This measure would call on Congress to enact legislation that restores and strengthens the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and it would call on the President to sign the legislation.
Existing law requires each law enforcement agency, on or before January 1, 2021, to maintain a policy that provides a minimum standard on the use of force. Existing law requires that the policy include, among other things, training standards and requirements relating to demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the law enforcement agency's use of force policy by officers, investigators, and supervisors. Existing law prohibits a law enforcement agency from authorizing the use of a carotid restraint or choke hold by any peace officer employed by that agency. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, prohibit a law enforcement agency, including a federal law enforcement agency, from using a wearable electroshock device within the State of California. The bill would also prohibit a law enforcement agency from using state funds to purchase a wearable electroshock device. The bill would require a law enforcement agency to update their use of force policies to prohibit the use of a wearable electroshock device. By increasing the duties on local law enforcement, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Division of Law Enforcement within the Department of Justice to conduct a study on the safety and community impacts of wearable electroshock devices and provide recommendations for appropriate standards and safeguards for their use, and would require the department to report to the Legislature on the findings and recommendations of the study on or before January 1, 2029. 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.
The Outdoor Advertising Act provides for the regulation by the Department of Transportation of advertising displays, as defined, within view of public highways. The act exempts from most of its provisions an advertising display used exclusively to advertise products, goods, or services that are either sold on the premises of an arena or marketed or promoted on the premises of an arena if, among other conditions, the advertising display has been authorized, as of January 1, 2021, by, or in accordance with, a local ordinance, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district adopted in connection with the approval of the arena, as provided. The act requires an advertising display that is located on the premises of an arena and that was erected pursuant to the exemption also to be authorized by, or in accordance with, an ordinance, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district, as provided. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, similarly exempt from most provisions of the act an advertising display used exclusively to advertise products, goods, or services that are either sold on the premises of an arena or marketed or promoted on the premises of the arena if, among other conditions, the advertising display has been authorized, as of January 1, 2032, by, or in accordance with a local ordinance or other discretionary approval, including, but not limited to, a specific plan or sign district that benefits the arena, as specified. The bill would define "premises of an arena" to include a public assembly building owned by the City of Los Angeles, as specified. The bill would require, before one of these advertising displays may be placed, a determination from the department or the Federal Highway Administration that the display will not cause a reduction in federal aid funds or otherwise be inconsistent with federal law, federal regulations, or an agreement between the state and a federal agency or department, as specified. This bill would limit both of these exemptions to an arena that is fully constructed or under construction on or before January 1, 2027. The bill would instead require an advertising display that is located on the premises of an arena and that was erected pursuant to either of these exemptions to be authorized by an ordinance or other discretionary approval, including, but not limited to, a specific plan, sign district, or conditional use permit, as specified. The bill would prohibit an arena from having more than a total of 2 advertising displays pursuant to these exemptions. Except for advertising displays authorized by the existing exemption, the bill would require certain advertising displays placed pursuant to the new exemption for one arena to be located at least 5,000 feet from an advertising display authorized pursuant to an exemption for another arena. The act also regulates placement of advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances of highways that are part of the national system of interstate and defense highways and federal aid highways. The act prohibits, except as provided, placing or maintaining an advertising display on property adjacent to a portion of a freeway that has a specified coverage area of landscaping or trees at the same or elevated grade of the main-traveled way, as provided. The act does not prohibit a city, county, or city and county from designating the districts or zones in which an advertising display may be placed or prohibited as part of a land use or zoning ordinance. The act also does not prohibit a local governmental entity from entering into an agreement to relocate an advertising display for any purpose. This bill would exempt certain advertising displays developed within the boundary limits of, and as part of, an individual redevelopment agency project from the prohibition on placing or maintaining an advertising display on property adjacent to a portion of a freeway that has landscaping or trees, from a city's, county's, or city and county's land use or zoning ordinance, and from a local governmental entity's relocation agreement, as those are described above. The bill would require an advertising display subject to this exemption to remain in substantially the same location and configuration as it existed on December 31, 2025, and would prohibit the advertising display from being expanded, relocated, increased in height or display area, or modified to add additional display faces beyond those existing on December 31, 2025. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Los Angeles. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5272 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2717 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2717 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
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's requirements a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law prohibits specified health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies from excluding persons covered by the plan from receiving benefits if they are diagnosed as having any significant destruction of brain tissue with resultant loss of brain function, including Alzheimer's disease. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that is issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2027, to include coverage for all medically necessary treatments or medications, as determined by a health care provider, approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease or other medical conditions affecting memory. On and after January 1, 2027, the bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from imposing step therapy protocols as a prerequisite to authorizing that coverage, except as provided. 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.
Existing law establishes the Prerelease Construction Trades Certificate Program in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to increase employment opportunities in the construction trades for inmates upon release. Existing law requires the department to establish a joint advisory committee composed of, among others, representatives from building and construction trades employee organizations to implement the program, as specified. Existing law establishes the California Conservation Camp program to provide for the training and use of the inmates and wards assigned to conservation camps in the furtherance of public conservation, including forest fire prevention and control. This bill would additionally require the joint advisory committee, in consultation with various state entities, to facilitate the admission of graduates of the California Conservation Camp program, as defined, after release into state-approved apprenticeship programs for the construction craft laborer occupation, as specified. The bill would state that successful participation in the program, beginning July 1, 2027, constitutes qualifying experience for a state-approved apprenticeship for the construction craft laborer occupation. The bill would require the department, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the California Conservation Camp program to ensure that eligible individuals who successfully participate in the program receive a written certificate to ensure eligibility for state-approved apprenticeship programs for the construction craft laborer occupation.
