Under existing law, the Legislature finds there are insufficient numbers of minority health professionals to meet the state's health care needs and declares the importance of increasing the number of minority health professionals in order to meet the special needs of population groups who face cultural and linguistic barriers to adequate health care, and to meet the state's needs for a more equitable geographic distribution of professional health personnel resources. Existing law requires the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to maintain a Health Professions Career Opportunity Program tasked with supporting and encouraging minority health professionals in training to practice in health professional shortage areas of California, among other duties. This bill would add to the Legislative findings that there is an urgent and growing need for California to expand its pool of talented, diverse health workers, and to connect them more effectively to jobs in all communities. The bill would authorize the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development within the California Health and Human Services Agency to take specified actions, including funding internships and fellowships, to address identified barriers to entry in the health professions for students from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds, as specified. The bill would authorize the agency to establish pilot programs at University of California, California State University, California Community College, and private university campuses to serve 4,800 students, as specified, and to secure funding and establish infrastructure to develop, implement, and manage the pilot program.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law prohibits sterilization of a person with developmental disabilities without the person's consent, if the person has the ability to consent to sterilization, as defined, unless a limited conservator authorized to consent to the sterilization of an adult with a developmental disability is appointed and obtains court authorization to consent to the sterilization, as specified. Existing law prohibits sterilization for the purpose of birth control in county jails and state prison facilities, as specified. Existing law establishes a procedure for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of certain crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund consisting of General Fund moneys, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and specified limits on the amount of compensation the board may award, and requires applications for compensation to be verified under penalty of perjury. Under existing law, certain property is exempt from enforcement of money judgments, including benefits from a disability or health insurance policy or program. This bill would establish the Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Compensation Program, to be administered by the California Victim Compensation Board for the purpose of providing victim compensation to survivors of state-sponsored sterilization conducted pursuant to eugenics laws that existed in California between 1909 and 1979 and to survivors of coercive sterilization performed in prisons after 1979. The bill would require the board, in consultation with community-based organizations, to conduct outreach to locate qualified recipients, as defined, disclose a coerced sterilization to that person if the person was sterilized while imprisoned, notify that person of the process to apply for victim compensation, and review and verify all applications for victim compensation, as specified. The bill would require the board to keep confidential and not disclose to the public a record pertaining to a person's application for victim compensation or the board's verification of the application. The bill would exempt victim compensation payments from, among other things, being considered taxable income for state tax purposes or being subject to enforcement of a money judgment, as specified. The bill would provide that these provisions would become operative only upon an appropriation of not less than $7,500,000 in the annual Budget Act or other statute, collectively appropriated to the board, the State Department of State Hospitals, the State Department of Developmental Services, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the purposes of implementing the program. The bill would also require the board and departments to post a notice on their internet websites, once the appropriation described above is made, to inform the public of the operative date of the program. (2) Existing law provides that information and records obtained in the course of providing specified mental health and developmental services are confidential, but allows the disclosure of the information and records under specified circumstances. This bill would additionally authorize the State Department of Developmental Services and the State Department of State Hospitals to disclose the above-described information and records to authorized employees of the board for the purposes of verifying the identity and eligibility of individuals claiming compensation under the Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Compensation Program, or to an attorney for a person who was sterilized or alleges a person was sterilized. The bill would require the board to maintain the confidentiality of any information or records received from the departments. (3) 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 establishes various programs to facilitate the expansion of the health care workforce in rural and underserved communities, including, but not limited to, the Health Professions Career Opportunity Program, the California Registered Nurse Education Program, and the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Program. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature, as specified, would create the California Medicine Scholars Program, a 5-year pilot program commencing January 1, 2023, and would require the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to establish and facilitate the pilot program. The bill would require the pilot program to establish a regional pipeline program for community college students to pursue premedical training and enter medical school, in an effort to address the shortage of primary care physicians in California and the widening disparities in access to care in vulnerable and underserved communities, including building a comprehensive statewide approach to increasing the number and representation of minority primary care physicians in the state. The bill would require the office to contract with a managing agency for the pilot program, as specified. The bill would require the pilot program to consist of 4 Regional Hubs of Health Care Opportunity (RHHO) to achieve its objectives, and would require each RHHO to include, at a minimum, 3 community colleges, one public or nonprofit, as defined, 4-year undergraduate institution, one public or nonprofit, as defined, medical school, and 3 local community organizations. The bill would require the managing agency to appoint an objective selection committee, with specified membership, to evaluate prospective RHHO applications and select RHHOs that meet certain requirements to participate in the pilot program. The bill would require each selected RHHO to enter into memoranda of understanding between the partnering entities setting forth participation requirements, and to perform other specified duties, including establishing an advisory board to oversee and guide the programmatic direction of the RHHO and developing partnership agreements with one or more campus-based learning communities, groups, or entities to assist with outreach, recruitment, and support of students. The bill would require the selection process to be completed by June 30, 2022. This bill would require each RHHO to recruit and select 50 California Medicine Scholars each calendar year from 2023 to 2026, inclusive, in accordance with specified criteria, and to provide, by December 31, 2023, and by that date of each year thereafter, up to and including 2026, a status report on the implementation of the pilot program to the managing agency and the office, including data and information collected by each RHHO during the applicable program year. The bill would require the managing agency and the office to jointly prepare and submit to the Legislature a final report evaluating the success of the pilot program, including the data and information provided by the RHHOs, in accordance with specified metrics. The bill would declare that its provisions are severable. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2027, and would repeal the provisions as of January 1, 2028.
