Asm. Darsh Patel

Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 31, 2026, as World No Tobacco Day within the state. It serves as a formal proclamation to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use without imposing new laws or regulations. The measure does not change existing policies or affect specific individuals beyond encouraging public health awareness on this specific date.

This measure would recommit to formalizing the sister state relationship between the State of Jalisco in Mexico and the State of California, as specified.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the month of May 2026 as National Stroke Awareness Month. The primary effect is to officially recognize this time period for public education and awareness campaigns regarding stroke prevention and treatment. It does not alter laws, allocate funding, or impose new requirements on individuals or organizations. The measure serves as a symbolic gesture to highlight the importance of stroke awareness during the specified month.

This measure would recognize the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans and urge the federal government to work alongside tribal leaders to address historic injustices, uphold treaty obligations, and ensure equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates Monday, May 4, 2026, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day to honor law enforcement officers. It does not create new laws or change existing policies but serves as a formal proclamation to recognize the date. The measure affects the state by establishing an official day of remembrance for peace officers.

This measure would recognize the significance of Vesak Day to people of Buddhist faith and extend sincere best wishes to the state's Buddhist community in celebrating Vesak Day.

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution recognizes May 17, 2026, as the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia within the California Legislature. The measure formally acknowledges the ongoing discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ individuals globally and reaffirms the state's commitment to equality and civil rights. By adopting this resolution, the Assembly encourages all Californians to support inclusive practices and stand against hate toward the LGBTQ+ community.

Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, commencing January 1, 2026, to adopt regulations that promote the fire and electrical safety of electric bicycles, powered mobility devices, and storage batteries, as specified. Existing law defines storage batteries for these purposes to include lithium batteries, as provided. This bill would require the Office of the State Fire Marshal to convene a lithium battery working group, composed of specified members selected by the State Fire Marshal, to identify those safety issues associated with lithium batteries and associated charging infrastructure installed or used near or within residential or commercial occupancies that have not already been addressed in the 2025 Edition of the California Building Standards Code, and to recommend potential solutions that will enhance building safety for the State Fire Marshal and other impacted agencies to consider, as provided. The bill would require the working group to deliver the initial research, findings, and recommendations on or before January 1, 2028. Existing law establishes the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund in the State Treasury. Existing law provides that moneys in the fund, which include building permit applicant fees, shall be available, upon appropriation, to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, among other state entities, for expenditure in carrying out various provisions relating to building and housing standards, as provided. This bill would make moneys in the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund available, upon appropriation, to support the working group. The bill would also appropriate an unspecified amount from the fund for specified purposes related to addressing building safety concerns associated with lithium batteries and associated charging infrastructure being installed or used near or within residential or commercial occupancies.

Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. The act requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal any administrative regulation to assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals and requires the state agency to adhere to specified requirements in making that assessment. This bill would include among those requirements for assessing the potential for adverse economic impact the consideration of the proposal's cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state, as defined. Existing law requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation that is not a major regulation to prepare an economic impact assessment that includes to what extent the regulation will affects specified factors, including the creation or elimination of jobs within the state. Existing law requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a major regulation to prepare a standardized regulatory impact analysis that addresses specified factors, including the creation or elimination of jobs within the state. This bill would also require the assessment for nonmajor regulations to include to what extent it will affect the cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state, and would require the standardized regulatory impact analysis for major regulations to address the cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state. The bill would require an agency to notify the office when the agency determines it needs to contract for outside services to perform the analyses and would require the office to select the contractor and oversee its work. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to adopt a standardized cost-of-living methodology for use by all agencies that includes a process for determining whether those cost-of-living impacts are significant. The bill would require each state agency to submit the standardized regulatory impact analysis to the Legislative Analyst's Office, and would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to take certain actions, including conducting an independent analysis of the adequacy of an agency's economic analysis and an analysis of the cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state, and to provide its analysis to the state agency. This bill would require the Department of Finance to develop and maintain a regulatory economic burden tracker that will gather and analyze the cumulative economic burden of regulations by sector of the economy. The bill would require the department to post the tracker on its internet website and update the tracker annually. Existing law requires the notice of proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation to include, among other information, a statement of the results of the economic impact assessment and a summary of any comments submitted to the agency. This bill would instead require the notice to include a detailed statement of the results of the economic impact assessment. The bill would require the summary of comments to include the Legislative Analyst's Office comments and agency responses, as referenced above. Existing law requires the office to review regulations and make determinations using specified standards, including, necessity, authority, and clarity. This bill would add to those standards the cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state. The bill would require the office, in reviewing proposed regulations for cost-of-living impacts on residents of the state, to use the standardized methodology developed by the Legislative Analyst's Office. Existing law requires the office to either approve a regulation or disapprove it within 30 working days after a regulation has been submitted to the office for review. Existing law requires the office, if it disapproves a regulation, to provide the adopting agency with a written notice detailing the reasons for disapproval. This bill would, for major regulations, increase the period of time for approval or disapproval to 60 working days. The bill would require the office, for major regulations, to hold a public hearing within 30 working days after the regulation has been submitted to the office. If one of the reasons for disapproval includes a significant cost-of-living impact, the bill would require the agency to pursue a less costly alternative or explain why a less costly alternative is infeasible.

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 sets forth requirements by which a health care service plan or health insurer reimburses a provider for health care services. This bill would require a determination to downcode a claim, which is the unilateral alteration by a payer of the service or procedure code submitted on a claim resulting in a lower payment, to include a documented review of the clinical information supporting the billed service. The bill would set forth requirements for and limitations of downcoding decisions, and, if a claim is downcoded, would require a plan or insurer to provide a billing provider with specified information and a clear and accessible process for disputing downcoded claims. The bill would prohibit a plan or insurer from using downcoding practices in a targeted or discriminatory manner against physicians or other health care providers who routinely treat patients with high acuity, complex, or chronic conditions, and would authorize the departments to take action against a plan or insurer that engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory downcoding or that otherwise violates these provisions. 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 bill would require the departments to collect data on coding and claims adjustment practices, evaluate the information, and submit a report with specified information to the Legislature. 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.