Under existing law, a person who is a voter or is qualified to register to vote in this state may circulate an initiative or referendum petition, and a person who is a voter may circulate a recall petition. This bill would provide that it is a misdemeanor for a person to pay or to receive money or any other thing of value based on the number of signatures obtained on a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition and would prescribe penalties for doing so. By creating a new 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.
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Existing law imposes various requirements with respect to contracting by state agencies. This bill would require a state agency that accepts bids or proposals for a contract for the purchase or installation of a solar photovoltaic system, as defined, to provide a 5% preference to a business that certifies that all of the solar panels installed as part of the solar photovoltaic system have been manufactured or assembled in California, in accordance with specified criteria.
Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi‑Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Commencing January 1, 2014, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires every individual to be covered under minimum essential coverage, as specified, and requires every health insurance issuer issuing individual or group health insurance coverage to accept every employer and individual who applies for coverage. Existing law establishes the California Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans through the Exchange by qualified individuals and small employers by January 1, 2014. This bill would establish the California Healthcare System to be administered by the newly created California Healthcare Agency under the control of a Healthcare Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Healthcare System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Healthcare System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. The bill would create the Healthcare Policy Board to establish policy on medical issues and various other matters relating to the system. The bill would create the Office of Patient Advocacy within the agency to represent the interests of health care consumers relative to the system. The bill would create within the agency the Office of Health Planning to plan for the health care needs of the population, and the Office of Health Care Quality, headed by a chief medical officer, to support the delivery of high-quality care and promote provider and patient satisfaction. The bill would create the Office of Inspector General for the California Healthcare System within the Attorney General's office, which would have various oversight powers. The bill would prohibit health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies from being issued for services covered by the California Healthcare System, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, and would authorize the collection of penalty moneys for deposit into the Healthcare Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would create the Payments Board to administer the finances of the California Healthcare System. The bill would create the California Healthcare Premium Commission (Premium Commission) to determine the cost of the California Healthcare System and to develop a premium structure for the system that complies with specified standards. The bill would require the Premium Commission to recommend a premium structure to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2014, and to make a draft recommendation to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public 90 days before submitting its final premium structure recommendation. The bill would specify that only its provisions relating to the Premium Commission would become operative on January 1, 2013, with its remaining provisions becoming operative on the earlier of the date the Secretary of California Health and Human Services notifies the Legislature, as specified, that sufficient funding exists to implement the California Healthcare System and the date the secretary receives the necessary federal waiver under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The bill would extend the application of certain insurance fraud laws to providers of services and products under the system, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by revising the definition of a crime. The bill would enact other related provisions relative to budgeting, regional entities, federal preemption, subrogation, collective bargaining agreements, compensation of health care providers, conflict of interest, patient grievances, and independent medical review. 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 requires the State Fire Marshal to adopt and administer regulations and building standards he or she deems necessary in order to, among other things, establish and control a program for servicing, testing, and maintaining all automatic fire extinguishing systems, including fire sprinkler systems. The Contractors' State License Law provides for the licensing and regulation of contractors by the Contractors' State License Board. Under that law, the registrar may refuse to issue, reinstate, reactivate, or renew a license or may suspend a license for the failure of a licensee to resolve all outstanding final liabilities, which include taxes, additions to tax, penalties, interest, and any fees that may be assessed by the board or other specified state agencies. This bill would specify that a license may be affected for failure to resolve all outstanding financial liabilities, and would include nonpayment of assessments of the State Fire Marshal among the financial liabilities for which a license may be affected. This bill would enact a comprehensive program for the certification and regulation of sprinkler fitters, as defined, by the State Fire Marshal. The bill would prohibit a person from performing work on any fire suppression system, as defined, unless he or she possesses a valid sprinkler fitter certificate issued by the State Fire Marshal, and would prohibit a person or entity from employing a person to perform work on a fire suppression system without that