Sen. Mike McGuire

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the year 2026 as the 60th anniversary of the pilot regional centers. It serves as a commemorative resolution to acknowledge the milestone history of these centers without altering any laws or policies. The measure affects no specific individuals or groups and does not create new obligations or change existing regulations. Its sole purpose is to formally recognize the date in official records.

This measure would proclaim the month of May 2026 as California Tourism Month and would urge the citizens of this great state to support tourism and local businesses by traveling in the state as an act of civic pride.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month to raise awareness about preventing child abuse. The measure does not change laws or allocate funding but instead directs state agencies to acknowledge the month through official proclamations. By recognizing this period, the legislature aims to highlight the importance of child safety without altering existing policies.

Existing law establishes the state flag and the state's emblems, including, among other things, the California Grizzly Bear as the state animal, the California gray whale as the state marine mammal, and the Pacific leatherback sea turtle as the state marine reptile. Existing law establishes the California State Library within the state government and vests control of the library to the State Librarian. Existing law authorizes the California State Library to serve as the central reference and research library for the departments of state government and maintain adequate legislative reference and research library services for the Legislature. This bill would require the California State Library to conduct a study, in consultation with the public, on the best candidate for the official state pinniped. The bill would require the California State Library, on or before January 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature with the California State Library's recommendations based on the study, as provided. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 96 designates April 2026 as National County Government Month to recognize the essential services provided by California's 58 counties. This proclamation encourages residents to celebrate the work of county governments, which manage public health, safety, infrastructure, and disaster response. The resolution highlights the historical significance of counties, noting that 2026 marks the 176th anniversary of California's original counties and the state's founding. It also acknowledges the advocacy efforts of the California State Association of Counties in supporting local decision-making and resource allocation.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Route 101 in the County of Humboldt as the Assembly Member Patty Berg Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs.

This measure would designate the Russian River Bridge and Overhead on State Route 20, in the County of Mendocino, as the Charlie Barra Memorial Bridge. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources to cover that cost, to erect those signs.

Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing department regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. On and after January 1, 2028, this bill would prohibit an admitted insurer that offers or sells residential property insurance in this state from refusing to offer, sell, or renew a policy of residential property insurance for an applicant or insured whose property meets minimum home hardening and wildfire mitigation standards, except as provided. The bill would authorize an admitted insurer to apply to the commissioner for a temporary waiver of that prohibition in a particular geographic area of the state, as specified. On and after January 1, 2028, the bill would also require any residential property insurance offered or sold to, at a minimum, provide coverage equivalent in scope to the residential property coverage the admitted insurer most commonly offers or sells in this state. The bill would suspend or revoke an insurer's certificate of authority to offer or sell residential property insurance and automobile insurance in this state for five years if the admitted insurer habitually and as a matter of ordinary practice violates these provisions or if the admitted insurer offers residential property insurance in this state on and after January 1, 2026, but elects to cease offering that insurance rather than comply with these provisions.

Existing federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. PPACA defines a "qualified health plan" as a plan that, among other requirements, provides an essential health benefits package. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, 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. This bill, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state. Under the bill, CalCare would be a health care service plan subject to Knox-Keene. The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children's Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare Program. The bill would make specified persons eligible to enroll as CalCare members during the implementation period, and would provide for automatic enrollment. The bill would require the board to seek all necessary waivers, approvals, and agreements to allow various existing federal health care payments to be paid to CalCare, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill would create the CalCare Board to govern CalCare, made up of 9 voting members with demonstrated and acknowledged expertise in health care, and appointed as provided, plus the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee as a nonvoting, ex officio member. The bill would provide the board with all the powers and duties necessary to establish CalCare, including determining when individuals may start enrolling into CalCare, employing necessary staff, negotiating pricing for covered pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, establishing a prescription drug formulary, and negotiating and entering into necessary contracts. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1 of an unspecified year, to conduct and deliver a fiscal analysis to determine whether or not CalCare may be implemented and if revenue is more likely than not to pay for program costs, as specified. The bill would establish an Advisory Committee on Long-Term Services and Supports to advise the board on matters of policy related to long-term services and supports. The bill would require the board to convene a CalCare Public Advisory Commission to advise the board on all matters of policy for CalCare, an Advisory Committee on Public Employees' Retirement System Health Benefits to provide recommendations related to public employee retiree health benefits, and a CalCare Health Workforce Working Group to provide the board with input on issues related to health care workforce education, recruitment, and retention. The bill would establish an Office of Health Equity within CalCare and under the direction of the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to ensure health equity under the program and other health programs of the California Health and Human Services Agency and to support the board through specified actions. This bill would provide for the participation of health care providers in CalCare, including the requirements of a participation agreement between a health care provider and the board, provide for payment for health care items and services, and specify program participation standards. The bill would prohibit a participating provider from discriminating against a person by, among other things, reducing or denying a person's benefits under CalCare because of a specified characteristic, status, or condition of the person. This bill would prohibit a participating provider from billing or entering into a private contract with an individual eligible for CalCare benefits regarding a covered benefit, but would authorize contracting for a health care item or service that is not a covered benefit if specified criteria are met. The bill would authorize health care providers to collectively negotiate fee-for-service rates of payment for health care items and services using a 3rd-party representative, as provided. The bill would require the board to annually determine an institutional provider's global budget, to be used to cover operating expenses related to covered health care items and services for that fiscal year, and would authorize payments under the global budget. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would develop a revenue plan, taking into consideration anticipated federal revenue available for CalCare. The bill would create the CalCare Trust Fund in the State Treasury, as a continuously appropriated fund, consisting of any federal and state moneys received for the purposes of the act. The bill would specify uses for moneys in the CalCare budget, including special projects for which not-for-profit or governmental entities may apply. Because the bill would create a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. This bill would prohibit specified provisions of this act from becoming operative until the Secretary of California Health and Human Services gives written notice to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly that the CalCare Trust Fund has the revenues to fund the costs of implementing the act. The California Health and Human Services Agency would be required to publish a copy of the notice on its internet website. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Existing constitutional law establishes the First Amendment right of freedom of speech. Existing case law, including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310 and other judicial precedents, establishes that corporate entities have First Amendment rights to engage in political speech and places limits on the suppression of political speech. Existing law regulates the formation and operation of various types of business and nonprofit entities, including corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited liability corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and unincorporated associations and sets forth their powers and duties. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to receive and process corporate and nonprofit entity filings, maintain records of those filings, and perform related duties. This bill would redefine the powers of artificial persons, as defined, organized under the Corporations Code to specify that those powers do not include political spending power, as defined. The bill would revoke all powers, privileges, and capacities previously granted to corporations under state law and provide that a corporation operating under the jurisdiction of this state possesses only those powers, privileges, and capacities specifically granted in the Corporations Code. The bill would declare void any act undertaken by a corporation beyond the scope of its granted powers, and would require that corporation to forfeit all granted powers. The bill would authorize reinstatement of granted powers after, among other things, disgorgement of all money used in the exercise of political spending power. The bill would authorize the Secretary of State to adopt rules regarding, among other things, reinstatement of forfeited powers. The bill would authorize the Attorney General with authority to enforce its provisions. This bill would make its provisions severable and would further specify the intent and preference of the Legislature that corporations hold no powers at all, rather than be vested with political spending power. The bill would make related findings and declarations.