Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain a statewide telecommunications system for use by law enforcement agencies. Existing law also requires the Attorney General, upon the advice of an advisory committee, to adopt policies, practices and procedures, and conditions of qualification for connection to the system. Existing law, the California Values Act, generally prohibits, with exceptions, a California law enforcement agency from using its moneys or personnel to investigate, detain, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2020, consistent with the California Values Act, prohibit subscribers to the system from using information other than criminal history information transmitted through the system for immigration enforcement purposes, as defined. The bill would also prohibit subscribers to the system from using the system for purposes of investigating violations of a specified federal law if a violation of that federal law is the only criminal history in an individual's record. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2021, with exceptions, require any inquiry submitted through the statewide telecommunications system for information other than criminal history information to include a reason for the inquiry. The bill would also, commencing July 1, 2021, authorize the Attorney General, and personnel they so authorize, to conduct investigations, as provided, as the Attorney General deems appropriate to monitor compliance with these provisions.
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(1) Existing law generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license, regulate, and inspect health and care facilities. Existing law specifically requires the department to adopt regulations that require a general acute care hospital, an acute psychiatric hospital, and a special hospital to meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and assign additional staff according to a documented patient classification system for determining nursing care requirements. Existing law also generally requires the department to periodically inspect every health facility for which a license or special permit has been issued for compliance with state laws and regulations, and to ensure that those periodic inspections are not announced in advance of inspection. This bill would require the periodic inspections of these specified health facilities to include reviews of compliance with the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above. The bill would require the department to conduct these inspections in a manner that is not announced in advance of the date of inspection. (2) Existing law requires the department to promulgate regulations establishing criteria to assess an administrative penalty against a general acute care hospital, acute psychiatric hospital, or special hospital for a deficiency constituting an immediate jeopardy violation and a violation of the rules and regulations applicable to these types of hospitals that do not constitute an immediate jeopardy. Existing law requires certain penalties collected by the department to be deposited into the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account, to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for internal quality improvement activities in the Licensing and Certification Program. This bill would require the department to assess specified administrative penalties for a violation of the nurse-to-patient ratios and staff assignment regulations described above. The bill would exempt from those administrative penalties a general acute care hospital that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that, among other things, prompt efforts were made to maintain required staffing levels, as specified.
Existing law requests the University of California to compile specified information, including a survey of existing resources throughout California's governmental and administrative structure that are available to address the needs of an aging society. Existing law requires the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, based upon the information compiled by the University of California and with the consultation or advice of specified entities, to develop a statewide strategic plan on aging for long-term planning purposes and submit the plan to the Legislature. By executive order, the Governor ordered that a master plan for aging be developed and issued to serve as a blueprint to implement strategies and partnerships that promote healthy aging and prepare the state for upcoming demographic changes. The executive order requires the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a Cabinet-level Workgroup for Aging to advise the secretary in developing and issuing the master plan. This bill would require the secretary, in coordination with the Director of the California Department of Aging, to lead the development and implementation of the master plan established pursuant to that executive order. The bill would require the secretary and the director, with the assistance of the workgroup, to work with specified agencies, as needed, to identify policies, efficiencies, and strategies necessary to implement the master plan. The bill would also require the workgroup to solicit input and gather information to assist with the implementation of the master plan. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature by October 1, 2020, and submit updates annually thereafter, until October 1, 2030, regarding the master plan.
Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, requires a mandated reporter, as defined, to report whenever they, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, have knowledge of or observed a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months of confinement in a county jail, by a fine of $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine. This bill would add qualified autism service providers, qualified autism service professionals, and qualified autism service paraprofessionals, as defined, to the list of individuals who are mandated reporters. By imposing the reporting requirements on a new class of persons, for whom failure to report specified conduct is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1165.7 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 1153 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1153 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services. Existing law requires the office to be responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law, the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, requires every local public agency, as defined, to have an emergency communication system and requires the digits "911" to be the primary emergency telephone number within the system. Existing law also requires the office to develop a plan and timeline of target dates for the testing, implementation, and operation of a Next Generation 911 emergency communication system, including text to 911 service, throughout the state. Existing law creates in state government the State 911 Advisory Board, which advises the office on, among other things, policies, practices, and procedures for the California 911 Emergency Communications Office. This bill would require the office, in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders, to complete a study, as provided, to determine the feasibility of developing a statewide system that would enable all Californians, including older adults, individuals with disabilities, and other at-risk persons, to voluntarily provide vital health and safety information, with an encrypted connection, to be made available to all first responders in an emergency if a "911" call is placed. The bill would require the office to submit the results of the study in a report to the Legislature and the State 911 Advisory Board and make that report available to the public by January 1, 2021. The bill would also require the office to determine an estimate of the funding necessary to plan, test, implement, operate, and maintain the statewide system on an annual basis and to include the funding estimate in the report.
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 authorizes the agreement to set forth the manner by which the joint powers authority will be governed. That act specifically authorizes the creation of the Orange County Housing Finance Trust, a joint powers authority, for the purposes of funding housing specifically assisting the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income within the County of Orange, as specified. This bill would similarly authorize the creation of the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust, a joint powers authority, by the County of Los Angeles and any or all of the cities within the jurisdiction of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, with the stated purpose of funding housing to assist the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income within the San Gabriel Valley. The bill would authorize the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust to fund the planning and construction of housing, receive public and private financing and funds, and authorize and issue bonds. The bill would require that the joint powers agreement establishing the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust incorporate specified annual financial reporting and auditing requirements. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Gabriel Valley region.
(1) 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 requires that health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies provide coverage for certain services and treatments, including emergency medical transportation services. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, to provide that if an enrollee, insured, or subscriber (individual) receives covered services from a noncontracting air ambulance provider, the individual shall pay no more than the same cost sharing that the individual would pay for the same covered services received from a contracting air ambulance provider, referred to as the in-network cost-sharing amount. The bill would provide that an individual would not owe the noncontracting provider more than the in-network cost-sharing amount for services. The bill would authorize a noncontracting provider to advance to collections only the in-network cost-sharing amount that the individual has failed to pay. The bill would authorize a health care service plan, health insurer, or provider to seek relief in any court for the purpose of resolving a payment dispute, and would not prohibit a provider from using a health care service plan's or health insurer's existing dispute resolution processes. 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. (2) Existing law, the Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act, effective until January 1, 2022, imposes a penalty of $4 until January 1, 2020, upon every conviction for a violation of the Vehicle Code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code, other than a parking offense. The act requires the county or the court that imposed the fine to transfer the moneys collected pursuant to that act to the Treasurer for deposit into the Emergency Medical Air Transportation and Children's Coverage Fund. Under the act, moneys in the fund are made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Health Care Services for children's health care coverage and administrative costs relating to emergency medical air transportation provider payments. Existing law requires the assessed penalty to continue to be collected, administered, and distributed until exhausted or until June 30, 2021, whichever occurs first, and requires any remaining unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the fund to be transferred to the General Fund, to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes, including funding children's health care coverage. This bill would impose the penalty until July 1, 2020, and would extend the above-specified dates by six months. (3) 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 Student Aid Commission as the state agency primarily responsible for the administration and coordination of student financial aid programs at California postsecondary educational institutions. Existing federal law establishes the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program for purposes of providing financial aid to current and former foster youth who are attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law provides that the Student Aid Commission, through an interagency agreement with the State Department of Social Services, currently operates the program in California. Existing law authorizes the commission or the department, for the fiscal years 2018–19 to 