certificate. The bill would provide for the issuance of, and would set forth eligibility standards for, various certificates and permits, and would require the State Fire Marshal to adopt a schedule of fees in amounts necessary to cover the cost of administering and enforcing these provisions. This bill would provide for the enforcement of these provisions by the State Fire Marshal, and would require the State Fire Marshal to revoke or suspend a certificate or permit, or reprimand a certificate holder or permitholder, for specified reasons. The bill would also provide that a person licensed under the Contractors' State License Law who violates these provisions would be subject to disciplinary action by the Contractors' State License Board. The bill would provide that a knowing and willful violation of these licensing and regulatory provisions would be a misdemeanor. By creating a new 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.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, requires retailers of rechargeable batteries to have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of rechargeable batteries. The bill would require, by April 1, 2013, a producer, or the household battery stewardship organization created by one or more producers, of a household battery to submit a household battery stewardship plan to the department, which would be required to include specified elements. The bill would allow a registered hazardous waste transporter to elect to submit a household battery stewardship plan to the department on behalf of one or more producers and would require a hazardous waste transporter making that election to comply with the provisions of the bill applicable to a household battery stewardship organization. The bill would require the department to review a household battery stewardship plan submitted to the department and either deem the plan complete within 30 days after receipt or take specified actions. The bill would prohibit a producer, wholesaler, or retailer, on and after January 1, 2014, from selling a household battery unless the plan for that battery is deemed complete by the department. The act would require a producer or the household battery stewardship organization to implement the household battery program pursuant to the household battery stewardship plan, including achieving a specified collection rate, and contacting cities, counties, districts, and regional agencies either to reimburse the local public agency for the mutually agreed upon cost of collecting household batteries or provide for the pickup of household batteries, or both. The bill would require each producer or household battery stewardship organization implementing a household battery stewardship plan to prepare and submit to the department an annual report describing the activities carried out pursuant to the household battery stewardship plan. The bill would require a producer or household battery stewardship organization submitting a household battery stewardship plan to pay the department a plan review fee, as determined by the department, when submitting the plan to the department and to pay an administrative fee, as determined by the department, when submitting the annual report. The bill would provide for the imposition of administrative civil penalties upon a wholesaler or retailer selling household batteries in violation of the bill. The bill would create the Household Battery Stewardship Account in the existing Integrated Waste Management Fund and would require that the fees be deposited into that account and that the penalties be deposited into the Household Battery Stewardship Penalty Subaccount that the bill would create in that account. The bill would authorize the fees and penalties to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover the department's program implementation costs and would authorize all funds collected or received by the department under the program, except for the fees, to be expended as incentives to enhance recyclability and redesign efforts and to reduce environmental and safety impacts of household batteries. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to exercise enforcement and regulatory authority with regard to the hazardous waste accepted at a facility that accepts both hazardous waste and other solid waste. This bill would require DTSC, upon the request of an applicant for a project to construct, expand, or retrofit a solid waste facility to process, collect, or recycle a universal waste, as defined, to appoint an administrative liaison to serve as the applicant's single point of contact, and to provide other information and assistance.
(1) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires the Office of Planning and Research to coordinate, in conjunction with appropriate state, regional, and local agencies, the development of objectives, criteria, and procedures for the orderly evaluation and report of the impact of public and private actions on the environmental quality of the state and as a guide to the preparation of environmental impact reports required of state and local agencies, and to develop a land use policy for the state. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, subject to the availability of funds, to provide technical assistance and grants-in-aid to assist local agencies in siting specified energy production or transmission projects. This bill would require the Office of Planning and Research, by July 1, 2012, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Department of Fish and Game, the Public Utilities Commission, any applicable private organization, and any applicable local or federal agency, to develop and maintain an Internet Web site containing information that covers common issues when siting a renewable energy project, including specified information. (2) Existing law requires the Office of Planning and Research to develop, adopt, and revise guidelines for the mandatory elements required in city and county general plans, as specified. This bill would require the office, upon the next revision of these guidelines, to prepare or amend guidelines for a legislative body to adopt or amend an optional energy element, as specified.
This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.
