Sen. Jim Beall

This measure would proclaim January 13, 2020, as Korean American Day.

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act) , establishes the State Department of Developmental Services, which is responsible for providing various services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. The Lanterman Act requires the department to enter into contracts with private nonprofit corporations to operate regional centers, which are required to provide, or arrange for the provision of, services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities. Under existing law, the state is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide program encouraging the establishment of sufficient numbers and types of living arrangements, both in communities and state hospitals, as necessary, to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The DHCD is responsible for administering various housing and home loan programs throughout the state. This bill would establish the California Integrated Community Living Program in the State Department of Developmental Services. The program would provide deferred payment loans to finance capital and other specified costs for permanent supportive housing for individuals who are regional center clients in order to maximize affordable integrated community living opportunities within communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to enter into an interagency agreement to administer the Integrated Community Living Program Fund, which would be created by, and continuously appropriated to the department for the purposes described in, the bill. The bill would prescribe the moneys to be deposited into the fund, including all moneys received by the department through the sale, lease, or other revenue-generating agreement for any state developmental center property, except as specified. The bill would prohibit moneys in the fund from being used to supplant or backfill any existing program budget within either department. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to convene an advisory committee to advise and assist in establishing funding priorities, with an emphasis on funding priorities for this program, as specified. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to develop and administer a competitive application process to award funding for loans under the bill, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to distribute funds in a manner that maximizes access to low-income housing tax credit program projects for the target population, and that also incentivizes development of creative permanent supportive housing projects outside of that program, as specified. The bill also would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to adopt guidelines establishing income and rent standards for potential residents of properties funded under the program, including standards based solely on federal Supplemental Security Income. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to develop community integration criteria to set the maximum percentage of apartment units reserved for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities within specified program projects, and to stipulate community integration standards for small projects.

Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as "mandated reporters," to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Existing law states the Legislature's intent that those receiving agencies in each county develop and implement cooperative arrangements in order to coordinate existing duties in connection with the investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect cases, and requires the local law enforcement agency to report investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect to the county welfare or probation department within 36 hours after starting its investigation. Existing law generally provides for the placement of children in foster care, and provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Social Services of certain community care facilities that provide care for foster children, including short-term residential therapeutic programs and transitional housing placement providers. Existing law requires the agencies receiving mandated reports, within 24 hours of receiving a report of abuse alleged to have occurred in facilities licensed to care for children by the department, to notify the licensing office with jurisdiction over that facility. Existing law makes reports of child abuse or neglect confidential and limits the disclosure of the reports to certain individuals or entities. This bill would require certain agencies to develop and implement protocols for coordinating investigations of alleged child abuse and neglect involving children under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The bill would require, when an agency receives a report that contains a report of abuse or neglect alleged to have occurred in a resource family home, foster family home, certified foster home, the home of an approved relative or nonrelative extended family member, or a facility licensed to care for children by the department, to notify the licensing office or agency with oversight responsibility over the home or facility within the 24-hour period described above. This bill would require, whenever the department or another agency with oversight responsibility over a home or facility becomes aware of an allegation of abuse or neglect to cooperate with other agencies to coordinate existing duties in connection with the investigation and to complete the investigation no later than 45 days after receiving notice of the allegation. The bill would establish standards and protocols for the conduct of the investigation, including, among other things, requiring a face-to-face interview in private with the victim of child abuse or neglect separate and apart from the suspected offender. The bill would require, upon completion of the investigation, the approving agency or the licensing agency to send a copy of its investigation report to the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson. The bill would require that office to review a representative sample of the investigations annually and include determinations of the extent to which the investigations complied with the investigation protocols. The bill would authorize that office to make recommendations for the improvement of those protocols based on the determinations. The bill would require the department to, at a minimum, annually report to the Legislature and post on its internet website, a statewide summary of these investigations, as specified. The bill would also add the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson, as specified, to the list of individuals and entities to which reports may be disclosed, and would delete obsolete provisions. By imposing new duties on local officials, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Under existing law, the Medical Practice Act, it is unprofessional conduct for a physician and surgeon to fail to comply with prescribed informed consent requirements relating to various medical procedures, including sterilization procedures, the removal of sperm or ova from a patient under specified circumstances, and the treatment of breast cancer. Any violation of the law relating to enforcement of the Medical Practice Act is a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would prohibit a treatment or intervention on the sex characteristics of a person born with variations in their physical sex characteristics who is under 6 years of age unless the treatment or intervention is medically necessary. The bill, on or before December 1, 2021, would require the Medical Board of California, in consultation with specified persons and entities, to adopt regulations to determine which treatments and interventions on the sex characteristics of a person born with variations in their physical sex characteristics who is under 6 years of age are medically necessary, as specified. Any violation of these provisions would be subject to disciplinary action by the board, but not criminal prosecution.

