(1) Existing federal law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , enacts various health care market reforms. 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 requires a group or individual health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after September 23, 2010, to comply with the requirements of the PPACA, and any rules or regulations issued under the PPACA, that require a group health plan and health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage to, at a minimum, provide coverage for specified preventive services, and prohibits the plan or health insurance issuer from imposing any cost-sharing requirements for those preventive services. Existing law also prohibits a plan or health insurer offering group or individual coverage from imposing lifetime or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for a participant, beneficiary, or insured. Existing law requires a plan and a health insurance issuer to comply with those provisions to the extent required by federal law. This bill would delete the requirement that a health care service plan or a health insurer comply with the requirement to cover preventive health services without cost sharing to the extent required by federal law, and would instead require a group or individual nongrandfathered health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to, at a minimum, provide coverage for specified preventive services without any cost-sharing requirements for those preventive services, thereby indefinitely extending those requirements. The bill would also delete the requirement that a health care service plan or a health insurer comply with the prohibition on lifetime or annual limits to the extent required by federal law, and would instead prohibit an individual or group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy from establishing lifetime or annual limits on the dollar value of any covered benefits for an enrollee or insured, whether provided in network or out of network, thereby indefinitely extending the prohibitions on lifetime or annual limits, except as specified. 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. (2) Existing law authorizes the State Registrar, a local registrar, or a county recorder to furnish a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage, or military service record to an authorized person, as defined, who submits a written, faxed, or digitized image request accompanied by a notarized statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the applicant is an authorized person. Existing law, until January 1, 2021, authorizes the official to accept an electronic request and an electronic acknowledgment if the request for a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record is made electronically and the electronic acknowledgment verifies the identity of the applicant using a multilayered remote identity proofing process. This bill would extend the above-described authorization for an electronic request and an electronic acknowledgment to January 1, 2022. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to license and regulate facilities that provide residential nonmedical services to adults who are recovering from problems related to alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug misuse or abuse, and who need alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug recovery treatment or detoxification services. Existing law also requires the department to implement a voluntary certification procedure for alcohol and other drug treatment recovery services. Existing law requires all programs certified and licensed by the department to disclose, among other things, ownership or control of, or financial interest in, a recovery residence, as defined. Existing law requires the department to conduct a site visit to investigate an allegation of an operating unlicensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility and issue a notice to cease providing services under specified conditions. The bill would require the department to take action against an unlicensed facility that is disclosed as a recovery residence pursuant to these disclosure requirements. The bill would authorize the department to refer a substantiated complaint against a recovery residence to other enforcement entities as appropriate under state or federal law. The bill would make a technical change to refer to licensed facilities in these requirements. (4) Existing law, the California Organic Products Act of 2003, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, county agricultural commissioners, and the Director of the State Department of Public Health to enforce state and federal laws governing the production, labeling, and marketing of organic products, as specified. Under existing law, all persons who handle or sell at retail organic products must keep accurate records that include specified information, which includes, if applicable, the registration numbers issued pursuant to state law, of all suppliers and other persons who sell, purchase, or otherwise transfer organic products, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would rename the act as the California Organic Food and Farming Act. The bill would remove the requirement that the registration numbers issued pursuant to state law be included in the required records. (5) Existing law establishes the Health Care Benefits Fund to support the University of California's implementation of the California Health Benefit Review Program. Existing law imposes an annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers, as specified, to be deposited into the fund. Under existing law, the fund and the program became inoperative on July 1, 2020, and are repealed as of January 1, 2021. This bill would extend the operation of the program and the fund, and would authorize the continued assessment of the annual charge on health care service plans and health insurers for that purpose. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2022, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2023. (6) Existing federal law establishes the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , which provides specified services for older individuals at a PACE center so that they may continue living in the community. Federal law authorizes states to implement PACE as a Medicaid state option. Existing state law establishes the California Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE program) to provide community-based, risk-based, and capitated long-term care services as optional services under the state's Medi-Cal State Plan. Existing law generally requires an adult day health care center or home health agency to be licensed by the State Department of Public Health, which is required to obtain a criminal record clearance for specified individuals that own or are employed by the adult day health care center or home health agency. Under existing law, an adult day health care center or a home health agency that has been approved by the State Department of Health Care Services to exclusively serve PACE participants is exempt from licensure by the State Department of Public Health. