This measure would proclaim September 29, 2019, as Gold Star Mothers' and Families' Day in California.
This measure would welcome refugees and declare its support for the resettlement of refugees in California, no matter their religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, or country of origin, and calls upon other local governments and communities to join them in supporting a stronger national effort to resettle the world's most vulnerable refugees. This measure would call on the federal government to resettle all 30,000 refugees that the United States has committed to resettle in the fiscal year 2019, and would call on Congress and the presidential administration to raise the Presidential Determination to at least 75,000 refugees for fiscal year 2020.
This measure would designate October 20, 2019, and each 20th day of October thereafter, as Leyte Landing Commemoration Day in recognition of the significance of the Leyte landing in liberating the Philippines from Japanese occupation and would also honor the significant contributions to California made by generations of Filipino Americans since that time.
This measure would recognize September 2019 as PACE Month in California.
Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the 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. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes, including an exemption for items and materials when used to modify a vehicle for physically handicapped persons. Existing law also exempts from those taxes, in the case of a sale of a modified vehicle for physically handicapped persons to a disabled person who is eligible to be issued a distinguishing license plate or placard for parking purposes, the gross receipts attributable to that portion of the vehicle that has been so modified. Existing regulations implementing those provisions provide that physically handicapped persons include disabled persons, as specified, which existing law defines as, among others, persons with a diagnosed disease or disorder which substantially impairs or interferes with mobility. Existing federal law provides various benefits to disabled veterans, including assistance with the purchase of an automobile and adaptive equipment. Existing federal law defines an eligible person, for purposes of that benefit, as, among others, certain veterans with specified disabilities, including a severe burn injury, if the disability is the result of an injury incurred or disease contracted in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. Existing federal regulations implementing those provisions define severe burn injuries as deep partial thickness or full thickness burns resulting in scar formation that cause contractures and limit motion of one or more extremities or the trunk and preclude effective operation of an automobile. This bill, on and after July 1, 2020, and before July 1, 2030, would specify that, for purposes of the exemptions described above, physically handicapped persons include eligible persons with a severe burn injury, as those terms are defined in existing federal law. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law, the State Records Management Act, requires the Secretary of State to establish and administer a records management program that will apply efficient and economical management methods to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of state records. The act requires the Secretary of State, as part of those duties, to obtain from agencies the reports required for administration of the records management program. This bill would require the Secretary of State to obtain those reports from agencies on a biennial basis, and would require the Secretary of State to report statewide compliance with the act to the Department of Finance at least every 2 years. Existing law requires the head of a state agency to establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the records and information collection practices of the agency. Existing administrative law requires the head of the agency to assign a Records Management Coordinator to work with the Secretary of State's California Records and Information Management Program, the State Records Center, and the State Records Appraisal Program staff. Existing law requires the head of a state agency to transfer a record deemed to have archival value to the State Archives. This bill would similarly require the head of a state agency to appoint a representative from that agency to serve as the Records Management Coordinator and to notify the Secretary of State's California Records and Information Management Program within 30 days of the appointment. The bill would require the Records Management Coordinator to, among other duties, coordinate the agency's records management program and to attend records management training classes, as specified. The bill would require the head of the state agency to notify the Secretary of State when records are stored with a 3rd-party vendor or digitized by a 3rd-party vendor. The bill would require the head of the state agency to notify the Secretary of State if a record contains information that is not subject to public disclosure or is restricted from public disclosure for a period of time, as specified, upon transfer of the record of archival value to the State Archives.
The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation, and requires that the State Bar administer a program to coordinate pro bono civil legal assistance to veterans and their families who otherwise cannot afford legal services, as specified. Existing law also requires the State Bar to engage with local bar associations, legal aid organizations, veterans service providers, and volunteer attorneys in providing these services. This bill would instead require the State Bar to engage with military service providers, along with the other legal aid organizations, veteran service providers, and volunteer attorneys described above, to provide legal services to veterans and service members and their families who otherwise cannot afford legal services, and collaborate to improve access to and delivery of these services throughout the state. The bill would revise these provisions to include legislative findings on, among other things, the difficulty of veterans, service members, and their families in securing civil legal assistance.
This measure would state that the Legislature strongly and unequivocally objects to federal preemption of state authority relating to the regulation of vessel discharges in California waters, remains steadfast in its commitment to protect California's waters from aquatic invasive species introductions, and is resolved to consider any appropriate actions to overturn the federal preemption of California authority.
Existing law establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs to enforce the licensing and regulatory provisions relating to physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires a physician and surgeon primarily responsible for providing a patient an annual gynecological examination to provide that patient, during the annual examination in layperson's language and in a language understood by the patient, a standardized summary containing a description of the symptoms and appropriate methods of diagnoses for gynecological cancers. Existing law makes a failure to provide that information punishable by citation and an administrative fine. This bill, on or before July 1, 2020, would require the board, in coordination with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the California Medical Association, and the California Academy of Family Physicians, to develop an informational pamphlet for patients undergoing pelvic examinations that includes specified information, including what pelvic and other relevant exams are and how they are performed and privacy expectations for patients. The bill would require the board to make the informational pamphlet available for use by licensees performing pelvic examinations, as specified. The bill, commencing one month after the board makes the informational pamphlet available, would require a licensee, as defined, to provide a patient with the informational pamphlet before a patient's first pelvic examination. The bill would require the licensee to obtain a signed acknowledgment that the patient has received the informational pamphlet and maintain the signed acknowledgment as part of the patient's medical record. The bill would make a violation of the bill's provisions subject to a citation and an administrative fine.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for specified benefits. This bill, known as the Let California Kids Hear Act, would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, to include coverage for hearing aids, as defined, for an enrollee or insured under 18 years of age. The bill would require the coverage to be performed by contracted providers, except as specified. The bill would require the contracted providers to include a pediatric audiologist for children under 5 years of age. The bill would require hearing aids covered under the bill to be subject to the cost sharing imposed by the plan contract or health insurance policy for durable medical equipment, as specified. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
