Sen. Melissa Hurtado

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 if the defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, the proceedings are suspended while the defendant receives treatment, with the goal of restoring the defendant to competency. Existing law, in the case of a misdemeanor charge in which the defendant is found incompetent, requires the court to either dismiss the case or hold a hearing to determine if the defendant is eligible for diversion. Under existing law, if the defendant is not eligible for diversion, the court may hold another hearing to decide if the defendant should be referred for outpatient treatment, conservatorship, or the CARE program, or if the defendant's treatment plan should be modified. Existing law requires that the charges be dismissed if a defendant is accepted into outpatient treatment or the CARE program. Existing law also requires the court, if the defendant is already on a grant of diversion for a misdemeanor case, to dismiss the current case and return the defendant to supervision. This bill would remove the option for the court to dismiss the case and would instead require the court to hold a hearing to determine if the defendant is eligible for diversion. If the defendant is not eligible for diversion, the bill would require the court to hold a hearing to determine whether the defendant will be referred to outpatient treatment, conservatorship, or the CARE program, or if the defendant's treatment plan will be modified. If the defendant is accepted into assisted outpatient treatment, has a petition for the establishment of a conservatorship filed, or is accepted into CARE, the bill would require the court to dismiss the charges at specified timeframes, except as specified. The bill would require the court to dismiss the case if a defendant does not qualify for the above-described services. This bill would also remove the requirement that the court dismiss the case if the defendant is already on a grant of diversion for a misdemeanor case. Existing law prohibits a court from suspending proceedings of a prosecution on a charge of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage for the purpose of allowing the defendant to participate in education, training, or treatment programs. This bill would allow for a mentally incompetent defendant who is charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence to be placed in a mental health diversion program, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with the Judicial Council, to develop an annual reporting schedule for the submission of CARE Act data from the trial courts and requires the Judicial Council to aggregate the data and submit it to the department. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with various other entities, to develop an annual CARE Act report and requires county behavioral health agencies and other local governmental entities to provide the department with specified information for that report. Existing law requires the annual report to be posted on the department's internet website. This bill would expand the data to be compiled and reported to the Judicial Council to include the total number of CARE plans ordered and CARE agreements approved, among other information, and would expand the information compiled from county behavioral health departments to include information on all active and former participants for a period of time after the conclusion of CARE program services, to be determined by the State Department of Health Care Services, in consultation with county behavioral health agencies and courts. The bill would also expand the information collected by county behavioral health departments and courts to include outreach and engagement activities provided by county behavioral health agencies, the number of days between a petition and its disposition, and, in consultation with the department and county behavioral health departments, the number, rates, and trends of contacts made to a county behavioral health agency about individuals eligible or likely to be eligible for the CARE process, among others. The bill would require the measures and reporting requirements to be developed by the department, in consultation with county behavioral health agencies. By increasing the duties of a local agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, beginning in 2026, require the department to include in its annual CARE Act report quantitative deidentified information to include specified information aggregated by county, such as demographic information of each CARE Act participant and the number of CARE petitions filed with the superior court, among others. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1001.36 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1323 and additional changes to Section 5985 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by SB 42, to be operative only if this bill and SB 1323 and SB 42 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.

