Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson

Existing law establishes and regulates the state prison for the confinement of persons convicted of certain felony offenses. Existing law also regulates county jails used for the confinement of persons awaiting trial and persons convicted of misdemeanors and certain felony offenses. Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system. The duties of the board, among others, include establishing standards for local correctional facilities and correctional officers. Under existing law, the board is composed of 13 members, as specified. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2024, add 2 additional members to the board, a licensed health care provider and a licensed mental or behavioral health care provider, appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would also, commencing July 1, 2024, require the board to develop and adopt regulations pertaining to standards of care for incarcerated persons with mental health issues by local correctional facilities, including requirements for training of correctional staff, requirements for mental health screening, and requirements for safety checks of incarcerated persons.

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust 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. Under existing law, the Regents of the University of California may adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to operate any project. Existing law establishes and funds various research centers and programs in conjunction with the University of California. This bill, subject to a resolution adopted by the Regents of the University of California agreeing to undertake the below-described duties, would establish the California Firefighter Cancer Prevention and Research Program, and would request the University of California to develop and administer a competitive grant program to award grants to eligible educational institutions to conduct research on the California fire service using a community-based participatory research model, as defined, in collaboration with California firefighters. The bill would require the University of California, in consultation with the FIRESCOPE Program, to develop the strategic guidelines and priorities of the program and receive and evaluate the applications of the eligible educational institutions. The bill would require the FIRESCOPE Program to make final recommendations to the University of California on which grants should be funded. The bill would also require the University of California, in consultation with the FIRESCOPE Program, to prepare a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2025, with a 2nd report due on or before January 1, 2030, with specified information, including the number and dollar amounts of the grants that have been awarded.

Existing law declares another state's law authorizing a civil action against a person or entity that receives or seeks, performs or induces, or aids or abets the performance of an abortion, or who attempts or intends to engage in those actions, to be contrary to the public policy of this state, and prohibits the application of that law to a controversy in state court and the enforcement or satisfaction of a civil judgment received under that law. This bill would specifically include within these provisions, in addition to abortion performers, abortion providers. 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 also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. The bill would also prohibit a contract issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care services provider from containing any term that would result in termination or nonrenewal of the contract or otherwise penalize the provider based on a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. The bill would also prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from discriminating against a licensed provider solely on the basis of a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. 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. Existing law requires that the State Department of Public Health automatically suspend as a Medi-Cal provider any individual or entity that has a license, certificate, or other approval to provide health care that is revoked or suspended by a federal, California, or another state's licensing, certification, or approval authority, has otherwise lost that license, certificate, or approval, or has surrendered that license, certificate, or approval while a disciplinary hearing was pending. The bill would also authorize the department, subject to obtaining necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation under Medi-Cal, to elect to not suspend an individual or entity as a provider in the Medi-Cal program if the revocation, suspension, or loss of the individual or entity's license, certification, or approval authority in another state or the pending disciplinary hearing during which the individual or entity surrendered the license, certification, or approval authority in another state is based solely on conduct that is not deemed to be unprofessional conduct under California law. The bill would also require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals to implement these provisions. Under existing law, the Director of Health Care Services is authorized, for purposes of administering the Medi-Cal program, to suspend a provider of service from further participation under the program for specified reasons, including conviction of any felony or any misdemeanor involving fraud, abuse of the Medi-Cal program or any patient, or otherwise substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a provider of service. Existing law requires the director, upon receipt of written notification from the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that a physician or other individual practitioner has been suspended from participation in the Medicare or Medicaid programs, to promptly suspend the practitioner from participation in the Medi-Cal program. Existing law also requires the Director of Health Care Services to notify the administrative director of a suspension of a physician from participation in the Medi-Cal program imposed pursuant to provisions authorizing the director to suspend a provider of service from participation. This bill would authorize the director, subject to obtaining necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation under Medi-Cal, to request a waiver under federal law, as permitted, if the provider's suspension from participating in the Medicare or Medicaid program was based solely on conduct that is not deemed to be unprofessional conduct under California law. The bill would also require the department to seek any necessary federal approvals to implement these provisions. 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.

The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or a corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, except as provided. The CMIA makes a business that offers software or hardware to consumers, including a mobile application or other related device that is designed to maintain medical information in order to make the information available to an individual or a provider of health care at the request of the individual or a provider of health care, for purposes of allowing the individual to manage the individual's information or for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of a medical condition of the individual, a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would revise the definition of "medical information" to include reproductive or sexual health application information, which the bill would define to mean information about a consumer's reproductive or sexual health collected by a reproductive or sexual health digital service, as specified. The bill would make a business that offers a reproductive or sexual health digital service to a consumer for the purpose of allowing the individual to manage the individual's information, or for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of a medical condition of the individual, a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 56.05 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 1697 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1697 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) 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 imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, would, commencing July 1, 2024, impose an excise tax in the amount of 11% of the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of a firearm, firearm precursor part, and ammunition, as specified. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. The bill would require the moneys received in the fund to be used to fund various gun violence prevention, education, research, response, and investigation programs, as specified. The bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, as a loan, $2,400,000 from the General Fund to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to implement these provisions, as specified. The bill would require each licensed firearms dealer, firearms manufacturer, and ammunition vendor to register with the department for a certificate, as specified. The bill would also provide procedures for the issuance, revocation, and reinstatement of a permit. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is 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.

