Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various health care practitioners by boards and agencies within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires a health care practitioner, as defined, to communicate to a patient his or her name, state-granted practitioner license type, and highest level of academic degree, in a specified manner. This bill would require a licensed health care practitioner who performs a stem cell therapy that is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to communicate to his or her patient seeking stem cell therapy specified information regarding the provision of stem cell therapies on a specified notice in a prominent display in an area visible to patients in his or her office, posted conspicuously in the entrance of his or her office, and provided in writing to the patient prior to providing the initial stem cell therapy. The bill would not apply to a health care practitioner who has obtained approval for an investigational new drug or device from the FDA for the use of human cells, tissues, or cellular or tissue-based products. The bill would authorize the licensing board having jurisdiction of the health care practitioner to cite and fine the health care practitioner, not to exceed $1,000 per violation, as specified. The bill would require the Medical Board of California to indicate specific enforcement information in its annual report, commencing with the 2018–19 annual report, with regard to its licensees who provide stem cell therapies.
Sponsored bills
Existing law defines a "skilled and trained workforce" to mean a workforce that meets certain conditions for when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. Existing law also authorizes a public entity to require that a bidder, contractor, or other entity use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. This bill would revise the definition of a "skilled and trained workforce" to exclude from the conditions work performed on or after specified dates, in certain occupations.
The California Retail Food Code establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities and various types of food. Under existing law, local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing the California Retail Food Code. A violation of any of these provisions is a crime. Existing law generally prohibits food that is unused or returned by the consumer, after being served or sold and in the possession of a consumer, from being offered as food for human consumption. Existing law authorizes a container of food that is not potentially hazardous to be transferred from one consumer to another if the food is dispensed so that it is protected from contamination and the container is closed between uses or if the food is in an unopened original package and is maintained in sound condition, and if the food is checked periodically on a regular basis. This bill would exempt from this prohibition specified food that food service staff, pupils, and faculty return to a sharing table at a local educational agency, as defined, and that is made available to pupils during the course of a regular school meal time or then donated to a food bank or any other nonprofit charitable organization, as specified. This bill would require the State Department of Education to update specified guidelines on the donation of leftover food.
This measure would urge Congress to prevail upon the Department of Defense to realign its criteria for the safe harbor provision in order to avoid the requirement of a social security number.
Existing law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to research the options for developing a cost, quality, and equity data atlas. Existing law requires the research to include certain topics, including, among others, identification of key data submitters, a comparative analysis of potential models used in other states, and an assessment of types of governance structures that incorporate representatives of health care stakeholders and experts. Existing law requires the agency to have made the results of the above-described research available to the public no later than March 1, 2017, by submitting a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Health. This bill would require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, in furtherance of the goal of creating the California Health Care Cost, Quality, and Equity Atlas, to convene an advisory committee composed of a broad spectrum of health care stakeholders and experts, as specified. The bill would require the secretary to charge the advisory committee with identifying the type of data, purpose of use, and entities and individuals that are required to report to, or that may have access to, a health care cost, quality, and equity atlas, and with developing a set of recommendations based on specified findings of the March 1, 2017, report.
