Under the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, the Veterinary Medical Board licenses veterinarians and regulates the practice of veterinary medicine. The act requires an applicant for a renewal license to complete 36 hours of continuing education in the preceding 2 years. This bill would require a veterinarian who renews his or her license on or after January 1, 2018, to complete a minimum of one credit hour of continuing education on the judicious use of medically important antimicrobial drugs, as defined, every 4 years as part of the continuing education requirement. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of skilled nursing facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, a violation of the provisions governing skilled nursing facilities constitutes a crime. Existing law also establishes the Hospital Infectious Disease Control Program, which requires the department and general acute care hospitals to implement various measures relating to the prevention of health care associated infection. The program requires, by July 1, 2015, that each general acute care hospital adopt and implement an antimicrobial stewardship policy, in accordance with guidelines established by the federal government and professional organizations, that includes a process to evaluate the judicious use of antibiotics, as specified. This bill would require all skilled nursing facilities, as defined, by no later than January 1, 2017, to adopt and implement an antimicrobial stewardship policy that is consistent with the antimicrobial stewardship guidelines developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or specified professional organizations. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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Existing law provides for the Department of Transportation and local authorities, with respect to highways under their respective jurisdictions, to authorize or permit exclusive or preferential use of highway lanes for high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs) . Existing law authorizes the development and implementation of a value-pricing program consisting of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in various corridors under certain circumstances, pursuant to which vehicles that do not meet the vehicle occupancy requirements for use of an HOV lane may use the lane upon payment of a toll. This bill would authorize the San Bernardino County Transportation Commission to conduct, administer, and operate a value-pricing program, that may include HOT lanes or other toll facilities in the Interstate Highway Routes 10 and 15 in the County of San Bernardino and, with the agreement of affected transportation agencies, specified extensions and connections into the Counties of Los Angeles and Riverside. The bill would require the toll revenues to be spent for specified transportation purposes and would authorize the commission to issue revenue bonds payable from toll revenues. The bill would require the commission to report to the Legislative Analyst on specified matters within 3 years of commencement of revenue collection from the value-pricing program. The bill would enact other related provisions. This bill would become operative only if AB 194 is also enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2016.
Existing law regulates the payment of compensation to employees by employers and prohibits an employer from conditioning employment on requiring an employee to refrain from disclosing the amount of his or her wages, signing a waiver of the right to disclose the amount of those wages, or discriminating against an employee for making such a disclosure. Existing law generally prohibits an employer from paying an employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex in the same establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions. Existing law establishes exceptions to that prohibition where the payment is made pursuant to a seniority system, a merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or a differential based on any bona fide factor other than sex. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for an employer or other person acting either individually or as an officer, agent, or employee of another person to pay or cause to be paid to any employee a wage less than the rate paid to an employee of the opposite sex as required by these provisions, or who reduces the wages of any employee in order to comply with these provisions. This bill would revise that prohibition to eliminate the requirement that the wage differential be within the same establishment, and instead would prohibit an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than those paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, as specified. The bill would revise and recast the exceptions to require the employer to affirmatively demonstrate that a wage differential is based upon one or more specified factors, including a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or a bona fide factor other than sex, as specified. The bill would also require the employer to demonstrate that each factor relied upon is applied reasonably, and that the one or more factors relied upon account for the entire differential. The bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against, any employee by reason of any action taken by the employee to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement of these provisions. The bill would authorize an employee who has been discharged or discriminated or retaliated against, in the terms and conditions of his or her employment because the employee engaged in any conduct delineated in these provisions, to recover in a civil action reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits caused by the acts of the employer, including interest thereon, as well as appropriate equitable relief. The bill would prohibit an employer from prohibiting an employee from disclosing the employee's own wages, discussing the wages of others, inquiring about another employee's wages, or aiding or encouraging any other employee to exercise his or her rights under these provisions. The bill would also increase the duration of employer recordkeeping requirements from 2 years to 3 years. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law authorizes only a juvenile court judicial officer to make orders regarding the administration of psychotropic medications for a dependent child or a ward of the court who has been removed from the physical custody of his or her parent, as specified. Existing law requires court authorization for the administration of psychotropic medication to be based on a request from a physician, indicating the reasons for the request, a description of the child's or ward's diagnosis and behavior, the expected results of the medication, and a description of any side effects of the medication. Existing law requires the officer to approve or deny the request for authorization to administer psychotropic medication, or set the matter for hearing, as specified, within 7 court days. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court and develop appropriate forms for the implementation of these provisions. This bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2016, to amend and adopt rules of court and develop appropriate forms for the implementation of these provisions, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, and specified stakeholders. The bill would require the rules of court and forms to address, among other things, that the child or ward and his or her caregiver and court-appointed special advocate, if any, have an opportunity to provide input on the medications being prescribed, and would require the rules of court and forms to include a process for periodic oversight by the court of orders regarding the administration of psychotropic medications. The bill would also require a county child welfare department, probation agency, or other person who requests authorization for the administration of psychotropic medication to provide the child's caregiver with a copy of the resulting court order, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would also require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with specified parties, to develop and distribute a monthly report to each county placing agency that is a signatory to a specified data sharing agreement, and would require this report to include specified information regarding each child for whom one or more psychotropic medications have been paid for under Medi-Cal, including, among others things, the psychotropic medications that have been authorized for the child. The bill would also require a county placing agency to share information pertaining to the child with the juvenile court, the child's attorney, the county department of behavioral health, and the child's court-appointed special advocate, if one has been appointed. By imposing additional duties on county employees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires certain individuals involved in the care and oversight of children in foster care, including group home administrators, foster parents, relative caregivers, nonrelative extended family member caregivers, social workers, judges, and attorneys, to receive training on various topics. This bill would require the training to include training developed by the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with specified parties, regarding the authorization, uses, risks, benefits, assistance with self-administration, oversight, and monitoring of psychotropic medications, trauma, and substance use disorder and mental health treatments for those children. The bill would also require foster care public health nurses to receive this training. By imposing additional training requirements on social workers and public health nurses, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes proposed by AB 224, AB 403, SB 319, and SB 794, which would become operative only if this bill is chaptered 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 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.
