Existing law provides for the licensure of long-term health care facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, the Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973, the department may assess penalties for violation of prescribed state and federal requirements. Moneys collected as a result of the penalties imposed pursuant to these provisions are required to be deposited into either the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account or the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account, and used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the protection of health or property of residents of long-term health care facilities, including reimbursing residents for personal funds lost and costs associated with informational meetings. Existing law establishes the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in the California Department of Aging. Under existing law, the office is responsible for, among other things, investigating and resolving complaints and concerns communicated by or on behalf of patients, residents, or clients of long-term care facilities, as defined. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Aging to allocate all federal and state funds for local ombudsman programs according to a specified distribution schedule. This bill would require at least 12 of the funds in the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account be used to fund local ombudsman programs pursuant to the aforementioned distribution schedule.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires that services provided by nonpublic, nonsectarian schools and agencies be made available to local educational agencies and parents for the purpose of providing alternative special education services to individuals with exceptional needs. Existing law requires a nonpublic, nonsectarian school that provides special education and related services to an individual with exceptional needs to certify in writing to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that the school satisfies various requirements, including, among others, that it will not accept a pupil with exceptional needs if it cannot provide or ensure the provision of the services outlined in the pupil's individualized education program (IEP) . This bill would revise that requirement regarding pupil acceptance to allow a nonpublic, nonsectarian school to accept a pupil if the local educational agency and the parent or guardian of the pupil agree that the pupil may be accepted when, on a temporary basis, the nonpublic, nonsectarian school cannot provide one or more of the services outlined in the pupil's IEP due to a shortage of qualified professionals.
Under existing law, various measures have been approved by the voters to provide funds for water protection, facilities, and programs. This bill would enact the Safe, Clean, Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010 which, if approved by the voters, would authorize, for the purposes of financing specified water supply reliability and water source protection programs, the issuance of bonds in the amount of $9,805,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. The bill would provide for submission of the bond act to the voters at an unspecified statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law requires any person proposing to construct an electric transmission line to obtain a certification from the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission. Existing law defines "electric transmission line" as an electric powerline carrying electric power from a thermal powerplant to a point of junction with an interconnected transmission system. This bill would additionally define "electric transmission line" to include a high-voltage transmission line proposed to be built by a local publicly owned electric utility. The bill would require a local publicly owned electric utility proposing to construct an electric transmission line to certify to the commission that it has undertaken a specified action. (2) Existing law requires a municipal utility district to undertake specified actions before the district may locate or construct a line for the transmission or distribution of electric energy. This bill would repeal this requirement and would make a conforming change.
(1) The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit annually to the Legislature a budget itemizing state expenditures and estimating state revenues and requires the Legislature to pass the Budget Bill by midnight on June 15. This bill would require that the budget submitted by the Governor to the Legislature for the 2014–15 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter be developed pursuant to performance-based budgeting methods, as defined, for each state agency and court. (2) Under existing law, a state agency for which an appropriation is made is generally required to submit to the Department of Finance for approval a complete and detailed budget setting forth all proposed expenditures and estimated revenues for the ensuing fiscal year. The bill would require the budget of the state agency submitted to the department and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to utilize a performance-based budgeting method, as defined. The bill also would establish a task force comprised of the Director of Finance, the Controller, a minority party member of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to develop performance-based budgeting guidelines and procedures and a process for phasing in requirements of performance-based budgeting and to develop a training and education program for state agency personnel involved in the budget process.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined, by the State Department of Social Services, including, among other things, regulation of admissions procedures and agreements. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would require that if an admission agreement includes an arbitration agreement, that arbitration agreement comply with prescribed requirements. This bill would provide that these requirements shall apply to any arbitration agreement that is included in an agreement between an elder or dependent adult, or his or her representative, and a residential care facility for the elderly for the admission to, or continued care or residence at, the facility that is entered into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after January 1, 2010. This bill would prohibit an admission agreement from containing a waiver of the residents' personal rights, except as otherwise required or permitted by statute or regulation. The bill would provide that its provisions are not intended to affect existing law relating to the enforceability or unenforceability of an arbitration agreement. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would result in 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, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (act) , requires that every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state is required to have a minimum refund value. A distributor is required to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state to the Department of Conservation and the department is required to deposit those amounts in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department to pay refund values, administrative fees to processors, and a reserve for contingencies. A violation of the act is a crime. "Beverage" is defined, for purposes of the act, to include, among other things, beer and other malt beverages, wine and distilled spirit coolers, carbonated mineral and soda waters, noncarbonated fruit drinks, and vegetable juices, in liquid form that are intended for human consumption, but excludes from that definition vegetable drinks in beverage containers of more than 16 ounces. The act also excludes, from the definition of beverage, any product sold in a container that is not an aluminum beverage container, a glass container, a plastic beverage container, or a bimetal container. This bill would, as of July 1, 2010, revise the term beverage to include vegetable, fruit, nut, grain, or soy drinks or juices or noncarbonated drinks that contain any percentage of those drinks or juices, and would delete the requirement that a vegetable, drink, subject to the act, be sold in a container of 16 ounces or less. The bill would delete the exclusion from the term beverage, for a product that is not sold in the above-specified types of containers. The bill would additionally exclude from the definition a beverage in a flexible foil, plastic pouch, or aseptic container delivering 7 or less fluid ounces. Since the additional payments for the plastic beverage containers and other beverage