Sen. Elaine Alquist

Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services contracts with local, nonprofit regional centers to provide various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. The department is required to consult with stakeholders for various reasons, including, but not limited to, coordinating client advocacy, planning programs, and creating alternative service delivery models to obtain services and supports. This bill would require the department, in convening stakeholder groups pursuant to the act, to take into account the state's ethnic, sexual orientation, gender identity, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity and to use best efforts to include stakeholder groups that, collectively, reflect the interests of the state's diverse population. The bill would also require the department to include in appropriate reports to the Legislature a description of how it has complied with the requirement of stakeholder group diversity.

Existing law, subject to exceptions, provides that any person who reasonably believes that he or she has observed the commission of a murder, rape, or lewd and lascivious act committed by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, where the victim of any of these crimes is under 14 years of age, shall notify a peace officer. Violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,500 or incarceration not exceeding 6 months in a county jail, or both the fine and incarceration. This bill would expand those provisions to apply when the victim of the offense observed is under 18 years of age, and would specify that this obligation to report crimes to a peace officer applies to sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration, as specified, where those crimes are accomplished by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, and rape in concert. The bill would provide additional exceptions to the reporting requirement for domestic partners, for children under 12 years of age, and for victims of the offenses that are subject to reporting. The bill would provide that a violation of these reporting obligations may also be punished as an infraction by a fine of $250. By expanding the scope 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.

This measure would request that the President and the Congress of the United States pass the H.R. 2474 that would restore funding for California veterans pursuing higher education.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish the capacity to provide transition services such as employment and academic training, strategic planning, interagency coordination, and parent training for a broad range of individuals with exceptional needs, including autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities. This bill, contingent upon the availability of federal funds for this purpose, would authorize a county office of education or consortium of county offices of education to establish pilot programs for the purposes of providing combined academic and occupational training to secondary school pupils with autism spectrum disorders and other exceptional needs. The bill would require a county office of education or consortium of county offices of education that establishes a pilot program pursuant to these provisions to submit an evaluation containing specified information about the program to the State Department of Education, the Assembly Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education on or before January 1, 2014. These provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2015.

(1) The Personal Income Tax Law and The Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, in accordance with legislative findings contained in this bill and for calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, would, for a business entity, as described, that provides career technical education, authorize a credit against those taxes, subject to specified limitations, in an amount equal to that reserved and allocated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This bill would impose specified duties on the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Franchise Tax Board, and the State Board of Equalization in administering the credits. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law authorize various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a hiring credit for qualified taxpayers who hire qualified employees, as defined, within enterprise zones, subject to specific criteria. Qualified employees includes, for purposes of the credit, an ex-offender, as defined. Existing law requires a taxpayer to obtain, from specified agencies, a certification providing that a qualified employee meets the requirements of the credit. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, revise the definition of "qualified employee" for this purpose, by providing that an ex-offender includes an individual who has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor offense punishable by incarceration, or a person charged with a felony or misdemeanor punishable by incarceration but placed on probation without a finding of guilt, with specified exclusions. This bill would also, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, revise the definition of "qualified employee" by removing, as an element of eligibility as a qualified employee, residency in a targeted employment or targeted tax area. Additionally, this bill would require taxpayers to apply for, and obtain, the certification of a qualified employee within 42 days of the date of hire of the qualified employee. This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to remove obsolete references in the credit provisions. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income recipients. One of the methods by which these services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. This bill would require the department to develop a definition of "medical home," as specified. This bill would also require the department to establish a timetable for Medi-Cal managed care plans to provide beneficiaries with a medical home.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinics and health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law also provides for the registration, certification, and licensure of various health care professionals and sets forth the scope of practice for these professionals. This bill would establish the Patient-Centered Medical Home Act of 2010 to encourage licensed health care providers and patients to partner in a patient-centered medical home, as defined, that promotes access to high-quality, comprehensive care, in accordance with prescribed requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states to enable them to establish, expand, or provide support for offices of health insurance consumer assistance or health insurance ombudsman programs and imposes specified eligibility requirements on states in order to receive those grants. This bill would establish the Office of the California Health Ombudsman in state government, to be governed by a chief executive officer known as the California Health Ombudsman who would be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would require the ombudsman to, among other things, educate consumers on their rights and responsibilities with respect to health care coverage, assist consumers with enrollment in health care coverage, and resolve problems with obtaining specified premium tax credits. The bill would also require the ombudsman to operate a specified hotline and Internet Web site and would require that the telephone number and Web site be included on every membership card and evidence of coverage issued to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and to individuals with coverage under health care service plans or health insurers, as specified. The bill would require the ombudsman to apply to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for a grant to implement these requirements and would create the California Health Ombudsman Trust Fund as a continuously appropriated fund in the State Treasury for purposes of the act. The bill would also impose an annual fee on health care service plans and health insurers for purposes of funding these provisions, as specified.