Sen. Fran Pavley

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Existing federal law requires the state to seek adjustment or recovery from an individual's estate for specified medical assistance, including nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services, if the individual was 55 years of age or older when he or she received the medical assistance. Existing federal law allows the state, at its own option, to seek recovery for any items or services covered under the state's Medicaid plan. Existing state law, with certain exceptions, requires the department to claim against the estate of a decedent, or against any recipient of the property of that decedent by distribution or survival, an amount equal to the payments for Medi-Cal services received or the value of the property received by any recipient from the decedent by distribution or survival, whichever is less. Existing law provides for certain exemptions that restrict the department from filing a claim against a decedent's property, including when there is a surviving spouse during his or her lifetime. Existing law requires the department, however, to make a claim upon the death of the surviving spouse, as prescribed. Existing law requires the department to waive its claim, in whole or in part, if it determines that enforcement of the claim would result in a substantial hardship, as specified. Existing law, which has been held invalid by existing case law, provides that the exemptions shall only apply to the proportionate share of the decedent's estate or property that passes to those recipients, by survival or distribution, who qualify for the exemptions. This bill would instead require the department to make these claims only in specified circumstances for those health care services that the state is required to recover under federal law, and would define health care services for these purposes. The bill would limit any claims against the estate of a decedent to only the real and personal property or other assets the state is required to seek recovery from under federal law. The bill would delete the proportionate share provision and would delete the requirement that the department make a claim upon the death of the surviving spouse. The bill would require the department to waive its claim when the estate subject to recovery is a homestead of modest value, as defined. The bill would limit the amount of interest that is entitled to accrue on a voluntary postdeath lien, as specified. The bill would also require the department to provide a current or former beneficiary, or his or her authorized representative, upon request, with the total amount of Medi-Cal expenses that have been paid on his or her behalf that would be recoverable under these provisions, as specified. The bill would apply the changes made by these provisions only to individuals who die on or after January 1, 2016.

This measure would urge the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the federal constitutional principle of "one person, one vote" and not deny California's children and immigrants equal protection under the law.

This measure would recognize that every child who needs comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports in order to achieve his or her developmental potential should have those services easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and of high quality. The measure would further urge the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers.

Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources that are designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022, except as specified. The act authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to designate a basin as a probationary basin if the state board makes a certain determination and to develop an interim plan for the probationary basin. The act requires a local agency or groundwater sustainability agency to have 90 or 180 days, as prescribed, to remedy the deficiency if the board designates the basin as a probationary basin. This bill would specify that the board is authorized to designate a high- or medium-priority basin as a probationary basin. This bill would provide a local agency or groundwater sustainability agency 90 or 180 days, as prescribed, to remedy certain deficiencies that caused the board to designate the basin as a probationary basin. This bill would authorize the board to develop an interim plan for certain probationary basins one year after the designation of the basin as a probationary basin. Existing law authorizes a combination of local agencies to form a groundwater sustainability agency by a joint powers agreement, memorandum of agreement, or other legal agreement, and authorizes a water corporation regulated by the Public Utilities Commission to participate in a groundwater sustainability agency if the local agencies approve. This bill would authorize a mutual water company to participate in a groundwater sustainability agency and would provide that a water corporation or a mutual water company may participate through a memorandum of agreement or other legal agreement. Existing law establishes a groundwater monitoring program pursuant to which specified entities, including a groundwater sustainability agency, may propose to be designated by the department as groundwater monitoring entities, as defined, for the purposes of monitoring and reporting with regard to groundwater elevations in all or part of a groundwater basin or subbasin. Existing law requires the department to identify the extent of monitoring of groundwater elevations that is being undertaken in groundwater basins and subbasins, and if the department determines that all or part of a basin or subbasin is not being monitored, to determine whether there is sufficient interest in establishing a groundwater management plan, an integrated regional water management plan, or a groundwater monitoring association. This bill, if the department determines that all or part of a basin or subbasin is not being monitored, would require the department to determine whether there is sufficient interest in establishing a groundwater sustainability plan. Existing law requires a local agency or combination of local agencies that elect to be a groundwater sustainability agency for a basin to submit a prescribed notice of intent to the department that includes the proposed boundaries of the basin and requires the department to post the notice on its Internet Web site within 15 days of receipt. This bill would eliminate these provisions. Existing law requires a groundwater sustainability agency to inform the department of its election or formation and its intent to undertake sustainable groundwater management within 30 days of forming or electing to be a groundwater sustainability agency and requires the notice to include specified information such as the service area boundaries and requires the department to post the notice on its Internet Web site within 15 days of receipt. Existing law provides that the groundwater sustainability agency is presumed the exclusive groundwater sustainability agency 90 days following the posting of notice, provided that no other notice was submitted. This bill would require local agencies to seek to reach agreement to allow prompt designation of a groundwater sustainability agency. This bill would require a new notice to be submitted and the department to post notice if agreement is reached by the local agencies involving a material change from the information in the posted notice. This bill would require the department to post only complete notices it receives. Existing law requires the department to categorize each basin as high, medium, low, or very low priority and authorizes a local agency to request that the department revise the boundaries of a basin. Existing law provides that a local agency has 2 years from the date of a reprioritization that elevates a basin to a medium- or high-priority basin to either establish a groundwater sustainability agency or submit an alternative to the department and 5 years from the date of reprioritization to adopt a groundwater sustainability plan, as prescribed. This bill would extend the deadline for a basin that is elevated to a medium- or high-priority basin before January 31, 2017, and is not subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan to January 31, 2022. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. This bill would state that a guideline, criterion, bulletin, or other technical or procedural analysis or guidance prepared by the department as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, except as prescribed.

Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is authorized to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires an entity that receives payments between $250,000 and $500,000 per year from one or more regional centers to obtain an independent audit or review of its financial statements and requires an entity that receives payments that are equal to or more than $500,000 per year to obtain an independent audit. Existing law exempts payments made using usual and customary rates for services provided by regional centers from these requirements. This bill would instead require an entity to obtain an independent audit or review report of its financial statements relating to payments made by regional centers if it receives payments between $500,000 and $2,000,000 from one or more regional centers and would authorize these entities to apply for, and require the regional center to grant, a 2-year exemption from this requirement if the regional center does not find issues in the audit or review that have an impact on regional center services. The bill would also require an entity to obtain an independent audit if it receives payments that are equal to or more than $2,000,000 and would authorize these entities to apply for, and require the regional center to grant, a 2-year exemption from the audit requirement if the audit resulted in an unmodified opinion, an unmodified opinion with additional communication, or a qualified opinion with issues that are not material and pervasive. The bill would require a regional center to notify the department of any exemption it grants to an entity that receives a qualified opinion report. The bill would also exempt social security benefit payments from these requirements.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law generally designates the state board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. This bill would establish the Green Assistance Program, to be administered by the Secretary for Environmental Protection in concert with environmental justice programs, that, among other things, would provide technical assistance to small businesses, small nonprofits, and disadvantaged communities in applying for an allocation of moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The bill would declare that the secretary use existing resources for the program.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, commonly known as cap and trade revenues, to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with water use and supply. This bill would include reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with water treatment among the investments that are eligible for funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations, and a statement of legislative intent, with regard to the nexus between water and energy and water and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in cooperation with the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Air Resources Board, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Department of Water Resources, to conduct a study of water-related energy use in California. This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board, upon an appropriation from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and in cooperation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Public Utilities Commission, and the Department of Water Resources, to establish a grant and loan program for water projects that result in the net reduction of water-related greenhouse gas emissions.

This measure would designate the month of May 2015 as Teacher Appreciation Month, recognize teachers for the significant role they play, and encourage pupils, parents, and public officials to publicly recognize the hard work and dedication of teachers, and to observe the month by supporting teachers through appropriate activities, events, and programs.