Existing law, commencing on January 1, 2023, prohibits a state agency from sending any outgoing United States mail that contains an individual's social security number unless the number is truncated to its last 4 digits or in specified circumstances, including when federal law requires inclusion of the social security number or when documents are mailed to a current or prospective state employee. This bill would instead require state agencies, as soon as is feasible, but no later than January 1, 2023, to stop sending any outgoing United States mail to an individual that contains the individual's social security number unless the number is truncated to its last four digits, except in specified circumstances. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, is established to promote beverage container recycling and provides for the payment, collection, and distribution of certain payments and fees based on minimum refund values established for beverage containers. The act requires a distributor of beverage containers to pay to the department the redemption payment for every beverage container sold or transferred to a dealer for deposit into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. The act defines "recycling" for its purposes as the reuse or refilling of empty beverage containers, or the process of sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting empty postfilled beverage containers for the purpose of using the altered form. The act requires the department to certify processors and requires certified processors to comply with specified requirements for operation, including, among others, taking the actions necessary and approved by the department to cancel containers to render them unfit for redemption. A violation of the act is an infraction. This bill would authorize the department to authorize a processor to satisfy that cancellation requirement by washing a reusable beverage container or transferring a reusable beverage container for subsequent washing to a processor approved by the department. The bill would authorize the department to certify additional models of processors that are determined necessary to implement that provision and would require, by January 1, 2024, the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to adopt by regulation the requirements and standards for the certification and operation of those processors, as specified. By creating crimes relating to reusable beverage containers, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would define "reusable beverage container" for purposes of the act to mean a glass beverage container with a refund value established pursuant to the act and that is processed by a processor for subsequent washing for refill and sale by a beverage manufacturer. 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 Department of Public Health to take measures, such as ordering isolation, quarantine, and disinfection of persons and places, to study and prevent the spread of a communicable disease. Existing law requires a local health officer to take similar measures in the territory under their jurisdiction to prevent the spread of disease. Under existing law, these measures can be issued to be effective immediately and have the force and effect of law. This bill would require, when the State Department of Public Health issues a statewide order or mandatory guidance, or when a local health officer issues an order, related to preventing the spread of COVID-19, as defined, or protecting public health against a threat of COVID-19, that they publish on their internet website the order or guidance and the date that the order or guidance takes effect. The bill would also require the department or local health officer to create an opportunity for local communities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, individuals, and others to sign up for an email distribution list relative to changes to the order or guidance. By creating new duties for local health officers, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make these provisions operative while an order or mandatory guidance issued by the department or a local health officer is in effect, as provided. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of an adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility, a psychiatric health facility, or a mental health rehabilitation facility by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law authorizes the department to impose specified penalties on a facility that is in violation of applicable laws and regulations governing the facility. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of a community care facility, including, among others, a social rehabilitation facility, by the State Department of Social Services. A violation of the act may be subject to specified civil penalties, license suspension or revocation, or misdemeanor charges. This bill would prohibit an operator of a licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility, a certified alcohol or other drug program, and a licensed mental health rehabilitation center, psychiatric health facility, or social rehabilitation facility, from engaging in various acts, including making a false or misleading statement about the entity's products, goods, services, or geographical locations. The bill would also prohibit a picture, description, staff information, or the location of an entity from being included on an internet website along with false contact information that surreptitiously directs the reader to a business that does not have a contract with the entity. The bill would authorize the department responsible for the facility's licensure or certification to investigate allegations of a violation of these provisions and, upon finding a violation, to impose the civil sanctions and other penalties available pursuant to existing law, but would not make a violation of these provisions a crime.
Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, within 6 months prior to the inmate's scheduled release date, to refer an inmate who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is either serving a determinate sentence or whose parole has been revoked, for screening by the department and the Board of Parole Hearings based on whether the person has committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on a review of the person's social, criminal, and institutional history. Under existing law, if this screening determines that the person is likely to be a sexually violent predator, the department is required to refer the person to the State Department of State Hospitals for a full evaluation. This bill, for an individual who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the department for the commission of a new offense committed while the individual was serving an indeterminate term in a state hospital as a sexually violent predator, would require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to refer the person directly to the State Department of State Hospitals for full evaluation as to whether the person still meets the criteria as a sexually violent predator. The bill would, if the evaluators concur that the requirements are still met, require the Director of State Hospitals to petition the court to either return the person to the State Department of State Hospitals to continue serving the remainder of the individual's original indeterminate commitment as a sexually violent predator if the original petition has not been dismissed, or to forward a request for a new petition to be filed if the original petition has been dismissed.