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 health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law generally authorizes a health care service plan or health insurer to use utilization review, under which a licensed physician or a licensed health care professional who is competent to evaluate specific clinical issues may approve, modify, delay, or deny requests for health care services based on medical necessity. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan that covers prescription drug benefits from limiting or excluding coverage for a drug that was previously approved for coverage if an enrollee continues to be prescribed that drug, as specified. This bill would authorize an enrollee's or insured's treating contracting provider to submit a written request to a health care service plan or health insurer requesting the authority to adjust the dose or frequency of a drug to meet the specific medical needs of the enrollee or insured without prior authorization or subsequent utilization management. The bill would require the plan or insurer to issue a written response within 72 hours and to authorize the request if specified conditions are established in the request. 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.
Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim various days as days of remembrance or recognition. This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim September 25 as Dolly Parton Day. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Constitution, pursuant to provisions enacted by the Proposition 209, an initiative measure adopted by the voters at the November 5, 1996, statewide general election, prohibits the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting, as specified. This measure, the Closing the Student Opportunity and Achievement Gap Act, would, instead, limit the above prohibition to the operation of public employment, public higher education admissions and enrollment, and public contracting. The measure would require that it appear on the ballot at the November 7, 2028, statewide general election.
Existing law requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice that uses generative artificial intelligence to generate written or verbal patient communications pertaining to patient clinical information, as defined, to ensure that those communications include both (1) a disclaimer that indicates to the patient that a communication was generated by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, and (2) clear instructions describing how a patient may contact a human health care provider, employee, or other appropriate person. Existing law exempts from this requirement a communication read and reviewed by a human licensed or certified health care provider. This bill would require developers and deployers, as defined, of an artificial intelligence system that produces a prediction, classification, recommendation, evaluation, or analysis that aids decisionmaking related to diagnosis or treatment, known as a clinical decision support system, to make reasonable efforts to identify clinical decision support systems developed for use by deployers that are known or have a reasonably foreseeable risk for biased impacts resulting from deployment of the system in health programs or activities. The bill would require developers to make a statement describing the intended uses and known or reasonably foreseeable risks associated with the use of the clinical decision support system and certain documentation available to deployers, as specified. The bill would require developers to make reasonable efforts to mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risk for biased impacts resulting from use of the clinical decision support system in health programs or activities. The bill would require deployers to regularly monitor clinical decision support systems and take reasonable and proportionate steps to mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risk of biased impacts. The bill would specify that a person, partnership, state or local governmental agency, or corporation may be both a developer and a deployer.
Existing law creates within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, under the Undersecretary for Operations, the Division of Adult Institutions, among others, and requires each division to be headed by a director, who is appointed by the Governor, as specified. Existing law also requires the Governor to appoint 4 subordinate officers to the division, as specified. Existing law requires each subordinate officer appointed to oversee an identified category of adult institutions, one of which oversees female offender facilities. This bill would instead require the Governor to appoint 3 subordinate officers, as specified, who would oversee an identified category of male adult institutions, and one subordinate officer, as specified, who would oversee female adult institutions. The bill would create within the department, and under the Undersecretary for Operations, the Division of Female Programs and Services. The bill would require the director of this division to be responsible solely for female adult institutions and community facilities housing female offenders. The bill would require the director to report to the undersecretary and to have a minimum of 5 years of experience serving a female correctional population in a custody setting. The bill would also require this new division to manage and provide oversight of adult female programs, including prisons, conservation camps, and parole and community programs and to develop gender-responsive, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive approaches to program and policy development. Existing law requires the department to create a Female Offender Reform Master Plan and present it to the Legislature by a specified date. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, create policies and operational practices that are designed to ensure a safe and productive institutional environment for female offenders. This bill would require the department to provide a report to the Legislature on the implementation of the plan, and update statistics contained in the plan, by March 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require the department to maintain the plan, including subsequent updates and reports, in consultation with the commission and others, as specified. The bill would also require the department to post the plan, any reports, and any updates to the plan to the department's internet website. This bill would require the department to establish the Gender Responsive Strategies Commission (GRSC) to develop active partnerships and to support successful implementation of gender responsive practices and rehabilitation programs for incarcerated individuals. The bill would require the GRSC to be composed of 19 representatives, as specified, and would require the department, by June 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to provide a written report to the Legislature on appointments to the GRSC and the department's response and progress toward implementing the GRSC's recommendations. Existing law also requires the department to contract with nationally recognized gender-responsive experts in prison operational practices, staffing, classification, substance abuse, trauma treatment services, mental health services, transitional services, and community corrections to, among other things, conduct a staffing analysis of all current job classifications assigned to each prison that houses only females, as specified, and develop programs and training for department staff in correctional facilities. This bill would require the department, through this contract, no later than March 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature an updated staffing analysis and would require a comprehensive review of the office's policies and practices and other aspects of women-centered corrections developed to enhance safety and rehabilitative efforts, as specified. The bill would also require the training program to include training at the academy and, for those working in a female prison, 40 hours of initial training with a curriculum specifically focused on working with the population within female institutions and an 8-hour annual training thereafter. Existing law requires the secretary of the department to expand the existing prison ombudsperson program to ensure the comprehensive deployment of ombudspersons throughout the state prison system with specific focus on the maximum security institutions. This bill would instead require the Undersecretary for Operations to perform this duty and would require the undersecretary to appoint an ombudsperson solely assigned to adult female institutions.
