Existing law requires that an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse, as defined, be commenced within 8 years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within 3 years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by sexual abuse, whichever occurs later. Existing law provides that certain actions may be commenced on and after the plaintiff's 26th birthday if the person or entity against whom the action is commenced knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice, of any unlawful sexual conduct by an employee, volunteer, representative, or agent, and failed to take reasonable steps, and to implement reasonable safeguards, to avoid acts of unlawful sexual conduct in the future by that person. For a period of one year commencing January 1, 2003, existing law revived certain actions that would otherwise be barred solely because the applicable statute of limitations had expired. This bill would provide that the time limits for commencement of an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be applied retroactively to any claim that has not been adjudicated to finality on the merits as of January 1, 2014. This bill would revive, for a period of one year, a cause of action, as specified, that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations as of January 1, 2014, provided that the plaintiff's 26th birthday was before January 1, 2003, and the plaintiff discovered the cause of his or her injury on or after January 1, 2004. This bill would provide that a party shall be entitled to conduct discovery before the court may rule on a motion challenging the sufficiency of the plaintiff's showing that a person or entity knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice, of any unlawful sexual conduct and failed to take reasonable steps, and to implement reasonable safeguards, to avoid those acts in the future. This bill would specify that this entitlement shall not apply to a cause of action revived pursuant to these provisions.
Sponsored bills
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2019, the establishment of a demonstration program that would be known as the Regional Center Excellence in Community Autism Partnerships (RE CAP) program to provide improved services, supports, interventions, and other resources to assist individuals with autism spectrum disorders, and their families, who are regional center consumers and who reside in underserved communities, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to contract with a University of California or California State University campus to serve as a coordinating center to develop the program. The bill would authorize the coordinating center to establish guidelines by which regional centers participating in the program would implement measures in underserved communities, in a linguistically and culturally competent manner, to promote awareness and reduce the stigma associated with autism, improve the early screening, diagnosis, and assessment of autism, and increase access to evidence-based interventions and treatments for autism, as specified.
Existing law provides for the administration of guardianships and conservatorships. Existing law authorizes a guardian or conservator of an estate to petition the court for an order allowing compensation to the guardian, conservator, or attorney for the guardian or conservator, as specified. Existing law prohibits the guardian or conservator from being compensated from the estate for any costs or fees that he or she incurred in unsuccessfully opposing a petition, or other request or action, made by or on behalf of the ward or conservatee, unless the court determines that the opposition was made in good faith, based on the best interests of the ward or conservatee. This bill would instead prohibit the guardian or conservator from being compensated from the estate for any costs or fees, including attorney's fees, incurred in defending the compensation in the petition, if the court reduces or denies the compensation requested in the petition.
Existing law, known as the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, contains provisions relating to employer-employee relations between the state and the employees of state institutions of higher education, including the University of California and the California State University, as well as the Hastings College of the Law. These provisions assign major responsibilities for implementation to the Public Employment Relations Board. Under the act, an "employee" or "higher education employee" is defined as any employee of the Regents of the University of California, the Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, or the Trustees of the California State University. The act further provides that the board may find student employees whose employment is contingent on their status as students are employees only if the services they provide are unrelated to their educational objectives, or that those educational objectives are subordinate to the services they perform and that coverage under this act would further the purposes of the act. This bill would provide that student employees whose employment is contingent upon their status as students are employees or higher education employees for purposes of the act. The act prohibits "scope of representation," for purposes of the University of California only, from including, among other things, conditions for the award of certificates and degrees to students. This bill would provide that the conditions for the award of certificates and degrees to students that are outside of the scope of representation include what is required for students to achieve satisfactory progress toward their degrees.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013, allow a credit against those taxes in an amount equal to 15% of the qualified royalties, as defined, paid by a qualified taxpayer, as defined. The bill would calculate the cut-off date for the above-described credit based upon an estimate by the Franchise Tax Board of claims cumulatively totaling $100,000,000 for all taxable years, as specified. The bill would require a qualified taxpayer to commercialize, as defined, a qualified patent for at least 5 consecutive years. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law provides that a general acute care hospital may be approved to offer special services, as specified, and requires the department to issue a special permit authorizing a health facility to offer one or more special services when specified requirements are met. Existing law provides for the application by general acute care hospitals for supplemental services approval and requires the department to, upon issuance and renewal of a license for certain health facilities, separately identify on the license each supplemental service. This bill would require a general acute care hospital that provides observation and short-stay observation services, as defined, to apply for approval from the department to provide the services as a supplemental service, and would require a general acute care hospital to obtain a special permit to provide short-stay observation services. The bill would require the department to adopt and enforce staffing standards for certain outpatient services and all ambulatory surgery centers, as specified, and would make other conforming changes. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would create 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 Sales and Use Tax Law, imposes a sales tax on retailers for the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state. A violation of specified provisions of this law is a crime. Existing law similarly imposes a sales tax on providers of support services, for the privilege of selling support services at retail, measured by the gross receipts from the sale of those services in this state at a specified rate of those gross receipts. Existing law creates the Personal Care IHSS Quality Assurance Revenue Fund in the State Treasury, and requires the revenue from the tax, less refunds, to be deposited in the fund. The fund is continuously appropriated to the State Department of Social Services for purposes of providing specified supplementary payments to providers of in-home supportive services. Existing law requires the IHSS provider tax and related supplementary payments to be implemented no earlier than January 1, 2012 and further provides for these provisions to become operative only if a specified federal approval is granted. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change by extending the earliest implementation date for the provider tax and supplementary payment provisions from January 1, 2012, to July 1, 2012. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for specified benefits. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2014, from denying coverage for medically necessary medical or rehabilitation treatment for an acquired brain injury at a facility within the plan's or insurer's network that is properly licensed and accredited at which appropriate services may be provided, including specified facilities such as a hospital or a long-term acute care hospital, except as provided. The bill would additionally prohibit the contract or policy from denying the applicable coverage because the treating facility within the plan's or insurer's network is not near the enrollee's or insured's home. Because a willful violation of the bill's provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, it 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.
(1) Existing law requires, when a roadway has been divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for traffic in one direction, among other things, that a vehicle be driven as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and prohibits the vehicle from being moved from the lane until that movement can be made with reasonable safety. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a crime. This bill would prohibit, with an exception for a peace officer, as provided, a person operating a motorcycle from passing another vehicle in a portion of a lane occupied by that vehicle unless certain conditions are met, including that the passing occurs during traffic congestion, and the passing occurs at a safe speed. Because the failure to comply with these provisions would constitute an infraction under the Vehicle Code, this bill would impose 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes a worker's compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law creates the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation consisting of 8 voting members, that includes 4 voting members representing organized labor and 4 voting members representing employers. This bill would increase the number of commission voting members to 10 by adding one voting member representing injured workers and one additional voting member representing employers, appointed by the Governor. Existing law generally provides for the reimbursement of medical providers for services rendered in connection with the treatment of a worker's injury. Existing law authorizes, with some exceptions, the employee to be treated by a physician of his or her own choice or at a facility of his or her own choice after 30 days from the date the injury is reported. Existing law prohibits a chiropractor from being the treating physician after the employee has received the maximum number of chiropractic visits. This bill would delete that prohibition. Existing law requires that the recommended guidelines set forth in the medical treatment utilization schedule adopted by the administrative director be presumptively correct on the issue of extent and scope of medical treatment. Notwithstanding the medical treatment utilization schedule, for injuries occurring on and after January 1, 2004, an employee is entitled to no more than 24 chiropractic, 24 occupational therapy, and 24 physical therapy visits per industrial injury. This bill would delete the limitation on chiropractic, occupational therapy, and physical therapy visits per industrial injury. Existing law requires an employer to establish a medical treatment utilization review process and, in this regard, prohibits any person other than a licensed physician from modifying, delaying, or denying requests for authorization of medical treatment for reasons of medical necessity to cure and relieve. Existing law also provides for an independent medical review process to resolve disputes over a utilization review decision for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013, and for any decision that is communicated to the requesting physician on or after July 1, 2013, regardless of the date of injury. This bill would revise these provisions to require that medical treatment utilization reviews and independent medical reviews be conducted by physicians or medical professionals, as applicable, who hold the same California license as the requesting physician. The bill would delete the requirement that an independent medical review organization keep the names of the reviewers confidential in all communications with entities or individuals outside the independent medical review organization. Existing law prohibits a workers' compensation administrative law judge, the appeals board, or any higher court from making a determination of medical necessity contrary to the determination of the independent medical review organization. This bill would delete that provision. Existing law provides certain methods for determining workers' compensation benefits payable to a worker or his or her dependents for purposes of permanent partial disability and permanent total disability for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2013. Existing law requires that the nature of the physical injury or disfigurement, the occupation of the injured employee, and his or her age at the time of injury be taken into account in determining the percentages of permanent partial disability or permanent total disability. Existing law, with some exceptions, prohibits increases in impairment ratings for sleep dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, or psychiatric disorder, or any combination thereof, as specified. This bill would delete the prohibition on increases in impairment ratings for psychiatric disorder and would make related changes.