Existing law establishes the Domestic Violence Prevention Act for the purpose of preventing acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse and providing for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to enable those persons to seek a resolution of the causes of the violence. Existing law authorizes a court to issue a protective order enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts, including threatening or harassing the other party or disturbing the peace of the other party. Existing law defines "disturbing the peace of the other party" as conduct that destroys the mental or emotional calm of the other party, including coercive control, which is a pattern of behavior that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty and includes, among other things, unreasonably isolating a victim from friends, relatives, or other sources of support. A knowing and intentional violation of a protective order is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would add engaging in reproductive coercion, as described, to the definition of disturbing the peace of the other party. Because a violation of a protective order is punishable as a crime, by expanding the bases for the issuance of these orders, this bill would expand an existing crime, thereby imposing 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 a court to issue an order enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts against another party, including threatening or harassing that party, and, in the discretion of the court, against other named family or household members. An intentional or knowing violation of this order is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2023, authorize a court to include in an ex parte order a provision restraining a party from accessing records and information pertaining to the health care, education, daycare, recreational activities, or employment of a minor child of the parties. The bill would require an essential care provider, as defined, to develop protocols relating to compliance with that order on or before February 1, 2023, and would require a discretionary services organization, as defined, to develop those protocols within 30 days of receipt of the first order. The bill would require the Judicial Council to develop or update any other forms or rules of court that are necessary to implement these provisions. By expanding the scope of an existing 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.
This measure would recognize June 21, 2021, as the 2021 International Day of Yoga in California.
The California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to implement a program in urban forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban areas. Under the act, the department has established a grant program to provide grants for, among other projects, projects for urban forest management activities. Existing law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds. Existing law sets forth general administrative provisions applicable to voluntary contributions, which, among other things, repeal funds that fail to meet a minimum contribution amount of $250,000 in a given taxable year. This bill would allow a taxpayer to designate an amount in excess of personal income tax liability to be transferred into the California Community and Neighborhood Tree Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return to include a space for this fund for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and until January 1, 2028, unless the fund fails to meet an annual minimum contribution amount of $250,000, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year. The bill would require moneys transferred to the California Community and Neighborhood Tree Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund to be continuously appropriated and allocated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to the grant program for urban forest management activities under the California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 and to the Franchise Tax Board and the Controller for related administrative costs, as provided. By continuously appropriating these funds, the bill would make an appropriation.
This measure would recognize the month of June 2021 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month and Sunday, June 20, 2021, as The Longest Day, and would urge all Californians to commemorate the month of June 2021 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month.
Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with all interested state agencies with designated response roles in the state emergency plan and interested local emergency management agencies, to jointly establish by regulation a standardized emergency management system for use by all emergency response agencies, and to include specified components. Existing law requires the office to approve, adopt, and incorporate the California Animal Response Emergency System (CARES) program developed under the oversight of the Department of Food and Agriculture into the standardized emergency management system. This bill would require the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine to develop a program called the California Veterinary Emergency Team, and would require the program to assist in the support and training of a network of government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals to assist in the veterinary care of household and domestic animals and livestock in emergencies, including disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. The bill would also require the program to conduct or support research on best practices for the evacuation and care of the animals in disasters. The bill would require the university, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, and the Director of Emergency Services to develop a memorandum of understanding for the university to consult with the secretary and the director regarding the coordination of the program's activities with the state government's disaster response practices and the deployment of the program's participants during disasters. The bill would require these provisions to apply to the university only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by resolution, make any of these provisions applicable to the university. The bill would establish the California Veterinary Emergency Team Fund in the State Treasury to, upon appropriation, be used solely to support the program. The bill would specify that moneys in the fund are not to be considered offsets to any other state funds appropriated to the university.