(1) Existing law authorizes the agricultural commissioner of a county to adopt regulations applicable in the county that are supplemental to those of the Director of Pesticide Regulation that govern the conduct of pest control operations and records and reports of those operations. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to adopt regulations on the agricultural use of any pesticide for agricultural production within 14 mile of a school with respect to the timing, notification, and method of application. Existing regulations restrict specified applications of pesticides made for the production of an agricultural commodity within 14 mile of a schoolsite. This bill would require the Department of Pesticide Regulation to require a separate site identification number for the portion of an agricultural field that lies within 14 mile of a schoolsite. The bill would also require the department, for permit applications for agricultural use of pesticides designated as restricted materials, notices of intent for use of a pesticide designated as a restricted material, and pesticide use reporting forms and procedures, as they pertain to an agricultural field of which any portion lies within 14 mile of a schoolsite, to require reporting on the specific method, or the specific anticipated method, of applying the pesticide, as applicable, and certain information relating to the dates and times of the pesticide application, as applicable, as specified. The bill would require the director, in evaluating a county's pesticide use enforcement program, to evaluate the county's effectiveness in enforcing specified laws and regulations regarding applying pesticides near schoolsites. The bill would require the director, on or before December 31, 2026, to expand the scope of specified related regulations to also apply to private schools serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with an enrollment of 6 or more pupils. The bill would require the department and the county agricultural commissioners to use private school directory information and maps available on the internet website of the State Department of Education to determine the location of private schools serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with an enrollment of 6 or more pupils. The bill would exempt a school conducted in a person's residence from these provisions. (2) Existing law, unless a different penalty is expressly provided, makes a violation of the Food and Agricultural Code a crime. By expanding the duties of county agricultural commissioners, and by expanding the scope of a crime, this 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.

Existing law requires that a license be obtained from the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for each location where commercial feed is manufactured, distributed, sold, or stored for later sale. Existing law requires each license application to be accompanied by an annual fee specified by the Department of Food and Agriculture for each location of at least $100, but not exceeding $600, with the specific fee to be set by the secretary upon recommendation of the Feed Inspection Advisory Board. Beginning January 1, 2025, the license fee is required to be $100 for each location. The funds collected are deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and are continuously appropriated for purposes relating to the manufacture and distribution of commercial feed. This bill would extend the date when the new license fee requirement of $100 for each location would take effect from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2031. By extending the time that a higher license fee is in effect, the bill would increase the fees that are deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation. Existing law establishes an inspection tonnage tax for commercial feed, as specified, with a maximum rate of $0.25 per ton. Existing law requires that the revenues from that tax be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and continuously appropriates the revenues for purposes of regulating commercial feed, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, until January 1, 2025, to designate a specified amount of the revenues from that tax to provide funding for research and education regarding the safe manufacture, distribution, and use of commercial feed. This bill would extend the secretary's authority to designate a specified amount of the revenues from that tax to provide funding for research and education from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2031. By extending the purposes for which funds in a continuously appropriated fund may be spent, the bill would make an appropriation.

Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. Existing law requires a groundwater sustainability plan to be developed and implemented for each medium- or high-priority basin by a groundwater sustainability agency. Existing law authorizes any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that basin, as provided. The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits a public official from making, participating in making, or attempting to use their official position to influence a governmental decision in which they know or have reason to know that they have a financial interest, as defined. The act requires specified public officials, including elected state officers, judges and court commissioners, members of certain boards and commissions, other state and local public officials, and candidates for these positions to file statements of economic interests, annually and at other specified times, that disclose their investments, interests in real property, income, and business positions. The Fair Political Practices Commission is the filing officer for such statements filed by statewide elected officers and candidates and other specified public officials. This bill would require members of the board of directors and the executive, as defined, of a groundwater sustainability agency to file statements of economic interests, according to the filing requirements described above, with the Fair Political Practices Commission using the Commission's online system for filing statements of economic interests. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

