Existing law, the Every Woman Counts program, requires the State Department of Public Health to provide breast cancer and cervical cancer screening services to eligible low-income individuals under a federal grant made under the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breast and cervical cancer early detection program. Funding for these services is provided by a combination of federal and state moneys. Existing law requires these services to be provided at the level of funding budgeted from state and other resources during the fiscal year in which the Legislature has appropriated funds to the department for this purpose. The bill would require the department, 90 days prior to making policy changes, to send written notice outlining the proposed changes to contractors providing services pursuant to this program and to notify the Legislature, in writing, if the changes would restrict access or reduce services offered. Existing law establishes the Breast Cancer Fund, which funds various programs through the Breast Cancer Control Program for the detection, treatment, and cure of breast and cervical cancer, as specified. Entities funded by the Breast Cancer Control Program are required to submit a specified report annually to the Legislature. This bill would require that the report be submitted on or before February 1 of each year and would add specified information to that report.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires each hospital, as a condition of licensure, to maintain written policies about discount payment and charity care for financially qualified patients, as defined. These policies are required to include, among other things, a section addressing eligibility criteria, as prescribed. Existing law requires each hospital to perform various functions in connection with the hospital charity care and discount pay policies, including providing patients with notice that contains information about the hospital's discount payment and charity care policies, including information about eligibility and attempting to determine the availability of private or public health insurance coverage for each patient. Existing law also specifies billing and collection procedures to be followed by a hospital, its assignee, collection agency, or billing service. This bill would provide that uninsured patients or patients with high medical costs who are at or below 350% of the federal poverty level are eligible to apply to the emergency physician, as defined, who provides emergency medical services in a general acute care hospital for a discount payment pursuant to a discount payment policy. The bill would require the emergency physician to limit expected payment for services provided to a patient at or below 350% of the federal poverty level and who is eligible under the emergency physician's discount payment policy, as specified. The bill would require the above-described written notice that hospitals are required to provide patients regarding the hospital's charity care and discount pay policies to include a statement that the emergency physician who provides emergency medical care in a hospital that provides emergency care is also required by law to provide discounts to uninsured patients or patients with high medical costs who are at or below 350% of the federal poverty level. The bill would also specify billing and collection procedures to be followed by the emergency physician, its assignee, collection agency, or billing service. This bill would provide that a violation of the above provisions shall not constitute a violation of the terms of a physician and surgeon's licensure.
Existing law provides that certain advertising-related practices are unlawful and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. This bill would make it unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, association, or any other business entity to make any untrue or misleading statements in any manner in connection with the offering or performance of a grant deed copy service, defined as a service, offered through a mailed solicitation to a property owner, to obtain, for compensation, a copy of the property owner's grant deed or other record of title. The bill would make it unlawful to offer to perform this service without making specified disclosures. Because a violation of these provisions 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.
(1) Existing law defines "unavailable as a witness," for purposes of the Evidence Code, to mean that the declarant is, among other things, exempted or precluded on the ground of privilege, disqualified, dead, or absent for a specified reason. This bill would supplement that definition to add the circumstance that the declarant is persistent in refusing to testify concerning the subject matter of the declarant's statement despite having been found in contempt for refusal to testify. (2) Existing law, known as the "hearsay rule," provides that, at a hearing, evidence of a statement that was made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing and that is offered to prove the truth of the matter stated is inadmissible. Existing law also provides exceptions to the hearsay rule to permit the admission of specified kinds of evidence. This bill would provide, until January 1, 2016, that evidence of a statement that is offered against a party who has engaged, or aided and abetted, in wrongdoing that was intended to, and did, procure the unavailability of the declarant as a witness is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule. The bill would require the party seeking to introduce a statement to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the elements of this provision have been met at a foundational hearing, as specified. These provisions would apply to any civil, criminal, or juvenile case or proceeding initiated or pending as of January 1, 2011.
