(1) The Nursing Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of nurse practitioners by the Board of Registered Nursing, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to issue a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery to a licensee who meets specified qualifications. That act authorizes a certified nurse-midwife, under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon, to attend cases of normal childbirth and to provide prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care, including family planning care, for the mother, and immediate care for the newborn, and provides that the practice of nurse-midwifery constitutes the furthering or undertaking by a certified person, under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon who has current practice or training in obstetrics, to assist a woman in childbirth so long as progress meets criteria accepted as normal. The act makes the violation of any of its provisions punishable as a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would repeal the requirement that a certified nurse-midwife be under the supervision of a licensed physician and surgeon. The bill would authorize a certified nurse-midwife to consult, refer, or transfer care to a physician and surgeon as indicated by the health status of the patient and the resources and medical personnel available in the setting of care. The bill would provide that a certified nurse-midwife practices within a variety of settings, including, but not limited to, the home setting. The bill would specify that nurse-midwifery care emphasizes informed consent, preventive care, and early detection and referral of complications. (2) The act authorizes a certified nurse-midwife to furnish and order drugs or devices incidentally to the provision of family planning services, routine health care or perinatal care, and care rendered consistent with the certified nurse-midwife's educational preparation in specified facilities and clinics, and only in accordance with standardized procedures and protocols, including physician and surgeon supervision. This bill additionally would authorize a certified nurse-midwife to furnish and order drugs and devices related to care rendered in a home and only would require physician and surgeon supervision for the furnishing and ordering of drugs and devices if the standardized procedures and protocols require supervision. The bill would authorize a certified nurse-midwife to directly procure supplies and devices, to obtain and administer drugs and diagnostic tests, to order laboratory and diagnostic testing, and to receive reports that are necessary to his or her practice and consistent with nurse-midwifery education preparation. (3) The act also authorizes a certified nurse-midwife to perform and repair episiotomies and to repair first-degree and 2nd-degree lacerations of the perineum in a licensed acute care hospital and a licensed alternative birth center, if certain requirements are met, including, but not limited to, that episiotomies are performed pursuant to protocols developed by the supervising physician and surgeon. This bill would also authorize a certified nurse-midwife to perform and repair episiotomies and to repair first-degree and 2nd-degree lacerations of the perineum in a home setting and in a birth center accredited by a national accrediting body approved by the board. The bill would delete all requirements that those procedures be performed pursuant to protocols developed and approved by the supervising physician and surgeon. The bill would require a certified nurse-midwife when performing those procedures to ensure that all complications are referred to a physician and surgeon immediately and to ensure immediate care of patients who are in need of care beyond the scope of practice of the certified nurse-midwife or emergency care for times when a physician and surgeon is not available. By placing new requirements on a certified nurse-midwife, this bill would expand an existing crime and would, therefore, result in a state-mandated local program. (4) 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.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program as a state education, economic, and workforce development initiative with the goal of providing pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with the knowledge and skills necessary to transition to employment and postsecondary education. Existing law appropriates $200,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of this grant program for the 2017–18 fiscal year. Existing law requires applicants for grants under the program to demonstrate that they have local matching funds, as specified. Existing law specifies that no applicant may receive a renewal grant under the program for the 2018–19 fiscal year. This bill would change the name of the program to the California Career Technical Education Grant Program. The bill would increase to $300,000,000 the General Fund appropriation to the State Department of Education for this program for the 2017–18 fiscal year, and would further provide for an appropriation to the department in this amount for the 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would lower the amount of local matching funds required of an applicant from $1.50 for every dollar received to $1 for every dollar received, for the 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would also provide that an applicant receiving a grant from this program in the 2017–18, 2018–19, or 2019–20 fiscal year would be eligible for a renewal grant in the next fiscal year if that applicant demonstrates continued compliance with program requirements. (2) The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Existing law makes certain business practices in insurance unlawful, including, but not limited to, an insurer requiring an auto body repair shop, as a condition of participation in the insurer's direct repair program, to pay for the cost of an insured's rental vehicle that is replacing an insured vehicle damaged in an accident, or to pay for the towing charges of the insured with respect to that accident. Existing law also requires any insurer that conducts an auto body repair labor rate survey to determine and set a specified prevailing auto body repair labor rate in a specific geographic area to