Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physicians and surgeons by the Medical Board of California. Existing law authorizes the board to take action against all persons guilty of violating the Medical Practice Act. Existing law requires the board to enforce and administer various disciplinary provisions as to physician and surgeon certificate holders. Existing law, the Osteopathic Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of osteopathic physicians and surgeons by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. Under existing law, the board has disciplinary functions pursuant to the act. Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing by the Board of Registered Nursing. Existing law provides for the certification of nurse-midwives by the Board of Registered Nursing. Existing law, the Physician Assistant Practice Act, establishes the Physician Assistant Board for the licensure and regulation of physician assistants. Existing law requires the Board of Registered Nursing and the Physician Assistant Board to enforce and administer various disciplinary provisions as to nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, and physician assistants. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions. Under existing law, an abortion is unauthorized if either the person performing the abortion is not an authorized health care provider, as specified, or the fetus is viable. Under existing law, the failure of a physician and surgeon to comply with the Reproductive Privacy Act constitutes unprofessional conduct. This bill would prohibit the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California from suspending or revoking the certificate of a physician and surgeon solely for performing an abortion if they performed the abortion in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Practice Act and the Reproductive Privacy Act. The bill would also prohibit those boards from denying an application for licensure as a physician and surgeon, or suspending, revoking, or otherwise imposing discipline upon a physician and surgeon because the person was disciplined in another state in which they are licensed or certified solely for performing an abortion in that state, or the person was convicted in that state for an offense related solely to the performance of an abortion in that state. The bill would additionally prohibit the Board of Registered Nursing and the Physician Assistant Board from suspending or revoking the certification or license of a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or a physician assistant for performing an abortion if they performed the abortion in accordance with the provisions of the Nursing Practice Act or the Physician Assistant Practice Act, as applicable, and the Reproductive Privacy Act. The bill would also prohibit those boards from denying an application for certification or licensure as a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or a physician assistant, or suspending, revoking, or otherwise imposing discipline upon a nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife, or a physician assistant because the person was disciplined in another state in which they are licensed or certified solely for performing an abortion in that state, or the person was convicted in that state for an offense related solely to the performance of an abortion in that state. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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(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 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, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 1991, requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations establishing a standard of care at least as stringent as the most recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) screening guidelines, whereby all children are evaluated for risk of lead poisoning by health care providers during each child's periodic health assessment. Existing law requires a laboratory that performs a blood lead analysis on a specimen of human blood drawn in California to report specified information to the State Department of Public Health for each analysis on every person tested and requires other specified information to be reported when the laboratory has that information. Existing law authorizes the department to fine a laboratory that knowingly fails to meet the reporting requirements. This bill would, beginning on July 1, 2023, require the laboratory to report additional information, including the National Provider Identifier (NPI) of the health care provider that ordered the analysis, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number and the NPI of the laboratory, and the person's race, ethnicity, and pregnancy status. The bill would require a laboratory to request all of the required information from the health care provider who obtained the blood sample or ordered the test, but would waive the laboratory's reporting requirement when the health care provider cannot, or will not, provide the requested information. Existing law requires the laboratory to report within 3 working days if the result of the blood lead analysis is a blood lead level equal to or greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood and within 30 working days if the blood lead level is lower that threshold. This bill would make the threshold for reporting within 3 working days the most recent CDC reference level for an elevated blood lead level. Existing law requires that all information reported be confidential, except that the department is authorized to share the information for the purpose of surveillance, case management, investigation, environmental assessment, environmental remediation, or abatement with the local health department, environmental health agency, or building department, and with the State Department of Health Care Services for the purpose of determining whether children enrolled in Medi-Cal are being screened for lead poisoning and receiving appropriate related services. This bill would authorize the department to share the information for purposes of care coordination as well. The bill would authorize the department to share the information with specified health care providers and with the person to whom the information pertains, with the voluntary written consent of the person to whom the information pertains or the person authorized to give consent on behalf of the individual, and when required by state or federal law, or court order. The bill would also authorize the department to share the information for research, as specified.
Existing law creates a private cause of action against a person who intentionally distributes material that exposes an intimate body part of another person or shows that other person engaging in sexual conduct if the person knew that the other person had a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private. This bill would create a private cause of action against a person 18 years of age or older who knowingly sends an unsolicited image, as specified, by electronic means depicting obscene material, as defined. The bill would entitle the plaintiff to recover economic and noneconomic damages or statutory damages of a sum not less than $1,500 but not more than $30,000, as well as punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and other available relief, including injunctive relief, as specified.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes use of the Emergency Alert System to inform the public of local, state, and national emergencies. Existing law requires a law enforcement agency to activate the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate area if that agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability, has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there is information available that, if disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of that person. Existing law also authorizes the issuance and coordination of a Blue Alert following an attack upon a law enforcement officer or a Silver Alert relating to a person who is 65 years of age or older who is reported missing. This bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate a "Feather Alert," as defined, if specified criteria are satisfied with respect to an endangered indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances. The bill would require the department, if it concurs that specified requirements are met, to activate a Feather Alert within the appropriate geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency and to assist the agency by disseminating specified alert messages and signs. The bill would require the department to create and submit a report to the Governor's Office and the Legislature that includes an evaluation of the notification system established pursuant to these provisions no later than January 1, 2027. The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.
