Asm. Blanca Pacheco

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (the Knox-Keene Act) , a violation of which is a crime, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. The Knox-Keene Act requires a pharmacy benefit manager under contract with a health care service plan to, among other things, register with the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would additionally require a pharmacy benefit manager, as defined, to apply for a license from the Department of Insurance to operate as a pharmacy benefit manager no later than January 1, 2027. The bill would establish application qualifications and requirements, and would require initial license and renewal fees to be collected into the newly created Pharmacy Benefit Manager Account in the Insurance Fund, to be available to the department for use, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, for costs related to licensing and regulating pharmacy benefit managers. This bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to file with the department at specified annual intervals 2 reports, one of which discloses product benefits specific to the purchaser, and the other of which includes information about categories of drugs and the pharmacy benefit manager's contracts and revenues. The bill would specify that the contents of the reports are not to be disclosed to the public. The bill would require the department, at specified annual intervals, to prepare 2 reports based on the reports submitted by pharmacy benefit managers, and would require the department to post its reports on the department's internet website. This bill would impose specified duties on pharmacy benefit managers and requirements for pharmacy benefit manager services and pharmacy benefit manager contracts. The bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to disclose to the Department of Insurance all types of fees it receives and how the fees are calculated. The bill would make a violation of the above-specified provisions subject to specified civil penalties. The bill would establish various filing and service requirements when a proceeding is brought for a violation of specified requirements by a pharmacy benefit manager. The bill would create the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fines and Penalties Account in the General Fund, into which fines and administrative penalties would be deposited. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides coverage for outpatient prescription drugs to cover medically necessary prescription drugs and subjects those policies to certain limitations on cost sharing and the placement of drugs on formularies. Existing law limits the maximum amount an enrollee or insured may be required to pay at the point of sale for a covered prescription drug to the lesser of the applicable cost-sharing amount or the retail price, and requires that payment apply to the applicable deductible. Existing law requires a plan or insurer that reports rate information to report specified prescription drug information to the relevant department no later than October 1 of each year. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, that provides prescription drug coverage from calculating an enrollee's or insured's cost sharing at an amount that exceeds the actual rate paid for the prescription drug, and would require a health care service plan contract to include specified cost-sharing provisions. The bill would require a plan or insurer to include additional information in its annual prescription drug data reporting, including the aggregate amount of rebates received by the pharmacy benefit manager for each drug. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Knox-Keene Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would declare that it would not narrow, abrogate, or otherwise alter the authority of the Attorney General to maintain or restore competitive, fair, and honest markets and prosecute state and federal antitrust and unfair competition violations, among other violations, and would declare that the provisions of this bill are severable. 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 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.

Existing law authorizes a court to issue a restraining order to a person to prevent abuse, as specified, based on reasonable proof of a past act or acts of abuse. Existing law authorizes the order to be issued solely on the affidavit or testimony of the person requesting the restraining order. Existing law prohibits an ex parte restraining order from being denied solely because the other party was not provided notice. Existing law authorizes a court to issue ex parte protective orders enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts, including threatening or harassing the other party or disturbing the peace of the other party; excluding a party from the family dwelling, the dwelling of the other party, the common dwelling of both parties, or the dwelling of the person who has care, custody, and control of a child; and enjoining a party from specified behavior that the court determines is necessary to effectuate either of those types of orders. This bill would prohibit rejection of a protective order described above by the court if it is submitted on specified mandatory Judicial Council forms, includes all of the forms required to issue an order, and identifies the party submitting the request and the party who is the subject of the requested order.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, under the administration of community college district governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate. Existing law establishes a statewide baccalaureate degree program that authorizes up to a total of 30 baccalaureate degree programs at community college districts to be approved per academic year, as provided. This bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program that authorizes select community college districts to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The bill would limit the pilot program to 10 community college districts statewide and would require the chancellor to identify eligible community college districts based on specified criteria. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct an evaluation of the pilot program on or before January 1, 2030, to determine the effectiveness of the program and the need to continue or expand the program. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031.

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 authorizes a law enforcement agency to request the Department of the California Highway Patrol to activate a "Feather Alert," as defined, if the law enforcement agency determines that specified criteria are satisfied with respect to an endangered indigenous person who has been reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances. Existing law requires the department, if it concurs that those 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. Existing law requires the department to create and submit a report to the Governor's office and the Legislature that includes an evaluation of the Feather Alert, as specified. This bill would require the department, in consultation with specified groups including tribal nations, to develop policies and procedures providing instruction specifying how a law enforcement agency and certain entities involved in emergency warnings are required to proceed after a missing person has been reported to a law enforcement agency, as defined, and prescribed conditions are met. The bill would require those policies and procedures to include, among other things, procedures for the transfer of information regarding the missing person and the circumstances surrounding the missing person's disappearance, as specified. This bill would require the department to respond to a law enforcement agency's or tribe's request to activate a Feather Alert within 48 hours of receiving the request. The bill would require the department to take reasonable steps to confirm that a report from a missing person's family members is not an attempt to locate an indigenous person who is intentionally avoiding or evading abuse, as specified. If the department declines to activate a Feather Alert, the bill would require it to provide written notice to the requesting law enforcement agency or tribe, as specified. This bill would revise the conditions under which a law enforcement agency may request the department to activate a Feather Alert. In this regard, the bill would authorize the agency to make that request if it determines a Feather Alert would be an effective tool in the investigation of missing and murdered indigenous persons. To make that determination, the bill would require a law enforcement agency to consider prescribed factors, including, among other things, that the agency or tribe believes that the person is in danger and is missing under specified circumstances. This bill would revise the reporting requirement described above to require the department to work with law enforcement agencies and tribal nations to create the report and to submit the report no later than January 1, 2027. The bill would require the report to include information on the efficacy and advantages of the Feather Alert, including, but not limited to, statistical data on the number of cases closed and the number of cases that remain open, and the impact of the Feather Alert on other alert programs.