(1) Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including life insurance and annuities. Existing law, beginning on January 1, 2025, requires a life agent, licensed on or after January 1, 2024, engaging in the sale of specified life insurance policies on or after January 1, 2025, to complete specified hours of life insurance training courses before soliciting consumers to sell these life insurance policies. Existing law requires a life agent, engaging in the sale of variable life insurance policies, to complete specified hours of training before renewing their license and applies these training provisions to licenses that are issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. This bill would clarify that the above-described training provisions apply to life agents selling individual life insurance policies and individual variable life insurance policies, as specified. (2) Existing law authorizes service of legal process, notices, or other specified papers to be made in specified circumstances by delivering 2 copies to the commissioner or the commissioner's deputy, accompanied by payment of $12. This bill would instead authorize service of legal process, notices, or other specified papers to be made in specified circumstances by delivering 2 copies to the commissioner, the commissioner's deputy, or the commissioner's designated agent for service of process, accompanied by payment of a substituted service fee determined by the commissioner. (3) Existing law prohibits knowingly employing runners, cappers, steerers, or other persons to procure clients or patients to perform or obtain services or benefits under workers' compensation coverage or a contract of insurance or that will be the basis for a claim against an insured individual or their insurer. Existing law authorizes a district attorney, the Insurance Commissioner, or an interested person to bring a civil action for a violation of that provision. If the district attorney elects not to pursue the matter due to insufficient resources, existing law authorizes the commissioner to proceed with the action. Existing law requires a copy of a complaint filed by an interested person to remain under seal for at least 60 days. Under existing law, an action brought by an interested person may be dismissed only if the court and the district attorney or the commissioner give written consent to the dismissal and their reasons for consenting. This bill would authorize the commissioner to proceed with an action if the district attorney elects not to pursue the matter for any reason, and would eliminate the requirement that the district attorney or commissioner give their reasons for consenting to dismissal of an action brought by an interested person. The bill would clarify that a complaint filed by an interested person is required to remain under seal for at least 60 days from the date of service on the district attorney and commissioner. (4) Existing law exempts from requirements for providing insurance set forth in the Insurance Code firefighters', police officers', and peace officers' benefit and relief associations that comply with specified criteria, including, among other things, a requirement that the membership consist solely of peace officers, members of police or fire departments, and emergency medical personnel employed by fire departments, as specified. Existing law prohibits these associations from operating or doing business in the state without a certificate of authority. Existing law requires an association to renew its certificate of authority on or before July 1, 2019, and every 5 years thereafter. This bill would, instead, require an association to renew its certificate of authority within 30 days after a change in name or address or before a merger. (5) Existing law sets forth procedures for a special motion to strike in a civil cause of action arising from an act in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech and for offers to compromise before commencement of a civil trial or arbitration. Existing law exempts from these procedures an enforcement action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney, acting as a public prosecutor. This bill would additionally exempt from these procedures an enforcement action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Insurance Commissioner. (6) This bill would make technical changes to eliminate outdated references and correct errors.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to adopt rules and regulations that it deems necessary and proper to secure the establishment of courses in physical education in the elementary and secondary schools of the state. Existing law requires the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) , in consultation with the State Department of Education, to develop, by no later than July 1, 2024, guidelines, procedures, and safety standards for the prevention and management of exertional heat illness, as provided. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2026, and in consultation with relevant stakeholders and experts, to compile and post on the department's internet website, standardized guidelines specifying temperature thresholds or index ratings that trigger modifications to pupil physical activities during extreme weather conditions, and would require those standardized guidelines to consider relevant factors, including, but not limited to, pupil ages, harmful duration of exposure to extreme weather conditions, overall pupil safety, and available mitigation measures. The bill would authorize the department, in consultation with relevant stakeholders and experts, to use existing resources or frameworks, or both, about temperature thresholds or index ratings that trigger modifications to pupil physical activities during extreme weather conditions to meet those requirements. The bill would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop, adopt, and implement weather protocols for extreme weather conditions, and would require the weather protocols to incorporate the standardized guidelines compiled by the department and to detail the specific measures to be taken during extreme weather conditions, as specified. The bill would require the weather protocols to be annually reviewed, evaluated, and, if necessary, updated to incorporate best practices and address any emerging concerns or challenges, and to reflect changes in weather patterns, advances in safety practices, and feedback from stakeholders. The bill would apply these provisions to physical education classes, sports, and athletic practices and games sponsored by a local educational agency, except for those relating to an interscholastic athletic program administered by the CIF, which the bill would instead require to comply with the established CIF guidelines. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, require the department to provide technical assistance to local educational agencies in the implementation of their weather protocols. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions subject to an appropriation made for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute. 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.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, each hospital designated by the department as a critical access hospital, and certified as such by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the federal Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, is eligible for supplemental payments for Medi-Cal covered outpatient services rendered to Medi-Cal eligible persons. Existing law sets forth various other provisions regarding Medi-Cal reimbursement in consideration of small and rural hospitals. This bill would require the department to convene a Rural Hospital Technical Advisory Group, with a certain composition of stakeholders, at least bimonthly during the 2025 calendar year. The bill would set forth the purposes of the advisory group, including, among other things, analyzing the continued ability of small, rural, or critical access hospitals, as defined, to remain financially viable under existing Medi-Cal reimbursement methodologies, providing related recommendations, and identifying key contributors to the financial challenges of those hospitals, as specified. The bill would require, by March 31, 2026, the department, in consultation with the advisory group, to report to the Legislature on the findings and recommendations arising out of the convenings, as specified.

Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, as prescribed, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office, among other things, to identify distribution barriers that affect limited food access and work to overcome those barriers through various actions and to coordinate with school districts and representatives to increase the nutritional profile of foods provided in schools. This bill would create the Food Desert Elimination Grant Program under the administration of the department for the purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in food deserts, as defined, in the state, and areas at risk of becoming food deserts, by providing grants to grocery store operators, as specified. The bill would create the Food Desert Elimination Fund in the General Fund and would authorize the fund to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the department to collect nonstate, federal, and private funds, require those funds to be deposited into the California Equitable Food Access Account within the Food Desert Elimination Fund, and continuously appropriate moneys in the account to the department for purposes of the program, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize the department to award grants to grocery store operators seeking to locate grocery stores in food deserts and to award grants, totaling no more than 20% of the total program funding, to grocery store operators for equipment upgrades for grocery stores located in food deserts to expand or provide healthy foods for sale. The bill would authorize the department to adopt guidelines to implement these provisions. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on December 31, 2030.

Existing law, the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program, allows up to 30 licensed physicians and up to 30 licensed dentists from Mexico to practice medicine or dentistry in California for a period not to exceed 3 years, in accordance with certain requirements. Existing law requires the Medical Board of California and the Dental Board of California to provide oversight pursuant to these provisions. Existing law requires appropriate funding to be secured from nonprofit philanthropic entities before implementation of the pilot program may proceed. Existing law requires physicians participating in the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program to be enrolled in English as a second language classes, to have satisfactorily completed a 6-month orientation program, and to have satisfactorily completed a 6-month externship at the applicant's place of employment, among various other requirements. This bill would repeal the provisions regarding the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program, and would instead establish two bifurcated programs, the Licensed Physicians from Mexico Program and the Licensed Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program. Within these 2 programs, the bill would generally revise and recast certain requirements pertaining to the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program, including deleting the above-described requirement that Mexican physicians participating in the program enroll in adult English as a second language classes. The bill would instead require those physicians to have satisfactorily completed the Test of English as a Foreign Language or the Occupational English Test, as specified. The bill would remove the requirement that the orientation program be 6 months, and would further require the orientation program to include electronic medical records systems utilized by federally qualified health centers and standards for medical chart notations. The bill would also delete the requirement that the physicians participate in a 6-month externship. The bill would further delete provisions requiring an evaluation of the pilot program to be undertaken with funds provided from philanthropic foundations, and would make various other related changes to the program. The bill would require the Dental Board of California to, notwithstanding existing requirements to provide specified federal taxpayer information, issue a 3-year nonrenewable permit to an applicant who has not provided an individual taxpayer identification number or social security number if the applicant meets specified conditions. Commencing January 1, 2025, the bill would authorize the Medical Board of California to issue a limited number of active licenses to eligible applicants to participate in the Licensed Physicians from Mexico Program, as specified. Under the bill, each additional physician selected for the program would not be eligible to renew their 3-year license. The bill would require the federally qualified health centers employing physicians pursuant to the program to continue specified peer review protocols and procedures and to work with an approved medical school or an approved residency program, as provided. The bill would also require specified entities to be the points of contact involved in securing required documents, recruiting and vetting candidates, assisting candidates to meet all program requirements, selecting appropriate federally qualified health centers throughout California, ensuring compliance with program provisions, developing policy and clinical workshops, monitoring productivity and increased access to medical care, and assessing the necessity of policy and programmatic improvements. The bill would impose fees in connection with both programs, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute.

This measure would designate the portion of State Route 41 between Kent Avenue and Bush Street, in the County of Kings, as Tachi Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.