Existing law generally prohibits discrimination in the provision of privileges and services on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, and immigration status. Existing law provides a cause of action against any person who denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction on the bases listed, as specified, and permits the recovery of attorney's fees. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Department (department) and makes it responsible for, among other things, investigating and prosecuting complaints alleging a violation of these provisions. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund (fund) , to be administered by the department. This fund consists of attorney's fees and costs awarded by a court to the department when the department is the prevailing party in a civil action brought under specified law. Existing law authorizes moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, to be used to offset the costs of the department. This bill would, commencing on March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, require a covered entity, defined as a venture capital company that meets specified criteria, to report to the department specified information about their funding determinations, including, at an aggregate level, specified demographic information for the founding teams of all of the businesses in which the covered entity made a venture capital investment in the prior calendar year to the extent the information was provided pursuant to a survey the bill would require a covered entity to provide to each founding team member of a business that has received funding from a venture capital company to which the covered entity has acted as an investment adviser, as specified. The bill would require this information to be collected and reported in a manner that does not associate the survey response data with an individual founding team member. The bill would require the department to charge and collect fees to administer these provisions, as specified. The bill would require the department to notify the covered entity that the covered entity must submit the report within 60 days of the notification. If the covered entity has not submitted the report after those 60 days have elapsed, the bill would authorize the department to commence prescribed proceedings seeking specified relief, including a penalty, as specified. The bill would require moneys collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the fund, and would express the intent of the Legislature that these moneys be appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for administration of these provisions. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
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Existing law authorizes specified state departments and authorities, upon determination that an advance payment is essential for the effective implementation of a program, to advance to a community-based private nonprofit agency with which it has contracted for the delivery of services funds not exceeding 25% of the annual allocation to be made to the agency during the fiscal year. Existing law also establishes a pilot program, which is repealed on July 1, 2025, to explore possible improvements to the state's existing advance payment practices for state-funded assistance grants. Existing law authorizes an administering state agency of a grant program to advance a payment to a recipient entity, which means a local agency or a nongovernmental entity that is awarded a grant by an administering state agency and with whom the administering state agency has entered into a contract pursuant to that grant, in accordance with specified procedures. These procedures include stipulating an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract and ensuring that the advance payment to the recipient entity does not exceed 25% of the total grant amount awarded to the recipient entity, except in specified circumstances. Existing law establishing the pilot program further authorizes an administering state agency to advance payment to a recipient state agency awarded a grant in accordance with specified procedures, including stipulating an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract between the state agency administering the program and the recipient state agency and requiring the recipient state agency to provide an itemized budget, spending timeline, and workplan. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to improve and expand the state's existing advance payment practices for state grants and contracts with nonprofits. The bill would authorize an administering state agency to advance a payment to a recipient entity, defined to mean a private, nonprofit organization qualified under federal law, subject to meeting specified requirements. The bill would require the administering state agency to prioritize recipient entities and projects serving disadvantaged, low-income, and under-resourced communities, and to ensure an advance payment to the recipient entity does not exceed 25% of the total grant or contract amount. The bill would require the recipient entity to satisfy certain minimum requirements, including providing an itemized budget and submitting documentation, as required by the administering state agency, to support the need for advance payment. The bill would require the Department of Finance or its designee to audit a state agency subject to these provisions or any recipient or subrecipient that received an advance payment.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. This bill would require a business entity that is marketing or selling voluntary carbon offsets, as defined, within the state to disclose on the business entity's internet website specified information about the applicable carbon offset project and details regarding accountability measures if a project is not completed or does not meet the projected emissions reductions or removal benefits, as provided. The bill would also require an entity that purchases or uses voluntary carbon offsets that makes claims regarding the achievement of net zero emissions or other, similar claims, as specified, to disclose on the entity's internet website specified information. The bill would require an entity that makes these claims to disclose on the entity's internet website all information documenting how, if at all, a claim was determined to be accurate or actually accomplished, how interim progress toward that goal is being measured, and whether there is independent third-party verification of the company data and claims listed. The bill would make a person who violates these provisions subject to a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 per day, as specified, for each violation, not to exceed a total amount of $500,000, which would be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General or by a district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney in a court of competent jurisdiction. The bill would additionally require that disclosures be updated no less than annually.
