adopted certain regulations, as specified. The bill would define certain terms for purposes of the regulations that implement the reporting requirements if the Office of Administrative Law's report indicates that those regulations have not been adopted by the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would authorize the California Environmental Protection Agency to revise those definitions by revising the regulations. (2) Existing law requires the unified program agency to maintain one or more nonemergency contact numbers for release reports that do not require immediate agency response and requires the unified program agency to promptly communicate changes to this contact information to the Office of Emergency Services. This bill would require the unified program agency to maintain one or more nonemergency methods of communication, instead of phone numbers, and would require the unified program agency to promptly communicate changes to the California Environmental Protection Agency, instead of the Office of Emergency Services. (3) Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to approve a form for use by a business that is required to submit a followup emergency notice pursuant to federal law regarding a release of an extremely hazardous substance. Existing law authorizes the Office of Emergency Services to adopt guidelines for the use of the approved form. This bill would instead require the California Environmental Protection Agency to adopt regulations to approve the form and would require the followup emergency notice to be provided on the form. (4) Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to develop informational guidelines for facilities required to comply with the reporting requirements and with certain federal reporting requirements regarding the release of extremely hazardous substances. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to assist the unified program agency in ensuring full distribution of the guidelines to those facilities. This bill would instead require the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop the informational guidelines and to assist the unified program agency in distributing the guidelines. (5) Existing law provides that a business that violates the unified program laws is liable to a unified program agency for an administrative penalty not greater than $2,000 for each day that the violation occurs and that a business that knowingly violates the unified program laws is liable for an administrative penalty not greater than $5,000 for each day that the violation occurs. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2025, increase those penalties to be not greater than $20,000 for each day that the violation occurs and not greater than $30,000 for each day that the violation occurs knowingly. (6) Existing law requires a stationary source, as defined, with one or more processes that have certain substances present in more than a threshold quantity to prepare and submit a risk management plan, if the unified program agency makes a specified determination. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a stationary source submitting a risk management plan to submit the plan to the unified program agency after the plan is certified as complete, and requires the unified program agency to review the plan. Existing law imposes various requirements related to the submission and contents of a risk management plan. Existing law imposes civil or administrative liability on a person or stationary source that violates these provisions in an amount of not more than $5,000 for each day that the violation occurs, and in an amount of not more than $25,000 for each day that the violation occurs if the person or stationary source knowingly violates these provisions after reasonable notice of the violation. This bill would increase those penalties to be not greater than $20,000 for each day that the violation occurs and not greater than $30,000 for each day that the violation occurs knowingly. (7) To the extent this bill would require unified program agencies to provide new programs or higher levels of service, 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 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 authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to terminate a contract or impose sanctions if the director finds that a Medi-Cal managed care plan fails to comply with contract requirements, state or federal law or regulations, or the state plan or approved waivers, or for other good cause. Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2026, certain time and distance and appointment time standards for specified Medi-Cal managed care covered services, consistent with federal regulations relating to network adequacy standards, to ensure that those services are available and accessible to enrollees of Medi-Cal managed care plans in a timely manner, as specified. Under this bill, a Medi-Cal managed care plan would be deemed to be not in compliance with the appointment time standards if either (1) fewer than 85% of the network providers had an appointment available within the standards or (2) the department receives information establishing that the plan was unable to deliver timely, available, or accessible health care services to enrollees, as specified. Under the bill, failure to comply with the appointment time standard may result in contract termination or the issuance of sanctions as described above. Existing law requires a Medi-Cal managed care plan to submit a request for alternative access standards if the plan cannot meet the time or distance standards. Under existing law, a plan is not required to submit a previously approved request on an annual basis, unless the plan requires modifications to its request. Existing law requires the plan to submit this previously approved request at least every 3 years for review and approval when the plan is required to demonstrate compliance with time or distance standards. This bill would instead require a plan that has a previously approved alternative access standard to submit a renewal request on an annual basis, explaining which efforts the plan has made in the previous 12 months to mitigate or eliminate circumstances that justify the use of an alternative access standard, as specified. The bill would require the department to consider the reasonableness and effectiveness of the mitigating efforts as part of the renewal decision. Existing law requires a Medi-Cal managed care plan to demonstrate, annually and upon request by the department, how the plan arranged for the delivery of Medi-Cal covered services to Medi-Cal enrollees, with a report measuring compliance, as specified. Existing law requires the department to annually evaluate a plan's compliance with the standards and to annually publish a report. This bill would, effective for contract periods commencing on or after July 1, 2025, require the plan's and department's reports to include certain information and require the department's evaluation to be performed using a direct testing method, as specified. Under the bill, failure to comply with these provisions may result in contract termination or the issuance of sanctions. Existing law, as part of the federally required external quality review organization (EQRO) review of Medi-Cal managed care plans, requires the EQRO designated by the department to compile certain data, by plan and by county, for the purpose of informing the status of implementation of the above-described standards. This bill would require that the data include, effective for contract periods commencing on or after July 1, 2025, the number of requests for alternative access standards, categorized by new and returning patients, and the number of allowable exceptions for the appointment time standards, categorized by urgent and nonurgent appointment types and by new and returning patients. Under existing law, in lieu of contract termination, the director has the power and authority to require or impose a plan of correction and issue one or more of specified sanctions against a contractor for findings of noncompliance or good cause. This bill would require the department to monitor any plan of correction imposed by the director, with progress reported publicly no less than annually for the duration of the plan of correction. Existing law authorizes the director to impose monetary sanctions based on any of specified circumstances, including, among others, failure to submit timely and accurate network provider data. This bill would, for purposes of the particular circumstance described above, set forth definitions for the terms of "timely" and "accurate network provider data."
