Asm. Mary Salas

Under existing law, the Department of Veterans Affairs has specified powers and duties relating to veterans, including the administration of the CalVet Home Loan program, which helps fund the purchase of homes and farms for eligible veterans with the proceeds from tax-exempt bonds. Existing federal law requires the proceeds from certain tax-exempt bonds to be used for the acquisition of a single-family residence, as provided. This bill would require the department to urge the Congress of the United States to act immediately to remove this requirement from federal law, as specified, so that the proceeds from the bonds can be used for other types of housing.

Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law permits services to be provided under the IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a contract between the county and an entity for the provision of services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. Under existing law, IHSS recipients who are eligible for the Medi-Cal program are provided with personal care option services, as defined, in lieu of receiving these services under the IHSS program. Existing law, enacted in 2009, makes various statutory changes with respect to the provision of in-home supportive services, relating to matters, including, but not limited to, provider enrollment procedures, criminal background checks, orientation, and duties, as well as eligibility standards for recipients, unannounced home visits, and program integrity and fraud prevention. This bill would make the operation of the statutory changes described above subject to a stakeholder process, to be conducted, as specified, by the State Department of Social Services, prior to the implementation of those changes. The bill would require implementation of any of the statutory changes described in the bill to occur either on the date specified in an applicable statute, or 60 days after the department notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the changes may be implemented, whichever is later. This bill would prohibit information notices relating to the implementation of these statutory changes from being sent to recipients or providers until the stakeholder process is completed. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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. Under existing law, health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies that include coverage for the treatment or surgery of cervical cancer are deemed to provide coverage for an annual cervical cancer screening test, upon the referral of the patient's physician and surgeon, nurse practitioner, or certified nurse midwife, as specified. This bill would make those provisions apply if the referral is made by a physician assistant, as specified. In addition, the bill would require those plan contracts and insurance policies to provide coverage for a human papillomavirus vaccination, as specified. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements 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.

The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a sales tax on a retailer measured by the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of tangible personal property and a use tax on the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. This bill would, in addition, impose a tax on retailers that operate adult entertainment venues, as defined, measured by the gross receipts from its sales of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, at a rate of 20%, as provided. The tax would generally be collected, administered, and enforced in the same manner as the taxes imposed under the Sales and Use Tax Law. This bill would create the Adult Entertainment Venue Impact Fund and require that all revenues, less refunds and the costs of the administration of the tax, derived from the tax be transferred to the fund. This bill would provide that moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used to ameliorate the secondary effects of adult entertainment venues, as provided. This bill makes findings and declarations with regard to adult entertainment venues and the imposition of this tax. This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Counties and cities are authorized to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with state sales and use taxes. Exemptions from state sales and use taxes enacted by the Legislature are incorporated into the local taxes. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will 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 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.

The California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act prohibits, on and after January 1, 2010, except for certain specified circumstances, a person from manufacturing, selling, or offering for sale in the state specified general purpose lights that contain levels of hazardous substances prohibited by the European Union pursuant to the RoHS Directive, as specified. This bill, on and after January 1, 2011, would prohibit the sale or offering for sale in this state of luminaires and lighting fixtures that are intended for general lighting purposes and contain preheat ballasts for operation of preheat linear fluorescent lamps. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, requires reduction, recycling, and reuse of solid waste generated in the state to the maximum extent feasible in an efficient, cost-effective manner to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources. This bill would prohibit the distribution of moneys from energy efficiency investment funds or any other funds generated from usage-based charges on electricity distribution that are provided by California's retail sellers of electricity to any manufacturer for the purchase and distribution of compact fluorescent lamps, unless the compact fluorescent lamps meet certain specifications, and the manufacturer of the compact fluorescent lamps, individually, collectively with other manufacturers, or through a stewardship organization, has implemented a residential fluorescent lamp recycling program for each residential fluorescent lamp, as defined, sold by retailers selling the manufacturer's subsidized lamps. The bill would prohibit the distribution of moneys from funds generated from usage-based charges on electricity distribution that are provided by California's retail sellers of electricity to a retailer, except moneys provided to a retailer through a manufacturer, unless the retailer has agreed to provide the public an in-store collection opportunity for the recycling of residential fluorescent lamps. The bill would prohibit manufacturers and retailers from using funds generated from usage-based charges on electricity distribution that are provided by California's retail sellers of electricity for recycling activities. The bill would require the manufacturers of residential fluorescent lamps sold in this state, individually, collectively with other manufacturers, or through a stewardship organization, to establish and maintain a residential fluorescent lamp recycling program containing specified elements within 90 days of receiving the funds generated from usage-based charges. The bill would require a manufacturer, individually, collectively with other manufacturers, or through a stewardship organization, to submit an annual report on the implementation of the residential fluorescent lamp recycling program. The bill would require the board to establish an administrative fee, not to exceed $5,000 per manufacturer and bearing a reasonable relationship to actual costs, to be paid by the manufacturers to cover the cost of reviewing and approving the annual report and of oversight and enforcement of the program.

Existing law, the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights, authorizes a law enforcement agency investigating certain felony sex offenses, upon the request of the victim, and subject to the commitment of resources, to inform the victim whether or not a DNA profile was obtained from the testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from the case, whether or not that information has been entered into the Department of Justice Data Bank of case evidence, and whether or not there is a match between the DNA profile developed from the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence and a DNA profile contained in the Department of Justice Convicted Offender DNA Data Base, as specified. Existing law also requires that the victim be given written notification by the law enforcement agency if the law enforcement agency elects not to perform DNA testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence, or intends to destroy or dispose of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, as specified. Existing law provides that the sole civil or criminal remedy available to a sexual assault victim for a law enforcement agency's failure to fulfill its responsibilities under the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights is standing to file a writ of mandamus to require compliance with these notification provisions. This bill would require local law enforcement agencies responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report to the Department of Justice statistical information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, as specified. The reports received would be subject to inspection under the California Public Records Act. These provisions would become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and would be repealed on January 1, 2016. By imposing additional reporting duties on local law enforcement agencies, 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, 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 requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, energy conservation and water efficiency standards for new residential and nonresidential buildings to reduce wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy. The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval or adoption. Existing law requires the commission to adopt, approve, codify, update, and publish green building standards for any occupancy for which no state agency has the authority or expertise to propose those standards. This bill would require the commission or any state agency proposing green building standards to seek the input of other state agencies and consult with representatives from specified groups, as prescribed. The bill would require any agency providing input to recommend to the commission or proposing agency whether the standard should be voluntary or mandatory. The bill would also authorize the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop and adopt voluntary energy efficiency standards, as described.

Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to any person without written parental consent or judicial order, except as provided. This bill would make various changes to these pupil record provisions to conform them to federal law.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of that act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, health care service plans and health insurers are required to offer specified types of coverage as part of their health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies. Existing law imposes specified requirements upon a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides maternity coverage. This bill would require specified health care service plans and health insurers to include coverage for lactation consultation and the provision or rental of specified types of breast pumps, as defined, as part of their health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies that provide maternity coverage. Because this bill would specify additional requirements under the Knox-Keene Act, the willful violation of which would be a crime, it 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 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 would require new forms for health insurance policies submitted to the department after January 1, 2010, to provide coverage for maternity services, as defined. With respect to policy forms on file with the department as of January 1, 2010, the bill would require health insurers to submit to the department, on or before March 1, 2010, revised policy forms that provide coverage for maternity services and would require insurers to include that coverage in the corresponding policies that are issued, amended, or renewed following the department's approval of the revised forms, as specified.