Existing law allows a person who was arrested or convicted of a nonviolent offense while they were a victim of human trafficking to petition the court for vacatur relief. Existing law requires the petitioner to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the arrest and conviction were the direct result of being a victim of human trafficking. Existing law requires that a petition be made and heard within a reasonable time after the person has ceased to be a victim of human trafficking, or within a reasonable time after the petitioner has sought services, whichever is later. Existing law allows a petitioner, or the petitioner's attorney, to be excused from appearing in person at a hearing on the petition only if the court finds a compelling reason why the petitioner cannot attend, in which case existing law allows the petitioner to appear by electronic means. This bill would prohibit a court from refusing to hear the petition on the basis of the petitioner's outstanding fines and fees or the petitioner's failure to meet the conditions of probation. With the exception of restitution, the bill would require that the collection of fines imposed as a result of a nonviolent offense that is the subject of the petition be stayed while the petition is pending. This bill would also allow the petitioner to appear at all hearings on the petition by counsel if the petition is unopposed. The bill would allow a petition to be made and heard at any time after the person has ceased to be a victim of human trafficking, or at any time after the petitioner has sought services for being a victim of human trafficking. The bill would specify that the right to petition for relief pursuant to these provisions does not expire with the passage of time. Existing law requires the court, for petitioners who qualify for vacatur relief, to order designated law enforcement agencies to seal their records of the petitioner's arrest and the court order to seal and destroy the records within 3 years from the date of arrest, or within one year after the court order for vacatur relief is granted, whichever is later, and thereafter destroy those records. Existing law requires the court to provide the petitioner with a copy of any court order concerning the destruction of the arrest records. This bill would designate additional agencies required to seal and destroy arrest records and require all designated agencies to seal and destroy the arrest records within one year of the date of arrest, or 90 days from the date the court order for vacatur relief is granted, whichever is later. The bill would also require the court to provide the petitioner and their counsel with a copy of any form the court submits to any agency related to the sealing and destruction of arrest records. The bill would require the department to notify the petitioner and their counsel that the department has complied with the order to seal the arrest records.
Existing law regulates the sale of dogs and cats. Existing law also makes a person who knowingly and fraudulently represents, through verbal or written notice, the person to be the owner or trainer of a canine licensed as, to be qualified as, or identified as, a guide, signal, or service dog, as defined, guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would require a person or business that sells or provides a dog for use as an emotional support dog, as defined, to provide a written notice to the buyer or recipient of the dog stating that the dog does not have the special training required to qualify as a guide, signal, or service dog and is not entitled to the rights and privileges accorded by law to a guide, signal, or service dog, and that knowingly and fraudulently representing oneself to be the owner or trainer of any canine licensed as, to be qualified as, or identified as, a guide, signal, or service dog is a misdemeanor. The bill would require a person or business that sells or provides a certificate, identification, tag, vest, leash, or harness for an emotional support animal to provide a written notice, as specified, to the buyer or recipient. The bill would also prohibit a health care practitioner from providing documentation relating to an individual's need for an emotional support dog unless the health care practitioner complies with specified requirements, including holding a valid license, establishing a client-provider relationship with the individual for at least 30 days prior to providing the documentation, and completing a clinical evaluation of the individual regarding the need for an emotional support dog. The bill would make a violation of the written notice requirements or knowingly and fraudulently representing, selling, or offering for sale, or attempting to represent, sell, or offer for sale, an emotional support dog as being entitled to the rights and privileges accorded by law to a guide, signal, or service dog, subject to a civil penalty, as specified. The bill would state that this provision is not to be construed to restrict or change existing federal and state law related to a person's rights for reasonable accommodation and equal access to housing, as specified.
This measure would request the Congress of the United States to enact the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act and would request that President Joe Biden sign that legislation.
This measure would proclaim the month of July 2021 as California Parks and Recreation Professionals Month to celebrate the accomplishments and resilience of parks and recreation professionals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides that FQHC and RHC services are to be reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is obtained, to providers on a per-visit basis. "Visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between a patient of an FQHC or RHC and specified health care professionals, including a physician and marriage and family therapist. Under existing law, "physician," for these purposes, includes, but is not limited to, a physician and surgeon, an osteopath, and a podiatrist. This bill would authorize reimbursement for a maximum of 2 visits taking place on the same day at a single location if after the first visit the patient suffers illness or injury requiring additional diagnosis or treatment, or if the patient has a medical visit and a mental health visit or a dental visit, as defined. The bill would authorize an FQHC or RHC that currently includes the cost of a medical visit and a mental health visit that take place on the same day at a single location as a single visit for purposes of establishing the FQHC's or RHC's rate to apply for an adjustment to its per-visit rate, and after the department has approved that rate adjustment, to bill a medical visit and a mental health visit that take place on the same day at a single location as separate visits, in accordance with the bill. This bill would also include a licensed acupuncturist within those health professionals covered under the definition of a "visit." The bill would require the department, by July 1, 2022, to submit a state plan amendment to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reflect certain changes described in the bill, and to seek necessary federal approvals. The bill would also make conforming and technical changes.