The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. Existing law establishes the Hastings College of the Law, under the governance of an 11-member Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, within the University of California. Existing law provides that the college shall forever be known and designated as the Hastings College of the Law. Under existing law, six directors constitutes a quorum for the transaction of all business of the college's board of directors. Existing law requires one of the directors to always be an heir or representative of Serranus Clinton (S.C.) Hastings and all other directors to serve 12-year terms. Existing law requires vacancies occurring in the board of directors other than the death or resignation of the heir or representative of S.C. Hastings to be filled by the Governor and approved by the Senate. This bill would instead provide that the college shall be designated as the College of the Law, San Francisco, as provided. The bill would make conforming changes. The bill would specify that a majority of directors constitutes a quorum for the transaction of all of the board of directors' business, and would require all directors to serve 12-year terms, except as provided. The bill would require all vacancies occurring on the board of directors, including a vacancy of the heir or representative of S.C. Hastings, to be filled by the Governor and approved by the Senate. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 67385 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1467 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1467 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, which consists of various departments and commissions, including the Department of Conservation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and State Lands Commission. Existing law vests in the agency various powers, including those related to conservation of lands. Pursuant to the agency's general authority, the agency established the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names to be a liaison to the United States Board on Geographic Names. The duties, powers, and responsibilities of the committee are established by its internal charter. Commencing on January 1, 2025, this bill would require the term "squaw" to be removed from all geographic features and place names in the state. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to direct the committee to revise its existing charter to perform specified responsibilities, including notifying public agencies, as defined, of each geographic feature and place name that includes the term "squaw." The bill would require the committee to choose a replacement name, under its discretion, and in consultation with advisory bodies, if the local governing body fails to recommend a replacement name within the allotted 180 days. The bill would require the committee to work in formal consultation with California Native American tribes on the list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission to establish a procedure for receiving name recommendations. This bill would require public agencies to no longer replace signs, interpretive markers, or any other marker or printed material with the discontinued name containing the word "squaw." The bill would require each agency or local governing body to ensure that map updates and sign replacements use the new name. Commencing January 1, 2025, the bill would require the committee to annually report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of these provisions, and would require that report to include specified information, including each geographic feature and place name that uses the term "squaw" in that public agency's jurisdiction and the proposed replacement name. By imposing requirements on local governments to remove the term "squaw" from geographic features and place names and to report specified information to the committee, 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, 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 through various delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under federal law, covered services include "preventive services," which are defined as, services recommended by a physician or other licensed practitioner of the healing arts acting within the scope of authorized practice under state law to prevent disease, disability, and other health conditions or their progression, prolong life, and promote physical and mental health and efficiency. On July 26, 2022, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the department's Medicaid State Plan Amendment to add community health workers as a preventive service. This bill would codify the requirement that community health worker services be a covered Medi-Cal benefit. The bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to engage in outreach and education efforts to enrollees, as determined by the department, but that would include, at a minimum, specified information to enrollees, including, among other things, a description of the community health worker services benefit and a list of providers that are authorized to refer an enrollee to community health worker services. The bill would require the department, through existing and regular stakeholder processes, to inform stakeholders about, and accept input from stakeholders on, implementation of the community health worker services benefit. The bill would be implemented only to the extent that federal financial participation is available and not otherwise jeopardized. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific this bill by means of policy letters, provider bulletins, or other similar instructions, without taking any further regulatory action.
Existing law establishes the California DREAM Loan Program, which authorizes a student attending a participating campus of the University of California or California State University to receive a loan, referred to as a DREAM loan, if the student satisfies certain requirements. Existing law prohibits a student from borrowing more than $20,000 in the aggregate under the program from any one participating institution. Existing law requires each participating institution to provide entrance and exit counseling to borrowers that is generally comparable to that required by federal student loan programs. This bill would prohibit a student from borrowing more than $40,000 in the aggregate under the program. The bill would prohibit a student who is enrolled in an undergraduate program from borrowing, as an undergraduate student, or a student who is enrolled in a graduate program from borrowing, as a graduate student, more than $20,000 in the aggregate under the program. The bill would require a participating institution, on or before January 1, 2024, to establish DREAM loan forgiveness options for borrowers with similar standards as those set forth in the Federal Perkins Loan Program. The bill would require borrowers to qualify for or be granted certain administrative relief, and would require borrowers to qualify for state of emergency administrative forbearance, as specified. The bill would specify that exit counseling provided by a participating institution includes information about DREAM loan repayment, forbearance, deferment, discharge, and forgiveness. The bill would require a participating institution to post information about the DREAM loan on its internet website, as specified.