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. This bill would prohibit a material change, as defined, made to the terms and conditions of a contract between a health care service plan and a solicitor, or a health insurer and a life agent, from becoming effective until the plan or insurer has delivered to the solicitor or life agent written or electronic notice of the change or changes to the contract, within a specified time period. These provisions would not apply if the material change is agreed to by the plan or insurer and the solicitor or agent or if the change at issue is required pursuant to state or federal law. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime with respect to health care service plans. 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 makes it a crime to intentionally record a confidential communication without the consent of all parties to the communication. Existing law exempts specified peace officers from that provision if they are acting within the scope of their authority. This bill would require law enforcement agencies to consider specified best practices when establishing policies and procedures for downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras, including, among other things, prohibiting the unauthorized use, duplication, or distribution of the data, and establishing storage periods for evidentiary and nonevidentiary data, as defined.
Existing law requires each sheriff and police chief to annually furnish a report to the Department of Justice on justifiable homicides. This bill would require each law enforcement agency to annually furnish to the Department of Justice a report of specified incidents when a peace officer is involved in the use of force. The bill would require that for each of these incidents, the report also include specified information about that incident. The bill would require the department to include a summary of the annual reports in its annual crime report. By imposing new duties on local agencies, 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law establishes the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office to, among other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access. This bill would establish the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, and would create the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program and funds from other public and private sources, to encourage the purchase and consumption of California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables by nutrition benefit clients, as defined. The bill would provide that the program shall only provide grants upon the deposit of sufficient funds, as specified, into the account. The bill would require that moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account be awarded in the form of grants to qualified entities, as defined, for consumer incentive programs, as defined, subject to specified regulations and in accordance with certain priorities. The bill would require the Office of Farm to Fork to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, as specified.
Existing law requires the Emergency Medical Services Authority to develop planning and implementation guidelines for emergency medical services (EMS) systems that address several components, including, but not limited to, manpower and training, communications, transportation, and assessment of hospitals and critical care centers. This bill would authorize a health facility, as defined, to release patient-identifiable medical information to a defined EMS provider, a local EMS agency, and the authority, to the extent specific data elements are requested for quality assessment and improvement purposes. The bill would also authorize the authority to develop minimum standards for the implementation of this data collection.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to immediately suspend a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a specified period of time if the person has driven a motor vehicle when the person had a certain blood-alcohol concentration. Existing law authorizes certain individuals, whose privilege is suspended pursuant to that provision to receive a restricted driver's license if specified requirements are met, including the completion of specified periods of license suspension or revocation. Existing law also requires the department to immediately suspend or revoke a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle if the person has been convicted of violating specified provisions prohibiting driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or drug or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and drug, or with 0.08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood or while addicted to the use of any drug, with or without bodily injury to another. Existing law authorizes certain individuals whose privilege is suspended or revoked pursuant to that provision to receive a restricted driver's license if specified requirements are met, including the completion of specified periods of license suspension or revocation and, in some instances, the installation of an ignition interlock device on the person's vehicle. Existing law does not permit a person who has been convicted of a first offense of driving a motor vehicle under the influence, with injury, to receive a restricted driver's license. Existing law also requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a pilot program from July 1, 2010, to January 1, 2016, inclusive, in the Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare that requires, as a condition of being issued a restricted driver's license, being reissued a driver's license, or having the privilege to operate a motor vehicle reinstated subsequent to a conviction for any violation of the above offenses, a person to install for a specified period of time an ignition interlock device on all vehicles he or she owns or operates. This bill would extend the operation of that pilot program until July 1, 2017. This bill would make these provisions relating to the pilot program inoperative on July 1, 2017, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2018.