The measure would apply to the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment relating to firearms, as specified.

This measure would denounce the actions of the Tennessee House of Representatives in expelling two African-American Democratic Representatives.

(1) The California Constitution prohibits the ad valorem tax rate on real property from exceeding 1% of the full cash value of the property, subject to certain exceptions. This measure would create an additional exception to the 1% limit that would authorize a city, county, city and county, or special district to levy an ad valorem tax to service bonded indebtedness incurred to fund the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of public infrastructure, affordable housing, including downpayment assistance, or permanent supportive housing, or the acquisition or lease of real property for those purposes, if the proposition proposing that tax is approved by 55% of the voters of the city, county, city and county, or special district, as applicable, and the proposition includes specified accountability requirements. The measure would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or special district from placing a proposition on the ballot pursuant to these provisions if the voters have previously approved a proposition pursuant to these provisions or the below special tax provisions until all funds from the previous proposition are committed to programs and projects listed in the specific local program or ordinance, as described. The measure, subject to certain vote thresholds, would authorize the Legislature to enact laws establishing additional accountability measures and laws for the downpayment assistance programs authorized by the measure, as specified. The measure would specify that these provisions apply to any city, county, city and county, or special district measure imposing an ad valorem tax to pay the interest and redemption charges on bonded indebtedness for these purposes that is submitted at the same election as this measure. (2) The California Constitution conditions the imposition of a special tax by a local government upon the approval of 23 of the voters of the local government voting on that tax. This measure would authorize a local government to impose, extend, or increase a sales and use tax or transactions and use tax imposed in accordance with specified law or a parcel tax for the purposes of funding the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of public infrastructure, affordable housing, including downpayment assistance, or permanent supportive housing, or the acquisition or lease of real property for those purposes, if the proposition proposing that tax is approved by a majority vote of the membership of the governing board of the local government and by 55% of its voters voting on the proposition and the proposition includes specified accountability requirements. The measure would prohibit a local government from placing a proposition on the ballot pursuant to these provisions if the voters have previously approved a proposition pursuant to these provisions or the above ad valorem tax provisions until all funds from the previous proposition are committed to programs and projects listed in the specific local program or ordinance, as described. The measure, subject to certain vote thresholds, would authorize the Legislature to enact laws establishing additional accountability measures and laws for the downpayment assistance programs authorized by the measure, as specified. This measure would also make conforming changes to related provisions. The measure would specify that these provisions apply to any local measure imposing, extending, or increasing a sales and use tax, transactions and use tax, or parcel tax for these purposes that is submitted at the same election as this measure. (3) The California Constitution prohibits specified local government agencies from incurring any indebtedness exceeding in any year the income and revenue provided in that year, without the assent of 23 of the voters and subject to other conditions. In the case of a school district, community college district, or county office of education, the California Constitution permits a proposition for the incurrence of indebtedness in the form of general obligation bonds for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, to be adopted upon the approval of 55% of the voters of the district or county, as appropriate, voting on the proposition at an election. This measure would expressly prohibit a special district, other than a board of education or school district, from incurring any indebtedness or liability exceeding any applicable statutory limit, as prescribed by the statutes governing the special district. The measure would also similarly require the approval of 55% of the voters of the city, county, city and county, or special district, as applicable, to incur bonded indebtedness, exceeding in any year the income and revenue provided in that year, that is in the form of general obligation bonds issued to fund the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of public infrastructure, affordable housing, or permanent supportive housing projects, if the proposition proposing that bond includes specified accountability requirements. The measure would specify that this 55% threshold applies to any proposition for the incurrence of indebtedness by a city, county, city and county, or special district for these purposes that is submitted at the same election as this measure. (4) This measure would deem another measure on the same statewide election ballot relating to state or local requirements for the imposition, adoption, creation, or establishment of taxes, charges, and other revenue measures in conflict with it and would make the other measure null and void if this measure receives more affirmative votes.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law establishes the Center for Data Insights and Innovation within the California Health and Human Services Agency to ensure the enforcement of state law mandating the confidentiality of medical information. Existing law also establishes the State Department of Health Care Services and requires the department, among other things, to administer the Medi-Cal program. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the agency, to collect appropriate data and identify indicators for tracking telehealth outcomes associated with impacting individual patient outcomes and overall population health. The bill would require the department to use the data collected to measure health outcomes of populations, as specified. The bill would make a related intent statement.

The California Constitution authorizes a person to vote if the person is a United States citizen, at least 18 years of age, and a resident of the state. The California Constitution requires the Legislature to provide for the disqualification of electors while serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony. This measure would repeal that requirement regarding the disqualification of electors incarcerated for felony convictions, thereby authorizing an otherwise qualified elector serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony to vote.