Sen. Melissa Hurtado

Existing law, the Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Existing law requires the Superintendent to develop standards for the implementation of high-quality preschool programs. This bill would rename the Early Education Act as the Universal Preschool Act, and would revise and recast the act to, among other things, require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, to administer the universal preschool program. The bill would require the Superintendent and the Director of Social Services to convene a statewide coordination council to develop, among other things, goals, guidelines, and best practices to be used at a local level to implement a universal preschool program, as provided. The bill would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the Director of Social Services, to develop standards for the implementation of high-quality preschool programs in all settings, including, among other settings, transitional kindergarten. The act establishes a standard reimbursement rate for both the part- and full-day preschool programs, as provided. The act defines the term "attendance" for purposes of this reimbursement to include excused absences by children because of illness, quarantine, illness or quarantine of their parent, family emergency, or to spend time with a parent or other relative as required by court of law or that is clearly in the best interest of the child. This bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, to instead ensure the standard reimbursement rate provides at least a living wage for all universal preschool site supervisors, teachers, and staff. The bill would delete the definition of "attendance" for purposes of this reimbursement. The Early Education Act establishes eligibility requirements, including income eligibility requirements, for the part- and full-day preschool programs. The act establishes a fee schedule for families receiving preschool services. This bill would delete the requirements relating to eligibility and the fee schedule, and instead would provide that the universal preschool program shall be free, inclusive, and available to all 3- and 4-year-olds. The Early Education Act provides that the same fee as that prescribed for a credential shall be charged for either the issuance or renewal of each child development permit authorizing service in the supervision and instruction of children in child development programs or authorizing service as a supervisor in a program. This bill would instead provide that no fees shall be charged for either the issuance or renewal of each child development permit authorizing service in the supervision and instruction of children in child development programs or authorizing service as a supervisor in a program. The bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, to offer financial support to current and aspiring universal preschool site supervisors, teachers, and other support staff in obtaining required credentials and degrees to work in the preschool classroom or setting, as provided. This bill would make other related changes to the administration of the newly named Universal Preschool Act. Existing law requires childcare resource and referral programs to provide specified services, including the establishment of a referral process that responds to parental need for information, as provided. This bill would require the Director of Social Services, in partnership with the Superintendent, to expand existing childcare resource and referral services to include navigation, referral, and enrollment services for the universal preschool program, as provided. This bill would provide that the above described changes to law would become operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Existing law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, applies to electronic records and electronic signatures of a transaction, and generally prohibits a record or signature from being denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form or a contract being denied legal effect or enforceability solely because an electronic record was used in its formation. Existing law exempts certain transactions from that act, including insurance application forms. This bill would delete the Medicare supplement policy application forms exception, and would thereby apply the provisions of the act to these application forms. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Existing law establishes the Department of Health Care Access and Information under the control of the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information, to administer various health professions development programs. Existing law establishes the California Health Workforce Education and Training Council to help coordinate California's health workforce education and training in order to develop a health workforce that meets the state's health care needs. Under existing law, the council is authorized, among other things, to discuss and make recommendations to the department regarding the use of health care education and training funds for programs administered by the department. This bill would require the council to submit a report to the Legislature, after hosting a public comment period, as specified, on findings and recommendations related to, among other things, promoting higher enrollment for Californians from geographically and culturally diverse communities into medical schools, preparing and assisting students from low-income communities, improving the training of health personnel in low-income communities, and improving the quality and safety of health care delivery. The bill would require the council to post the report on the department's internet website and hold information hearings online about the report's findings and recommendations.

(1) The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. These provisions qualify this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the systems. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit the boards of specified state and local public retirement systems from making additional or new investments in prohibited companies, as defined, domiciled in Russia or Belarus, as defined, companies that the United States government has designated as complicit in the aggressor countries', as defined, war in Ukraine, or companies that supply military equipment to the aggressor countries, and to liquidate the investments of the board in those companies, as specified. The bill would also require the board, on or before January 1, 2023, and every year thereafter, to file a specified report with the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. By requiring the boards of local public retirement systems to take specified actions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law specifies the duties of the Treasurer, which include receiving and keeping in the vaults of the State Treasury or depositing in banks or credit unions all moneys belonging to the state, and, except as specified, receiving and keeping in the vaults of the State Treasury or depositing for safekeeping with any federal reserve bank or any branch thereof, or with any trust company or the trust department of any state or national bank located in a city designated as a reserve or central reserve city by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, bonds and other securities or investments belonging to the state. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit the Treasurer from making additional or new investments or renewing existing investments of state moneys in any investment vehicle in the government of Russia or the government of Belarus that meets certain conditions, or in or from a Russian or Belarusian financial institution currently under sanctions imposed by the United States, as defined and specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (3) Existing law specifies how money received into the treasury must be credited and how those state funds are to be used. Existing law prohibits state funds from being used to reimburse a state contractor for costs incurred to assist, promote, or deter union organizing, as defined and specified. Existing law also prohibits state trust moneys from being used to make additional or new investments or to renew existing investments in business firms that engage in discriminatory practices in further of or in compliance with the Arab League's economic boycott of Israel, as defined and specified. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit a state agency, as defined, from making additional or new investments or renewing existing investments of state moneys in any investment vehicle in the government of Russia or the government of Belarus that meets certain conditions, or in or from Russian or Belarusian financial institutions currently under sanctions imposed by the United States, and would require a state agency to liquidate those investments. The bill would also require a state agency to file a specified report with the Legislature and the Governor. The bill would urge companies operating in California and the Regents of the University of California to divest and separate themselves from the government of Russia, Russian financial institutions, Russian businesses, the government of Belarus, Belarusian financial institutions, and Belarusian businesses, and would request companies doing business in California to report their investments in and contracts with the government of Russia, Russian financial institutions, Russian businesses, the government of Belarus, Belarusian financial institutions, and Belarusian businesses, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (4) Existing law authorizes state agencies to contract for goods, information technology, or services with certain suppliers, as specified. Existing law also makes companies in Sudan involved in certain activities ineligible to bid or submit a proposal for, and forbids them from bidding on or submitting a proposal for, a contract with a state agency for goods or services, as specified. This bill, except as specified, would make a company that conducts business with the government of Russia or the government of Belarus ineligible to bid or submit a proposal for, and would forbid that company from bidding on or submitting a proposal for, a contract with a state agency for goods or services, as defined and specified. The bill would require a state agency to require a company that submits a bid or proposal with respect to a contract for goods or services to certify that the company is not a scrutinized company, as prescribed. The bill would, among other things, make a company that submits a false certification under these provisions liable for a civil penalty, and would require the Department of General Services to report the company to the Attorney General, who would be required to determine whether to bring a civil action against the company, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (5) 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. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase agricultural products grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the products are comparable. Existing law establishes within the Department of Food and Agriculture a public and private collaboration known as the "Buy California Program" to encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural products. This bill would require a grower or producer that sells a listed agricultural product, as defined, to a distributor, as defined, to attest to the distributor under penalty of perjury, using a self-attestation form developed by the department, whether the listed agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws, as defined. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in another state of the United States to a retailer, as defined, unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws. The bill would also prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in the state or outside of the country to a retailer unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws. The bill would require a distributor that sells a listed agricultural product to a retailer to provide to the retailer the self-attestation form received from a grower or producer, and would provide that the provision of the attestation form showing compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws or specified California labor laws creates a rebuttable presumption that the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with those laws. The bill would provide that these requirements only apply to a listed agricultural product during the California growing season for the product. The bill would provide that these requirements are not operative until the department adopts the regulations described below. This bill would require, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, the department to adopt regulations to administer and enforce these requirements, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from imposing additional fees on growers or producers to meet the requirements of this bill. The bill would provide that a violation of these requirements is subject to a $500 civil penalty that is required to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General at the request of the department. The bill would require any funds recovered to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be used for the administration and enforcement of these requirements, as specified. (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 the State Water Resources Control Board within the California Environmental Protection Agency with specified duties relating to, among other things, administering water rights, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, and the California Safe Drinking Water Act. Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources within the Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the jurisdiction and various general administrative authorities and duties of the department regarding, among other things, matters pertaining to water resources and dams in the state. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene a committee to develop and submit, on or before December 31, 2024, to the Governor and to the Legislature a strategic vision, proposed statutes, and recommendations for a modern 21st century set of water laws and regulations and state and local water agencies for the state, as provided. The committee would consist of 5 specified heads of state agencies, 2 members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and 2 members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. The bill would require the Governor or the committee to appoint a "blue ribbon" citizen commission or taskforce, a stakeholder advisory committee, and any other group that the Governor or the committee deems necessary or desirable to assist in carrying out these provisions. The bill would require all relevant state agencies, at the request of the committee, to make available staff and resources to assist in the preparation of the strategic vision and proposed statutes. The bill would authorize the committee, its members, and state agencies represented on the committee to contract for consultants to assist in the preparation of the strategic vision and proposed statutes, as specified, and would exempt those contracts from certain public contracting requirements.

