(1) Existing law requires a county coroner to hold inquests to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of violent, sudden, or unusual deaths, including deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion. Existing law requires a coroner to register a fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation, unless it is the result of a legal abortion. If a physician was not in attendance at the delivery of the fetus, existing law requires the fetal death to be handled as a death without medical attendance. Existing law requires the coroner to state on the certificate of fetal death the time of fetal death, the direct causes of the fetal death, and the conditions, if any, that gave rise to these causes. This bill would delete the requirement that a coroner hold inquests for deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion, and would delete the requirement that an unattended fetal death be handled as a death without medical attendance. The bill would prohibit using the coroner's statements on the certificate of fetal death to establish, bring, or support a criminal prosecution or civil cause of damages against a person who is immune from liability based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, or who aids a pregnant person in exercising their rights under the Reproductive Privacy Act, as specified. (2) Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions. Existing law prohibits the state from interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before the fetus is viable or when it is necessary to protect the life and health of the pregnant person. Under existing law, an abortion is unauthorized if either the person performing the abortion is not a health care provider that is authorized to perform an abortion or the fetus is viable. Existing law, the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, authorizes an individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, to institute or prosecute in their own name and on their own behalf an action for damages, as prescribed. This bill would prohibit a person from being subject to civil or criminal liability, or otherwise deprived of their rights, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome or based solely on their actions to aid or assist a woman or pregnant person who is exercising their reproductive rights. The bill would clarify that an abortion is unauthorized if performed by a person other than the pregnant person and either the person performing the abortion is not a health care provider that is authorized to perform an abortion or the fetus is viable. The bill would authorize a party whose rights are protected by the Reproductive Privacy Act to bring a civil action against an offending state actor when those rights are interfered with by conduct or by statute, ordinance, or other state or local rule, regulation, or enactment in violation of the act, as specified, and would require a court, upon a motion, to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. The bill would also authorize a person aggrieved by a violation of the Reproductive Privacy Act to bring a civil action pursuant to the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act. The bill would provide for the indemnification of employees or former employees of public agencies who were acting within the scope of their employment. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 123466 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 2091 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2091 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes a variety of health care workforce training programs and health professions education programs within the Department of Health Care Access and Information to, among other things, maximize the delivery of primary care and family physician services to specific areas of California where there is a recognized unmet priority need for those services and ensure an adequate supply of appropriately trained professional and vocational nurses. Existing law establishes the Health Professions Education Fund to support those programs by providing scholarships and loans to students from underrepresented groups who are accepted to or enrolled in schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health professions. This bill would establish the California Reproductive Health Service Corps within the department for the purposes of recruiting, training, and retaining a diverse workforce of reproductive health care professionals who will be part of reproductive health care teams to work in underserved areas. The bill would require the corps to administer and oversee scholarships and stipends for scholars who are new reproductive health students, and loan repayment for scholars who have acquired debt from attending a reproductive health professional school in the past, in exchange for a 3-year term of obligated service in California at a corps-approved site. The bill would require the corps to prioritize the selection of scholars from historically excluded populations and underserved areas, and would require scholars to agree to complete abortion training as part of their health care education and to provide, or participate on a team that provides, reproductive health services and to commit to working at a corps-approved site in a specified area with a specified population. This bill would require the department to conduct an evaluation 5 years after implementation to assess the impact and effectiveness of the corps, and would require the department to report its findings to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2029.
(1) Under existing law, a person between the ages of 6 and 18 years who is not exempted by law is subject to compulsory full-time education. Existing law excludes a child under 6 years of age from the public schools, subject to specified exceptions. Existing law requires a school district maintaining a kindergarten to admit a child who will have their 5th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year. Existing law also requires a child who will have their 6th birthday on or before September 1 of the school year to be admitted to the first grade of an elementary school. Existing law authorizes a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California and who is judged by the administration of the school district to be ready for first-grade work to be admitted to the first grade, as specified. This bill, beginning with the 2024–25 school year, would require a child to have completed one year of kindergarten before that child may be admitted to the first grade at a public elementary school, except for a child who has been lawfully admitted to a public school kindergarten or a private school kindergarten in California, but has not yet completed one school year, and is judged to be ready for first-grade work, as specified, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires contract between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care provider to require the plan or insurer to reimburse the provider for the diagnosis, consultation, or treatment of an enrollee, subscriber, insured, or policyholder appropriately delivered through telehealth services on the same basis and to the same extent as the same service through in-person diagnosis, consultation, or treatment. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer that offers a service via telehealth to meet specified conditions, including, that the health care service plan or health insurer disclose to the enrollee or insured the availability of receiving the service on an in-person basis or via telehealth. This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer covering dental services that offers a service via telehealth through a third-party corporate telehealth provider, as defined, to disclose to the enrollee or insured the impact of third-party telehealth visits on the patient's benefit limitations, including frequency limitations and the patient's annual maximum. The bill would also require those plans and insurers to submit specified information for each product type. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