(1) Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government with a certified local coastal program, as provided. The act authorizes the commission to process and act upon a consolidated coastal development permit application if a proposed project requires a coastal development permit from both a local government with a certified local coastal program and the commission and if the applicant, the local government, and the commission consent to consolidate the permit action. This bill would require the commission to process a consolidated coastal development permit for any new development that requires a coastal development permit and that is associated with, appurtenant to, or necessary for the construction and operation of offshore wind energy projects, and transmission facilities needed for those projects, located in the coastal zone, provided that public participation is not substantially impaired by the review of the consolidated coastal development permit, as provided. The bill would require the commission to forward an application for a consolidated coastal development permit to local governmental agencies having land use and related jurisdiction in the area in which the project would occur and would authorize those local governmental agencies to review and comment on the application, as provided. (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. This bill would require the State Lands Commission to be the lead agency for purposes of CEQA for offshore wind energy projects and to prepare, or cause to be prepared, all environmental documents required by law. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission to coordinate with relevant local, state, and federal agencies to encourage and facilitate the preparation of joint environmental documents pursuant to CEQA and the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for proposed offshore wind energy projects. (3) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in coordination with specified state entities and other relevant federal, state, and local agencies, to develop a strategic plan for offshore wind energy developments installed off the California coast in federal waters, and requires the Energy Commission to submit the strategic plan to the Natural Resources Agency and the Legislature on or before June 30, 2023. This bill would establish the California Offshore Wind Energy Fisheries Working Group, composed of representatives of the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Lands Commission, the Ocean Protection Council, representatives of the commercial and recreational fishing industries, the offshore wind energy industry, representatives of relevant federal agencies, representatives of California Native American tribes with affected tribal fisheries, and other stakeholders, as determined by the California Coastal Commission. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission, in coordination with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to convene the working group on or before January 1, 2025, for the purpose of developing a statewide strategy for ensuring that offshore wind energy projects avoid and minimize impacts to ocean fisheries to the maximum extent possible, avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to fishing and fisheries in a manner that prioritizes fishery productivity, viability, and long-term resilience, and fairly and reasonably compensate persons engaged in the commercial and recreational fishing industries and tribal fisheries for economic impacts to ocean fisheries resulting from offshore wind energy projects. The bill would require the statewide strategy to include best practices for addressing impacts to the commercial and recreational fishing industries, tribal fisheries, and environmental resources associated with offshore wind energy projects, as specified, and to be completed on or before January 1, 2026. The bill would require the California Coastal Commission to adopt the statewide strategy on or before May 1, 2026, and to review the statewide strategy as needed to determine if changes are necessary. The bill would require an applicant seeking approval or concurrence from a state agency for an offshore wind energy project to comply with the terms, recommendations, and best practices established in the statewide strategy. The bill would require the working group to develop a framework for reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts associated with offshore wind energy projects, including a payment structure to reasonably compensate commercial, tribal, and recreational fisheries and impacted commercial fish processors. The bill would require the payment structure to include, among other things, investments in fleet improvements to promote resiliency, reasonable compensation for the commercial fishing industry for personal property losses caused by offshore wind energy projects, and reasonable compensation for lost commercial and tribal revenue due to reduced fishing grounds, as specified. The bill would require the State Lands Commission or a local trustee of granted public trust lands to consider including within a lease for an offshore wind energy project reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to fishing and tribal interests. The bill would create the Offshore Wind Energy Resiliency Fund and would require the State Lands Commission to deposit revenue generated from an offshore wind energy project lease in the fund. The bill would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for reasonable compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts associated with offshore wind energy projects.
