(1) Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2030, owners of all acute care inpatient hospitals to either demolish, replace, or change to nonacute care use all hospital buildings not in substantial compliance with specified seismic safety standards or to seismically retrofit all acute care inpatient hospital buildings so that they are in substantial compliance with those seismic safety standards. Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information to issue a written notice upon compliance with those requirements. This bill would authorize a Distressed Hospital Loan Program recipient, a small hospital, a rural hospital, a critical access hospital, or a health care district hospital, as defined, and except as specified, to seek approval from the Department of Health Care Access and Information for a delay to the January 1, 2030, compliance deadline described above by up to 3 years. The bill would require hospitals seeking a delay to submit a seismic compliance plan, as specified, and, if necessary, a Nonstructural Performance Category-5 evaluation report. The bill would also require the hospital and department to identify least 2 major milestones relating to the seismic compliance plan that will be used as the basis for determining whether a hospital is making adequate progress toward meeting the subject hospital's seismic compliance deadline. The bill would subject the submitted seismic compliance plans to departmental review for reasonableness and require the hospital seeking the delay to submit any documentation requested by the department to assist its review. The bill would require the department to approve or deny a seismic compliance plan and any delay to the seismic compliance deadline within 120 days. The bill would also authorize the department to additionally delay the deadline for compliance by 2 years, up to a maximum of January 1, 2035, as necessary, for hospitals that continue to experience financial distress or that need to deal with contractor, labor, or material delays, acts of God, governmental entitlements, or other circumstances beyond the hospital's control. The bill would require hospitals eligible to delay compliance under these provisions to comply with the seismic safety standards described above by no later than January 1, 2035. The bill would impose a fine of $5,000 per calendar day for a hospital's failure to comply with a revised construction schedule or to meet any major milestone established by the department until the requirements or milestones, respectively, are met. The bill would also prohibit these hospitals from being issued a building permit for any building in the facility except those required for seismic compliance, maintenance, and emergency repairs until the milestone is met and the hospital is adequately progressing toward meeting the subject hospitals seismic compliance, as determined by the department. The bill would require the department to implement the above-described provisions by regulation, as specified. The bill would require the department to support a hospital requesting a delay under the above-described provisions to explore the opportunities under the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Program to assist with seismic compliance and to annually post a list of hospitals that have been granted a delay on its internet website, as specified. (2) Existing law establishes the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Program for the purpose of funding seismic safety compliance with respect to small hospitals, rural hospitals, and critical access hospitals in the state. Existing law requires the department to provide grants to small, rural, and critical access hospital applicants that meet certain criteria, including that seismic safety compliance, as defined, imposes a financial burden on the applicant that may result in hospital closure. Existing law also creates the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund for purposes of administering and funding the grant program. This bill would require the department to expand eligibility for grants for single- and 2-story general acute care hospitals located in remote or rural areas with fewer than 80 general acute care beds and general acute care hospital revenue of $75 million or less. The bill would require grants under the program to provide general acute care hospitals with funds to secure an SPC-4D assessment for purposes of planning for, and estimating the costs of, compliance with certain seismic safety standards, as specified. The bill would authorize specified general acute care hospitals to apply for a grant for purposes of complying with those seismic safety standards. If state funds are appropriated to the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund in the future for the purpose of complying with the seismic safety standards described in paragraph (1) , the bill would require a hospital that qualifies for assessment grants under the program to submit specified financial information relating to, among other things, the accuracy of the hospital's SPC-4D cost estimates to the department before being awarded state funds.
