Existing law establishes the State Transit Assistance (STA) Program under the Transportation Development Act. Existing law requires the transfer of a specified portion of the sales tax on diesel fuel, in addition to various other revenues, to the Public Transportation Account, a trust fund in the State Transportation Fund. Pursuant to the STA program, existing law requires certain funds in the account to be allocated by the Controller by formula to specified local transportation agencies for public transportation purposes. Existing law provides that only STA-eligible operators are eligible to receive an allocation from a local transportation agency from the portion of program funds based on transit operator revenues and makes those operators eligible for other certain funds under the STA program, as provided. Under existing law, an STA-eligible operator is defined as a public transportation operator eligible to claim local transportation funds. This bill would, for purposes of the STA program funds allocated based on transit operator revenues, expand the definition of an STA-eligible operator to include the Anaheim Transportation Network if its bylaws are revised to increase transparency and accountability, including to provide for the appointment of its board of directors by the Anaheim City Council.
Sponsored bills
(1) The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. These provisions qualify this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the systems. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit the boards of specified state and local public retirement systems from making additional or new investments in prohibited companies, as defined, domiciled in Russia or Belarus, as defined, companies that the United States government has designated as complicit in the aggressor countries', as defined, war in Ukraine, or companies that supply military equipment to the aggressor countries, and to liquidate the investments of the board in those companies, as specified. The bill would also require the board, on or before January 1, 2023, and every year thereafter, to file a specified report with the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. By requiring the boards of local public retirement systems to take specified actions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law specifies the duties of the Treasurer, which include receiving and keeping in the vaults of the State Treasury or depositing in banks or credit unions all moneys belonging to the state, and, except as specified, receiving and keeping in the vaults of the State Treasury or depositing for safekeeping with any federal reserve bank or any branch thereof, or with any trust company or the trust department of any state or national bank located in a city designated as a reserve or central reserve city by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, bonds and other securities or investments belonging to the state. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit the Treasurer from making additional or new investments or renewing existing investments of state moneys in any investment vehicle in the government of Russia or the government of Belarus that meets certain conditions, or in or from a Russian or Belarusian financial institution currently under sanctions imposed by the United States, as defined and specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (3) Existing law specifies how money received into the treasury must be credited and how those state funds are to be used. Existing law prohibits state funds from being used to reimburse a state contractor for costs incurred to assist, promote, or deter union organizing, as defined and specified. Existing law also prohibits state trust moneys from being used to make additional or new investments or to renew existing investments in business firms that engage in discriminatory practices in further of or in compliance with the Arab League's economic boycott of Israel, as defined and specified. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit a state agency, as defined, from making additional or new investments or renewing existing investments of state moneys in any investment vehicle in the government of Russia or the government of Belarus that meets certain conditions, or in or from Russian or Belarusian financial institutions currently under sanctions imposed by the United States, and would require a state agency to liquidate those investments. The bill would also require a state agency to file a specified report with the Legislature and the Governor. The bill would urge companies operating in California and the Regents of the University of California to divest and separate themselves from the government of Russia, Russian financial institutions, Russian businesses, the government of Belarus, Belarusian financial institutions, and Belarusian businesses, and would request companies doing business in California to report their investments in and contracts with the government of Russia, Russian financial institutions, Russian businesses, the government of Belarus, Belarusian financial institutions, and Belarusian businesses, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (4) Existing law authorizes state agencies to contract for goods, information technology, or services with certain suppliers, as specified. Existing law also makes companies in Sudan involved in certain activities ineligible to bid or submit a proposal for, and forbids them from bidding on or submitting a proposal for, a contract with a state agency for goods or services, as specified. This bill, except as specified, would make a company that conducts business with the government of Russia or the government of Belarus ineligible to bid or submit a proposal for, and would forbid that company from bidding on or submitting a proposal for, a contract with a state agency for goods or services, as defined and specified. The bill would require a state agency to require a company that submits a bid or proposal with respect to a contract for goods or services to certify that the company is not a scrutinized company, as prescribed. The bill would, among other things, make a company that submits a false certification under these provisions liable for a civil penalty, and would require the Department of General Services to report the company to the Attorney General, who would be required to determine whether to bring a civil action against the company, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on specified triggering events. (5) 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. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would designate May 10, 2022, as National Fentanyl Awareness Day.
The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. Existing law establishes the Hastings College of the Law, under the governance of an 11-member Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, within the University of California. Existing law provides that the college shall forever be known and designated as the Hastings College of the Law. This bill would instead provide that the college shall be designated as the College of the Law. The bill would rename Hastings College of the Law as the College of the Law and would rename the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law as the Board of Directors of the College of the Law. The bill would make conforming changes.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The board of governors appoints the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges as the chief executive officer of the segment. Existing law establishes the California Online Community College, under the administration of the board of governors, for purposes of creating an organized system of accessible, flexible, and high-quality online content, courses, and programs focused on providing industry-valued credentials compatible with the vocational and educational needs of Californians who are not currently accessing higher education. This bill would make the California Online Community College Act inoperative on January 1, 2024. On or before January 1, 2024, the bill would appropriate the California Online Community College's funding for specified purposes at the California Community Colleges, as provided.
