Sen. Jeff Stone

Existing law establishes the Valley Fever Vaccine Project, administered by the State Department of Public Health and provides for state support and funding of efforts by the project to conduct valley fever vaccine research. This bill would appropriate $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for the 2015–16 fiscal year, for purposes of extending the project. The bill would allocate $100,000 to the department for administrative costs, as specified.

Existing law prohibits a law enforcement official, as defined, from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless, at the time that the individual becomes eligible for release from custody, certain conditions are met, including, among other things, that the continued detention of the individual on the basis of the immigration hold would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy, and that the individual has been convicted of, or arrested for, specified crimes. This bill would instead require a law enforcement official to detain an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold for up to 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody if that individual has been convicted of, or arrested for, specified crimes and if the continued detention of the individual on the basis of the immigration hold would not violate any federal law. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement officers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a local agency that violates these provisions to pay a fine of $100,000, to be collected by the Attorney General, and would allow the Attorney General to commence a civil action to enforce the fine. The bill would require proceeds of the fine to be deposited in the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. By increasing deposits to be made to a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. 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 these statutory provisions.

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.

(1) Existing law establishes in state government the Transportation Agency, which includes various departments and state entities, including the California Transportation Commission. Existing law vests the California Transportation Commission with specified powers, duties, and functions relative to transportation matters. Existing law requires the commission to retain independent authority to perform the duties and functions prescribed to it under any provision of law. This bill would exclude the California Transportation Commission from the Transportation Agency, establish it as an entity in state government, and require it to act in an independent oversight role. The bill would also make conforming changes. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Transportation to prepare a state highway operation and protection program every other year for the expenditure of transportation capital improvement funds for projects that are necessary to preserve and protect the state highway system, excluding projects that add new traffic lanes. The program is required to be based on an asset management plan, as specified. Existing law requires the department to specify, for each project in the program, the capital and support budget and projected delivery date for various components of the project. Existing law provides for the California Transportation Commission to review and adopt the program, and authorizes the commission to decline to adopt the program if it determines that the program is not sufficiently consistent with the asset management plan. This bill would additionally require the department to program capital outlay support resources for each project in the program. The bill would provide that the commission is not required to approve the program in its entirety, as submitted by the department, and may approve or reject individual projects programmed by the department. The bill would require the department to submit any change in a programmed project's cost, scope, or schedule to the commission for its approval.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation and regional transportation agencies, as defined, to enter into comprehensive development lease agreements with public and private entities, or consortia of those entities, for certain transportation projects that may charge certain users of those projects tolls and user fees, subject to various terms and requirements. These arrangements are commonly known as public-private partnerships. Existing law provides that a lease agreement may not be entered into under these provisions on or after January 1, 2017. This bill would extend this authorization indefinitely and would include within the definition of "regional transportation agency" the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, thereby authorizing the authority to enter into public-private partnerships under these provisions. The bill would also delete obsolete cross-references and make technical changes to these provisions.

Existing law authorizes a court in a criminal proceeding, upon written notice by the prosecutor made at least 3 days prior to the date of the preliminary hearing or trial date on which the testimony of the minor is scheduled or during the course of the proceeding on the court's own motion, to order that the testimony of a minor 13 years of age or younger at the time of the motion be taken by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination in another place and out of the presence of the judge, jury, defendant or defendants, and attorneys, and communicated to the courtroom by means of closed-circuit television, if the court makes specified findings. One of the findings existing law requires is that the minor's testimony will involve a recitation of the facts of specified crimes, including an alleged violent felony of which the minor is a victim. This bill would authorize a minor 13 years of age or younger to testify by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination if the testimony will involve the recitation of the facts of an alleged violent felony, whether or not the minor is a victim.

Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, establishes the California State Board of Pharmacy within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties over the licensing and regulation of the practice of pharmacies, pharmacists, intern pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. A knowing violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires an intern pharmacist to complete 1,500 hours of pharmacy practice or intern experience before applying for the pharmacist licensure examination. Existing law authorizes an applicant for examination who has been licensed as a pharmacist in any state for at least one year to submit certification to satisfy the required 1,500 hours of intern experience if that applicant has obtained a minimum of 900 hours of pharmacy practice experience in a pharmacy as a pharmacist. This bill would instead require, for all applicants, that 900 hours of the 1,500 required pharmacy practice experience include experience in a pharmacy, including experience in both a community and institutional pharmacy practice setting. Existing law requires the pharmacy practice to comply with the Standards of Curriculum established by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) or with regulations adopted by the board. Existing law requires an intern pharmacist to submit proof of his or her experience under penalty of perjury. This bill would require that an applicant for the licensure examination who has graduated after January 1, 2016, from an ACPE accredited college of pharmacy or school of pharmacy recognized by the board, be deemed by the board to have satisfied the required hours of pharmacy practice experience, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would create 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.

This measure would urge each University of California campus to adopt a resolution condemning all forms of anti-Semitism and racism, and would condemn any act of anti-Semitism at all publicly funded schools in the State of California.

This measure would state the Legislature's support for the memorandum of understanding for strategic partnerships for joint innovation, exchanges, and cooperation between California and Israel.

Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are respectively located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This measure would require that, for the 2017–18 academic year, and each academic year thereafter, out-of-state undergraduate students, as defined, constitute not more than 10% of an incoming undergraduate class, and not more than 10% of the total undergraduate enrollment, at each campus in the University of California system. The bill would prohibit the University of California from providing state-funded financial assistance to an undergraduate student who, in the absence of financial assistance, is statutorily required to pay tuition or any mandatory fee at a rate higher than a California resident. This measure would also prohibit the total amount of tuition and mandatory systemwide fees charged to undergraduate students of the University of California from being increased from the 2016–17 academic year to the 2020–21 academic year, inclusive.