Existing law prescribes comprehensive requirements relating to minimum wages, overtime compensation, and standards for working conditions for the protection of employees applicable to an employment relationship. This bill would prohibit willful misclassification, as defined, of individuals as independent contractors. The bill also would prohibit charging individuals who have been mischaracterized as independent contractors a fee or making deductions from compensation, as specified, where those acts would have violated the law if the individuals had not been mischaracterized. The bill would authorize the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to assess specified civil penalties from, and would require the agency to take other specified disciplinary actions against, persons or employers violating these prohibitions. It would also require the agency to notify the Contractors' State License Board of a violator that is a licensed contractor, and require the board to initiate an action against the licensee. The bill would authorize an individual to file a complaint, as specified, to request the Labor Commissioner to issue a determination that a person or employer has violated these prohibitions with regard to the individual filing the complaint. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to assess civil and liquidated damages against a person or employer based on a determination that the person or employer has violated these prohibitions. This bill would provide that a person who, for money or other valuable consideration, knowingly advises an employer to treat an individual as an independent contractor to avoid employee status for the individual shall be jointly and severally liable with the employer if the individual is not found to be an independent contractor. This bill would exempt from the provisions regarding joint and several liability a person who provides advice to his or her employer or an attorney who provides legal advice in the course of practicing law.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. A willful violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide benefits for specified conditions, including certain mental health conditions. This bill, effective July 1, 2012, would require those health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies, except as specified, to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment, as defined, for pervasive developmental disorder or autism. The bill would provide, however, that no benefits are required to be provided that exceed the essential health benefits that will be required under specified federal law. Because a violation of these provisions with respect to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. These provisions would be inoperative July 1, 2014, and repealed on January 1, 2015. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care, in conjunction with the Department of Insurance, to convene an Autism Advisory Task Force by February 1, 2012, to provide assistance to the department on topics related to behavioral health treatment and to develop recommendations relating to the education, training, and experience requirements to secure licensure from the state. The bill would require the department to submit a report of the Task Force to the Governor and specified members of the Legislature by December 31, 2012. Existing law establishes various communicable disease prevention and control programs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a list of reportable diseases and conditions and requires health care providers and laboratories to report cases of HIV infection to the local health officer using patient names and sets guidelines regarding these reports. Existing law requires the local health officers to report unduplicated HIV cases by name to the department. This bill would authorize the department to revise the HIV reporting form without the adoption of a regulation, as specified. Under the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, the State Department of Mental Health administers the provision of funds to counties for community mental health services programs. Existing law also permits counties to receive, under certain circumstances, Medi-Cal reimbursement for mental health services. Under existing law, negotiated net amounts or rates are used as the cost of services in contracts between the state and the county and between the county and a subprovider of services. Existing law establishes the method for computing negotiated rates. Existing law prohibits the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving service from a county mental health program from exceeding the actual or negotiated cost of the services. This bill would only allow the use of negotiated net amounts as the cost of services in a contract between the state and a county and the county and a subprovider of services, and would eliminate the use of negotiated rates. The bill would also specify that the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving a service from a county mental health program shall not exceed the actual cost of the service. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Under existing law, the State Department of Health Care Services promulgates regulations for determining reimbursement of Short-Doyle mental health services allowable under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health and the State Department of Health Care Services to jointly develop a ratesetting methodology for use in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system that maximizes federal funding and utilizes, as much as practicable, federal Medicare reimbursement principles. Existing law requires that this ratesetting methodology contain incentives relating to economy and efficiency. The bill would delete the requirement that the ratesetting methodology in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system include incentives relating to economy and efficiency. 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.
(1) Existing law requires the Governor, the designated agency of the State Bar responsible for the evaluation of judicial candidates, and the Administrative Office of the Courts to annually collect demographic data relating to judicial applicants, judicial appointees or nominees, judicial candidates, and justices and judges, as specified, relative to ethnicity, race, and gender. These entities are required to release the demographic data on or before March 1 of each year. This bill would expand these provisions to include the collection and release of demographic data relative to gender identity and sexual orientation. This bill would require a departing Governor to provide the demographic data collected for the year to the incoming Governor, as specified. The bill would require the incoming Governor to release the provided demographic data, as prescribed. The bill would require any demographic data disclosed or released pursuant to these provisions to indicate the percentage of respondents who declined to respond. This bill would also make technical changes. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 12011.5 of the Government Code proposed by AB 126, that would become operative only if AB 126 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is chaptered last.