2020–21, inclusive, to expend up to $80,000, of any moneys appropriated by the Legislature to expand the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program age eligibility of former foster youth up to 26 years of age, for outreach to newly eligible former foster youth who are at least 23 years of age, but are not yet 26 years of age. Commencing with the 2021–22 award year, this bill would authorize the commission to make initial award offers of up to 200% of total state and federal program funding available for all awards, with the number of initial award offers and the amount of the award to be determined based on the historical rate of award acceptance. The bill would require the commission to make award offers contingent upon available funding. The bill would authorize the commission to adjust or withdraw offers to ensure that awards do not exceed available program funding. The bill would also require the commission to advise award offer recipients that offers may be withdrawn or adjusted before payment and that awards are payable to eligible students only if funding is available. This bill would impose certain requirements on a student who fails to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, as defined by the institution where the student is enrolled, to maintain Chafee grant eligibility, and would take away Chafee grant eligibility from a student who fails to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, as specified. The bill would require that institutions provide an appeal process in writing and reinstate the student's Chafee grant when certain conditions are met. The bill would also provide that a student who loses Chafee eligibility and subsequently is not enrolled for one or more terms shall regain eligibility upon reenrollment. The bill would require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and would request the University of California, to provide all Chafee grant recipients, upon release of the first payment, with information regarding available support services on campus and the process for completing an educational plan and, in that notification, to strongly encourage Chafee grant recipients to avail themselves of those services if they have not already done so. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. This bill would limit the duration of receipt of a Chafee award to 5 years, which would not be required to be consecutive. The bill would prohibit an institution from requiring any other eligibility criteria for a Chafee grant than those described in this bill and in specified federal law. 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, the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012, provides that the purpose of the act is to increase California community college student access and success by providing effective core matriculation services of orientation, assessment and placement, counseling, other education planning services, and academic interventions. Existing law establishes the Student Equity and Achievement Program and requires a district, as a condition of the receipt of funds under the program, to comply with specified requirements, including the maintenance of a student equity plan to ensure equal educational opportunities and promote student success for all students, regardless of race, gender, age, disability, or economic circumstances. This bill would authorize the use of funding for the Student Equity and Achievement Program for the provision of emergency student financial assistance to eligible students to overcome unforeseen financial challenges that would directly impact a student's ability to persist in the student's course of study, as specified, if emergency student financial assistance is included in an institution's plan for interventions to students.
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, and imposes various requirements on the county child welfare agency in regard to arranging and overseeing the foster care placement. Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to receive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services, the right to be placed in out-of-home care according to their gender identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed in their court or child welfare records, the right to review their own case plan and plan for permanent placement if the child is 12 years of age or older and in a permanent placement, and the right to attend Independent Living Program classes and activities if the child meets applicable age requirements. This bill would instead require all children and nonminor dependents in foster care to have these rights and would revise various rights, including providing the right to review their own case plan and plan for permanent placement to children 10 years of age or older regardless of whether they are in a permanent placement and the right to not be prevented from attending Independent Living Program classes by the caregiver as a punishment. The bill would include additional rights, including, among others, the right to be referred to by the child's preferred name and gender pronoun, the right to maintain the privacy of the child's sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, except as provided, and the right to have reasonable access to computer technology and the internet. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson within the State Department of Social Services and sets forth the duties of the office, including disseminating information on the services provided by the office and rights of children and youth in foster care, developing standardized information explaining those rights, and compiling and making available to the Legislature all data collected by the office, including specified data regarding complaints made to the office and investigations conducted by the office. This bill would additionally require the office to provide training and technical assistance to foster youth, social workers, and child welfare organizations, among others, on the rights of children and youth in foster care, reasonable and prudent parent standards, and services provided by the office. The bill would require the office to review amendments to laws applicable to foster youth at the end of every two-year legislative session and determine whether updates to the foster care rights should be recommended in the compilation of data prepared by the office and made available to the Legislature. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including foster family homes and group homes, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires certain community care facilities that provide care to foster children to either provide each schooolage child and the child's authorized representative with an orientation that includes an explanation of the rights of the child or post a listing of the above-described rights. This bill would require the department to ensure that those facilities accord children and nonminor dependents in foster care with their personal rights, including the above-described rights. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions, and would authorize the department to implement these provisions by written directives until regulations are adopted. 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.