Existing law prohibits unauthorized communication with inmates in state prison. A person who violates that provision is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law further prohibits a person in a local correctional facility from possessing a wireless communication device, except as specified. This bill would provide, with exceptions, that a person who possesses with the intent to deliver, or delivers, to an inmate or ward in the custody of the department any cellular telephone or other wireless communication device or any component thereof, including, but not limited to, a subscriber identity module or memory storage device, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, a fine not to exceed $5,000 for each device, or both that fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would provide that if a person who is visiting an inmate or ward under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is found to be in possession of a cellular telephone, wireless communication device, or any component thereof, upon being searched or subjected to a metal detector, that device is subject to confiscation and would be returned the same day, except as specified. The bill would require that a notice to that effect be posted in each area where visitors are searched prior to visiting with an inmate or ward. The bill would provide that a person who brings, without authorization, a wireless communication device within the secure perimeter of a prison or institution housing offenders under the jurisdiction of the department is deemed to have consented to the department using available technology to prevent the device from sending or receiving calls or other electronic communication, and would require notice of this provision to be posted at all public entry gates. Existing law provides for the accumulation, denial, or loss of time credits for inmates of the department based on each inmate's behavior while under the jurisdiction of the department. The bill would provide that an inmate who is found to be in possession of a wireless communication device would be subject to the denial of time credits, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from accessing data or communications that have been captured using available technology from unauthorized use of a wireless communication device except after obtaining a valid search warrant, and would provide that any contractor or employee of a contractor or the department who knowingly and willfully, without authorization, obtains, discloses, or uses, confidential data or communications from an unauthorized wireless communication device is subject to an administrative fine or civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation, $10,000 for a 2nd violation, and $25,000 for a 3rd or subsequent violation. The bill would further prohibit the department from capturing data or communications from an authorized wireless communication device, or accessing data or communications that have been captured from an authorized wireless communication device, except as authorized under existing law. The bill would provide that any contractor or employee of a contractor or the department who knowingly and willfully, without authorization, obtains, discloses, or uses, confidential data or communications from an authorized wireless communication device is subject to an administrative fine or civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation, $10,000 for a 2nd violation, and $25,000 for a 3rd or subsequent violation. The bill would also provide that until January 1, 2018, the state shall require as part of the contract for the Inmate Ward Telephone System that the total cost for intrastate and interstate calls be equal to or less than the total costs of a call established in the contract in effect on September 1, 2011, and that other than the conversation minute charges and prepaid account setup fees, there shall be no additional charges of any type, including administrative fees, call-setup fees, detail billing fees, hard copy billing fees, or any other fees. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, a health insurer that provides maternity coverage may not restrict inpatient hospital benefits, as specified, and is required to provide notice of the maternity services coverage. This bill, commencing July 1, 2012, would require every individual health insurance policy to provide coverage for maternity services for all insureds covered under the policy. This bill would become operative only if AB 210 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is also enacted.
Existing law requires the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to any member or former member of the Armed Forces of the United States, as defined, for any academic term attended at one of these institutions within 2 years of leaving active duty. This bill, until January 1, 2017, would require the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to foster youth or former foster youth, as defined. By revising requirements relating to student eligibility for priority registration at 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law, part of the hazardous waste control law, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a process by which chemicals or chemical ingredients in products may be identified and prioritized for consideration as being chemicals of concern and to adopt regulations to establish a process by which chemicals of concern may be evaluated. The department is prohibited from duplicating or adopting conflicting regulations for regulated product categories. A violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime. The bill would enact the Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, which would, except as specified, prohibit, on and after July 1, 2013, the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any bottle or cup that contains bisphenol A, at a detectable level above 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) , if the bottle or cup is designed or intended to be filled with any liquid, food, or beverage intended primarily for consumption by children 3 years of age or younger. This prohibition would not apply to a product subject to a regulatory response by the department, on the date that a prescribed notice is posted regarding the department's adoption of the regulatory response. The bill would also require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative when replacing bisphenolA in containers in accordance with this bill.
