Existing law establishes the Pathways to Success Grant Program with the goal of providing pupils in preschool, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with dual language immersion programs, developmental bilingual programs for English learners, or early learning dual language learners programs, as those terms are defined. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to administer the program and award a minimum of 10 grants of up to $300,000 to school districts and consortia of school districts in partnership with other specified entities, and additional funding of up to $20,000 to an applicant proposing to establish a dual language immersion program or developmental bilingual program for English learners in a target language other than Spanish, as provided. Existing law makes the implementation of the program contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute. This bill would revise and recast the Pathways to Success Grant Program. The bill would require the State Department of Education to instead award a minimum of 20 one-time grants of up to $750,000 per grant, as provided, and additional funding of up to $37,500 when awarding a grant to an applicant proposing to establish a dual language immersion program or developmental bilingual program for English learners in a target language other than Spanish, as provided. The bill would require the department to, among other things, determine grant award selection criteria and meet quarterly with grantees to share practices and resources and resolve implementation issues. The bill would require the department to hire a consultant to coordinate program activities and provide technical assistance to the department. The bill would require the department to contract for technical assistance and strategic planning services for grantees and would exempt those contracts from various state contracting requirements. The bill would require the department to submit to the appropriate policy and budget committees of the Legislature an annual progress report, a one-time report on or before June 30, 2025, and a one-time report on or before October 1, 2029, with specified information about the progress and outcomes of the grant program, as provided. This bill would additionally require grant applicants to include a description of how the proposed grant programs align to one or more goals included in the local educational agency's local control and accountability plan. The bill would additionally authorize grant funds to be used for attendance at the quarterly grant recipient meetings and for employment of a dual immersion teacher specialist to support program implementation, as provided.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to complete and publish an annual report containing statistics on state work injuries and occupational diseases and fatalities by industry classifications by December 31 of the following calendar year. This bill would require the department to submit the annual report to the Legislature and the Governor.
Existing law establishes the Big Game Management Account within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Existing law requires revenue from the sale of tags for antelope, elk, deer, wild pig, bear, and sheep to be deposited into the account, except as provided. Existing law requires funds deposited into the account to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, solely for specified purposes and pursuant to specified limitations. Existing law authorizes the department to make grants to, reimburse, or enter into contracts or other agreements with nonprofit organizations for the use of the funds from the account to carry out those purposes, including related habitat conservation projects. This bill instead would authorize the department to make grants to, reimburse, or enter into contracts or other agreements with public and private entities, including nonprofit organizations, and federally recognized Indian tribes for the use of the funds from the account to carry out those purposes. The bill would require the department, in acting pursuant to that authorization, to consider the state's biodiversity goals.
Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, provides the exclusive authority and procedure for the initiation, conduct, and completion of changes of organization and reorganization for cities and districts, except as specified. Under existing law, in each county there is a local agency formation commission (commission) that oversees these changes of organization and reorganization. Existing law authorizes a commission to dissolve an inactive district if specified conditions are satisfied. This bill would also authorize a commission to initiate a proposal for the dissolution of a district, as described, if the commission approves, adopts, or accepts a specified study that includes a finding, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that, among other things, the district has one or more documented chronic service provision deficiencies, the district spent public funds in an unlawful or reckless manner, or the district has shown willful neglect by failing to consistently adhere to the California Public Records Act. The bill would require the commission to adopt a resolution of intent to initiate a dissolution based on these provisions and to provide a remediation period of at least 12 months, during which the district may take steps to remedy the stated deficiencies. The bill would authorize the commission, at the conclusion of the remediation period, to find that the district has failed to remedy the deficiencies and adopt a resolution to dissolve the district. With a specified exception, existing law provides for protest proceedings for a change of organization or reorganization following adoption of a resolution making certain determinations by the commission, as provided. Existing law sets forth required procedures for the commission following a protest hearing depending on the nature of the conducting authority, as defined, the type of change of organization or reorganization, and the results of the protest proceeding. The bill would reorganize and consolidate the above-described procedures. The bill would make conforming changes and remove obsolete provisions.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the Administrative Claiming process under which the department is authorized to contract with local governmental agencies and local educational consortia for the purpose of obtaining federal matching funds to assist with the performance of administrative activities relating to the Medi-Cal program that are provided by a local governmental agency or local educational agency (LEA) . Existing law also provides that specified services provided by LEAs are covered Medi-Cal benefits and are reimbursable on a fee-for-service basis under the LEA Medi-Cal Billing Option. Existing law requires the department to engage in specified activities relating to the LEA Medi-Cal Billing Option, including amending the Medicaid state plan to ensure that schools are reimbursed for all eligible services, consulting with specified entities in formulating state plan amendments, examining methodologies for increasing school participation in the LEA Medi-Cal Billing Option, and conducting an audit of a Medi-Cal Billing Option claim consistent with prescribed requirements, such as generally accepted accounting principles. Existing law requires the department to file an annual report with the Legislature that includes, among other things, a summary of department activities. This bill would require the department to revise the state plan to establish a revised audit process for Medi-Cal Billing Option claims submitted for dates of service on or after January 1, 2024, pursuant to specified requirements and limitations. The bill would require the department to report to the relevant policy committees and post on its internet website any changes made to the state plan pursuant to the requirement to revise the state plan. The bill would require the department to provide technical assistance to the LEA or to complete appeals by the LEA within 180 days if an audit disallows a specified percentage of an LEA's total value of claims. The bill would prohibit an auditor from disallowing certain claims, except as specified. The bill would require the department's summary of activities in the above-described report to also include training for LEAs and a summary of the number of audits conducted of Medi-Cal Billing Option claims, as specified. The bill would require the department to ensure, for those claims, that "medical necessity" for a beneficiary under 21 years of age has a specified meaning. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include certain areas of study, including, among others, English, mathematics, social sciences, science, and visual and performing arts, as specified. This bill, with respect to both of the above-referenced adopted courses of study, would require the science area of study to include an emphasis on the causes and effects of climate change and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The bill would require that appropriate coursework including this material be offered to pupils as soon as possible, commencing no later than the 2023–24 school year. Because the bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, creates a rebuttable presumption of injury for various employees, including an employee who works at a health facility, as defined, to include an illness or death resulting from COVID-19, if specified circumstances apply. This bill would define "injury," for a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital, to include infectious diseases, cancer, musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and respiratory diseases. The bill would include the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) , among other conditions, in the definitions of infectious and respiratory diseases. The bill would create rebuttable presumptions that these injuries that develop or manifest in a hospital employee who provides direct patient care in an acute care hospital arose out of and in the course of the employment. The bill would extend these presumptions for specified time periods after the hospital employee's termination of employment.