Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health that is led by the State Public Health Officer, who is appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The Governor is authorized to appoint, upon the recommendation of the State Public Health Officer, 2 chief deputies, subject to confirmation by the Senate. This bill would establish the Office of Tribal Affairs within the department to be led by a Tribal Health Liaison to assist in addressing the public health disparities impacting tribal communities. The bill would require the office to communicate needs and to propose specific solutions from tribal communities to the department and state entities, as specified. The bill would provide that the Tribal Health Liaison be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the State Public Health Officer and would require the State Public Health Officer to regularly consult with and consider input and information provided by the Tribal Health Liaison. The bill would require the Tribal Health Liaison, among other duties, to regularly consult with California tribal representatives, as specified, and oversee the department's tribal health equity meetings, advisory groups, and workgroups. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law establishes 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, in-person, face-to-face contact is not required under the Medi-Cal program when covered health care services are provided by video synchronous interaction, audio-only synchronous interaction, remote patient monitoring, or other permissible virtual communication modalities, when those services and settings meet certain criteria. This bill would require the department to, by October 1, 2025, produce a public report on telehealth in the Medi-Cal program that includes analyses of, among other things, (1) telehealth access and utilization, (2) the effect of telehealth on timeliness of, access to, and quality of care, and (3) the effect of telehealth on clinical outcomes, as specified. The bill would authorize the department, in collaboration with the California Health and Human Services Agency, to issue policy recommendations based on the report's findings.

The Personal Income Tax Law imposes a tax on individual taxpayers measured by the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year, but excludes certain items of income from the computation of tax, including an exclusion for combat-related special compensation. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2034, would exclude from gross income retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, as defined, during the taxable year. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2034, would also exclude from gross income annuity payments received by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, pursuant to a United States Department of Defense Survivor Benefit Plan during the taxable year. The bill would make related findings and declarations. 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. This bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide any data requested by the Legislative Analyst to write the report, as provided, and would make taxpayer information received by the Legislative Analyst subject to limitation on the collection and use of that information. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law requires the Secretary of Government Operations to develop a coordinated plan to, among other things, investigate the feasibility of, and obstacles to, developing standards and technologies for state departments to determine digital content provenance. For the purpose of informing that coordinated plan, existing law requires the secretary to evaluate, among other things, the legal implications associated with the use of digital content forgery technologies, deepfakes, and technologies allowing public verification of digital content provenance. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2028, require a social media platform, as defined, to redact personal provenance data, as defined, from content uploaded to the social media platform by a user, except as prescribed, and would prohibit a social media platform from redacting system provenance data, as defined, from content uploaded to the social media platform by a user, except as prescribed.

Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law establishes the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program within the Board of State and Community Corrections to grant funds, upon appropriation, to local jurisdictions and Indian tribes for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for minors, as specified. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for the work. Existing law requires a school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, to establish a Public School Health Center Support Program, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist school health centers, which are defined as centers or programs, located at or near local educational agencies, that provide age-appropriate health care services at the program site or through referrals, as specified. This bill would create the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program to be administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency to provide funding to local community programs for community-driven solutions to decrease violence in neighborhoods and schools. The bill would specify the types of programs the grant funds may be used for, including, but not limited to, programs that create and enhance recreation- and health-based interventions for youth during peak times of violence and the creation and operation of school-based health centers. The bill would require the agency to develop an application process and criteria for funding and would require the agency to administer the grant program, as specified. The bill would require, beginning July 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Director of Finance and the Legislative Analyst's Office to calculate the savings to the state from the closure of state prisons, as specified, and would require the Director of Finance to certify the results of the calculation to the Controller no later than August 1 of each fiscal year. The bill would create the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund and would require moneys in the fund to be made available, only upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the agency for the purposes of the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program. The bill would require that the Controller, before August 15, 2025, and annually thereafter, upon appropriation by the Legislature, transfer from the General Fund to the Community Violence Interdiction Grant Fund the total amount of savings from the closure of state prisons so calculated.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. The CEQA exempts certain projects from its requirements, including actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation from beginning the construction of a line, plant, or system, or extensions of those facilities without first having to obtain from the Public Utilities Commission a certificate that the present or future convenience and necessity require or will require the construction. Existing law specifies that the certificate is not required for the extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of existing electrical transmission facilities. This bill would, for electrical infrastructure projects, as defined, designate the commission as the lead agency for purposes of the CEQA, would require the commission to prescribe procedures for the preparation of the appropriate environmental review document for those projects, and would specify the manner in which the environmental review for those projects is to be conducted. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035.

Maddy summaryThis California Assembly resolution encourages the U.S. Congress to pass legislation creating a National Infrastructure Bank to fund critical repairs and upgrades for roads, bridges, dams, and other public works. The bill cites reports from the American Society of Civil Engineers highlighting billions of dollars in investment gaps and poor conditions affecting California's transportation and water systems. It advocates for a financing model that uses existing federal debt rather than new taxes, aiming to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and prioritize projects in disadvantaged communities. The resolution formally requests that federal leaders adopt this approach to address the state's urgent infrastructure needs.

Maddy summaryThis California House Resolution condemns the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump and calls for an end to political violence. The measure highlights the event where Trump was wounded while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and notes that one attendee died and others were injured while trying to protect him. It urges the state to foster a political environment based on respectful discourse and nonviolence. The resolution is a formal statement of the Assembly's stance and does not create new laws or change existing policies.

Existing law provides for various specified special circumstances, including murder committed for financial gain or committed during the commission or attempted commission of certain felonies, which, if found true as specified, require a defendant found guilty of murder in the first degree to be sentenced to death or imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole. Existing law, added by Proposition 115 of the June 5, 1990, statewide primary election, prohibits a judge from striking or dismissing any special circumstance that is admitted by plea or found true by a jury or court, as specified. Existing law generally authorizes a court to dismiss an action or to strike or dismiss an enhancement in the furtherance of justice, except if dismissal of that enhancement is prohibited by any initiative statute. This bill would authorize an individual serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a conviction in which one or more special circumstances were found to be true to petition for recall and resentencing if the offense occurred before June 5, 1990, and the individual has served at least 25 years in custody. The bill would exempt individuals from relief under these provisions under certain circumstances, including if the individual was convicted of first degree murder of a peace officer, as specified. The bill would authorize the court to modify the petitioner's sentence to impose a lesser sentence and apply any changes in law that reduce sentences or provide for judicial discretion, or to vacate the petitioner's conviction and impose judgment on a lesser included offense, as specified. The bill would require a court to consider and afford great weight to evidence offered by the petitioner to prove that specified mitigating circumstances are present. The bill would provide that proof of the presence of one or more specified mitigating circumstances weighs greatly in favor of dismissing a special circumstance, unless the court finds that dismissal of the special circumstance is not appropriate. The bill would require the court to appoint the State Public Defender or other qualified counsel for an indigent petitioner. The California Constitution, as amended by Proposition 9, the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law, at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, entitles the victim of a crime to specified rights, including to reasonable notice of all public proceedings, including all parole or other postconviction release proceedings. The bill would clarify that these proceedings constitute a "post-conviction release proceeding" under Marsy's Law.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes Filipino American History Month to recognize the long-standing contributions of Filipinos to California and the United States. It directly affects state officials and the public by designating a specific month for commemoration and education. The resolution highlights historical milestones, including early Spanish-era interactions, the development of Filipino communities in cities like Stockton and San Francisco, and the significant roles Filipinos played in agriculture, shipbuilding, and military service during World War II. By formally acknowledging these events, the bill aims to promote awareness of Filipino American heritage within the state.