Existing federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. PPACA defines a "qualified health plan" as a plan that, among other requirements, provides an essential health benefits package. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene) , 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 provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, 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. This bill, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state. Under the bill, CalCare would be a health care service plan subject to Knox-Keene. The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children's Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare Program. The bill would make specified persons eligible to enroll as CalCare members during the implementation period, and would provide for automatic enrollment. The bill would require the board to seek all necessary waivers, approvals, and agreements to allow various existing federal health care payments to be paid to CalCare, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill would create the CalCare Board to govern CalCare, made up of 9 voting members with demonstrated and acknowledged expertise in health care, and appointed as provided, plus the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee as a nonvoting, ex officio member. The bill would provide the board with all the powers and duties necessary to establish CalCare, including determining when individuals may start enrolling into CalCare, employing necessary staff, negotiating pricing for covered pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, establishing a prescription drug formulary, and negotiating and entering into necessary contracts. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1 of an unspecified year, to conduct and deliver a fiscal analysis to determine whether or not CalCare may be implemented and if revenue is more likely than not to pay for program costs, as specified. The bill would establish an Advisory Commission on Long-Term Services and Supports to advise the board on matters of policy related to long-term services and supports. The bill would require the board to convene a CalCare Public Advisory Committee to advise the board on all matters of policy for CalCare, an Advisory Committee on Public Employees' Retirement System Health Benefits to provide recommendations related to public employee retiree health benefits, and a CalCare Health Workforce Working Group to provide the board with input on issues related to health care workforce education, recruitment, and retention. The bill would establish an Office of Health Equity within CalCare and under the direction of the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to ensure health equity under the program and other health programs of the California Health and Human Services Agency and to support the board through specified actions. This bill would provide for the participation of health care providers in CalCare, including the requirements of a participation agreement between a health care provider and the board, provide for payment for health care items and services, and specify program participation standards. The bill would prohibit a participating provider from discriminating against a person by, among other things, reducing or denying a person's benefits under CalCare because of a specified characteristic, status, or condition of the person. This bill would prohibit a participating provider from billing or entering into a private contract with an individual eligible for CalCare benefits regarding a covered benefit, but would authorize contracting for a health care item or service that is not a covered benefit if specified criteria are met. The bill would authorize health care providers to collectively negotiate fee-for-service rates of payment for health care items and services using a third-party representative, as provided. The bill would require the board to annually determine an institutional provider's global budget, to be used to cover operating expenses related to covered health care items and services for that fiscal year, and would authorize payments under the global budget. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would develop a revenue plan, taking into consideration anticipated federal revenue available for CalCare. The bill would create the CalCare Trust Fund in the State Treasury, as a continuously appropriated fund, consisting of any federal and state moneys received for the purposes of the act. The bill would specify uses for moneys in the CalCare budget, including special projects for which not-for-profit or governmental entities may apply. Because the bill would create a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. This bill would prohibit specified provisions of this act from becoming operative until the Secretary of California Health and Human Services gives written notice to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly that the CalCare Trust Fund has the revenues to fund the costs of implementing the act. The California Health and Human Services Agency would be required to publish a copy of the notice on its internet website. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.