Asm. Tasha Boerner

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides that abortion is a covered benefit under Medi-Cal. Existing regulation authorizes reimbursement for specified medications used to terminate a pregnancy through the 70th day from the first day of the recipient's last menstrual period. This bill would require the department, by March 1, 2024, to review and update Medi-Cal coverage policies for medication abortion to align with current evidence-based clinical guidelines. After the initial review, the bill would require the department to update its Medi-Cal coverage policies for medication abortion as needed to align with evidence-based clinical guidelines. The bill would require the department to allow flexibility for providers to exercise their clinical judgment when services are performed in a manner that aligns with one or more evidence-based clinical guidelines.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health, which is responsible for various programs relating to the health and safety of people in the state. Existing law requires the department, to the extent resources are available, to maintain a program of maternal and child health that includes the provision of educational, preventative, diagnostic, and treatment services, including medical care, hospitalization and other institutional care and aftercare, appliances and facilitating services directed toward reducing infant mortality, and improving the health of mothers and children. This bill would establish within the Health and Safety Code the California Home Visiting Program, a voluntary maternal, infant, and early childhood program originally created administratively, under which the State Department of Public Health provides funds to local health departments to support pregnant people and parents with young children who live in communities that face greater risks and barriers to achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes, as provided.

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 to provide maternity coverage, and prohibits the restriction, reduction, or denial of specified maternity benefits. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, to provide coverage for pelvic floor physical therapy after pregnancy. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans 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 establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would establish the Legislative Internship Program under the administration of the California State University's Center for California Studies to provide paid internship opportunities at offices of the Legislature, to qualified applicants, as provided. The bill would establish the Legislative Internship Program Fund as the initial depository of all moneys appropriated, donated, or otherwise received for the program, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the Center for California Studies to distribute moneys in the fund to program participants, as specified. Existing law requires all appropriations for contingent expenses of the Senate and the Assembly and legislative committees thereof to be available and disbursed, as provided. This bill would prohibit these funds from being used to provide a paid internship position pursuant to the Legislative Internship Program.

Existing law defines an electric bicycle and classifies electric bicycles into 3 classes with different restrictions. Under existing law, an electric bicycle is a bicycle and rules pertaining to the operation of bicycles apply to electric bicycles. Existing law prohibits a person under 16 years of age from operating a class 3 electric bicycle. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a crime. This bill would prohibit a person under 12 years of age from operating an electric bicycle of any class. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to create an e-bike license program with an online written test and a state-issued photo identification for those persons without a valid driver's license, prohibit persons under 12 years of age from riding e-bikes, and create a stakeholders working group composed of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Transportation Agency, bicycle groups, policy and fiscal staff, and other relevant stakeholders to work on recommendations to establish an e-bike training program and license. Because the bill would prohibit certain persons from riding electric bicycles, the violation of which 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.

The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisionmaking, or veteran or military status. The act establishes the Civil Rights Department within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and requires the department to, among other things, bring civil actions to enforce the act. This bill would, among other things, require a deployer, as defined, and a developer of an automated decision tool, as defined, to, on or before January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, perform an impact assessment for any automated decision tool the deployer uses that includes, among other things, a statement of the purpose of the automated decision tool and its intended benefits, uses, and deployment contexts. The bill would require a deployer or developer to provide the impact assessment to the Civil Rights Department within 60 days of its completion and would punish a violation of that provision with an administrative fine of not more than $10,000 to be recovered in an administrative enforcement action brought by the Civil Rights Department. The bill would authorize certain public attorneys, including the Attorney General, to bring a civil action against a deployer or developer for a violation of the bill. The bill would require a public attorney to, before commencing an action for injunctive relief, provide 45 days' written notice to a deployer or developer of the alleged violations of the bill and would provide a deployer or developer a specified opportunity to cure those violations, if, among other things, the deployer or developer provides the person who gave the notice an express written statement, under penalty of perjury, that the violation has been cured and that no further violations shall occur. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a deployer to, at or before the time an automated decision tool is used to make a consequential decision, as defined, notify any natural person that is the subject of the consequential decision that an automated decision tool is being used to make, or be a controlling factor in making, the consequential decision and to provide that person with, among other things, a statement of the purpose of the automated decision tool. The bill would, if a consequential decision is made solely based on the output of an automated decision tool, require a deployer to, if technically feasible, accommodate a natural person's request to not be subject to the automated decision tool and to be subject to an alternative selection process or accommodation, as prescribed. This bill would prohibit a deployer from using an automated decision tool that results in algorithmic discrimination, which the bill would define to mean the condition in which an automated decision tool contributes to unjustified differential treatment or impacts disfavoring people based on their actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, sex, religion, age, national origin, limited English proficiency, disability, veteran status, genetic information, reproductive health, or any other classification protected by state law. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2026, authorize a person to bring a civil action against a deployer or developer for a violation of that provision. This bill would define "deployer" and "developer" to include a local government agency and would thereby 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes within state government the Transportation Agency, which consists of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the California Transportation Commission, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Transportation, the High-Speed Rail Authority, and the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun. The agency is under the supervision of the Secretary of Transportation, who has the power of general supervision over each department within the agency. The secretary, among other duties, is charged with advising the Governor on, and assist the Governor in establishing, major policy and program matters affecting each department, office, or other unit within the agency. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the agency to develop and distribute, on or before September 1, 2024, a bicycle safety handbook that includes information on, among other things, existing laws regulating bicycles and e-bikes, safety equipment, and sharing roads and bikeways with other users, as specified. The bill would require the agency to make a downloadable electronic version of the bicycle safety handbook available on the internet, as specified, and in print at all Department of Motor Vehicles offices, state libraries, Department of the California Highway Patrol offices, and other appropriate state offices. In developing the handbook, the bill would require collaboration and consultation between the agency and the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the California Office of Traffic Safety, the Department of Transportation, and other relevant stakeholders, as specified.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the commission to direct each gas corporation and electrical corporation that, for some portion of residential customers, employs every-other-month meter reading and estimates bills for months when the customer's meter is not read to include in its tariffs the methodology it employs to estimate bills for those months. This bill would require the commission, in a new or existing proceeding, to evaluate the energy usage estimation methodologies and mechanisms of electrical corporations and gas corporations in order to correct inaccurate energy usage estimates.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Technology the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy. The office oversees the acquisition and management of contracts for the development and construction of, and for the maintenance and operation of, a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, as defined, to provide an opportunity for last-mile providers, anchor institutions, and tribal entities to connect to, and interconnect with other networks and other appropriate connections to, the broadband network to facilitate high-speed broadband service, as specified. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. This bill would establish within state government the Office of Broadband and Digital Equity. This bill would establish the Office of Broadband and Digital Equity Board with members, as specified. The bill would provide the purpose of the office is to serve as a centralized state office for broadband and digital activities within the state. The bill would also specify the office has the powers and authorities to develop and implement policies to promote broadband service and to protect consumers from unfair business practices relating to broadband services.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy in a cost-effective manner. Existing law requires the portfolio to rely upon zero-carbon-emitting resources to the maximum extent reasonable and be designed to achieve the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit. This bill would specify that a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources includes an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity.