Asm. Lorena Gonzalez

Existing law, the Attorney Diversion and Assistance Act requires the establishment and administration of an Attorney Diversion and Assistance Program to provide services for the treatment and recovery of attorneys for the abuse of drugs or alcohol or mental illness, and who may be enrolled as inactive members of the State Bar. This bill would authorize establishment of a similar assistance program for physicians and surgeons. The bill would authorize the Medical Board of California to make available the means to rehabilitate a physician and surgeon with impairment due to abuse of dangerous drugs or alcohol, or mental or physical illness, that affects his or her competency so that a physician and surgeon may be treated in a manner that will not endanger the public health and safety. The bill would require the board, if the program is established, to contract with another entity for provision of the administrative services for the program. The bill would make participants in the program responsible for all expenses relating to treatment and recovery, and would authorize the board to charge a reasonable administrative fee to participants for the purpose of offsetting the costs of maintaining the program. The bill would require the board, if the program is established, to engage in outreach to make physicians and surgeons and others aware of the existence and availability of the program.

Existing law, known as the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, contains provisions relating to employer-employee relations between the state and the employees of state institutions of higher education, including the University of California and the California State University, as well as the Hastings College of the Law. These provisions assign major responsibilities for implementation to the Public Employment Relations Board. Under the act, an "employee" or "higher education employee" is defined as any employee of the Regents of the University of California, the Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, or the Trustees of the California State University. The act authorizes the board to find that student employees whose employment is contingent on their status as students are employees only if the services they provide are unrelated to their educational objectives, or that those educational objectives are subordinate to the services they perform and that coverage under this act would further the purposes of the act. This bill would instead provide that student employees whose employment is contingent upon their status as students are employees and higher education employees for purposes of the act. The act excludes from the "scope of representation," for purposes of the University of California only, among other things, conditions for the award of certificates and degrees to students. This bill would specify that the requirements for students to achieve satisfactory progress toward their degrees is also outside of the scope of representation.

Existing law provides for 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 specifies the benefits provided pursuant to the program, including the purchase of prescribed drugs that are covered subject to utilization controls. Utilization controls include a requirement that the treatment provider obtain prior authorization for providing medical treatment, as specified. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, provide that drugs in specified therapeutic drug classes that are prescribed by a Medi-Cal beneficiary's treating provider are covered Medi-Cal benefits. The bill would require, except as specified, that a Medi-Cal managed care plan cover the drug upon demonstration by the provider that the drug is medically necessary and consistent with federal rules and regulations for labeling and use, as specified.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, and authorizes school districts throughout the state to provide instruction to pupils. Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state, and authorizes community college districts throughout the state to provide instruction to students at the campuses they operate. Existing law establishes various career education programs involving participation by public elementary and secondary schools, community colleges, and other governmental entities. This bill would express legislative intent to create incentives for school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college districts to establish regional career education consortia for purposes of coordinating, delivering, and implementing high-quality and cost-efficient career and college preparation programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to 14, inclusive. The bill would establish the Career Education Incentive Program under the administration of the State Department of Education. The bill would authorize school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and community college districts to establish career education consortia. The bill would authorize these consortia to be organized as joint powers agencies. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in developing the program, to consider requiring consortia, as a condition of the receipt of funds, to annually report certain information to the governing boards of the member local educational agencies, including member community college districts. The bill would specify criteria for the receipt and expenditure of the state funding to be allocated to these consortia.

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act requires a person who wishes to practice law in this state to, among other things, pass the general bar examination or the Attorneys' Examination given by the examining committee. Existing law provides that any unsuccessful applicant for admission to practice, after he or she has taken any examination and within 4 months after the results have been declared, has the right to inspect his or her examination papers and the grading of those papers, as specified. Existing law also provides that the applicant has the right to inspect the grading of the papers whether a record of the grade is marked upon the examination or otherwise. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to phase out the use of the Special Minimum Wage Certificate provision and eventually repeal Section 14(c) of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.

Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, home ownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the California Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund may be expended for supporting affordable housing, administering housing programs, and the cost of periodic audits, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce compliance with applicable prevailing wage requirements for specified public works projects that are funded by state bond proceeds. Moneys collected for this purpose are continuously appropriated to the department from the State Public Works Enforcement Fund to cover the costs of these monitoring and enforcement duties. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to monitor and enforce prevailing wage requirements for construction contracts for certain public works projects over $1,000,000, that are funded, in whole or in part, by the bill. The bill would authorize the department to charge each person or entity awarding a construction contract for the reasonable and directly related costs of the monitoring and enforcement activities, and would require the department to deposit the moneys collected into the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The bill would exempt projects with a collective bargaining agreement with a mechanism for resolution of wage disputes from this requirement. By establishing a new source of revenue for a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, for purposes of determining a family's maximum aid payment under the CalWORKs program, the number of needy persons in the same family is not increased for any child born into a family that has received aid under the CalWORKs program continuously for the 10 months prior to the birth of the child, with specified exceptions. This bill would repeal that exclusion for purposes of determining the family's maximum aid payment and would expressly prohibit the denial of aid or denial of an increase in the maximum aid payment if a child, on whose behalf aid or an increase in aid is being requested, was born into an applicant's or recipient's family while the applicant's or recipient's family was receiving aid under the CalWORKs program. The bill would specify that an applicant or recipient is not entitled to an increased benefit payment for any month prior to January 1, 2015, as a result of the repeal of that exclusion or the enactment of that express prohibition. The bill would also prohibit the department from conditioning an applicant's or recipient's eligibility for aid on the applicant's or recipient's disclosure of information regarding rape, incest, or contraception, as specified, or the applicant's or recipient's use of contraception. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county aid grant costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would declare that no appropriation would be made for purposes of the bill. To the extent that this bill affects eligibility under the CalWORKs program, the bill would create 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 establishes various harbor commissions in the state, and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of those commissions. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change in that provision prescribing the membership of a commission.

Existing law requires each pupil completing grade 12 to satisfy certain requirements as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation from high school. These requirements include the successful passage of the high school exit examination and the completion of designated coursework in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The coursework requirements include the completion of at least 2 courses in mathematics. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt additional coursework requirements. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district that requires more than 2 courses in mathematics for graduation to award a pupil up to one mathematics course credit for successfully completing an approved computer science course, as provided.