Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (the Knox-Keene Act) , a violation of which is a crime, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. The Knox-Keene Act requires a pharmacy benefit manager under contract with a health care service plan to, among other things, register with the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would additionally require a pharmacy benefit manager, as defined, to apply for a license from the Department of Insurance to operate as a pharmacy benefit manager no later than January 1, 2027. The bill would establish application qualifications and requirements, and would require initial license and renewal fees to be collected into the newly created Pharmacy Benefit Manager Account in the Insurance Fund, to be available to the department for use, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, for costs related to licensing and regulating pharmacy benefit managers. This bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to file with the department at specified annual intervals 2 reports, one of which discloses product benefits specific to the purchaser, and the other of which includes information about categories of drugs and the pharmacy benefit manager's contracts and revenues. The bill would specify that the contents of the reports are not to be disclosed to the public. The bill would require the department, at specified annual intervals, to prepare 2 reports based on the reports submitted by pharmacy benefit managers, and would require the department to post its reports on the department's internet website. This bill would impose specified duties on pharmacy benefit managers and requirements for pharmacy benefit manager services and pharmacy benefit manager contracts. The bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to disclose to the Department of Insurance all types of fees it receives and how the fees are calculated. The bill would make a violation of the above-specified provisions subject to specified civil penalties. The bill would establish various filing and service requirements when a proceeding is brought for a violation of specified requirements by a pharmacy benefit manager. The bill would create the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fines and Penalties Account in the General Fund, into which fines and administrative penalties would be deposited. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that provides coverage for outpatient prescription drugs to cover medically necessary prescription drugs and subjects those policies to certain limitations on cost sharing and the placement of drugs on formularies. Existing law limits the maximum amount an enrollee or insured may be required to pay at the point of sale for a covered prescription drug to the lesser of the applicable cost-sharing amount or the retail price, and requires that payment apply to the applicable deductible. Existing law requires a plan or insurer that reports rate information to report specified prescription drug information to the relevant department no later than October 1 of each year. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, that provides prescription drug coverage from calculating an enrollee's or insured's cost sharing at an amount that exceeds the actual rate paid for the prescription drug, and would require a health care service plan contract to include specified cost-sharing provisions. The bill would require a plan or insurer to include additional information in its annual prescription drug data reporting, including the aggregate amount of rebates received by the pharmacy benefit manager for each drug. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Knox-Keene Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would declare that it would not narrow, abrogate, or otherwise alter the authority of the Attorney General to maintain or restore competitive, fair, and honest markets and prosecute state and federal antitrust and unfair competition violations, among other violations, and would declare that the provisions of this bill are severable. 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 constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Housing Authorities Law, establishes a housing authority within each county and city to undertake specified activities relating to housing for persons of low income, subject to the adoption of a resolution by the governing body of the county or city declaring the need for an authority. Existing federal law provides housing assistance to low-income individuals and households in the form of vouchers, commonly known as Housing Choice Vouchers. This bill would require the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda to, by January 1, 2026, conduct an evaluation and review of its internet website for the purpose of ensuring that the website is easily accessible and navigable, including for those that are non-English speakers. The bill would require the authority to, by March 31, 2025, publish Housing Choice Voucher program waitlist data on its internet website, as specified. The bill would require the authority to, by September 30 of each year, develop and publish on its internet website a report that includes certain information, including information regarding employment with the authority and data regarding the effectiveness of the programs administered by the authority, as specified. By requiring the authority to review its internet website, publish data, and develop an annual report, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency, defined as a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school, that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to adopt a policy on pupil suicide prevention that specifically addresses, among other things, procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, and any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency. Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to review, at minimum every 5th year, its policy on pupil suicide prevention and, if necessary, update its policy. To assist local educational agencies in developing policies for pupil suicide prevention, existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop and maintain a model policy to serve as a guide for local educational agencies, as provided. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, the department to update the model policy to address crisis intervention protocols in the event of a pupil suicide crisis, as defined, including the process by which staff and external agencies are deployed to address a pupil suicide crisis, limiting the involvement and notification of law enforcement to situations in which a pupil's life is in imminent danger and their needs cannot be addressed by a mental health professional, and the assessment process that law enforcement officers should follow to determine whether the pupil experiencing a suicide crisis is endangered by parental notification. The bill would require, on or after July 1, 2026, the governing board or body of a local educational agency to update their pupil suicide prevention policy to include these crisis intervention protocols, as provided. The bill would encourage, when the governing board or body of a local educational agency reviews its policy on pupil suicide prevention, if the local educational agency does not have a school mental health professional, as defined, or contract with a mental health professional, as defined, the governing board or body to consider whether funding should be identified for purposes of hiring a school mental health professional. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including short-term residential therapeutic programs, by the State Department of Social Services. The act defines a short-term residential therapeutic program as a residential facility licensed by the department and operated by any public agency or private organization that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children that is trauma-informed. Existing law requires specified facilities, including community care facilities, to conduct a clinical and quality review for each episode of the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints, as defined. Existing law requires the facility to conduct a debriefing regarding the incident with the person, and other specified individuals upon the person's request, to discuss how to avoid a similar incident in the future. Under existing law, the person's participation in the debriefing is voluntary. This bill, The Accountability in Children's Treatment Act, would require, in the case of an incident involving the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints in a short-term residential therapeutic program, the facility to notify any foster child who has been subject to seclusion or behavioral restraints of their personal rights by no later than the day following the incident and to provide, within 7 days, a description of the incident, in both oral and written forms, to the person subject to the seclusion or behavioral restraints and, as applicable, to the person's parent, foster parent, guardian, Indian custodian, or other authorized representative, and attorney, if any, and for Indian children, the tribal representative. The bill would require that the description contain certain information, including the actions taken during the incident and its duration, the rationale for the actions, and the personnel approving and implementing the actions. The bill would require the facility to provide a copy of the written description to the department, also within 7 days. The bill would require the department to review all reported incidents involving the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints and to investigate any incidents that indicate a potential health and safety concern or licensing violation. As part of the assessment to determine if an investigation is required, the bill would require the department to determine whether the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints potentially violated any licensing laws and regulations or violated the licensee's approved emergency intervention plan. If the department determines that an incident should be investigated, the bill would require the department to provide the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson with a copy of the incident report and require the ombudsperson to exercise their discretion in determining whether to investigate the incident, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee to take steps to establish a system of mandatory, consistent, timely, and publicly accessible data collection regarding the use of seclusion and behavioral restraints in specified facilities, including community care facilities, that utilize seclusion and behavioral restraints. Existing law requires that data collected include, among other information, the number of incidents, the duration of time spent per incident, and the number of serious injuries or deaths occurring while the person is in seclusion or subject to behavioral restraints. Existing law requires the secretary to develop a mechanism for making this information, as it becomes available, publicly available on the internet. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and other specified departments to annually provide information to the Legislature about the progress made in implementing the above-described provisions on data collection, clinical and quality review, and debriefing. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, by January 1, 2026, to display, on its internet website, data that is specific to short-term residential therapeutic programs. The bill would require the dashboard to display the above-described data on seclusion or behavioral restraints as applicable to those programs, the above-described written descriptions of the incidents, and the numbers and types of licensing and administrative actions taken for the improper use of seclusion or behavioral restraints by the short-term residential therapeutic program or an associated individual for the improper use of seclusion or behavioral restraints. The bill would require the department to update the information biannually. Under the bill, this data would exclude any personally identifiable information, as specified, and the provisions of the bill would be implemented to the extent not in conflict with any applicable federal or state privacy laws.
(1) Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments 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. Existing law defines "sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status" for these purposes as including a perception that the person has any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. (2) Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of specified characteristics, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state, and states that the purpose of related existing law is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies. This bill would revise that policy statement to include remedies that will eliminate those discriminatory acts, including discrimination not just because of one protected trait, but also because of the combination of 2 or more protected bases. For purposes of certain related educational equity provisions, existing law defines "disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes" to include a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. (3) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment, as prescribed. The FEHA recognizes and declares to be a civil right the opportunity to seek, obtain, and hold employment and housing without discrimination because of a specified characteristic. The FEHA makes certain discriminatory practices based on those characteristics unlawful. The FEHA also declares that its purpose is to provide effective remedies that will eliminate these discriminatory practices. This bill would revise the above-described declaration on providing effective remedies to specify that it includes discrimination not just because of one protected trait, but also because of the combination of 2 or more protected bases. The FEHA defines terms used in connection with unlawful practices. These include "race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, age, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisionmaking, or veteran or military status," which includes a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. This bill would also state that the above provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 1815 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1815 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12926 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1815 and SB 1022 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that drug court programs be designed and operated in accordance with specified standards developed by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Drug Court Standards Committee. Existing law further states the intent of the Legislature that key programs of the drug court programs include, among other things, integration by drug courts of alcohol and other drug treatment services. This bill would instead require, for counties and courts that opt to have treatment court programs, that the treatment court programs be designed and operated in accordance with state and national guidelines incorporating the "Adult Treatment Court Best Practice Standards" and "Family Treatment Court Best Practice Standards" developed by All Rise, with consideration for the court system within which the program operates. The bill would revise the above-described statement of legislative intent regarding key components to be included in criminal adult treatment court programs, including requiring a system of incentives, sanctions, and service adjustments to achieve participant success. The bill would require the Judicial Council, no later than January 1, 2026, to revise the standards of judicial administration to reflect state and nationally recognized best practices and guidelines for collaborative programs including those described in these provisions.
Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, provides that it is the policy of the state to encourage and protect the right of agricultural employees to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives, self-organization, or other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Other existing law relating to employment prohibits employers from making, adopting, or enforcing rules, regulations, or policies that forbid or prevent employees from engaging or participating in politics or from becoming candidates for public office, and from controlling or directing, or tending to control or direct, the political activities or affiliations of employees. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit an employer from subjecting, or threatening to subject, an employee to discharge, discrimination, retaliation, or any other adverse action because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion about religious or political matters and would require an employee who refuses to attend a meeting as described to continue to be paid, as specified. The bill would impose a civil penalty of $500 on an employer who violates these provisions. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions. The bill would also authorize any employee who has suffered a violation of the bill's provisions to bring a civil action, as specified, and to petition for injunctive relief.
Under existing law, the California Cradle-to-Career Data System is established to be a source for actionable data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, and is established to provide for expanded access to tools and services that support the navigation of the education-to-employment pipeline. Existing law establishes a governing board to govern the data system and the Office of Cradle-to-Career Data as the managing entity required to implement and manage the data system. This bill would require the managing entity, under the direction of the governing board, to create a teacher training and retention dashboard within the data system on or before January 1, 2026. The bill would require the dashboard to provide information on California's teacher workforce, including, among other things, trends regarding teacher training pipelines, teacher credentialing, teacher hiring, and teacher retention, as provided. Existing law establishes the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Incentive Program, under the administration of the State Department of Education, to award grants to teachers who have, among other things, attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Existing law establishes the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and requires, for applications received on July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, inclusive, the commission to award grants to students enrolled in professional preparation programs who commit to work for 2 years at a priority school or a preschool program, as provided. This bill would require the department to annually collect data on award recipients pursuant to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Incentive Program, and would require the commission to annually collect demographic data on grant recipients pursuant to the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, as provided. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 69617 of the Education Code proposed by AB 176 and SB 176 to be operative only if this bill and one or both of AB 176 and SB 176 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law generally regulates the possession of firearms, including imposing storage requirements to prevent children from gaining access to firearms. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2026, require a person who possesses a firearm in a residence to keep the firearm securely stored when the firearm is not being carried or readily controlled by the person or another lawful authorized user. For purposes of these provisions, a firearm is securely stored if the firearm is maintained within, locked by, or disabled using a certified firearm safety device or secure gun safe that meets specified standards. The bill would make a first and 2nd violation of this offense punishable as an infraction, and a 3rd or subsequent violation punishable as a misdemeanor. The bill would exempt unloaded antique firearms, as defined, or firearms that are permanently inoperable from these provisions. The bill would require the Department of Justice to seek to inform residents about these standards for storage of firearms. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor or a felony if a person keeps a firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control and the person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, and the child obtains access to the firearm and causes injury, other than great bodily injury, or death or great bodily injury to the child or any other person, or carries that firearm off-premises, as defined, to a public place or a school. Existing law exempts a person from the above provisions if the person has no reasonable expectation, based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to be present on the premises. This bill would remove these exemptions. 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 vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission with jurisdiction over various energy-related matters. This bill would require the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to form the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Taskforce to conduct a study on retail gasoline fueling stations and alternative fuels infrastructure, as provided. The bill would require the taskforce, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit to the Legislature a report on the study with information and recommendations. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2031.