(1) Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) 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 a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after July 1, 2000, to provide coverage for all generally medically accepted cancer screening tests, and prohibits that contract or policy issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after July 1, 2022, from requiring prior authorization for biomarker testing for certain enrollees or insureds. Existing law applies the provisions relating to biomarker testing to Medi-Cal managed care plans, as prescribed. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, to provide coverage for medically necessary biomarker testing, as prescribed, including whole genome sequencing, for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment, appropriate management, or ongoing monitoring of an enrollee's or insured's disease or condition to guide treatment decisions, as prescribed. The bill would specify that it does not require a health care service plan or health insurer to cover biomarker testing for screening purposes unless otherwise required by law. The bill would subject restricted or denied use of biomarker testing for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, or ongoing monitoring of a medical condition to state and federal grievance and appeal processes. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law includes Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing as a covered benefit for any Medi-Cal beneficiary who is one year of age or younger and is receiving inpatient hospital services in an intensive care unit. Subject to the extent that federal financial participation is available and not otherwise jeopardized, and any necessary federal approvals have been obtained, this bill, by July 1, 2024, would expand the Medi-Cal schedule of benefits to include biomarker testing, as prescribed, for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment, appropriate management, or ongoing monitoring of a Medi-Cal beneficiary's disease or condition to guide treatment decisions, as prescribed. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by various means without taking regulatory action. (3) 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, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions. Existing law prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) , generally prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization, unless a specified exception applies. The CMIA requires every provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, or contractor who, among other things, maintains or stores medical information to do so in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of the information contained therein. The CMIA also prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or an employer from releasing medical information that would identify an individual or related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion in response to a subpoena or a request or to law enforcement if that subpoena, request, or the purpose of law enforcement for the medical information is based on, or for the purpose of enforcement of, either another state's laws that interfere with a person's rights to choose or obtain an abortion or a foreign penal civil action. Existing law makes a violation of the CMIA that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would require specified businesses that electronically store or maintain medical information on the provision of sensitive services on behalf of a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, contractor, or employer to develop capabilities, policies, and procedures, on or before July 1, 2024, to enable certain security features, including limiting user access privileges and segregating medical information related to gender affirming care, abortion and abortion-related services, and contraception, as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit a provider of health care, health care service plan, contractor, or employer from cooperating with any inquiry or investigation by, or from providing medical information to, an individual, agency, or department from another state or, to the extent permitted by federal law, to a federal law enforcement agency that would identify an individual or that is related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion or abortion-related services that are lawful under the laws of this state, unless the request for medical information is authorized in accordance with specified existing provisions of law. The bill would exempt a provider of health care from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions relating to cooperating with, or providing medical information to, another state or a federal law enforcement agency before January 31, 2026, if the provider of health care is working diligently and in good faith to comply with the prohibition. Because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency, in consultation with stakeholders and local partners, to establish the California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework that includes a single data sharing agreement and common set of policies and procedures that govern and require the exchange of health information among health care entities and government agencies in California. Existing law requires, on or before January 31, 2024, that specified entities, including general acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, exchange health information, as defined, in real time. This bill would exclude the exchange of health information related to abortion and abortion-related services from automatically being shared on the California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 130290 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 582 to be operative only if this bill and SB 582 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, would, commencing July 1, 2024, impose an excise tax in the amount of 11% of the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of a firearm, firearm precursor part, and ammunition, as specified. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. The bill would require the moneys received in the fund to be used to fund various gun violence prevention, education, research, response, and investigation programs, as specified. The bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, as a loan, $2,400,000 from the General Fund to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to implement these provisions, as specified. The bill would require each licensed firearms dealer, firearms manufacturer, and ammunition vendor to register with the department for a certificate, as specified. The bill would also provide procedures for the issuance, revocation, and reinstatement of a permit. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is 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.
The measure would apply to the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment relating to firearms, as specified.
This measure would declare October 8, 2023, as Father-Daughter Day and would encourage fathers with daughters in California to take time to celebrate, cherish, and connect with each other.
Existing law prohibits a local agency that is engaged in the provision of broadband internet access service in the state from taking certain actions regarding the accessing of content on the internet by an end user. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes, including defining "local agency" to mean any agency of local government authorized by any other law to provide broadband internet access service, and lists specified categories of local government agencies included in that definition of "local agency." This bill would add metropolitan planning organizations and regional transportation planning authorities to that list of local government agencies included in the definition of "local agency."