Under existing law, a person who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, any act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Under existing law, if the person solicited was a minor, and the person who solicited the minor knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of 2 days and not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This bill would make this offense applicable only to a defendant who is 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense. The bill would, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, or if the person solicited was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the person solicited was a victim of human trafficking, make the offense punishable as a wobbler by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. For a 2nd or subsequent offense under those conditions, the bill would require that the offense be punishable as a felony by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. By changing the elements and increasing the punishment of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires persons convicted of certain specified crimes to annually register as a sex offender, as specified, for a term of 10, 20, or 30 years. This bill would require a person who is 18 years of age or older, on or after January 1, 2025, is convicted of, and who has a prior conviction for, soliciting a minor, as specified, to annually register as a sex offender for a term of 10 years if, at the time of the offense, the person was more than 10 years older than the solicited minor. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 647 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 926, AB 1874, and AB 1962, to be operative only if this bill and some or all of those other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.

The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. The act prohibits a state or local agency from posting the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official on the internet without first obtaining the written permission of that individual. This bill would instead prohibit a state or local agency from publicly posting, as defined, the home address, telephone number, or both the name and assessor parcel number associated with the home address of any elected or appointed official on the internet without first obtaining the written permission of that individual. By expanding the scope of a current provision and thereby increasing the duties of local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to the above-described provision to accomplish specified goals. 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 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 Interagency Council on Homelessness to identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California by creating partnerships between federal, state, local, and nonprofit entities. Existing law requires a state agency or department that administers one or more state homelessness programs, upon request of the council, to participate in council activities, as specified, and to provide to the council any relevant information regarding those state homelessness programs. This bill would require, commencing September 1, 2025, a state agency or department that administers one or more state homelessness programs to report annually to the council cost and outcome data for each program the agency or department administers, and would require the council, in coordination with each agency or department required to report to the council, as specified, to develop data collection and reporting procedures for this purpose. The bill would require the council to compile the data reported by agencies and departments and, commencing April 1, 2026, annually make that data available to the public.

Existing law requires that a weapon acquired by a specified governmental entity under specified circumstances, including as part of a "gun-buyback" program, be destroyed. This bill would require a law enforcement agency that contracts with a third party for the destruction of firearms or weapons to ensure that the contract for those services prohibits the sale of any parts of, or attachments to, the firearm or other weapon, as specified. The bill would also exempt from the destruction requirement, any firearm obtained through a "gun-buyback" program that is donated to a historical society, museum, or institutional collection, as specified. By requiring a higher level of service for local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 18005 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1019 and AB 2739 to be operative only if this bill and either one or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 Department of General Services, which is under the control of the Director of General Services, within the Government Operations Agency and requires it to perform various functions and duties with respect to property within the state, including entering into lease agreements. Existing law authorizes the director, with the consent of the state agency concerned, to, among other things, let for a period not to exceed 5 years, any real or personal property that belongs to the state, the letting of which is not expressly prohibited by law, as specified. Existing law establishes various exceptions to that provision, including that the director, with the consent of the State Department of State Hospitals, may lease to a nonprofit corporation, for the purpose of conducting an educational and work program for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, and for a period not to exceed 50 years, real property not exceeding 10 acres located within the grounds of the Napa State Hospital. This bill would, as an exception to the above-described provision, also authorize the director, with the consent of the State Department of State Hospitals, to lease to a nonprofit corporation or local government, for a period not to exceed 65 years, 7 buildings located at Metropolitan State Hospital in the City of Norwalk. The bill would require the lease to be entered into for the purposes of providing care, resources, and housing to persons with, among other things, behavioral health needs, upon the terms and conditions deemed by the director to be in the best interest of the state.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the public institutions of higher education, 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. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education 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. This bill would prohibit the University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges from disqualifying a student from being hired for an employment position due to the student's failure to provide proof of federal work authorization, except where that proof is required by federal law or where that proof is required as a condition of a grant that funds the particular employment position for which the student has applied. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to treat a specified prohibition in federal law on hiring undocumented noncitizens as inapplicable because that provision does not apply to any branch of state government. The bill would further provide that, to the extent student employment is considered a "benefit" for purposes of federal law, the bill constitutes authorization to provide that benefit for purposes of specified federal law. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to implement the bill by January 6, 2025. The bill's provisions would apply to the University of California, unless it is found inapplicable to the University of California and then only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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, 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.