(1) Existing law requires a pupil to complete designated coursework while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. These graduation requirements include, commencing for pupils graduating in the 2029–30 school year, the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies meeting specified requirements. Under existing law, the requirement to complete an ethnic studies course may be fulfilled by the completion of, among others, a course based on the model curriculum developed by the Instructional Quality Commission, an ethnic studies course taught as part of a course that has been approved as meeting the A–G requirements of the University of California and the California State University, or a locally developed ethnic studies course approved by the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school. This bill, among other things, would require a school district or charter school to develop an ethnic studies course or any instructional materials for an ethnic studies course with teachers, classified staff, parents, guardians, and community members, as provided. The bill would require a majority of the stakeholders in the development process to be classroom teachers, as provided, and would also authorize the development process to include a piloting process consistent with the guidelines set forth in the "Guidance for Local Instructional Materials Adoptions" adopted by the State Board of Education. The bill would also require a district superintendent and the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school to submit a signed certification to the State Department of Education and the state board that the proposed, adopted, or revised course or instructional materials meets certain requirements, as provided. The bill would require the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for an ethnic studies course to additionally foster respect and acceptance and to focus on the experiences of communities of the United States. To the extent these requirements impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (2) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to adopt building design and construction standards and energy and water conservation standards for new residential and nonresidential buildings to reduce the wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy, including energy associated with the use of water. The act requires those standards to be cost effective when taken in their entirety and when amortized over the economic life of the structure compared with historic practice. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, to evaluate opportunities to increase electrification of industrial heat processes to meet the state's industrial emissions reduction goals, as provided. The bill would, as part of the state board's next update to the scoping plan occurring on or after January 1, 2025, require the state board to assess the potential for the state to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the state's industrial facilities' heat application equipment and processes, as specified. The bill would require the state board to incorporate the commissions' evaluation required by the bill into the assessment and to identify potential emission reductions associated with the recommendations provided in the commission's evaluation.
Maddy summarySenate Resolution 122 officially designates September 2024 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in California. This measure encourages individuals, businesses, and organizations across the state to participate in awareness activities and support families affected by the disease. The resolution also expresses gratitude to medical professionals and acknowledges the progress made by organizations fighting childhood cancer.
Maddy summarySenate Resolution 114 is a non-binding tribute from the California State Senate honoring President Joseph Biden for his extensive public service career. The resolution details his background, legislative achievements, and leadership roles as a senator, vice president, and president, specifically highlighting his work on infrastructure, climate action, and pandemic response. It concludes by formally thanking the President for stepping down to allow new leaders to take office and directs the Senate Secretary to distribute copies of the resolution.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including certain dental services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment (EPSDT) services are covered under Medi-Cal for an individual under 21 years of age in accordance with certain federal provisions. Under existing law, for persons 21 years of age or older, laboratory-processed crowns on posterior teeth are a covered benefit when medically necessary to restore a posterior tooth back to normal function based on the criteria specified in the Medi-Cal Dental Manual of Criteria. This bill, The Smile Act, for purposes of the above-described Medi-Cal coverage for laboratory-processed crowns, would remove the condition that the tooth be posterior and would apply the coverage to persons 13 years of age or older. The bill would also add, as a covered Medi-Cal benefit for persons of any age, subject to prior authorization, a dental implant if tooth extraction or removal is medically necessary or if the corresponding tooth is missing. The bill would condition this coverage on there being no other covered functional alternatives for prosthetic replacement to correct the person's dental condition, as specified, on the person being without medical conditions for which dental implant surgery would be contraindicated, on receipt of any necessary federal approvals, and on the availability of federal financial participation. Under the bill, the above-described provisions would not be construed to exclude Medi-Cal coverage for laboratory-processed crowns on teeth or dental implants if otherwise required under EPSDT services.