Existing law makes it unlawful for persons to engage in certain acts of trespass. In particular it is unlawful for a person who has been convicted of a violent felony committed upon a particular private property to enter upon that property after having been informed by a peace officer that the property is not open to the particular person; or to refuse or fail to leave the property upon being asked to leave the property, as specified. This bill would expand the scope of this offense by providing that during a specified timeframe it is unlawful for a person who has been convicted of any felony, any misdemeanor, or a specified infraction, committed upon a particular private property, to enter or refuse or fail to leave that property after being informed by a peace officer that the property is not open to the particular person, or to refuse or fail to leave when asked, as specified. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate amendments to Section 602 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 451 and AB 2324, contingent on the prior enactment of those bills. 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 that an inmate released on parole be returned to the county of last legal residence and requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide specified items of information to local law enforcement agencies regarding an inmate paroled in their jurisdiction. Existing law also provides that the department shall not return to prison, place a parole hold on, or report any parole violation to the Board of Parole Hearings regarding any person to whom all of specified criteria apply. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, not less than 45 days prior to the release of such an inmate, or as soon as practicable, to notify, via the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) , the local law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction to which the inmate is to be released regarding the scheduled release.
Provisions relating to the administration of personal income taxes allow individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds. This bill would allow taxpayers to designate on their tax returns that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the California Police Activities League (CALPAL) Fund, which would be created by this bill. However, the bill would provide that a voluntary contribution designation for this fund may not be added on the tax return until another voluntary contribution designation is removed from that return. This bill would require that all moneys contributed to the fund pursuant to these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the Franchise Tax Board and to the Controller for allocation to the CALPAL, as provided. This bill would provide that these voluntary contribution provisions are repealed on January 1 of the 5th taxable year following the taxable year the fund first appears on the tax return. The bill would further provide that these provisions are repealed for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board estimates by September 1 that the contributions made on returns filed in that calendar year will be less than $250,000, or an adjusted amount for subsequent taxable years.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue, upon the payment of an initial fee of $35 and a $20 fee for each renewal of registration, special interest license plates to firefighters who meet prescribed requirements. The revenue derived from the payment of these special fees for firefighter license plates, less the department's costs, are required to be deposited in the California Firefighters' Memorial Fund. This bill would increase those fees to $50 for the initial issuance of the special license plates and $35 for each renewal of registration of the vehicle. Existing law requires, upon the death of the person to whom the special firefighter license plates were issued, that the plates be transferred to the surviving spouse, if he or she requests it, or returned to the department within 60 days after the death of the plateholder or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs first. This bill would instead authorize the surviving spouse to retain the plates and would require, except as provided below, upon the death of the surviving spouse, the plates to be returned to the department or destroyed within 60 days of the death or upon the expiration of the vehicle registration, whichever occurs first. The bill, in the absence of a surviving spouse or where the surviving spouse dies while in possession of the special license plates, would authorize a member of the deceased firefighter's family, as defined, to retain one of the special license plates as a family heirloom, subject to specified conditions.
Existing law provides legal rights, as specified, for service members in regard to credit agreements, court proceedings, interest liabilities, eviction proceedings, contracts, mortgages and trusts, leases, life insurance policies, taxes and assessments, and health insurance policies. This bill would hold a person who violates any of the specified rights liable for actual damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs incurred by an injured party. This bill would also waive the filing fee and court costs for a party seeking to enforce the rights. Existing law authorizes a service member to apply to the court for relief of an obligation, liability, tax, or assessment, as specified. Existing law requires a party to provide notice before the court grants relief. Existing law requires the court to provide a hearing before granting or denying relief. This bill would require the court to set a hearing date within 25 days after a petition is filed, unless good cause is shown to delay the date of the hearing. This bill would prohibit the court from charging a filing fee or court costs for filing a petition for relief. Existing law, the California Military Families Financial Relief Act and the California Military Families Financial Relief Act of 2005, provides financial relief, as specified, for a service member who is called to active duty. This bill would hold a person who violates these specified rights of service members liable for actual damages, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs incurred by a person seeking to enforce the rights. This bill would also waive the filing fee and court costs for a person seeking to enforce the specified rights.