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. Under existing law, Medi-Cal services may be provided pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care health plans, including through a county organized health system. Under existing law, in-person contact between a health care provider and a patient is not required under the Medi-Cal program for services appropriately provided through telehealth. Existing law provides that neither face-to-face contact nor a patient's physical presence on the premises of an enrolled community clinic is required for services provided by the clinic to a Medi-Cal beneficiary during or immediately following a proclamation declaring a state of emergency. Existing law defines "immediately following" for this purpose to mean up to 90 days following the termination of the proclaimed state of emergency, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Under existing law, federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services are covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program, to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, to providers on a per-visit basis. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and any of specified health care professionals. Under existing law, "visit" also includes an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified medical professionals when services delivered through that interaction meet the applicable standard of care. Existing law prohibits an FQHC or RHC from establishing a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction and authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, developed in consultation with affected stakeholders and published in departmental guidance. This bill would authorize the department to authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize an FQHC or RHC to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. Existing law provides that face-to-face contact is not required when covered health care services are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities when those services and settings meet certain criteria. Existing law, effective as specified, requires a provider furnishing services via audio-only synchronous interaction to also offer those same health care services via video synchronous interaction to preserve beneficiary choice. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that requirement based on a Medi-Cal provider's access to requisite technologies, as specified. Existing law also prohibits a health care provider from establishing a new patient relationship with a Medi-Cal beneficiary via, among other interactions, telephonic (audio-only) synchronous interaction. Existing law authorizes the department to provide specific exceptions to that prohibition, as specified. This bill would authorize the department to take into consideration the availability of broadband access when providing those specific exceptions. The bill would authorize the department to authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the visit is related to sensitive services, as defined, and authorize a health care provider to establish a new patient relationship using an audio-only synchronous interaction when the patient requests an audio-only modality or attests they do not have access to video. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132.100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 966 to be operative only if this bill and SB 966 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue and renew driver's licenses, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue identification cards. Existing law requires the department to issue a restricted driver's license to an eligible applicant who is unable to submit satisfactory proof that their presence in the United States is authorized under federal law if they meet all other qualifications for licensure and provide satisfactory proof of identity and California residency. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue an identification card to a person documented under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. This bill would, among other things, require the department to, by no later than July 1, 2027, issue a restricted identification card to an eligible applicant who is unable to submit satisfactory proof that their presence in the United States is authorized under federal law if they provide satisfactory proof of identity and California residency, as specified. Existing law requires the restricted licenses and identification cards to include a recognizable feature on the front of the cards, such as the letters "DP" instead of "DL" and "IC" instead of "ID." This bill would delete the provision requiring a recognizable feature on the cards. Existing law prohibits California law enforcement agencies from cooperating, as specified, with federal immigration authorities. Existing law prohibits the disclosure of certain documents provided by an applicant to the department, except in response to a subpoena for individual records in a criminal proceeding or a court order, or in response to a law enforcement request to address an urgent health or safety need, as specified. This bill would specify that immigration enforcement, as defined, does not constitute an urgent health and safety need for those purposes, and would prohibit a government agency or department, law enforcement agency, commercial entity, or other person from obtaining, accessing, using, or otherwise disclosing, noncriminal history information maintained by the department, for the purpose of immigration enforcement. The bill would make other conforming changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12926 of the Government Code proposed by SB 523 to be operative only if this bill and SB 523 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes in the California Environmental Protection Agency the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the department, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. Existing law authorizes each county, city, district, or other local governmental agency to determine aspects of solid waste handling that are of local concern and whether the services are to be provided by means of nonexclusive franchise, contract, license, permit, or otherwise. Existing law requires the department to implement various state programs designed to encourage the reduction of solid waste, including, among others, a source reduction and recycling program for school districts, recycling programs designed to divert commercial solid waste and organic waste from businesses, defined to include public agencies, and requirements for state agencies and large state facilities to arrange for recycling services, as provided. This bill would require a jurisdiction or a public agency, as defined, to post on its internet website all current franchise agreements between contract solid waste and recycling haulers and the jurisdiction or the public agency. The bill would require the jurisdiction and the public agency to provide to the department the direct electronic link to those posted franchise agreements. The bill would require the department to create and maintain a publicly accessible database that provides direct electronic links to the posted franchise agreements. By imposing additional requirements on local agencies, the bill would create 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 establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes the State Department of Public Health, among other state departments, and is charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. This bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes and until January 1, 2028, would require the agency, or an entity designated by the agency, to establish and administer a pilot program to direct funds to primary care clinics that provide reproductive health care services in 5 counties. The bill would require a participating primary care clinic to implement at least one of a number of specified activities to improve health care delivery for marginalized patients, and to annually report to the agency over 2 years regarding its efforts and progress with those activities. The bill would require the agency to report to the Legislature on the program on or before June 1, 2026.