This measure would proclaim the month of April 2022 as Black April Memorial Month, a special time for Californians to remember the countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era and to hope for more justice and liberty for the people of Vietnam.
Existing law, referred to as the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) , prohibits an attorney from contracting for or collecting a contingency fee for representing any person seeking damages in connection with an action for injury or damage against a health care provider based upon alleged professional negligence in excess of specified limits. This bill would recast those provisions and base the amount of contingency fee that may be contracted for upon whether recovery is pursuant to settlement agreement and release of all claims executed before a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, or pursuant to settlement, arbitration, or judgment after a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, as specified. The bill would add and revise definitions for these purposes. Existing law provides that in any action against a health care provider based upon professional negligence, the injured plaintiff is entitled to recover noneconomic losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, and other nonpecuniary damage. Existing law limits the amount of damages for noneconomic losses in an action for injury against a health care provider based on professional negligence to $250,000. This bill would remove the $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages and expand the recast provisions to include an action for injury against a health care institution, as defined. The bill would increase the applicable limitation based upon whether the action for injury involved wrongful death. The bill would specify that these limitations would increase by $40,000 each January 1st for 10 years and beginning on January 1, 2034, the applicable limitations on noneconomic damages for personal injury and for wrongful death would be adjusted for inflation on January 1st of each year by 2%. Existing law specifies that in any action for injury or damages against a provider of health care services, a superior court shall, at the request of either party, enter a judgment ordering that money damages or its equivalent for future damages of the judgment creditor be paid in whole or in part by periodic payments rather than by a lump-sum payment if the award equals or exceeds $50,000. This bill would increase the minimum amount of the judgment required to request periodic payments to $250,000. Existing law makes statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person, or to the family of that person, inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action. This bill would specify that statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy, regret, a general sense of benevolence, or suggesting, reflecting, or accepting fault relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person, or to an adverse patient safety event or unexpected health care outcome, as specified, shall be confidential, privileged, protected, not subject to subpoena, discovery, or disclosure, and shall not be used or admitted into evidence in any civil, administrative, regulatory, licensing, or disciplinary board, agency, or body action or proceeding, and shall not be used or admitted in relation to any sanction, penalty, or other liability, as evidence of an admission of liability or for any other purpose.
Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensing and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing any controlled substance, with certain exceptions, including substances furnished to a person upon the prescription of a physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, veterinarian, or another of specified healing arts licensees. This bill would, commencing June 30, 2023, require a pharmacist, with certain exceptions, to dispense a Schedule II or Schedule IIN controlled substance in a lockable vial, as defined. The bill would require the pharmacist to also provide to a patient a specified opioid factsheet and the lockable vial vendor's online assistance information or toll-free telephone number, which a vendor contracting with a pharmacy would be required to provide to the pharmacy. The bill would require the manufacturer of the controlled substance to reimburse the pharmacy within 30 days of receiving the pharmacy's claim for reimbursement for the cost of the lockable vial and for the pharmacy's dispensing costs and services rendered. The bill would require the board, by October 1, 2023, to establish reasonable minimum and maximum amounts of reimbursement that include the cost of the lockable vial and services rendered and dispensing costs. The bill would make the manufacturer of a controlled substance subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for each day the manufacturer is delinquent in reimbursing the pharmacy. The bill would, with certain exceptions, grant prescribers and pharmacists immunity from liability for adverse consequences resulting from a patient not being able to access their medication in a lockable vial or the failure of the lockable vial to prevent unauthorized access. Existing law, when no other penalty is provided, makes a knowing violation of the Pharmacy Law a misdemeanor and, in all other instances, makes a violation punishable as an infraction. This bill would exempt violations of the bill's provisions from those criminal penalties. The bill would require the board to assess an unspecified fine, to be determined by the board, for a violation of the bill's provisions by a pharmacist and would authorize the board to refrain from taking administrative action under certain circumstances, including a finding of financial hardship. The bill would exempt correctional pharmacies, correctional clinics, or patients of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from the bill, and would authorize the board to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions. The bill would provide related findings and declarations of the Legislature.
The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to classify personal property for differential taxation or for exemption by means of a statute approved by a 23 vote of the membership of each house. Pursuant to this constitutional authorization, existing property tax law, for the January 1, 2014, lien date to and including the January 1, 2024, lien date, exempts qualified property, as defined, for use in space flight, including tangible personal property that has space flight capacity, as specified. Existing law repeals this exemption as of July 1, 2025. This bill would extend the above-described repeal date from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2033, thereby extending operation of the exemption for qualified property for use in space flight. The bill, on or after January 1, 2022, would also expand the exemption for qualified property used in space flight to include tangible personal property used for space flight activities, including tangible personal property that has a role as ground support equipment for space flight launch preparation and operations, as specified, or that has role in testing space flight engines and components at a test site, as specified. By expanding the scope of this exemption, by extending the operation of this exemption, and by requiring county assessors to provide specified information, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined to include tax credits, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include findings and reporting requirements in compliance with this requirement. 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. Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.