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, the Medi-Cal Hospital Reimbursement Improvement Act of 2013, subject to federal approval, imposes a hospital quality assurance fee, as specified, on certain general acute care hospitals to be deposited into the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund. Existing law provides that moneys in the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund are continuously appropriated during the first, 2nd, and subsequent program periods, as specified, and are available only for certain purposes, including, among others, paying for health care coverage for children, as specified, and making increased payments and direct grants to hospitals, as specified. The California Constitution, pursuant to Proposition 52 as approved by voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, prohibits a statute amending or adding to the provisions of the act from becoming effective unless approved by the electors, as specified, but authorizes the Legislature, by a 23 vote in each house of the Legislature, to amend or add provisions that further the purposes of the act. Existing law, as amended by Proposition 52, extends the operation of the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund as long as the act remains operative. Existing law, for the first program period, sets forth the allocation of direct grant payments to designated and nondesignated public hospitals, as defined, in support of health care expenditures, to be funded by the quality assurance fee. For subsequent program periods, existing law authorizes designated and nondesignated public hospitals to be paid direct grants, as specified, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act. This bill would, for the 2nd program period, require that direct grants in support of health care expenditures be paid to designated public hospitals, to be funded by the quality assurance fee, with the aggregate amount of the grants being $25,250,000 in the aggregate for the 2 subject fiscal quarters in the 2016–17 subject fiscal year, as defined, $60,500,000 for the 2017–18 subject fiscal year, and $69,000,000 in the aggregate for the 2018–19 subject fiscal year. The bill would, for the 2nd program period, require that direct grants in support of health care expenditures be paid to nondesignated public hospitals, to be funded by the quality assurance fee, with the aggregate amount of the grants being $21,000,000 in the aggregate for the 2 subject fiscal quarters in the 2016–17 subject fiscal year, $44,400,000 for the 2017–18 subject fiscal year, and $46,800,000 for the 2018–19 subject fiscal year. By expanding the use of moneys in the Hospital Quality Assurance Revenue Fund, for additional direct grants this bill would make an appropriation. By amending the provisions of the act and expanding the use of moneys in the fund, this bill would require a 23 vote of the Legislature.
(1) Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. Existing law declares it to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. This bill would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and would provide that moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the state board. The bill would require the board to administer the fund to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The bill would authorize the state board to provide for the deposit into the fund of federal contributions, voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, bequests, and settlements from parties responsible for contamination of drinking water supplies. The bill would require the state board to expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible applicants with projects relating to the provision of safe and affordable drinking water consistent with a fund implementation plan adopted annually by the state board, as prescribed. The bill would require the state board annually to prepare and make available a report of expenditures of the fund and to adopt annually, after a public hearing, an assessment of funding need that estimates the anticipated funding needed for the next fiscal year to achieve the purposes of the fund. The bill would require, by January 1, 2019, the state board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, to make available a map of aquifers that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water that are at high risk of containing contaminants. For purposes of the map, the bill would require local health officers and other relevant local agencies to provide all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories to the board, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local health officers and local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By creating a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law, the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill would impose, until July 1, 2020, a safe and affordable drinking water fee in specified amounts on each customer of a public water system, to be administered by the state board, in consultation with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would exempt from the fee a customer that self-certifies under penalty of perjury the customer's satisfaction of specified criteria relating to income. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require, beginning July 1, 2020, the state board to annually determine the amounts of the safe and affordable drinking water fee not to exceed the amounts imposed until July 1, 2020, and not to exceed the anticipated funding need in the most recent assessment of funding need adopted by the state board pursuant to the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund provisions, as prescribed. The bill would require the state board, by July 1, 2020, to adopt regulations, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, relating to an exemption from the fee for low-income households, as specified. The bill would require a public water system to collect the fee and to remit these moneys to the state board to be deposited into the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. The bill would authorize a public water system to apply to the state board to use an alternative method to calculate the fee. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law that imposes criminal penalties for various acts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires every person who manufactures or distributes fertilizing materials to be licensed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and to pay a license fee that does not exceed $300. Existing law requires every lot, parcel, or package of fertilizing material to have a label attached to it, as required by the secretary. Existing law requires a licensee who sells or distributes bulk fertilizing materials to pay to the secretary an assessment not to exceed $0.002 per dollar of sales for all sales of fertilizing materials, as prescribed, for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of provisions relating to fertilizing materials. In addition to that assessment, existing law authorizes the secretary to impose an assessment in an amount not to exceed $0.001 per dollar of sales for all sales of fertilizing materials for the purpose of providing funding for research and education regarding the use of fertilizing materials. Existing law specifies that a violation of the fertilizing material laws or the regulations adopted pursuant to those laws is a misdemeanor. This bill, until January 1, 2033, would require a licensee to pay to the secretary a fertilizer safe drinking water fee of $0.005 per dollar of sale for all sales of fertilizing materials. The bill, on and after January 1, 2033, would reduce the fee to $0.002 per dollar of sale and would authorize the secretary to reduce the fee as necessary to not exceed the anticipated funding need in the most recent assessment of funding need adopted by the board pursuant to the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund provisions. The bill would require these moneys to be deposited into the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. The bill would authorize the secretary to adopt regulations relating to the administration and enforcement of these provisions. Because a violation of these provisions or regulations adopted pursuant to these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law regulates the production, handling, and marketing of milk and dairy products and requires every milk handler subject to that regulatory scheme to pay specified assessments and fees to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to cover the costs of regulating milk. Existing law governing milk defines "handler" as any person who, either directly or indirectly, receives, purchases, or otherwise acquires ownership, possession, or control of market milk from a producer, a producer-handler, or another handler for the purpose of manufacture, processing, sale, or other handling. Existing law defines "market milk" as milk conforming to specified standards and "manufacturing milk" as milk that does not conform to the requirements of market milk. Existing law provides that a violation of that regulatory scheme or a regulation adopted pursuant to that regulatory scheme is a misdemeanor. This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2020, until January 1, 2035, each handler subject to that regulatory scheme to deduct from payments made to producers for market and manufacturing milk the sum of $0.01355 per hundredweight of milk as a dairy safe drinking water fee. On and after January 1, 2035, the bill would reduce the fee to $0.00678 per hundredweight of milk and would authorize the secretary to reduce the fee as necessary to not exceed the anticipated funding need in the most recent assessment of funding need adopted by the board pursuant to the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund provisions. The bill would require these moneys to be deposited into the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund. The bill would authorize the secretary to take specified enforcement actions and would require the secretary to adopt regulations for the administration and enforcement of these provisions. Because a violation of these provisions or regulations adopted pursuant to these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards are the principal state agencies with authority over matters relating to water quality. The act requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policies for water quality control and requires the regional boards to adopt regional water quality control plans in compliance with the state policies. Under the act, the state board and the regional boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of waste that could affect the quality of the waters of the state. The act requires, upon the order of a regional board, a person who has caused or permitted, causes or permits, or threatens to cause or permit any waste to be discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged into the waters of the state and creates, or threatens to create, a condition of pollution or nuisance, to clean up the waste or abate the effects of the waste, or in the case of threatened pollution or nuisance, to take other remedial action. This bill would prohibit the state board or a regional board, until January 1, 2028, from subjecting an agricultural operation, as defined, to specified enforcement for causing or contributing to an exceedance of a water quality objective for nitrate in groundwater or for causing or contributing to a condition of pollution or nuisance for nitrates in groundwater if that agricultural operation demonstrates that it has satisfied certain mitigation requirements, including, among other requirements, the timely payment of the fertilizer safe drinking water fee or the dairy safe drinking water fee, as applicable, into the fund. The bill would prohibit the state board or a regional board, beginning January 1, 2028, until January 1, 2033, from subjecting an agricultural operation to specified enforcement for creating or threatening to create a condition of pollution or nuisance for nitrate in groundwater if that agricultural operation demonstrates that it has satisfied the prescribed mitigation requirements. The bill would require the state board, by January 1, 2027, to conduct a public review of regulatory and basin plan amendment implementation programs to evaluate progress toward achieving water quality objectives with respect to nitrates in groundwater and assess compliance with adopted timelines, monitoring requirements, and implementation of best practicable treatment or control. (6) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Pharmacy Law establishes the California State Board of Pharmacy within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists and pharmacies. Under that law, the board is comprised of 13 members, including 7 competent pharmacists appointed by the Governor and 6 public members appointed as specified. This bill would increase the number of members of the board to 15 by adding one pharmacy technician appointed by the Governor and one additional public member appointed by the Governor. The bill would require the pharmacy technician board member to have at least 5 years of experience and to continue to work in California as a pharmacy technician. The bill would require the pharmacy technician board member to have specified work experience as a pharmacy technician and to have documented work experience in a variety of pharmacy procedures and practices, as specified.
(1) Existing law, the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972, authorizes local agencies, including a city or county, to form an assessment district for the purpose of making improvements by, among other things, installing landscaping. This bill would, in addition to the district's existing authority to perform specified maintenance under the Improvement Act of 1911, authorize the Landscaping and Lighting District of the City of La Puente to also perform maintenance and make improvements pursuant to the Landscaping and Lighting Act of 1972. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Landscaping and Lighting District of the City of La Puente. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.