(1) Existing law, the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of 2002, known as Laura's Law, requires each county to offer specified mental health programs, unless a county or group of counties opts out by a resolution passed by the governing body, as specified. Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for short-term and longer-term involuntary treatment and conservatorships for people who are determined to be gravely disabled. This bill, contingent upon the State Department of Health Care Services developing an allocation to provide financial assistance to counties, would enact the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which would authorize specified adult persons to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan and implement services, to be provided by county behavioral health agencies, to provide behavioral health care, including stabilization medication, housing, and other enumerated services to adults who are currently experiencing a severe mental illness and have a diagnosis identified in the disorder class schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, and who meet other specified criteria. The bill would require the Counties of Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne and the City and County of San Francisco to implement the program commencing October 1, 2023, and the remaining counties to commence no later than December 1, 2024. The bill would require the Judicial Council to develop a mandatory form for use in filing a CARE process petition and would specify the process by which the petition is filed and reviewed, including requiring the petition to be signed under penalty of perjury, and to contain specified information, including the facts that support the petitioner's assertion that the respondent meets the CARE criteria. The bill would also specify the schedule of review hearings required if the respondent is ordered to comply with an up to one-year CARE plan by the court. The bill would make the hearings in a CARE Act proceeding confidential and not open to the public, thereby limiting public access to a meeting of a public body. The bill would authorize the CARE plan to be extended once, for up to one year, and would prescribe the requirements for the graduation plan. By expanding the crime of perjury and imposing additional duties on the county behavioral health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the court to appoint counsel for the respondent, unless the respondent has retained their own counsel. The bill would require the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission at the State Bar to provide funding to qualified legal services projects to provide legal counsel in CARE Act proceedings, as specified. The bill would authorize the respondent to have a supporter, as defined. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to provide optional training and technical resources for volunteer supporters on the CARE process, community services and supports, supported decisionmaking, and other topics, as prescribed. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, or a designated department within that agency, to engage an independent, research-based entity to advise on the development of data-driven process and outcome measures for the CARE Act and to convene a workgroup to provide coordination and support among relevant state and local partners and other stakeholders throughout the phases of county implementation of the CARE Act. The bill also would require the State Department of Health Care Services to provide training and technical assistance to county behavioral health agencies to implement the act and to provide training to counsel, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council, in consultation with the department and others, to provide training to judges regarding the CARE process, as specified. This bill would authorize the court, at any time during the CARE process, if it finds the county or other local government entity not complying with court orders, to report that finding to the presiding judge of the superior court or their designee. If the presiding judge or their designee finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the local government has substantially failed to comply with the CARE process, the presiding judge may impose a fine of up to $1,000 per day and, if the court finds persistent noncompliance, to appoint a special master to secure court-ordered care for the respondent at the county's cost. The bill would establish the CARE Act Accountability Fund in the State Treasury to receive the fines collected under the Act, which would, upon appropriation, be allocated and distributed by the department to the local government entity that paid the fines to serve individuals who have schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness, criminal justice involvement, hospitalization, or conservatorship. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the Judicial Council, to develop an annual reporting schedule for the submission of CARE Act data from the trial courts and would require the Judicial Council to aggregate the data and submit it to the department. The bill would require the department, in consultation with various other entities, to develop an annual CARE Act report and would require county behavioral health agencies and other local governmental entities to provide the department with specified information for that report. The bill would require an independent, research-based entity retained by the department to develop an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the CARE Act and would require the department to produce a preliminary and final report based on that evaluation. By increasing the duties of a local agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would exempt a county or an employee or agent of a county from civil or criminal liability for any action by a respondent in the CARE process, except when an act or omission constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct. 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, establishes the Mental Health Services Fund (MHSF) , a continuously appropriated fund, to fund various county mental health programs, including children's mental health care, adult and older adult mental health care, prevention and early intervention programs, and innovative programs. This bill would clarify that MHSA funds may be used to provide services to individuals under a CARE agreement or a CARE plan. (2) 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. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plans and insurers to provide coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Violation of the Knox-Keene Act by a health care service plan is a crime. This bill would require health care service plans and insurers to cover the cost of developing an evaluation for CARE process services and the provision of all health care services for an enrollee or insured when required or recommended for the person pursuant to a CARE plan, as specified, without cost sharing, except for prescription drugs, and regardless of whether the services are provided by an in-network or out-of-network provider. Because a violation of this requirement by a health care service plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant's mental competency is evaluated and by which the defendant receives treatment, with the goal of returning the defendant to competency. Existing law suspends a criminal action pending restoration to competency. This bill, for a misdemeanor defendant who has been determined to be incompetent to stand trial, would authorize the court to refer the defendant to the CARE process. (4) 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. (5) This bill would state that its provisions are severable. (6) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1370.01 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1223 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1223 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (7) 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 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law prescribes a process pursuant to which an alcoholic beverage licensee may appeal a final determination of the department imposing a penalty assessment or affecting a license to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board. In this regard, the board is required to enter its order within 60 days after the filing of an appeal. This bill would instead require the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board to enter its order within 60 days after an appeal is submitted for decision. Existing law permits a manufacturer, winegrower, rectifier, distiller, distilled spirits wholesaler, or any agent of those licensees to conduct market research. In this regard, existing law prohibits a retail premises from participating in more than one research project, as specified, during a calendar year and authorizes a research project to involve multiple onsite surveys. This bill would make clarifying changes to these provisions, including specifying that surveys, as described above, are to gather feedback.