Sen. Mark Leno

Existing law regulates various subjects relating to the protection and preservation of personal health, including infant, child, and adolescent health, reproductive privacy, and the prevention of the practice of female genital mutilation. This bill would preclude a city, county, or city and county ordinance, regulation, or administrative action from prohibiting or restricting the practice of male circumcision, or the exercise of a parent's authority to have a child circumcised. This bill would provide that the Legislature finds and declares that the laws affecting male circumcision must have uniform application throughout the state. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law authorizes the director to take enforcement action, including, but not limited to, actions to suspend or revoke a license and to impose civil penalties for violations. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would enact the RCFE Residents Foreclosure Protection Act of 2011 which would, with certain exceptions, require the licensee of a facility to notify the department, the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and all residents, applicants, and, if applicable, their legal representatives, in writing within 2 business days of specified events, and would require the department to initiate a compliance plan, noncompliance conference, or other appropriate action upon receipt of this notice. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to create infrastructure financing districts, including districts that include specified waterfront property, adopt infrastructure financing plans for those districts, and issue bonds financed by projected increases in ad valorem property taxes to fund certain public facilities, pursuant to a specified procedure. Existing property tax law establishes various procedures and requirements with respect to the annual apportionment and allocation of ad valorem property tax revenues, including increased revenues from these infrastructure financing districts. This bill would authorize the adoption under these provisions of financing plans for special waterfront districts that include the waterfront area in the City and County of San Francisco designated as the America's Cup venues, and the use of specified tax revenues produced in the districts for the construction of the Port of San Francisco's maritime facilities at Pier 27, improvement of publicly held waterfront lands used as viewing sites, and other matters, subject to specified allocation procedures. It would require the county board of supervisors to submit a fiscal analysis to the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank for review and approval before adopting the resolution authorizing the issuance of debt pursuant to these provisions. The bill would exempt the issuance of tax increment bonds in a waterfront district from local voter approval requirements and would authorize those bonds to be sold at a negotiated sale. The bill would enact other related provisions. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San Francisco.

This measure would designate the month of September of every year as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month throughout the State of California, and would encourage and promote efforts to educate the people and the health care practitioners of the state regarding ovarian cancer and its early detection and prevention, the risk factors involved in its development, and the early warning symptoms and signs.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon, alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law defines a "rectifier" to include every person who colors, flavors, or otherwise processes distilled spirits by distillation, blending, percolating, or other processes. This bill would exclude from the definition of "rectifier" any on-sale licensee that colors, flavors, or blends distilled spirits or wine products on the licensed premises for consumption on those premises. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would recognize the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks as a day of solemn commemoration.

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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Under existing law, no change in premium rates or coverage in a health care service plan or a health insurance policy may become effective without prior written notification of the change to the contractholder or policyholder. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan or health insurer during the term of a group plan contract or policy from changing the rate of the premium, copayment, coinsurance, or deductible during specified time periods. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer that issues individual or group contracts or policies to file with the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance specified rate information at least 60 days prior to the effective date of any rate change. This bill would further require a health care service plan or health insurer that issues individual or group contracts or policies to file with the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, on and after January 1, 2012, a complete rate application for any proposed rate, as defined, or rate change, and would prohibit the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance from approving any rate or rate change that is found to be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. The bill would require the rate application to include certain rate information. The bill would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance to approve, deny, or modify any proposed rate or rate change, and would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to review any rate or rate change that went into effect between January 1, 2011, and January 1, 2012, and to order refunds, subject to these provisions. The bill would authorize the imposition of fees on health care service plans and health insurers for purposes of implementation, for deposit into newly created funds, subject to appropriation. The bill would impose civil penalties on a health care service plan or health insurer, and subject a health care service plan to discipline, for a violation of these provisions, as specified. The bill would establish proceedings for the review of any action taken under those provisions related to rate applications and would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance, and plans and insurers, to disclose specified information on the Internet pertaining to rate applications and those proceedings. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, or the court, to award reasonable advocate's fees, including expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs in those proceedings under specified circumstances, to be paid by the plan or insurer. Because a willful violation of these provisions 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.

Existing law authorizes victims of domestic violence or stalking and reproductive health care providers, employees, and volunteers, as defined, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record. Existing law prohibits the Secretary of State from making a program participant's address publicly available, except in specified circumstances, including when the participant's program certification has been canceled. This bill would specify, instead, that a participant's personal address may be revealed after termination of certification only if the participant's termination resulted from the program manager determining that false information was used as a subterfuge to avoid detection of illegal or criminal activity or apprehension by law enforcement. This bill would, for purposes of the program for victims of domestic violence or stalking, prohibit a person, business, or association from knowingly and intentionally publicly posting or displaying on the Internet, or soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet, specified personal information of a program participant or other persons residing at the same address with a prescribed intent to cause great bodily harm or place a person in objectively reasonable fear for his or her personal safety. The bill would also prohibit a person, business, or association from intentionally publicly posting or displaying on the Internet specified personal information of a program participant or other persons residing at the same address if the participant has made a demand on the person, business, or association to not disclose that information, as specified. Violation of these provisions would be subject to specified civil penalties. The bill would prohibit a person from posting on the Internet the home address, the telephone number, or personal identifying information of a domestic violence or stalking victim program participant or the program participant's family members who are participating in the program, or a provider, employee, volunteer, or patient of a reproductive health facility or individual residing at the same address with the intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence against the participant or the program participant's family members who are participating in the program. Violations of these provisions would be a crime, punishable as specified. By creating a new crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, sets forth the procedures for incorporations and changes of organizations of cities, including procedures for disincorporation. This bill would provide that every city with a population of less than 150 people as of January 1, 2010, would be disincorporated into that city's respective county as of 91 days after the effective date of the bill, unless a county board of supervisors determines, by majority vote within the 90-day period following enactment of these provisions, that continuing such a city within that county's boundaries would serve a public purpose if the board of supervisors determines that the city is in an isolated rural location that makes it impractical for the residents of the community to organize in another form of local governance. The bill would also require the local agency formation commission within the county to oversee the terms and conditions of the disincorporation of the city, as specified. The bill would become operative only if AB 781 of the 2011–12 Regular Session is enacted.

Existing law provides for statewide election of a slate of electors to vote in the electoral college for President and Vice President of the United States. Under existing law, each political party selects its slate of presidential electors in accordance with statutory procedures that differ by party. This bill would ratify a specified interstate compact that requires the chief election official of each signatory state to appoint the slate of presidential electors that was nominated in association with the presidential ticket that received the largest national popular vote total. This compact would only become effective if states cumulatively possessing a majority of the total electoral votes have ratified the compact.