(1) The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless it is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the California Public Records Act. (3) The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires every state agency and local governmental agency to adopt a conflict-of-interest code, formulated at the most decentralized level possible, that requires designated employees of the agency to file statements of economic interest disclosing any investments, business positions, interests in real property, or sources of income that may foreseeably be affected materially by any governmental decision made or participated in by the designated employee by virtue of his or her position. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Political Reform Act of 1974. (4) This bill would state various exceptions and clarifications regarding the applicability of the acts described above in paragraphs (1) to (3) , inclusive. (5) Existing law requires a member of the governing board of a school district to abstain from voting on personnel matters that uniquely affect a relative of the member. This bill would expressly authorize an individual to serve as a member of the governing body of a charter school and be employed in a separate position at that charter school. The bill would require such a member of the governing body of a charter school to abstain from voting on all matters uniquely affecting his or her own employment. The bill would require a member of the governing body of a charter school to abstain from voting on personnel matters that uniquely affect a relative of the member, except as provided. (6) This bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2016.
Sponsored bills
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. Existing law specifies the benefits provided pursuant to the program. This bill would require the department, on or before December 31, 2016, and until January 1, 2021, to create an Obesity Treatment Action Plan to diagnose, treat, and reduce the incidence of adult obesity in the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the department to report the plan to the Legislature, along with any legislative recommendations to implement the plan. The bill would require the plan to include evidence-based principles and obesity treatment guidelines from specified provider associations, a plan for identifying and screening patients for obesity, and a review of coverage services to treat obesity. The bill would limit application of the plan to Medi-Cal fee-for-service plans. This bill would require the department to seek any federal approvals necessary to implement the requirements of the bill and to obtain federal financial participation, as specified.
Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing boards of postsecondary educational institutions receiving public funds for student financial assistance to require the appropriate officials at each campus to compile records of specified crimes and noncriminal acts reported to campus police, campus security personnel, campus safety authorities, or designated campus authorities. Existing law requires, as a condition of participation in a specified financial aid program, any report by a victim of a Part 1 violent crime, sexual assault, or hate crime, as defined, received by a campus security authority and made by the victim for purposes of notifying the institution or law enforcement, to be immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, disclosed to the appropriate local law enforcement agency without identifying the victim, unless the victim consents to being identified after the victim has been informed of his or her right to have his or her personally identifying information withheld. Existing law prohibits this report to a local law enforcement agency from identifying the alleged assailant if the victim does not consent to being identified. This bill would authorize the identification of the alleged assailant, even if the victim does not consent to being identified, if the institution determines both that the alleged assailant represents a serious or ongoing threat to the safety of students, employees, or the institution, and that the immediate assistance of the local law enforcement agency is necessary to contact or detain the assailant. In that case, the bill would require the institution, as a condition of participation in the financial aid program, to disclose the identity of the alleged assailant to the local law enforcement agency and to immediately inform the victim of that disclosure. This bill also would make conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law requires a public, private, or independent postsecondary educational institution, except the California Community Colleges, to make specified disclosures related to private student loans in financial aid material and private loan applications provided or made available by the institution, to distinguish private loans from federal loans in individual financial aid awards, and, if the institution provides a private loan lender list, to provide general information about the loans available through the lender and disclose the basis for each lender's inclusion on the list. This bill would require the public, private, or independent institution, except the California Community Colleges, to make available to the public upon request and in a prominent location on its Internet Web site within 12 months of a completed academic year, as defined, specified student loan debt statistics on graduates. The bill would require all public, private, and independent postsecondary institutions to provide students information concerning unused state and federal financial assistance including unused federal student loan moneys available to them before certifying their eligibility for private student loans and, if the institution does not participate in federal student loan programs, to inform students that they may be eligible for federal student loans at participating institutions and provide them information regarding Cal Grants and federal student aid. The bill would make nonsubstantive and conforming changes.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of the higher education system in the state, including the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University. The provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. Under existing law, the regents have all the powers necessary or convenient for the administration of the university, including the power to set mandatory systemwide fees. Existing law establishes the Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act, which suggests policies relating to mandatory systemwide student fees charged and student financial aid for resident students at the University of California and the California State University, including a policy urging the regents and the trustees to ensure that at least 33% of revenues from an increase in fees charged to resident students is set aside for institutional student aid to assist students and families. This bill would instead urge the regents and trustees to ensure that at least 33% of revenues from an increase in fees charged to undergraduate students is set aside for institutional student aid to assist resident undergraduate students and families, and would make the rest of these policy suggestions requirements, subject to adoption of a resolution by the regents as to the University of California. The bill would change an inaccurate cross-reference in a provision of the Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act.
Existing law describes the California Interscholastic Federation, provides the intent of the Legislature regarding its policies, and requires it to report to the Legislature and the Governor on its evaluation and accountability activities on or before January 1, 2016. Existing federal law, Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in an educational institution's programs and activities. This bill would require the California Interscholastic Federation, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to, no later than July 1, 2017, develop guidelines, procedures, and safety standards for the purpose of classifying competition cheer as an interscholastic sport, as specified. The bill would require the California Interscholastic Federation to seek a United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Title IX compliance designation for competition cheer, and would specify that competition cheer shall not be counted toward a school's Title IX compliance unless the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights deems competition cheer compliant with its definition of a sport.
(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district to accept interdistrict transfers of pupils in accordance with a policy adopted by resolution, and sets forth various requirements in that regard, including, among other things, requirements relating to attendance priorities, applications for transfer, and the calculation of average daily attendance. Existing law imposes certain reporting requirements in connection with interdistrict transfers to certain school districts and county offices of education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Finance, and requires the Department of Finance to report specified information to the Legislative Analyst, upon request. Existing law makes those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2016, and repeals them on January 1, 2017. This bill would extend those inoperative and repeal dates to July 1, 2017, and January 1, 2018, respectively. (2) Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst to conduct, after consulting with appropriate legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the interdistrict transfer program, and recommendations regarding the extension of the program. Existing law requires the evaluation to be completed and submitted, as specified, by November 1, 2014. This bill would instead require the evaluation to be completed and submitted, as specified, by January 31, 2016.
This measure would proclaim April 12 through April 19, 2015, as California Holocaust Memorial Week and would urge Californians to observe these days of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner.
This measure would designate November 2015 as Court Adoption and Permanency Month and would encourage the courts and their local communities to join in activities to expedite permanency for children.