Asm. Heath Flora

Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of residential tenancies, and prohibits a landlord from demanding or receiving security for a rental agreement for residential property, however denominated, in an amount or value in excess of an amount equal to 2 months' rent, in the case of unfurnished residential property, and an amount equal to 3 months' rent, in the case of furnished residential property, in addition to any rent for the first month paid on or before initial occupancy. This bill, notwithstanding that provision and as specified, would prohibit a landlord from demanding or receiving security from a service member who rents residential property in which the service member will reside in an amount or value in excess of an amount equal to one months' rent, in the case of unfurnished residential property, or in excess of an amount equal to 2 months' rent, in the case of furnished residential property, as specified. The bill would also prohibit a landlord from refusing to enter into a rental agreement for residential property with a prospective tenant who is a service member because this provision prohibits the landlord from demanding a greater amount of security.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to provide funding to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to enter into contracts with motor carriers of passengers for the intercity transportation of passengers by motor carrier over regular routes if certain conditions are met. Existing law also authorizes the department to provide funding to Amtrak to contract for rail feeder bus services operated in conjunction with the intercity trains, but subject to the restriction, among others, that the bus services be used only by passengers who are connecting to or from a train, subject to specified exceptions, including exceptions for passengers on certain routes where no private intercity bus company provides scheduled bus services. This bill would instead authorize the department to provide funding to certain joint powers authorities responsible for the administration of intercity passenger rail services for the purpose of entering into a contract with Amtrak or a public or private motor carrier of passengers for the intercity transportation of passengers by motor carrier over regular routes connecting to intercity rail service, as specified. The bill would authorize motor carrier connections funded pursuant to these provisions to transport passengers who are not connecting to a passenger rail service. The bill would require a joint powers authority that contracts for service pursuant to this authorization, in consultation with the department, to submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, relating to that service. The bill would authorize state agencies and departments, public and private transit operators, intercity motor carriers of passengers, Amtrak, and those joint powers authorities to enter into revenue sharing and ticket selling agreements with each other to provide for intercity transportation of passengers and connections at rail stations to and from local transit systems and intermodal and intercity motor carrier terminals.

(1) 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. Existing law requires that health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies provide coverage for certain services and treatments, including emergency medical transportation services. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, to provide that if an enrollee, insured, or subscriber (individual) receives covered services from a noncontracting air ambulance provider, the individual shall pay no more than the same cost sharing that the individual would pay for the same covered services received from a contracting air ambulance provider, referred to as the in-network cost-sharing amount. The bill would provide that an individual would not owe the noncontracting provider more than the in-network cost-sharing amount for services. The bill would authorize a noncontracting provider to advance to collections only the in-network cost-sharing amount that the individual has failed to pay. The bill would authorize a health care service plan, health insurer, or provider to seek relief in any court for the purpose of resolving a payment dispute, and would not prohibit a provider from using a health care service plan's or health insurer's existing dispute resolution processes. 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. (2) Existing law, the Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act, effective until January 1, 2022, imposes a penalty of $4 until January 1, 2020, upon every conviction for a violation of the Vehicle Code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code, other than a parking offense. The act requires the county or the court that imposed the fine to transfer the moneys collected pursuant to that act to the Treasurer for deposit into the Emergency Medical Air Transportation and Children's Coverage Fund. Under the act, moneys in the fund are made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Health Care Services for children's health care coverage and administrative costs relating to emergency medical air transportation provider payments. Existing law requires the assessed penalty to continue to be collected, administered, and distributed until exhausted or until June 30, 2021, whichever occurs first, and requires any remaining unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the fund to be transferred to the General Fund, to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes, including funding children's health care coverage. This bill would impose the penalty until July 1, 2020, and would extend the above-specified dates by six months. (3) 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 Personal Income Tax Law provides for various exclusions from gross income, including an exclusion for the amount of student loan indebtedness repaid or canceled pursuant to a specified federal law. This bill would exclude from gross income the amount of student loan indebtedness discharged on or after January 1, 2019, and before January 1, 2024, for an eligible individual who is granted a discharge under specified conditions, as provided, including that the individual attended a Brightwood College school or a location of The Art Institute of California. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, a credit for qualified taxpayers, defined as the person responsible for planting a crop, managing the crop, and harvesting the crop from the land, in an amount equal to 15% of the qualified value of fresh fruits or vegetables donated to a food bank. This bill, under both laws, would expand the credit to apply to the donation of qualified donation items, defined as raw agricultural products or processed foods. The bill would expand the definition of qualified taxpayer to include the person responsible for growing or raising a qualified donation item, or harvesting, packing, or processing a qualified donation item but would exclude a retailer, as defined, from that expanded definition. The bill would apply these provisions to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

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, including podiatric services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides that prior authorization for podiatric services provided on an outpatient or inpatient basis is not required if specified conditions are met, including an urgent or emergency need for services at the time of service. This bill would repeal these provisions, and would instead prohibit the requirement of prior authorization for podiatric services provided by a doctor of podiatric medicine if a physician and surgeon rendering the same services would not be required to provide prior authorization. The bill would clarify that a doctor of podiatric medicine acting within their scope of practice and providing specified services is subject to the same Medi-Cal billing and services policies as required for a physician and surgeon, including a maximum numerical service limitation in any one calendar month.

This measure would proclaim September 29, 2019, as Gold Star Mothers' and Families' Day in California.

This measure would designate October 20, 2019, and each 20th day of October thereafter, as Leyte Landing Commemoration Day in recognition of the significance of the Leyte landing in liberating the Philippines from Japanese occupation and would also honor the significant contributions to California made by generations of Filipino Americans since that time.

Existing law, the Michelle Maykin Memorial Donation Protection Act, requires a private employer to permit an employee to take a leave of absence with pay, not exceeding 30 business days in a one-year period, for the purpose of organ donation. Existing law requires a public employer to permit a public employee to take a similar paid leave of absence for organ donation, if the employee has exhausted all available sick leave. This bill would require a private or public employer to grant an employee an additional unpaid leave of absence, not exceeding 30 business days in a one-year period, for the purpose of organ donation. The bill would require a public employee to first exhaust all available sick leave before taking that unpaid leave. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability insurance, life insurance, and long-term care insurance by the Department of Insurance and prescribes various requirements and conditions governing the issuance of those insurance policies or certificates in the state. This bill would prohibit a life or disability insurance policy other than health insurance, or a long-term care insurance policy or certificate issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2020, from declining or limiting coverage of a person, charging a person a different rate for the same coverage, or otherwise discriminating in the offering, issuance, cancellation, amount of coverage, price, or any other condition of the insurance policy for a person based solely and without any additional actuarial risks upon the status of that person as a living organ donor. The bill would require an insurer, with respect to any health condition other than being a living organ donor, to subject a person who is a living organ donor to the same actuarial or other standards as persons who are not living organ donors.

This measure would, among other things, designate the year 2019 as "State of California Year of Commemoration of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923," would designate April 24, 2019, as "State of California Day of Commemoration of the 104th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923," and would call upon the President of the United States and the United States Congress to formally and consistently reaffirm the historical truth that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people constituted genocide.