(1) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2030, allow a credit against the taxes imposed by those laws for portions of the costs for qualified services paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer. The bill would define "qualified taxpayer" for this purpose to mean an eligible local news organization or a qualified broadcast station, as those terms are defined. The bill would require a taxpayer to request a tentative credit reservation from the Franchise Tax Board in the form and manner prescribed by the Franchise Tax Board, and would limit the amount of credit allocated by the Franchise Tax Board per calendar year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to prioritize reservations by qualified small publications, as defined and specified. The bill would allow a payment from the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to a qualified renter, as provided. By authorizing new payments from the Tax Relief and Refund Account in excess of personal income tax liabilities, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law and Corporation Tax Law impose taxes measured by income. Those taxes are administered by the Franchise Tax Board pursuant to specified law, the violation of which is a crime. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and in addition to the taxes imposed under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, would impose a tax upon gross receipts derived from data extraction transactions at a rate of 7.25% of those gross receipts in excess of $2,500,000,000. The bill would define a "data extraction transaction" for these purposes to mean a transaction where a person sells user information or access to users to advertisers and the person engages in a barter by providing services to a user in full or partial exchange for the ability to display advertisements to the user or collect data about the user, except as provided. The bill would exclude a news media entity, as defined, from the provisions of this tax as either a taxpayer or a user. The bill would establish the Data Extraction Mitigation Fee Fund in the State Treasury, and would direct all revenues from the tax, less refunds and reimbursements, be deposited into the fund, as specified. The bill would appropriate $15,000,000 for journalism fellowships, as specified, and would require the remaining moneys in the fund, except as provided, to be used, upon appropriation, for grants to eligible nonprofit local news organizations administered by the Franchise Tax Board, as specified. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to administer this tax in accordance with existing franchise and income tax law provisions, the violation of which is a crime. By expanding the crimes related to the franchise and income tax laws, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law and Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, generally allow various deductions in computing the income that is subject to tax imposed under those laws, including miscellaneous itemized deductions that are allowed only to the extent that the aggregate amount of those deductions exceeds 2% of adjusted gross income. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, would allow a deduction in computing the income that is subject to those laws equal to the amount of taxes paid by the taxpayer under the above-described data extraction transaction tax. (4) Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (5) This bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services through various delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, community health worker services are a covered Medi-Cal benefit subject to any necessary federal approvals. Under existing law, a community health worker is a liaison, link, or intermediary between health and social services and the community to facilitate access to services and to improve the access and cultural competence of service delivery. Existing law requires a Medi-Cal managed care plan to engage in outreach and education efforts to enrollees, and to notify providers, about the community health worker services benefit, as specified. This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan, no later than July 1, 2025, to adopt policies and procedures to effectuate a billing pathway for supervising providers to claim for the provision of community health worker services to enrollees during an emergency department visit and as an outpatient followup to an emergency department visit. The bill would require that the policies and procedures be consistent with guidance developed by the department for use by supervising providers to claim for community health worker services to Medi-Cal members in the fee-for-service delivery system in the settings described above. The bill would define a "supervising provider" for purposes of these provisions as an enrolled Medi-Cal provider that is authorized to supervise a community health worker pursuant to the federally approved Medicaid state plan amendment and that ensures that a community health worker meets the qualifications as required by the department, as specified.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, 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 disability insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or disability insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2021, to provide coverage for medically necessary treatment of mental health and substance use disorders, as defined, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions. This bill would require a plan or insurer subject to the above-described coverage requirement, and its delegates, to establish a process to reimburse providers for mental health and substance use disorder treatment services that are integrated with primary care services and provided under a contract or policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025. 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. 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 California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution formally recognizes July 4 as Independence Day and encourages Californians to celebrate the occasion with reverence and gratitude. The document highlights the historical significance of the date, noting its role in commemorating American independence and the principles of liberty and democracy. It serves as a symbolic gesture to honor the sacrifices of military service members and the contributions of citizens to the nation. The resolution does not create new laws or change existing policies but rather expresses the Senate's collective sentiment regarding the holiday.