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to obtain a criminal record clearance for the administrator, program director, and fiscal officer of an adult day health care center before approving the center to exclusively serve PACE participants or individuals being assessed for the PACE program. To qualify for approval as a home health agency that exclusively serves PACE participants or individuals being assessed for the PACE program, the bill would require an owner or administrator of a home health agency to submit electronic fingerprint images to the Department of Justice for the furnishing of the person's criminal record to the State Department of Health Care Services. (7) 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. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the Domestic Violence Prevention Act for the purpose of preventing acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse and providing for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to enable those persons to seek a resolution of the causes of the violence. Existing law authorizes a court to issue an ex parte order enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts against another party, including threatening or harassing that party or disturbing their peace, and, in the discretion of the court, against other named family or household members. A violation of this court order constitutes contempt of court, which is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would define "disturbing the peace of the other party" as conduct that destroys the mental or emotional calm of the other party, as specified. The bill would provide that disturbing the peace of the other party includes coercive control, which is a pattern of behavior that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty and includes, among other things, unreasonably isolating a victim from friends, relatives, or other sources of support. Existing law requires a family court to determine the best interests of a child in deciding child custody in specified proceedings and establishes a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a person who has perpetrated domestic violence is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Existing law defines "perpetrated domestic violence" to mean, among other things, that the person engaged in behavior for which the court may issue an ex parte order to protect the child or the person seeking custody of the child. By adding coercive control to the bases for the ex parte orders described above, the bill would, for purposes of a family court determining child custody in those proceedings, create a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a party who has engaged in coercive control is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Because a violation of a court order constitutes contempt of court and is therefore a crime, by expanding the bases for the issuance of these ex parte orders, this 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 Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide supplemental funding to county offices of education, or a consortium of county offices of education, to coordinate and ensure that local educational agencies within its jurisdiction are providing services to foster youth pupils pursuant to a foster youth services coordinating plan with the purpose of ensuring positive educational outcomes. As part of the program, existing law authorizes a county office of education, or a consortium of county offices of education, to apply to the Superintendent for grant funding to operate an education-based foster youth services coordinating program. As a condition of receiving funds, existing law requires a program to develop and implement a foster youth services plan that includes, among other things, a description of how the local program will facilitate coordination with local postsecondary educational institutions to ensure foster youth pupils meet admission requirements and access programs that support their matriculation needs. This bill would require the plan to also describe how the program will coordinate efforts to ensure, to the extent possible, the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California Dream Act Application for foster youth pupils who are in grade 12. Existing law requires the Superintendent, by July 1 of each even-numbered year, to report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Governor on the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program. Existing law requires the report to include aggregate educational outcome data for each county in which there were at least 15 pupils in foster care who attended school in the county with information on, among other things, the number of participating foster youth pupils who successfully transition to postsecondary education. This bill would require the report to also include the number and percentage of pupils in foster care who successfully complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or California Dream Act Application while in grade 12.
The California Constitution specifies various requirements with respect to the levying of assessments and property-related fees and charges by a local agency, including requiring that the local agency provide public notice and a majority protest procedure in the case of assessments and submit property-related fees and charges for approval by property owners subject to the fee or charge or the electorate residing in the affected area following a public hearing. Existing law, known as the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with these requirements and, among other things, authorizes an agency providing water, wastewater, sewer, or refuse collection services to adopt a schedule of fees or charges authorizing automatic adjustments that pass through increases in wholesale charges for water, sewage treatment, or wastewater treatment or adjustments for inflation under certain circumstances. Existing law defines, among other terms, the term "water" for these purposes to mean any system of public improvements intended to provide for the production, storage, supply, treatment, or distribution of water from any source. This bill would specify that hydrants, as defined, are part of the system of public improvements included in the definition of "water" for purposes of the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act. The bill would specify that the fees or charges for property-related water service imposed or increased, as specified, may include the costs to construct, maintain, repair, or replace hydrants as needed or consistent with fire codes and industry standards, and may include the cost of water distributed through hydrants. The bill would also authorize the fees or charges for the aspects of water service related to hydrants and the water distributed through them to be fixed and collected as a separate fee or charge, or included in the other water rates and charges fixed and collected by a public agency, as specified.