report the results of that survey to the Department of Insurance, which is required to make the information available upon request. This bill would delete the above-described provisions regarding an auto body repair labor rate survey and instead would require an insurer that conducts or uses a survey that establishes a prevailing auto body repair labor rate in a specific geographic area to report the results of the survey to the department at least every 24 months and would require the survey results to contain specified information, including, among other things, the name and physical address of each auto body repair shop surveyed, the total number of auto body repair shops surveyed, and a description of the geographic area covered. The bill would authorize the department to have access to all labor rate survey responses, a list of surveyed auto repair shops, the method for selecting surveyed shops, and the information used by the insurer to determine the geographic area for the survey and would require the department to keep all that information confidential, as specified. The bill would provide that a survey that complies with specified standards and requirements be accorded the status of a rebuttable presumption by the commissioner that the insurer has attempted in good faith to effectuate a fair and equitable labor rate component of a claim settlement or an adjustment of the labor rate component of a written estimate provided by a claimant. Existing law prohibits insurers from requiring that an automobile be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer, as defined. Under existing law, an insurer may suggest or recommend a specific automotive repair dealer under specified circumstances, including when a referral is expressly requested by the claimant. Existing law authorizes an insurer to provide a claimant with specific truthful and nondeceptive information regarding the services and benefits available to the claimant during the claims process. This bill would authorize an insurer to provide the claimant, at any time, with specific, truthful, and nondeceptive information including, among other things, a description of the insurer's direct repair program and information identifying available participating direct repair program repair shops and information about the types of parts that may be used in making the necessary repairs to the damaged motor vehicle. 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Bank and Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, under both laws, would allow a credit for specified taxable years to qualified investors and qualified funds, as defined, in an amount equal to 25% of a qualified investment, as defined, in a qualified small business, as defined, but not to exceed, in the aggregate amount under both of those laws, $15,000,000 per year. The bill would authorize the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to impose specified charges related to the administration of these credits and would deposit those amounts in the Small Business Investment Tax Credit Administration Account, an account created by this bill, and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, use those moneys for costs associated with the administration of these credits. This bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to report annually by March 15 to the Legislature specified information regarding the tax credit. The bill would also require the Department of Finance to contract with a consultant to evaluate the effects of the tax credit on the California economy, as specified, and would appropriate $100,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Finance for this purpose. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing sales and use tax laws impose taxes on retailers measured by gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, measured by sales price. Those laws partially exempt from those taxes, for a specified period, the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of, specified tangible personal property purchased for use by a qualified person, as defined, to be used primarily in manufacturing or other processes, and in research and development. On and after July 1, 2014, tangible personal property with a useful life of one or more years, as defined by reference to state income or franchise taxes, is deemed to have a useful life of one or more years for purposes of the exemption. This bill would define "useful life" for periods on and after July 1, 2014, to also include tangible personal property that is expensed for state income or franchise tax purposes and that has a physical useful life of one or more years. The bill, with respect to property with a useful life of one or more years as redefined by this bill, would require the State Board of Equalization to cancel any notice of determination and any related penalties and interest and would prohibit the board from issuing any notice of determination with respect to the purchase or sale of that property. The bill would authorize a qualified person to offset the amount of sales tax reimbursement or use tax paid against any sales and use tax imposed on the qualified person when a qualified person has paid sales tax reimbursement or use tax on purchases of qualified tangible personal property that has a useful life of one or more years, as redefined by the bill, as provided. The bill, beginning on and after January 1, 2018, and before July 1, 2026, would additionally exempt from those taxes special purpose buildings and foundations used for the generation or production or storage and distribution, as defined, of electric power and qualified tangible personal property purchased for used by a qualified person to be used primarily in the generation or production or storage and distribution of electric power or purchased for use by a contractor for the qualified person, as specified. The bill, on and after January 1, 2018, would expand the definition of qualified person to include, among others, a person primarily engaged in the business of electric power generation. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would improve the state's sales and use tax incentives to promote a stronger California economy by securing a greater share of the high-paying, high-skilled jobs in manufacturing and research and development.
