Sen. Ed Hernandez

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law created the Healthy Families Program for the provision of health, vision, and dental benefits to eligible children pursuant to the federal Children's Health Insurance Program. Existing law provides for the transition of children from the Healthy Families Program to the Medi-Cal program. Existing law establishes the California Medical and Dental Student Loan Repayment Program of 2002, the California Physician Corps Program, and the Steven M. Thompson Medical School Scholarship Program. Existing law conditions eligibility of certain health professionals in those programs on, among other things, provision of services to a medically underserved population, which is defined to include the Medi-Cal, Healthy Families Program, and uninsured populations. This bill would remove obsolete references to the Healthy Families Program in the definition of "medically underserved population" within those provisions. The bill would make related changes to the definition of "dentally underserved population" for purposes of the California Medical and Dental Student Loan Repayment Program of 2002.

Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C awards, and the Cal Grant T awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Among other things, the program requires that a total of 25,750 Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards be granted annually. This bill would update a cross reference to the total number of Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards granted annually.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, telephone corporations, and water corporations. Existing law directs the Public Utilities Commission to require every electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone corporation with annual gross revenues exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to annually submit a detailed and verifiable plan for increasing procurement from women-, minority-, disabled veteran-owned, and LGBT business enterprises, as defined, in all categories, including renewable energy, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, and rail projects, and to require the reporting by those corporations of certain related information. Existing law includes legislative findings and declarations relative to the goals of, and reasons for, increasing procurement from women-, minority-, disabled veteran-owned, and LGBT business enterprises. This bill would make a nonsubstantive revision to the findings and declarations.

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. Existing law requires Medi-Cal benefits to an individual who is an inmate of a public institution to be suspended effective the date he or she becomes an inmate of a public institution. Existing law requires the suspension to end on the date that he or she is no longer an inmate of a public institution or one year from the date he or she becomes an inmate of a public institution, whichever is sooner. This bill instead would require the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to end on the date he or she is no longer an inmate of a public institution or is no longer otherwise eligible for benefits under the Medi-Cal program. The bill would require the department, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to develop and implement a simplified annual renewal process for individuals in a suspended eligibility status, and would require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals or waivers to implement this provision.

Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater in accordance with the federal national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program. Existing law requires the state board or the regional boards to issue waste discharge requirements that apply and ensure compliance with the federal Clean Water Act and any more stringent effluent standards or limitations necessary to implement water quality control plans, or for the protection of beneficial uses, or to prevent nuisance. This bill would require the state board, in conjunction with an educational institution, to establish financial capability assessment guidelines for municipal separate storm sewer system permittees by an unspecified date. The bill would require the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles region to use the guidelines in a pilot project conducted to assess if a financial capability analysis can be effectively used to help municipalities to implement a municipal separate storm sewer system permit. The bill would require the state board to oversee the use of the guidelines and to make statewide recommendations upon the completion of the pilot project.

The Horse Racing Law authorizes advance deposit wagering to be conducted, with the approval of the California Horse Racing Board. That law requires the board to develop and adopt rules to license and regulate all phases of operation of advance deposit wagering for advance deposit wagering providers operating in California and authorizes a racing association, a fair, a satellite wagering facility, or a minisatellite wagering facility to enter into an agreement with an advance deposit wagering provider to accept and facilitate the placement of any wager at its facility that a California resident could make through that advance deposit wagering provider. The Horse Racing Law also authorizes every association that conducts a racing meeting to elect permanently to deduct an additional amount up to 0.33 of 1% from the total parimutuel wagers placed within its inclosure and any association that conducts a racing meeting or any fair that operates a satellite wagering facility to elect to deduct an additional amount of 0.33 of 1% from the total parimutuel wagers placed within its inclosure or at its satellite wagering facility. That law provides that the amounts deducted pursuant to these provisions be retained by the association or fair for the payment of possessory interest taxes, if any, assessed against the organization that operates the audiovisual signal system, the racing association, or fair, and after payment of these taxes be distributed to the city, or to the city or county, in which the racing meeting or wagering is conducted. This bill would require the California Horse Racing Board to review the payments made to a city pursuant to the above-described provisions to ensure that the additional amounts paid to a city based on 0.33 of 1 percent from the total parimutuel wagers and 0.33 of the 1 percent of the total amount handled by each satellite wagering facility include the total amount that was waged by advance deposit wagers at the racetrack. The bill would require the board to determine whether the total amount paid to a city included compensation from advance deposit wagers. The bill would also require the board to release its findings at a publicly noticed hearing and make its findings available to the public on its Internet Web site.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to act swiftly to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for at least 5 years, as specified.

Under existing law, programs have been established pursuant to bond acts for, among other things, the development and enhancement of state and local parks and recreational facilities. Existing law, the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,545,000,000 to finance a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement program. Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 84 at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,388,000,000 for the purposes of financing safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, natural resource protection, and park improvements. Existing law, the California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002, approved by the voters as Proposition 40 at the March 5, 2002, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $2,600,000,000, for the purpose of financing a program for the acquisition, development, restoration, protection, rehabilitation, stabilization, reconstruction, preservation, and interpretation of park, coastal, agricultural land, air, and historical resources. This bill would enact the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount of $4,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. The bill, upon voter approval, would reallocate $100,000,000 of the unissued bonds authorized for the purposes of Propositions 1, 40, and 84 to finance the purposes of a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. The bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.