Existing law makes it a crime for a person to willfully manufacture, intentionally sell, or knowingly possess for sale any counterfeit mark registered with the Secretary of State or registered on the Principal Register of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Existing law imposes specified imprisonment and fines based upon the number of counterfeit marks involved in the offense and if the person is an individual or a business entity. Existing law also specifies certain imprisonment and fines for a subsequent conviction of this offense and provides other specified penalties if the conduct that was the basis of the conviction has directly and foreseeably caused death or great bodily injury to another through reliance on the counterfeited item for its intended purpose. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to knowingly and willfully transfer or cause to be transferred any sounds that have been recorded on a phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film, or other article on which sounds are recorded, with intent to sell or cause to be sold, or to use or cause to be used for commercial advantage or private financial gain through public performance, the article on which the sounds are so transferred, without the consent of the owner. Existing law specifies certain penalties for a violation of these provisions, and certain other provisions regarding the transportation of an article with the knowledge that the sounds thereon have been so transferred without the consent of the owner, if the offense involves the transfer or transportation, or conduct causing that transfer or transportation, of not less than 1,000 of the articles. Existing law also specifies certain other penalties for any other violation of these provisions and for a 2nd or subsequent conviction. Existing law makes it a crime for any person to transport or cause to be transported for monetary or other consideration within the state, any article containing sounds of a live performance with the knowledge that the sounds thereon have been recorded or mastered without the consent of the owner of the sounds of the live performance. Existing law specifies certain penalties for a violation of these provisions if the offense involves transporting or causing to be transported not less than 1,000 articles. Existing law also specifies certain other penalties for any other violation of these provisions and for a 2nd or subsequent conviction. Existing law makes it a crime for any person to record or master or cause to be recorded or mastered on any article, with the intent to sell for commercial advantage or private financial gain, the sounds of a live performance with the knowledge that the sounds thereon have been recorded or mastered without the consent of the owner of the sounds of the live performance. Existing law specifies certain penalties for a violation of these provisions if the offense involves the recording, mastering, or causing the recording or mastering of at least 1,000 articles. Existing law also specifies certain other penalties for any other violation of these provisions and for a 2nd or subsequent conviction. Existing law provides that a person is guilty of failure to disclose the origin of a recording or audiovisual work if, for commercial advantage or private financial gain, he or she knowingly advertises, sells, rents, manufactures, or possesses for those purposes, a recording or audiovisual work that does not disclose the name of the manufacturer, author, artist, performer, or producer, as specified. Failure to disclose the origin of a recording or audiovisual work is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail, imprisonment in the state prison, or a fine, or by both imprisonment and a fine, as specified, depending on the number of articles of audio recordings or audiovisual works involved, and whether the offense is a first offense, or 2nd or subsequent offense. Existing law provides that every person who operates a recording device in a motion picture theater while a motion picture is being exhibited, for the purpose of recording a theatrical motion picture and without the express written authority of the owner of the motion picture theater, is guilty of a public offense and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding $2,500, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would double the fines that may be imposed for a violation of any of the above provisions. Statutory law that became inoperative on January 1, 2010, provided that it was a crime, punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,500, imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment for a person located in California who knew that a particular recording or audiovisual work was commercial, to knowingly electronically disseminate all or substantially all of that commercial recording or audiovisual work to more than 10 other people without disclosing his or her e-mail address, and the title of the recording or audiovisual work. That statutory law also provided that a minor who violated these provisions was punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 for a first or 2nd offense and by a fine not exceeding $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail, or by both that fine and imprisonment for a 3rd or subsequent violation. This bill would again make operative those provisions and would double the fines that may be imposed for a violation of those provisions. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides that, in addition to any other penalty or fine, a court shall order any person who has been convicted of any violation of certain provisions of law relating to the transfer or transportation of misappropriated recorded music, the transportation of an article containing unauthorized recordation of sounds of live performances, the unauthorized recording of sounds of live performances, or the failure to disclose the origin of a recording or audiovisual work to make restitution to the owner or lawful producer, or trade association acting on behalf of the owner or lawful producer, of the phonograph record, disc, wire, tape, film, or other device or article from which the sound or visual images were derived that suffered economic loss resulting from the violation. Existing law provides how value is to be determined for the purpose of calculating restitution. This bill would also require a court to order restitution when the person has been convicted of violating certain other provisions of law relating to the manufacture or sale of a counterfeit registered mark and the electronic transmission of all or substantially all of a commercial recording or audiovisual work. This bill would incorporate changes to Section 653w of the Penal Code proposed by SB 830, contingent on the prior enactment of that bill. 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 bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.