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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2000, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, as defined, and of serious emotional disturbances of a child, as specified, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions. Existing federal law, the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) , requires group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide both medical and surgical benefits and mental health or substance use disorder benefits to ensure that financial requirements and treatment limitations applicable to mental health or substance use disorder benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits. Existing state law subjects nongrandfathered individual and small group health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies that provide coverage for essential health benefits to those provisions of MHPAEA. This bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance annually to report to the Legislature the information obtained through activities taken to enforce state and federal mental health parity laws. Existing law requires specified health insurance policies that provide coverage for outpatient prescription drugs to cover medically necessary prescription drugs and subjects those policies to certain limitations on cost-sharing and the placement of drugs on formularies, among other things. Existing law authorizes a health care service plan and a health insurer to utilize formularies, prior authorization, step therapy, or other reasonable medical management practices, as specified, in the provision of outpatient prescription drug coverage. This bill would require health care service plans and health insurers that provide prescription drug benefits for the treatment of substance use disorders to place prescription medications approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of substance use disorders on the lowest cost-sharing tier of the plan or insurer's prescription drug formulary. The bill would also prohibit those plans and insurers from, among other things, imposing any prior authorization requirements on, or any step therapy requirements before authorizing coverage for, a prescription medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of substance use disorders. Because a willful violation of the bill's provisions by a health care service plan would be a 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.

Existing law generally establishes an annual registration period for vehicles and imposes annual registration fees on vehicles. This bill would authorize the Director of Motor Vehicles, on or after January 1, 2020, to establish a biennial registration period for a vehicle, with subsequent renewals being required at biennial intervals thereafter, as specified.