containers that this bill would make subject to the act would be deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes relating to beverage containers. (2) Existing law requires a distributor of specified beverage containers to pay a redemption payment to the Department of Conservation for each beverage container sold or transferred for deposit in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the department to pay refund values, administrative fees to processors, and a reserve for contingencies. This bill would raise the amount of the redemption payment paid by the distributor and the refund value, as specified. Since the increased payments for the beverage containers that are subject to the act would be deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires that a distributor pay the redemption payment not later than the last day of the 3rd month following the sale and authorizes a distributor, upon the approval of the department, to elect to make a single annual payment if the distributor meets specified conditions and notifies the department of its intent to make annual redemption payments. This bill would require all beverage distributors to make the redemption payment no later than the last day of the 2nd month following the sale of the beverages. This bill would revise the conditions under which a distributor would be authorized to make a single annual payment. The bill would also authorize a distributor to withhold payment of redemption payments until the next payment period when the distributor has not received payment for beverage containers on which redemption payments are owed. (3) Existing law requires certified recycling centers to accept any empty beverage container from a consumer or dropoff or collection program and pay the refund value, which can be based on weight. This bill would provide, with exceptions, that a recycling center that does not receive handling fees is not required to redeem empty beverage containers of a container type not included in the program before July 1, 2009. (4) The department is authorized to make specified expenditures from the moneys remaining in the fund after the moneys for certain purposes have been set aside. This bill would increase the amount of moneys for grants to certified community conservation corps for beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs. The bill would suspend, for the 2009–10 fiscal year, expenditures for grants for beverage container recycling and litter reduction programs and a statewide public education and information campaign aimed at promoting increased recycling of beverage containers. The bill would eliminate funds the department is authorized to expend for grants for specified beverage container recycling and litter reduction programs. The bill would require the department, if there are any reductions in certain expenditures due to insufficient funds, on or after July 1, 2009, to provide, subject to the availability of funds, retroactive full funding, on or before July 1, 2010. The bill would require the department, for any reduction in expenditures that resulted in a reduction in the amount of funds available to make processing payments and an increase in processing fees paid by manufacturers, to credit beverage manufacturers for any overpayment of processing fees, subject to the availability of funds. (5) Existing law requires the department to continuously assist dealers and recyclers to establish certified recycling centers within in each convenience zone. This bill would provide assistance and incentives to reduce the number of zones not serviced by a certified recycling center. (6) Existing law requires that regulations governing solid waste facilities include standards for design, operation, maintenance, and ultimate reuse of solid waste facilities. This bill would prohibit those regulations from including any requirements for processors or recyclers, as defined, where the amount of outgoing solid waste is 15% or less of the total amount of incoming material received by weight calculated on a monthly basis after reasonable adjustment for the weight of moisture, and the amount of putrescible wastes in the outgoing solid waste shall be 3% or less of the amount of incoming material received by weight calculated on a monthly basis. (7) The bill would delete obsolete provisions and make conforming changes. (8) 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 authorizes the State Lands Commission to remove from areas under its jurisdiction any vessel, boat, raft, or other similar watercraft that is left unattended and is moored, docked, or beached as to obstruct traffic or to create a hazard to other vessels or property, that poses critical and immediate danger to navigation or the public health, safety, or welfare, or that hinders navigation or creates a public nuisance. This bill would revise those provisions to authorize the commission to remove those watercraft in those and similar conditions immediately and without notice. The bill would authorize the commission to remove and dispose of those watercraft and to remove and dispose from areas under its jurisdiction watercraft that have been placed on state lands without its permission if prior to removal the commission gives a 30-day notice by posting notice on the watercraft and notifying the owner and any lienholder, if known. Existing law authorizes the commission, through appropriate action in the courts, to remove or destroy a vessel, boat, watercraft, or other similar obstruction that hinders navigation or otherwise creates a public nuisance in areas under the commission's jurisdiction. This bill would, instead, provide that a hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of a ship, vessel, or other watercraft sunk, beached, grounded, or floating and allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or dilapidated condition in areas under the commission's jurisdiction for a period longer than 30 days without its consent is abandoned property. The bill would establish procedures for the commission to sell, destroy, or otherwise dispose of this property. The bill would require that any proceeds from the sale of this property, less the commission's costs, be deposited into the General Fund.
The Department of Parks and Recreation, with the consent of the Department of Finance, is authorized to acquire title to or any interest in real property that the department deems necessary or proper for the extension, improvement, or development of the state park system. The department is also authorized to accept monetary and real property gifts to be used in any connection with the state park system. This bill would prohibit land acquired for the state park system, through public funds or gifts, from being disposed of or used for other purposes incompatible with park purposes without the substitution of other land. This bill would require the State Park and Recreation Commission, following a duly noticed public hearing, to certify that all requests to dispose of or use the land for other purposes incompatible with park purposes provide for the substitution of other land meeting certain criteria. If lands that fully meet the substitution eligibility criteria cannot be acquired, the commission would be authorized, if certain conditions are met, to approve a combination of substitute park lands and monetary compensation to allow for the disposal or use of lands for other purposes incompatible with park purposes. The bill would require that the commission consider requests only if the commission determines that all practical alternatives that avoid the proposed disposal or use of park lands for other purposes incompatible with park purposes have been considered. This bill would provide that its provisions shall not apply to existing uses of state park lands that have been authorized on or before January 1, 2010, by written agreement with the Department of Parks and Recreation or by the general plan for a state park unit.
Existing law requires that all units of the state park system be classified by the State Park and Recreation Commission into one of several categories. This bill would prohibit, with exceptions, a modification or adjustment of boundaries or uses of state park units, that lie within a unit of the state park system, that is incompatible with state park purposes and that would significantly reduce public use or the material, cultural, or historic significance of the unit, as determined by the Director of Parks and Recreation, or the removal of state park units from within the state park system, without the commission making that recommendation to the Legislature, as prescribed, and the Legislature enacting legislation or adopting a resolution approving the recommendation.