This measure would recognize the weeks of October 10, 2021, through October 16, 2021, and October 16, 2022, through October 22, 2022, as Art Therapy Weeks of Civic Engagement to commemorate the contributions of professional art therapists to California's communities.

This measure would proclaim the month of May 2022 as Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Inclusion Month.

The existing federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude tribal-state gaming compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments of tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would ratify the tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the following Indian tribes: the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria and the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to these compacts are not projects for purposes of CEQA. The bill would repeal obsolete provisions related to the ratification of prior compacts between the 2 Indian tribes listed above and the State of California. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, referred to as the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) , prohibits an attorney from contracting for or collecting a contingency fee for representing any person seeking damages in connection with an action for injury or damage against a health care provider based upon alleged professional negligence in excess of specified limits. This bill would recast those provisions and base the amount of contingency fee that may be contracted for upon whether recovery is pursuant to settlement agreement and release of all claims executed before a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, or pursuant to settlement, arbitration, or judgment after a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, as specified. The bill would add and revise definitions for these purposes. Existing law provides that in any action against a health care provider based upon professional negligence, the injured plaintiff is entitled to recover noneconomic losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, and other nonpecuniary damage. Existing law limits the amount of damages for noneconomic losses in an action for injury against a health care provider based on professional negligence to $250,000. This bill would remove the $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages and expand the recast provisions to include an action for injury against a health care institution, as defined. The bill would increase the applicable limitation based upon whether the action for injury involved wrongful death. The bill would specify that these limitations would increase by $40,000 each January 1st for 10 years and beginning on January 1, 2034, the applicable limitations on noneconomic damages for personal injury and for wrongful death would be adjusted for inflation on January 1st of each year by 2%. Existing law specifies that in any action for injury or damages against a provider of health care services, a superior court shall, at the request of either party, enter a judgment ordering that money damages or its equivalent for future damages of the judgment creditor be paid in whole or in part by periodic payments rather than by a lump-sum payment if the award equals or exceeds $50,000. This bill would increase the minimum amount of the judgment required to request periodic payments to $250,000. Existing law makes statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person, or to the family of that person, inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action. This bill would specify that statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy, regret, a general sense of benevolence, or suggesting, reflecting, or accepting fault relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person, or to an adverse patient safety event or unexpected health care outcome, as specified, shall be confidential, privileged, protected, not subject to subpoena, discovery, or disclosure, and shall not be used or admitted into evidence in any civil, administrative, regulatory, licensing, or disciplinary board, agency, or body action or proceeding, and shall not be used or admitted in relation to any sanction, penalty, or other liability, as evidence of an admission of liability or for any other purpose.