Existing law requires a pupil's vision to be appraised by a school nurse or other authorized person in the pupil's kindergarten year or upon first enrollment in elementary school, and in grades 2, 5, and 8, unless the appraisal is waived by the pupil's parents upon presentation of a certificate from a physician and surgeon, a physician assistant, or an optometrist. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to adopt guidelines to implement those provisions. This bill would require, during the kindergarten year or upon first enrollment or entry at an elementary school, including a charter school, a pupil's eyes and vision to be examined by a physician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist in accordance with specified provisions, unless the pupil's parent or guardian submits a written waiver to the school or charter school. The bill would require, in a pupil's kindergarten year or upon first enrollment or entry at an elementary school that is not a charter school, the pupil's vision to be appraised in accordance with the above-specified provisions only if the pupil's parent or guardian fails to provide the results of the eye and vision examination. The bill would require a school or charter school to notify parents and guardians of the examination requirement and waiver option, as specified. By imposing additional duties on schools and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a school or charter school from denying admission to, or taking adverse action against, a pupil if his or her parent or guardian fails to provide the results of the eye and vision examination. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, rather than guidelines, to implement these provisions. 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.
(1) Existing law establishes the segments of the public postsecondary education system in the state, including the University of California administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law provides that a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, who has attended high school in California for 3 or more years, who has graduated from a California high school or attained the equivalent thereof, who has registered at or attends an accredited institution of higher education in California not earlier than the fall semester or quarter of the 2001–02 academic year, and who, if he or she is an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed an affidavit, as specified, is exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University. This bill would, commencing with the 2018–19 academic year, require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request the University of California, to designate a Dream Resource Liaison on each of their respective campuses, as specified, to assist students meeting specified requirements, including undocumented students, by streamlining access to all available financial aid and academic opportunities for those students. By requiring community colleges to designate a Dream Resource Liaison, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would encourage those institutions to establish Dream Resource Centers, and would authorize those centers to provide specified support services. This bill would authorize the trustees, the board of governors, and the regents to seek and accept on behalf of the state any gift, bequest, devise, or donation whenever the gift and the terms and conditions thereof will aid in the creation and operation of Dream Resource Centers for their respective systems. (2) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. This bill would require the governing board of a school district or county office of education that maintains any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, to designate a Dream Resource Liaison at each of their respective campuses that includes any of those grades. By requiring certain school districts and county offices of education to designate a Dream Resource Liaison, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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 Caregiver Training Initiative to develop and implement proposals designed to recruit, train, and retain health care providers such as certified nurse assistants, certified nurses, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and other types of nursing and direct-care staff. Under the initiative, contracts are required to be awarded to regional collaborative programs selected through a competitive request for proposals process. Existing law requires the Employment Development Department, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, to administer regional collaborative program selection and funding and specifies various duties of the Employment Development Department. This bill would require the Employment Training Panel to establish a grant award program to fund training programs for certified nurse assistants by interested and qualified applicants, as specified. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2018, the establishment of criteria for awarding grants and training program standards. The bill would also appropriate $3,000,000 from the General Fund to the Employment Training Panel to implement the grant award program.
(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board to report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature to receive input, guidance, and assistance before adopting guidelines and regulations implementing the scoping plan and a regulation ensuring statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. This bill would require the state board, no later than January 1, 2019, and in conjunction with specified stakeholders, to report to the Legislature on the need for increased education, career technical education, job training, and workforce development in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030, and as a result of the scoping plan, as specified. (2) The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in implementing the act. This bill would establish the Compliance Offsets Protocol Task Force for the purpose of investigating, analyzing, and providing guidance to the state board in approving new offset protocols for a market-based compliance mechanism with a priority on the development of new urban offset protocols, as specified. The bill would require the state board, in conjunction with the task force, to develop a multitiered incentive system for compliance offset credits, as specified.