Existing law provides for the regulation and licensure of health facilities, as defined, including acute psychiatric hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law defines an acute psychiatric hospital for purposes of these provisions to mean a health facility having a duly constituted governing body with overall administrative and professional responsibility and an organized medical staff that provides 24-hour inpatient care for persons with mental health disorders or other patients referred, as specified, including medical, nursing, rehabilitative, pharmacy, and dietary services. A violation of the provisions governing health facilities is a crime. This bill would authorize, for a period of not more than 180 days, and only until November 1, 2018, the State Department of Public Health to permit an acute psychiatric hospital that was affected by a wildfire during the month of December 2017, and that is in the County of Ventura, to provide outpatient mental health services that were approved by the department and operational as supplemental services before the wildfire occurred, while the inpatient operations of the acute psychiatric hospital are voluntarily suspended. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Ventura. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
This measure would proclaim February 2018 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and would encourage all Californians to observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with programs and activities that raise awareness about teen dating violence.
This measure would provide that the Legislature strongly and unequivocally supports the current federal prohibition on new oil and gas drilling in federal waters offshore California, opposes the Trump administration's proposal to remove safety and environmental protections related to offshore drilling operations, and opposes the Trump administration's proposed leasing plan that would expose the state to new offshore drilling. The measure would also urge the United States Secretary of the Interior to remove California from that proposed leasing plan, and would request that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hold more than one public hearing on the plan in the State of California to ensure that all Californians have an opportunity to have their voices heard.
This measure would proclaim February 10, 2018, to February 17, 2018, inclusive, as California Court Reporting and Captioning Week, and would request that the Governor issue a proclamation calling on the people of the great State of California to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and educational activities.
The California Whistleblower Protection Act requires the State Auditor to administer the act and to investigate and report on improper governmental activities, as defined. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by certain entities within state government. Existing law establishes various grounds upon which these entities may take disciplinary action against a licensee to suspend or revoke a license. This bill would prohibit these licensing entities, except the State Bar of California, from taking disciplinary action, including suspension, loss of credential, registration, or other professional privilege, against a public employee, as defined to include those persons working in the environmental sciences and climate-change-related fields who are conducting scientific or technical research, in connection with actions taken by that person to report improper federal governmental activity or disclose the results of or information about scientific or technical research to the public by means that include, but are not limited to, publishing the information in a scientific or a public forum or sharing it with the media. Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to coordinate greenhouse gas emission reductions and climate change activity in state government. This bill would additionally require the Secretary for Environmental Protection to make every reasonable effort to preserve and make available to the public through its Internet Web site scientific information and other data that, in the secretary's opinion, are at risk of censorship or destruction by the federal government. This bill would include findings and declarations related to the measure, including that the purpose of these provisions is, to the maximum extent feasible under state law, to ensure those persons may report improper federal governmental activity and to continue to make scientific and other information open to the public without fear of losing their professional licenses or credentials.
Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. A portion of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, known as the Equity in Higher Education Act, and the Sex Equity in Education Act establish, among other things, that it is the policy of the State of California that all persons, regardless of their sex, should enjoy freedom from discrimination of any kind in the educational institutions of the state. Specified provisions of law relating to educational equity in schools, including the Equity in Education Act and the Equity in Higher Education Act, define, in the same way, "sexual harassment" for the purposes of their respective provisions. Based on federal regulations, this bill would define "sexual harassment" to include "sexual violence," as defined, for the purposes of those state laws. The bill would, among other things, require the appropriate governing board or body of each elementary and secondary school that receives state financial assistance, and the appropriate governing board or body of each higher education institution that receives state funds for student financial assistance, to, as a condition of receiving that financial assistance, comply with certain requirements, based on federal regulations. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that each local educational agency, and would require the appropriate governing board or body of each higher education institution that receives state funds for student financial assistance to, designate at least one employee to act as a sex equity coordinator or officer, as applicable. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2018, the appropriate governing board or body of each higher education institution that receives state funds for student financial assistance to, as a condition of receiving that financial assistance, adopt regulations to, among other things, ensure that implementation of the applicable provisions of the bill at the institution is, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with federal regulations. By imposing new duties on school districts, 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, 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 provides that a person who uses a concealed camcorder, motion picture camera, or photographic camera of any type, to secretly videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another, identifiable person under or through the clothing being worn by that other person, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that other person, with the intent to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person and invade the privacy of that other person, under circumstances in which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Existing law provides that a person who uses a concealed camcorder, motion picture camera, or photographic camera of any type, to secretly videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means, another, identifiable person who may be in a state of full or partial undress, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that other person, in the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth, or the interior of any other area in which that other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of that other person, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. This bill would allow a court, in a case in which a person violates the above provisions and intentionally distributes or makes the image or recording accessible to any other person, to impose a fine in an amount not to exceed $1,000 in addition to the punishment prescribed for the violation. The bill would require the court to include economic losses suffered by the victim for costs incurred to delete, remove, and eliminate the images and recordings when imposing restitution. By increasing the punishment for 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under existing law, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is required to enforce and administer the fish and game laws pursuant to the policies formulated by the Fish and Game Commission. The department is administered by the Director of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law makes it unlawful to take any marine mammal, as defined, except as provided under specified federal laws. This bill would, upon appropriation of moneys by the Legislature, require the Wildlife Health Center at the Davis campus of the University of California to provide grants to qualified organizations, as defined, that respond to marine mammal or sea turtle entanglement or stranding emergencies. The bill would require the grants to be issued on an emergency basis and not for the operating expenses of a qualified organization, except as specified.