Sponsored bills
Under existing law, the California Health Facilities Financing Authority Act (act) authorizes the California Health Facilities Financing Authority to, among other things, make loans from the continuously appropriated California Health Facilities Financing Authority Fund to participating health institutions, as defined, for financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, or remodeling of health facilities. Under the act, the authority is authorized to issue revenue bonds to provide the funds for achieving these purposes. Existing law appropriates $40,000,000 to provide cashflow loans to nondesignated public hospitals, as needed, due to the financial impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Existing law requires the nondesignated public hospitals participating in this loan program to repay and discharge the loan within 24 months of the date of the loan. This bill would extend the repayment requirements for nondesignated public hospitals participating in the loan program that had received a loan approval from, and entered into a loan and security agreement with, the authority by requiring those hospitals to begin monthly repayments on the loan 24 months after the date of the loan, and discharge the loan within 72 months of the date of the loan, as prescribed. The bill would require the monthly payments to be amortized over the term of the loan, at 0% interest. By removing restrictions limiting the expenditure of moneys appropriated for purposes of these loans, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law classifies certain criminal offenses as a "violent felony" for the purposes of various provisions of the Penal Code, including sentencing enhancements for prior convictions, as well as numerous other provisions. Existing law includes among the list of violent felonies rape accomplished against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear, or rape accomplished against the victim's will by threat of violent retaliation, but does not include rape of a person unable to give consent due to disability, intoxication, or unconsciousness, rape under false pretenses, or rape accomplished by threat of incarceration, arrest, or deportation. This bill would also include the rape of an intoxicated person wherein the defendant drugged the victim, as specified, in the list of violent felonies. By expanding the scope of an enhancement, 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 Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers for the provision of community services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law requires the department, on or before March 1, 2019, to submit a rate study to specified committees of the Legislature regarding community-based services for individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the department to implement rate increases between April 1, 2022, and July 1, 2025, to raise service providers' rates based on a formula that takes into account the fully funded rate reflected in the rate models that were included in the rate study. This bill would require the department, commencing on July 1, 2025, and every other year thereafter, subject to appropriation and the approval of federal funds, to review and update the rate models, as defined, per the cost inputs available at the time of the review. The bill would also require the department to post the updated rate models to its internet website no later than January 1 of the following year.
Existing law requires a public or private school that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and that issues pupil identification cards to have printed on the identification cards the telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, among other telephone numbers, and authorizes those schools to have printed on the identification cards certain other suicide-prevention and emergency-response numbers, as provided. This bill, commencing July 1, 2025, would instead require a public or private school that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and that issues pupil identification cards to have printed on the identification cards the number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The bill would require schools subject to this requirement that, as of July 1, 2025, have a supply of unissued identification cards that are noncompliant with this requirement to issue the noncompliant identification cards until that supply is depleted. The bill, commencing July 1, 2025, also would expressly authorize those schools to additionally have printed on either side of the identification card a quick response (QR) code that links to the mental health resources internet website of the county in which the school is located.
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.
Under existing law, a person who solicits, or who agrees to engage in, or who engages in, any act of prostitution with the intent to receive compensation, money, or anything of value from another person is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Under existing law, if the person solicited was a minor, and the person who solicited the minor knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a mandatory minimum of 2 days and not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This bill would make this offense applicable only to a defendant who is 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense. The bill would, if the person solicited was under 16 years of age, or if the person solicited was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the person solicited was a victim of human trafficking, make the offense punishable as a wobbler by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 1 year and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. For a 2nd or subsequent offense under those conditions, the bill would require that the offense be punishable as a felony by imprisonment in the county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. By changing the elements and increasing the punishment of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires persons convicted of certain specified crimes to annually register as a sex offender, as specified, for a term of 10, 20, or 30 years. This bill would require a person who is 18 years of age or older, on or after January 1, 2025, is convicted of, and who has a prior conviction for, soliciting a minor, as specified, to annually register as a sex offender for a term of 10 years if, at the time of the offense, the person was more than 10 years older than the solicited minor. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 647 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 926, AB 1874, and AB 1962, to be operative only if this bill and some or all of those other bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 Lithium Extraction Tax Law, imposes a lithium extraction excise tax upon each metric ton of lithium carbonate equivalent extracted from geothermal fluid, spodumene ore, rock, minerals, clay, or any other naturally occurring substance in this state, as specified. Existing law requires the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to administer and collect the tax and requires all collected revenues, less refunds and reimbursement to the department for administrative expenses, to be deposited into the Lithium Extraction Excise Tax Fund and disbursed in the manner prescribed. Existing law requires 80% of the moneys in the Lithium Extraction Excise Tax Fund to be disbursed by the Controller to all counties in proportion to the amounts collected for lithium extraction within each county, as specified, and 20% of the moneys to be deposited into the Salton Sea Lithium Fund. This bill would, instead of depositing 20% of the moneys in the Lithium Extraction Excise Tax Fund into the Salton Sea Lithium Fund, deposit 20% of the revenues collected in the County of Imperial into the Salton Sea Lithium Fund, and disburse 20% of the revenues collected in every other county to that county for distribution to communities in that county that are the most impacted by the lithium extraction activities. The bill would remove a restriction on the Lithium Extraction Excise Tax Fund, and would change the amount deposited into the Salton Sea Lithium Fund, both continuously appropriated funds, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Imperial.
