Sen. Jim Beall

The California High-Speed Rail Act creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed train system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law authorizes the authority, among other things, to keep the public informed of its activities. This bill would revise that provision to instead authorize the authority to keep the public informed through activities, including, but not limited to, community outreach events, public information workshops, and newsletters posted on the authority's internet website.

This measure would proclaim the week of February 25, 2019, to March 3, 2019, inclusive, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

This measure would proclaim January 26, 2019, as India Republic Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India Republic Day.

Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant's mental competency is evaluated and by which the defendant receives treatment with the goal of returning the defendant to competency. Existing law allows a mentally incompetent defendant to be committed to the State Department of State Hospitals or other public or private treatment facility for a period of 3 years when a felony was committed or to a period of commitment equal to the maximum term of imprisonment provided by law for the most serious offense charged, whichever is shorter, and requires the defendant to be returned to the committing court after his or her maximum period of commitment. This bill would reduce the term for commitment to a treatment facility when a felony was committed to the shorter of 2 years or the period of commitment equal to the maximum term of imprisonment provided by law for the most serious offense charged. Existing law provides for the commitment or placement on outpatient status of a person who is suspected of having, or who is determined to have, a developmental disability and who is found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial. Existing law requires, for defendants who are placed on outpatient status, that the outpatient supervisor provide reports at specified intervals to the committing court and the regional center director. This bill would require the court, if the defendant is suspected of having a developmental disability, to appoint the director of the applicable regional center or the director's designee to examine the person to determine whether he or she has a developmental disability and is therefore eligible for regional center services and supports. The bill would also require the regional center director to provide the required periodic reports to the committing court for defendants who are placed on outpatient status. Existing law requires, within 90 days of commitment or placement on outpatient status and every 6 months thereafter, that a specified person makes a written report to the court and the community program director concerning the defendant's progress toward recovery of mental competence. Existing law also requires that a defendant who has been committed or who is on outpatient status for 18 months and remains hospitalized or on outpatient status to be returned to the committing court where a hearing is to be held to determine mental competency. This bill would delete the requirement to hold that hearing. Existing law provides that a prisoner, who, for specified reasons, is confined in or committed to a county jail, industrial farm, or road camp, or a city jail, industrial farm, or road camp, shall, for each 4-day period of custody, have 2 days deducted from the prisoner's period of confinement, except as specified. This bill would apply those provisions to a person who is committed to a facility pending the return of mental competence, as specified.

(1) Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is authorized to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the state to enter into 5-year contracts with regional centers, subject to an annual appropriation by the Legislature, and specifies the responsibilities of the department and the requirements and qualifications of appropriate agencies for purposes of contracting for regional center services. Among other provisions, existing law requires a regional center contract to include annual performance objectives, as specified, and to provide that the regional center will render services in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. This bill would require a contract between the State Department of Developmental Services and a private nonprofit association for the operation of a regional center that is entered into or renewed on and after January 1, 2019, to include specified procedures for employee retention, including requiring a successor contractor to agree to retain designated covered employees of the predecessor contractor for a transition period of 90 days, as specified. The bill would prohibit the successor contractor from reducing the compensation of a covered employee, or terminating a covered employee without cause, during the transition period, and would require the successor contractor to provide each covered employee with a written performance evaluation at the end of the transition period. The bill would authorize a successor contractor and a labor organization to supersede those prohibitions by collective bargaining agreement. If a successor contractor violates certain of these requirements with respect to a covered employee, the bill would authorize the employee to bring an action against the successor contractor for back pay and injunctive relief, as specified. The bill would declare that these provisions are severable. (2) Existing law requires a regional center to include specified information on its Internet Web site for the purpose of promoting transparency and access to public information, including, among other things, contract awards, annual independent audits, and reports on all prior fiscal year expenditures from the regional center operations budget for all administrative services. This bill would require that information to include the salaries, wages, and employee benefits for all managerial positions for which the primary purpose is the administrative management of the regional center, as specified.

Existing law prohibits a provision in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the action in a civil action with a factual foundation establishing a cause of action for civil damages for certain enumerated sexual offenses. Existing law prohibits a court from entering an order in any of these types of civil actions that restricts disclosure of this information, as specified, and it makes a provision in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the action, entered into on or after January 1, 2017, void as a matter of law and against public policy. This bill would prohibit a provision in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information relating to certain claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or harassment or discrimination based on sex, that are filed in a civil or administrative action. The bill would make a provision in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the claim, as described in the bill, entered into on or after January 1, 2019, void as a matter of law and against public policy. The bill would also provide that a court may consider the pleadings and other papers in the record, or any other findings of the court in determining the factual foundation of the causes of action specified in these provisions. The bill would create an exception, not applicable if a party is a government agency or public official, for a provision that shields the identity of the claimant and all facts that could lead to the discovery of his or her identity, if the provision is included within the settlement agreement at the request of the claimant.

Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion, for a period no longer than 2 years, to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law conditions eligibility on, among other criteria, a court finding that the defendant's mental disorder played a significant role in the commission of the charged offense. Existing law requires, if the defendant has performed satisfactorily in diversion, that the court dismiss the defendant's criminal charges, with a record filed with the Department of Justice indicating the disposition of the case diverted, that the arrest is deemed never to have occurred, and requires the court to order access to the record of the arrest restricted, except as specified. This bill would make defendants ineligible for the diversion program for certain offenses, including murder, voluntary manslaughter, and rape. The bill would authorize a court to require the defendant to make a prima facie showing that the defendant will meet the minimum requirements of eligibility for diversion and that the defendant and the offense are suitable for diversion, as specified. The bill would also require the court, upon request, to conduct a hearing to determine whether restitution is owed to any victim as a result of the diverted offense and, if owed, to order its payment during the period of diversion. The bill would provide that a defendant's inability to pay restitution due to indigence or mental disorder would not be grounds for denial of diversion or a finding that the defendant has failed to comply with the terms of diversion. The bill would also make technical changes.

Existing law, the Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, imposes criminal and civil liability on a Member of the Legislature or legislative employee, as defined, who interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, which is defined as a good faith allegation made by a legislative employee to specified entities that a Member of the Legislature or a legislative employee has engaged in, or will engage in, activity that may constitute a violation of law or a violation of a legislative standard of conduct. This bill would define "protected disclosure" for purposes of that act to also include a complaint made at the request of a legislative employee and a complaint made against a nonemployee in specified circumstances. Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to generally seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of enumerated protected categories. Existing law also precludes an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or person from discharging, expelling, or otherwise discriminating against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under FEHA or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any FEHA proceeding. Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, states that all people in California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments, no matter their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. Existing law establishes a cause of action for violations of that act. Existing law also separately establishes liability for sexual harassment if a plaintiff proves specified elements, including, among other things, that there is a business, service, or professional relationship between the plaintiff and defendant. This bill would declare that neither house of the Legislature may retaliate against a legislative advocate or employee, as defined, because that person has opposed any practices forbidden under the above provisions, or filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding relating to a complaint of harassment under those provisions. This bill would impose civil liability for a violation of that prohibition. This bill would also require each house of the Legislature to maintain a record of each harassment complaint made to that house for a period of at least 12 years after the complaint is made. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires the court, when imposing a sentence for a serious felony, in addition and consecutive to the term imposed for that serious felony, to impose a 5-year enhancement for each prior conviction of a serious felony. Existing law generally authorizes a judge, in the interests of justice, to order an action dismissed, but precludes a judge from striking any prior serious felony conviction in connection with imposition of the 5-year enhancement. This bill would delete the restriction prohibiting a judge from striking a prior serious felony conviction in connection with imposition of the 5-year enhancement described above and would make conforming changes. The bill would make additional technical nonsubstantive changes.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including various behavioral and mental health services. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. The act also requires funds to be reserved for the costs for the State Department of Health Care Services, the California Mental Health Planning Council, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) , the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, the State Department of Public Health, and any other state agency to implement all duties pursuant to certain programs provided for by the act, subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act. The act provides that it may be amended by the Legislature by a 23 vote of each house as long as the amendment is consistent with, and furthers the intent of, the act, and that the Legislature may also clarify procedures and terms of the act by majority vote. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish, no later than July 1, 2020, a peer support specialist certification to support the ongoing provision of services to individuals experiencing mental health care needs, substance use disorder needs, or both by certified peer support specialists. The certification components would include, among others, curriculum and core competencies, training and continuing education requirements, a code of ethics, and a process for the investigation of complaints and corrective action. The bill would require an applicant for the certification as a peer support specialist to meet specified requirements, including successful completion of the curriculum and training requirements. This bill would require, among other things, the department to collaborate with OSHPD and interested stakeholders in implementing the certification. The bill would authorize the department to use funding provided through the MHSA to fund state administrative costs related to this article, subject to an express appropriation in the annual Budget Act, and to the extent authorized under the Mental Health Services Act. The bill would permit the department to claim federal financial participation under the Medicaid program, as specified. This bill would authorize the department to establish a certification fee schedule and to require remittance of fees as contained in the schedule, for the purpose of supporting activities associated with the ongoing administration of the peer support specialist certification. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the certification fees charged by the department reasonably reflect the expenditures directly applicable to the ongoing administration of the certification. This bill would authorize the department to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts on a bid or negotiated basis, as specified. This bill also would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific its provisions by means of informational notices, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action, until regulations are adopted. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations by July 1, 2022, and, commencing July 1, 2019, would require the department to provide semiannual status reports to the Legislature until regulations have been adopted. The bill would provide that the department's implementation of the peer support specialist certification, with respect to Medi-Cal specialty mental health services and Drug Medi-Cal services, is contingent upon federal approval and federal matching funds. This bill would declare that it clarifies terms and procedures under the Mental Health Services Act.