(1) Existing law, commencing January 1, 2013, establishes rules for the operation of, and requirements for equipment of, an off-highway vehicle, including prohibiting a person who is operating a recreational off-highway vehicle from allowing a passenger to occupy a separate seat location not designed and provided by the manufacturer for a passenger. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2013, prohibits a person operating a recreational off-highway vehicle from riding with a passenger, unless the passenger, among other things, have both feet flat on the floorboard. This bill would delay operation of the prohibition that a person operating a recreational off-highway vehicle shall not allow a passenger to occupy a separate seat location not designed and provided by the manufacturer for a passenger until July 1, 2013, and would eliminate the requirement that both of the passengers feet must be flat on the floorboard. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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Existing law establishes various state water policies, including the policy that the use of water for domestic purposes is the highest use of water. This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. The bill would require all relevant state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the State Department of Public Health, to consider this state policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria when those policies, regulations, and grant criteria are pertinent to the uses of water described above.
Existing law requires specified information to be provided to patients regarding their health care. Existing federal law requires a written report of the results of each mammography examination and requires a summary of that report to be sent to the patient within a specified time period. This bill, from April 1, 2013, until January 1, 2019, would require, under specified circumstances, a health facility at which a mammography examination is performed to include in the summary of the written report that is sent to the patient a prescribed notice on breast density.
Existing federal Medicaid provisions require a state to describe its Medicaid program in its state plan, which is required by federal law to provide for, among other things, a public process for determination of rates of payment under the plan for hospital services, nursing facility services, and services of intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. Under existing law, various state statutes refer to mentally retarded persons in provisions relating to, among other things, services, commitment to state facilities, and criminal punishment. This bill, which would be known as the Shriver "R-Word" Act, would revise various statutes to, instead, refer to a person with an intellectual disability. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that the bill not be construed to change the coverage, eligibility, rights, responsibilities, or substantive definitions referred to in the amended provisions of the bill.
Existing law requires the principal of a school or the principal's designee to notify the appropriate law enforcement agencies of the county or city in which the school is situated of certain unlawful acts committed by a pupil that may result in suspension, expulsion, or criminal liability of the pupil, as specified. Existing law provides that a willful failure to make a report required by these provisions is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more that $500. This bill would delete the provision making a violation of that reporting requirement an infraction. Under existing law, the principal or the superintendent of schools is required to recommend the expulsion of a pupil for certain acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless the principal or superintendent finds that expulsion is inappropriate, due to the particular circumstance. These acts include, among others, the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances, except for the first offense for the possession of marijuana, as specified. For these acts, the governing board of the school district is authorized, but not required, to order the expulsion of the pupil. This bill would instead require the principal or superintendent of schools to make that recommendation unless he or she determines that expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct. The bill would encourage the principal or superintendent of schools to make that determination as quickly as possible to ensure that the pupil does not lose instructional time. The bill would include the act of possessing an over-the-counter medication or medication prescribed for the pupil by a physician as an additional exception to the act of possessing a controlled substance for purposes of the expulsion provisions described above. Under existing law, the principal or superintendent of schools is required to immediately suspend, and to recommend expulsion of, a pupil that he or she determines has committed certain acts at school or at a school activity off school grounds, including, among others, the possession of a firearm, and the governing board of the school district is required to order a pupil expelled upon the finding that the pupil did commit one of these acts. This bill would specify that the act of possessing an imitation firearm, as defined, is not an offense for which suspension or expulsion is mandatory, but is an offense for which suspension or expulsion may be imposed. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the acts enumerated in specified provisions form the exclusive bases for the imposition of suspension or expulsion.
Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law (Sherman Law) , requires the State Department of Public Health to regulate the manufacture, sale, labeling, and advertising activities related to food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics in conformity with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The Sherman Law makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver, hold, or offer for sale any food that is misbranded. Food is misbranded if its labeling does not conform to specified federal labeling requirements regarding nutrition, nutrient content or health claims, and food allergens. Violation of this law is a misdemeanor. The existing California Retail Food Code provides for the regulation of health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing the California Retail Food Code. That law exempts private homes from the definition of a food facility, and prohibits food stored or prepared in a private home from being used or offered for sale in a food facility. That law also requires food that is offered for human consumption to be honestly presented, as specified. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would include a cottage food operation, as defined, that is registered or has a permit within the private home exemption of the California Retail Food Code. The bill would also exclude a cottage food operation from specified food processing establishment and Sherman Law requirements. This bill would require a cottage food operation to meet specified requirements relating to training, sanitation, preparation, labeling, and permissible types of sales and would subject a cottage food operation to inspections under specified circumstances. The bill would require a food facility that serves a cottage food product without packaging or labeling to identify it as homemade. The bill would establish various zoning and permit requirements relating to cottage food operations. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code, proposed by AB 2297, to be operative only if AB 2297 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last. By imposing duties on local officials and adding new crimes, this 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 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 requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to allocate funds under the federal Community Development Block Grant Program to cities and counties. Existing law requires the department to determine, and announce in the applicable Notice of Funding Availability, the maximum amount of grant funds that may be used for economic development projects and programs, housing for persons and families of low or moderate income or for purposes directly related to the provision or improvement of housing opportunities for these persons and families, and for cities and counties that apply on behalf of certain Indian tribes. Existing law requires the department to develop and use certain eligibility criteria and requirements for certain economic development fund applications. This bill would make changes to the eligibility criteria and requirements developed and used by the department. The bill would also make conforming changes.
This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to enact legislation that would add comprehensive, preventative dental care coverage to Medicare benefits.
This measure would recognize September 2012 as Recovery Month in California, in order to raise awareness of the importance of substance use disorders treatment and to help people living with substance use disorders and their families to receive treatment.
This measure would recognize the 45th anniversary of Kwanzaa and proclaim December 26 through January 1 each year as Kwanzaa Week.