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires an attached housing development to be a permitted use, not subject to a conditional use permit, on any parcel zoned for multifamily housing if at least certain percentages of the units are available at affordable housing costs to very low income, lower income, and moderate-income households for at least 30 years and if the project meets specified conditions relating to location and being subject to a discretionary decision other than a conditional use permit. Existing law provides for various incentives intended to facilitate and expedite the construction of affordable housing. Existing law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development that satisfies specified planning objective standards to be subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit. This bill would authorize a development proponent of a neighborhood multifamily project or eligible transit-oriented development (TOD) project located on an eligible parcel to submit an application for a streamlined, ministerial approval process that is not subject to a conditional use permit. The bill would define a "neighborhood multifamily project" to mean a project to construct a multifamily unit of up to 2 residential dwelling units in a nonurban community, as defined, or up to 4 residential dwelling units in an urban community, as defined, that meets local height, setback, and lot coverage zoning requirements as they existed on July 1, 2019. The bill would define an "eligible TOD project" as a project located in an urban community, as defined, that meets specified height requirements, is located within 12 mile of an existing or planned transit station parcel or entrance, and meets other floor area ratio, density, parking, and zoning requirements. The bill also requires an eligible TOD project development proponent to develop a plan that ensures transit accessibility to the residents of the development in coordination with the applicable local transit agency. The bill would require specified TOD projects to comply with specified affordability, prevailing wage, and skilled and trained workforce requirements. The bill would also define "eligible parcel" to mean a parcel located within a city or county that has unmet regional housing needs and has produced fewer housing units than jobs over a specified period; is zoned to allow residential use and qualifies as an infill site; is not located within a historic district, coastal zone, very high fire hazard severity zone, or a flood plain; the development would not require the demolition of specified types of affordable housing; the parcel is not eligible for development under existing specified transit-oriented development authorizations; and the parcel in question has been fully reassessed on or after January 1, 2021, to reflect its full cash value, following a change in ownership. This bill would require a local agency to notify the development proponent in writing if the local agency determines that the development conflicts with any of the requirements provided for streamlined ministerial approval; otherwise, the development is deemed to comply with those requirements. The bill would limit the authority of a local agency to impose parking standards or requirements on a streamlined development approved pursuant to these provisions, as provided. The bill would provide that if a local agency approves a project pursuant to that process, that approval will not expire if that project includes investment in housing affordability, and would otherwise provide that the approval of a project expire automatically after 3 years, unless that project qualifies for a one-time, one-year extension of that approval. The bill would provide that approval pursuant to its provisions would remain valid for 3 years and remain valid thereafter, so long as vertical construction of the development has begun and is in progress, and would authorize a discretionary one-year extension, as provided. The bill would prohibit a local agency from adopting any requirement that applies to a project solely or partially on the basis that the project receives ministerial or streamlined approval pursuant to these provisions. This bill would allow a local agency to exempt a project from the streamlined ministerial approval process described above by finding that the project will cause a specific adverse impact to public health and safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the adverse impact. (2) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. This bill would establish a streamlined ministerial approval process for neighborhood multifamily and transit-oriented projects, thereby exempting these projects from the CEQA approval process. (3) The bill would make findings that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, applies to all cities, including a charter city and a charter city and county. (4) 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 the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Existing law requires specified funds for the program to be appropriated to the department in the annual Budget Act and allocated to eligible projects by the California Transportation Commission. Existing law requires the commission to award 50% of available funds to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis, 10% of available funds to projects in small urban and rural regions, and the remaining 40% of available funds to projects selected by metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000, with the available funds distributed to each MPO based on its relative share of the population. Existing law requires the commission to develop guidelines and project selection criteria for the program in consultation with various agencies and interested parties. To ensure that MPOs have sufficient discretion to develop regional guidelines, existing law authorizes the commission to adopt separate guidelines for the state and the MPOs with regard to project selection criteria. Existing law requires the commission to initially adopt a 2-year program of projects for the program, with subsequent 4-year programs thereafter. This bill would require that 60% of available funds be awarded to projects selected by MPOs in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000, with the available funds distributed to each MPO based on its relative share of the population, 15% to fund projects in small urban and rural regions, and 25% to projects competitively awarded by the commission on a statewide basis. The bill would require, rather than authorize, the commission to adopt separate guidelines for the MPOs to ensure that they have sufficient discretion to adopt regional guidelines and would not limit those guidelines to project selection criteria. The bill would authorize an MPO to perform its own competitive project selection process in accordance with the regional guidelines adopted by the commission, or to request the commission to perform the competitive project selection process on the MPO's behalf in accordance with guidelines adopted by the commission for the projects awarded in small urban and rural regions and on a statewide basis. With respect to the funds made available to MPOs, the bill would require the commission to allocate those funds as a lump sum to the department for disbursement to each MPO for award to projects selected by the applicable MPO, unless the MPO requests the commission to conduct the competitive selection process on behalf of the MPO. The bill would authorize the commission to authorize the department to allocate a portion of the funds in the small urban and rural and the statewide distribution categories and, if the MPO requests the commission to perform the competitive project selection process on its behalf, to allocate a portion of those funds. The bill would make the provisions of the bill apply only to the 5th and successive funding cycles of the Active Transportation Program.

Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons. Existing law also establishes the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to, among other things, create a statewide data system or warehouse that collects local data through homeless management information systems, with the ultimate goal of matching data on homelessness programs to programs impacting homeless recipients of state programs, as specified. This bill would establish the California Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool Program within the Department of Housing and Community Development for the purpose of making grants available to applicants, defined to include a city, county, city and county, or continuum of care, for eligible activities including, among other things, rental assistance, operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing units, and specified outreach services. The bill would continuously appropriate $450,000,000 from the General Fund every fiscal year to the department for purposes of the program, and set forth how these funds must be allocated. The bill would require the department to, on or before January 1, 2023, and every year thereafter, evaluate the outcomes of the program and report the outcomes to the Senate Committee on Housing and the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development. The bill would also require the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to work with the department to create a California Funder's Collaborative that would, among other things, establish a process for incorporating private contributions into state programs to create local innovations, establish pilot programs, or evaluate programs.

The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. This bill would enact the Wildfire Prevention, Safe Drinking Water, Drought Preparation, and Flood Protection Bond Act of 2020, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,510,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for a wildfire prevention, safe drinking water, drought preparation, and flood protection program. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.