Existing laws governing the taxation of insurers, the Personal Income Tax Law, and the Corporation Tax Law, authorize, until January 1, 2012, a credit in an amount equal to 20% of a qualified investment, as defined, made into a community development financial institution, as defined, but not to exceed, in the aggregate amount under all those laws, $10,000,000 per year. The bill would extend the operation of the credits until January 1, 2017, would eliminate specified limitations on the aggregate certified investments, and would eliminate certain requirements regarding certificates issued to taxpayers. The bill would, until December 1, 2015, authorize the Insurance Commissioner to establish a California Organized Investment Network Advisory Board, as specified, to advise the California Organized Investment Network on the best methods of increasing insurance investments while providing fair returns to investors and social benefits to underserved communities, increase the level and number of contacts among executives in the insurance industry, and recommend programmatic guidelines to the California Organized Investment Network program. The bill would also authorize the California Organized Investment Network, in allocating qualified investment credits, when certain conditions are met, to prioritize applications for those credits, as specified.
Existing law provides that a pupil is deemed to have complied with the residency requirements for school attendance in a school district if the pupil satisfies one of the specified requirements. Until July 1, 2012, existing law authorizes a school district in which at least one parent or the legal guardian of a pupil is employed to allow that pupil to attend a school in that district through grade 12 if the parent or legal guardian of the pupil so chooses and if the parent or legal guardian of the pupil continues to be employed by an employer situated within the attendance boundaries of the district. This bill would extend the operation of the provision authorizing the school district in which a parent or the legal guardian of the pupil is physically employed to allow the pupil to attend a school in that district, through June 30, 2017, and would repeal the provision on January 1, 2018. The bill additionally would modify this provision by requiring that the parent or legal guardian's employment occur within the boundaries of that school district for a minimum of 10 hours during the school week. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Under the State Contract Act, the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any state structure, building, road, or other state improvement of any kind that will exceed a specified amount, is accomplished by awarding a contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Similar provisions exist for local agency contract projects. This bill would authorize the County of Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communication System Authority to solicit proposals and enter into agreements with private entities for the delivery of a regional interoperable communications system and all related infrastructure to be used by public safety agencies and emergency responders located in the County of Los Angeles, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law regulates various subjects relating to the protection and preservation of personal health, including infant, child, and adolescent health, reproductive privacy, and the prevention of the practice of female genital mutilation. This bill would preclude a city, county, or city and county ordinance, regulation, or administrative action from prohibiting or restricting the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent's authority to have a child circumcised. This bill would provide that the Legislature finds and declares that the laws affecting male circumcision must have uniform application throughout the state. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974 authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist veterans in acquiring homes and farms by generally providing that the department may purchase a farm or home which the department then sells to a purchaser, as defined. Existing law prohibits the department, except in limited circumstances, from acquiring a home in which the veteran has an interest of record. This bill would authorize the department to acquire a home for the purpose of refinancing an existing mortgage loan that is not an existing loan acquired under the Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974. This bill would require the department to adopt and publish rules and regulations, as specified.
Existing law establishes the federal Medicaid Program, administered by each state, California's version of which is the Medi-Cal program. The Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services under the direction of the Director of Health Care Services, provides qualified low-income persons with health care services. Existing federal law establishes the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , which provides specified services for older individuals so that they may continue living in the community. Federal law authorizes states to implement the PACE program as a Medicaid state option. Existing state law authorizes the director to establish the California Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and contract with up to 10 demonstration projects to develop risk-based, long-term care pilot programs. Existing law also establishes PACE program services as a covered benefit of the Medi-Cal program. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into specified contracts for implementation of the PACE program, and also enter into separate contracts with certain PACE organizations, to fully implement the single state agency responsibilities assumed by the department, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into separate contracts with up to 10 PACE organizations, but prohibits certain contracts unless a Medicaid state plan amendment, electing PACE as a state Medicaid option, has been approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This bill would, instead, require the department to establish the California Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and would delete the pilot program and demonstration project requirements in these provisions. This bill would also provide that the department may enter into contracts with public or private nonprofit organizations for implementation of the PACE program and increase to 15 the number of separate contracts the department may enter into with PACE organizations, as defined. This bill would make other conforming changes.