Existing law provides that a child may be a dependent child of the juvenile court in certain cases, including when the child has suffered, or is at substantial risk of suffering, serious physical harm or illness as a result of the willful or negligent failure of the parent or guardian to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law requires a social worker who has cause to believe that a child has been abused or neglected to immediately conduct an investigation to determine whether child welfare services should be offered to the family and whether proceedings in the juvenile court should be commenced. This bill would require a county child welfare department investigating a case of child abuse or neglect to determine if the parent or guardian is an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States. The bill would authorize the county child welfare department to develop and adopt memoranda of understanding with military installations that would govern the investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect against active duty service members, as specified. The bill would specify that these provisions do not limit or change the responsibilities of a county child welfare department with respect to investigations of, or responses to, allegations of abuse or neglect. By imposing additional duties on local officials, this 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 prohibits an operator of a skateboard park from permitting a person to ride a skateboard at the park, unless the person is wearing a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. Existing law provides that a skateboard facility owned or operated by a local public agency that is not supervised on a regular basis may satisfy the above requirement if it complies with certain things, including the adoption of an ordinance that requires a person riding a skateboard in the facility to wear a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads, as provided. Existing law provides that a public entity is not liable to a person who participates in a hazardous recreational activity, and that skateboarding at a facility owned or operated by a public entity as a public skateboard park is a hazardous recreational activity, if certain conditions are met. This bill would apply the above provisions, and others relating to skateboard safety and liability, to other wheeled recreational devices, as defined. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing sales and use tax laws, among other things, impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from their sales of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law designates that certain sellers of tangible personal property are consumers, and not retailers, of the tangible personal property they sell, including, until January 1, 2021, that an all volunteer fire department, as defined, is a consumer, and not a retailer, of all tangible personal property sold by it, if the profits are used solely and exclusively in furtherance of the purposes of the all volunteer fire department, subject to specified limitations, so that the retail sale subject to tax is the sale of tangible personal property to the all volunteer fire department. This bill would extend the operation of that consumer designation for all volunteer fire departments until January 1, 2026. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Corporation Tax Law exempts the income of various types of nonprofit organizations from taxes imposed by that law, except as provided, if an application for exemption is filed with, and a filing fee of $25 is paid to, the Franchise Tax Board and the Franchise Tax Board issues a determination exempting the organization from tax. Existing law also requires, among other things, that filing fee to be paid when an organization whose exemption was revoked applies to reestablish as an exempt organization. This bill would eliminate the $25 filing fee on January 1, 2021. The Corporation Tax Law requires specific tax-exempt organizations to file an annual return containing specified information and requires the return to be filed on or before the 15th day of the 5th full calendar month following the close of the taxable year. Existing law requires those organizations to pay a $10 filing fee on or before the due date for filing the annual return, determined with regard to any extension of time for filing the return, and increases that filing fee to $25 in case of failure to pay the fee on or before that due date. This bill would eliminate those filing fees on January 1, 2021. This bill would also make various nonsubstantive and conforming changes to, among other things, update cross references.
Existing law makes it a crime to maliciously and intentionally maim, mutilate, torture, wound, or kill a living animal. If a defendant is granted probation for a conviction of this offense, existing law requires the court to order the defendant to complete counseling designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct disorders. This bill would delete the requirement that a defendant granted probation complete counseling and would instead require a defendant convicted of specified offenses against animals and granted probation to undergo a mental health evaluation by an evaluator chosen by the court. The court would require the defendant to complete mandatory counseling if, upon evaluation of the defendant, the mental health professional deems it necessary. The court would require the defendant to pay for the mental health evaluation and any subsequent treatment, but would authorize the court to establish a sliding fee schedule based on the defendant's ability to pay. The bill would additionally make records related to this evaluation and treatment confidential, as specified. 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.
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than that driver, or in the death of a person to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and provide specified personal information to the injured person or the occupants of the other vehicle and to any traffic or police officer at the scene of the accident. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine. Existing law authorizes the court, in the interests of justice and for other reasons stated in the record, to reduce or eliminate the minimum imprisonment or fine requirements. This bill would instead make a person who fails to immediately stop, as required, at the scene of an accident that resulted in a permanent, serious injury subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, and a specified fine, and if the accident resulted in death, the violation of those requirements would be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 4, or 6 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, and a specified fine.