(1) Existing law requires a person engaged in the business of processing or manufacturing any farm product to be licensed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, as specified. Existing law requires a person engaged in the business of buying, receiving on consignment, soliciting for sale on commission, or negotiating the sale of farm products from a licensee or producer for resale to be licensed by the secretary. Existing law requires each applicant for a license to pay to the Department of Food and Agriculture a fee in accordance with a fee schedule for each kind of license that contains specified tiers determined by the annual dollar volume of business based on farm product values. This bill would raise those license fees by specified amounts and add another tier to the fee schedule for each kind of license. The bill would also increase the license fees for an agent acting on behalf of a processor of farm products or a producer dealer, as specified. (2) Existing law requires that revenues from the above-described fees adequately cover the costs to fully administer and operate the applicable licensing program in an effective and efficient manner. Under existing law, the fees provided in the fee schedule for each kind of license are the maximum fees the department is authorized to charge. Existing law authorizes the secretary to fix those fees at a lesser amount, and to adjust those fees, if the secretary finds that the cost of administering the applicable licensing program can be defrayed with those below-maximum fees. The bill would instead authorize the secretary to fix and adjust those fees if the secretary finds that the funds needed to administer the applicable licensing program must be adjusted for the sustainability of the program. (3) Existing law authorizes the secretary to appoint an advisory committee of producers and licensees to provide guidance in establishing those fees for each kind of license or to rely on input from any similar advisory committee already assembled by the secretary. The bill would delete those provisions and instead establish the Market Enforcement Advisory Committee in the department to advise the secretary and make recommendations on, among other things, all matters pertaining to the above-described licensing programs, including setting the appropriate fees for those programs. The bill would require that the advisory board consist of 12 voting members, appointed by the secretary, including a balanced representation of growers, processors, and produce dealers, as provided, and that the term for each member be 3 years. The bill would require the committee to follow specified rules for a meeting held by teleconference. (4) Existing law authorizes an aggrieved grower or licensee under provisions relating to both processors of farm products and produce dealers, with a complaint not subject to certain federal laws, to seek resolution of the complaint by filing a complaint with the department, as provided, and paying a $100 filing fee. This bill would raise the filing fees under the provisions relating to processors of farm products and the provisions relating to produce dealers by imposing a graduated fee schedule, with a maximum of $500, depending on the amount due alleged in the complaint. (5) Existing law requires all of the above-described fees to be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, which is continuously appropriated, as prescribed. By increasing the amount of existing fees, the revenue from which is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also make an appropriation by authorizing continuously appropriated moneys derived from specified licenses to be used for purposes of the Market Enforcement Advisory Committee. (6) 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.
Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has been issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes various public entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to designate a highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain requirements are met, including a prohibition on a designation of greater than 3 miles. Existing law, until January 1, 2025, authorizes the County of Inyo to operate a pilot project that exempts specified combined-use highways in the unincorporated area in the County of Inyo from this prohibition to link together existing roads in the unincorporated portion of the county to existing trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands in order to provide a unified linkage of trail systems for off-highway motor vehicles, as prescribed. Existing law requires the County of Inyo to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project, as specified. This bill would authorize the Department of Parks and Recreation, until January 1, 2030, to implement a similar pilot program at Red Rock Canyon State Park. The bill would also require the department, in conjunction with specified state agencies, to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project by January 1, 2029, as specified.