Asm. Marie Waldron

Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale, or purchasing for purposes of sale, specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight. This bill would impose that additional term upon, and authorize a fine against, a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing fentanyl. By imposing additional incarceration costs on local agencies, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The board of governors appoints the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to serve as the chief executive officer of the segment. This bill would establish the California Apprenticeship Grant Program, commencing with the 2022–23 academic year, under the administration of the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to provide grants to encourage high school pupils, community college students, and employed and unemployed workers seeking to go into career technical education and vocational professions through participation in qualifying, state-approved apprenticeship programs. Under the bill, the chancellor's office would provide supplemental grants to apprentices who participate in qualified, state-approved apprenticeship and vocational programs through high schools, campuses of the California Community Colleges, and industry-driven and -funded state-approved apprenticeship and vocational programs. The bill would prohibit these grants from replacing any existing financial aid or compensation that an apprentice may receive during apprenticeship training. The bill would require that specified eligibility criteria to be met by students and apprenticeship employers and programs to participate in the program to be determined by the chancellor's office in accordance with regulations adopted by the chancellor's office. The bill would authorize the chancellor's office to adopt emergency regulations, as specified, to carry out the purposes of the bill. The bill would make the operation of the program in any fiscal year contingent upon the enactment of an appropriation, in the Budget Act or another statute, of an amount deemed sufficient by the chancellor's office to implement the program for that fiscal year.

Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department (department) to administer the federal-state unemployment insurance program and provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Existing law establishes procedures for the filing, determination, and payment of benefit claims, and those benefits are payable from the Unemployment Fund. Existing law requires the department to promptly pay benefits if it finds the claimant is eligible and to promptly deny benefits if it finds the claimant is ineligible for benefits. Existing law requires the department to consider facts submitted by an employer in making this determination and also provides for the department to audit claims, as specified. Existing law provides a procedure for a claimant or a base employer to challenge a determination of the computation or recomputation of the benefits. This bill would require the department to provide a claimant with a notification of the computation used to determine their benefits within 30 days of the receipt of the claim and to respond to a challenge by the claimant or the base employer based on the computation or recomputation of benefits within 15 days of the receipt of the protest, except as specified. This bill would also make technical changes to these provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to prepare plans for, and construct facilities and renovations included within, its master plan for which funds have been appropriated by the Legislature. Existing law also establishes the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board to regularly examine the various mental health, substance abuse, educational, and employment programs for inmates and parolees operated by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature with respect to modifications, additions, and eliminations of rehabilitation and treatment programs. This bill would establish the Prison Oversight Commission and require the commission to develop guidelines for the construction of new prisons and renovation of existing prisons. The bill would require the commission, in developing the guidelines, to, among other things, consider how the guidelines will impact the provision of various services that may lead to the rehabilitation and successful reintegration of a prisoner. The bill would require construction of a new prison or renovation of an existing prison to be completed in accordance with those guidelines and would require the commission to oversee planning for the construction or renovation of a prison to ensure that it will be completed in accordance with those guidelines.

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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. 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 to apply to any applicable deductible. This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to furnish specified information about a prescription drug upon request by an enrollee or insured or their health care provider. The bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to, among other things, respond in real time to a request for the above-described information. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from, among other things, restricting a health care provider from sharing the information furnished about the prescription drug or penalizing a provider for prescribing a lower cost drug. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires an incarcerated person in a state prison who is identified as possibly pregnant or capable of becoming pregnant during an intake health examination or at any time during incarceration to be offered a test upon intake or request. Existing law requires an incarcerated person who is confirmed to be pregnant to be scheduled for pregnancy examination with a physician, nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or physician assistant within 7 days. Existing law requires incarcerated pregnant persons to be provided specified prenatal services and a referral to a social worker. Existing law requires incarcerated pregnant persons be given access to community-based programs serving pregnancy, birthing, or lactating inmates. Existing law allows an incarcerated pregnant person to be provided with a postpartum examination within one week, and as needed up to 12 weeks, postpartum. Existing law prohibits the use of tasers, pepper spray, or other chemical weapons against incarcerated pregnant persons. Existing law requires that a person incarcerated in a state prison who menstruates to be provided, upon request, with materials necessary for personal hygiene with regard to their menstrual cycle. This bill would enact the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, which would require that a woman incarcerated in a state prison receive trauma-informed care and would prohibit an incarcerated woman from being placed in solitary confinement for purposes of medical observation. The bill would require a woman incarcerated in a state prison to have access to domestic violence counseling and parenting and lifestyle classes, as specified. The bill would require an incarcerated woman who delivers a child to be provided an 18-month bonding period with the child, during which time the newborn child is required to reside at the same facility as the incarcerated woman. The bill would require the incarcerated woman to be provided with additional visitation time with the newborn upon conclusion of the bonding period, to include overnight and weekend visitation. The bill would require an incarcerated woman to be offered screening or appropriately screened and, if necessary, treated for postpartum depression. The bill would require a person incarcerated in a state prison who menstruates or experiences uterine or vaginal bleeding to be provided with materials necessary for personal hygiene with regard to their menstrual cycle, as specified.

Under existing law, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is required to develop, implement, and administer various forest improvement and fire prevention programs in the state. Existing law requires the department to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention activities in California. Existing law requires the department to prioritize, to the extent feasible, projects that are multiyear efforts and to prioritize grant applications from specified local agencies. This bill would appropriate the sum of $25,000,000 from the General Fund to the department to be used to provide the local assistance grants described above. The bill would require the department, for purposes of this appropriation, to prioritize projects, in addition to the priorities specified above, that manage vegetation along streets and roads to prevent the ignition of wildfire and that require the funds for purposes of purchasing equipment necessary for the project.

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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires specified health insurance policies that provide 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 authorizes a health care service plan and a health insurer to utilize formularies, prior authorization, step therapy, or other reasonable medical management practices in the provision of outpatient prescription drug coverage. This bill would require health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, that provide outpatient prescription drug benefits to cover all medically necessary prescription drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating substance use disorders that are appropriate for the specific needs of an enrollee or insured, and would require those drugs to be placed on the lowest cost-sharing tier of the plan or insurer's prescription drug formulary, unless specified criteria are met. The bill would prohibit these contracts and policies from imposing prescribed requirements, including prior authorization or step therapy requirements on a prescription drug approved by the FDA for treating substance use disorders, unless specified criteria are met. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.