Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson

Existing law establishes the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The California State University comprises 23 institutions of higher education. Existing law requires the California State University to provide specified information about the proficiency of freshmen at each of its campuses in a preliminary report submitted on or before December 15 of each year and in a final report to the Legislature submitted on or before February 1 of each year. This bill would instead require the California State University to provide specified information to the Legislature about the placement of freshmen at each of its campuses for purposes of certain general education requirements in one report to be submitted by April 1 of each year. This placement information would include the number of freshmen at each campus, the freshmen's levels of placement for general education written communication and mathematics and quantitative reasoning, an analysis of the factors used by the university in its determination of freshmen's levels of placement, an analysis of any equity gaps by income, race, or ethnicity within and across the university's levels of placement, and the university's plan to address any such gaps.

(1) Existing law prohibits, during the prosecution of specified sex crimes, the admission of evidence of the manner in which the victim was dressed, when offered by either the prosecution or the defendant on the issue of consent, unless the court finds the evidence relevant and admissible in the interests of justice. This bill would prohibit the court from admitting evidence, in the above circumstances, of the manner in which the victim was dressed, upon a finding that the evidence is relevant and admissible in the interests of justice. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1103 of the Evidence Code proposed by AB 1171 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1171 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (3) The California Constitution provides that relevant evidence shall not be excluded in any criminal proceeding except as provided by statute enacted by a 23 vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would limit the admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings, it would require a 23 vote.

(1) Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, establishes the Board of Registered Nursing within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing, and requires the board to issue a certificate to practice nurse-midwifery to a person who, among other qualifications, meets educational standards established by the board or the equivalent of those educational standards. Existing law, the Licensed Midwifery Practice Act of 1993, provides for the licensure of midwives by the Medical Board of California. Existing law, the Song-Brown Health Care Workforce Training Act, provides for specified training programs for certain health care workers, including family physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Existing law establishes a state medical contract program with accredited medical schools, hospitals, and other programs and institutions to increase the number of students and residents receiving quality education and training in specified primary care specialties and maximize the delivery of primary care and family physician services to underserved areas of the state. This bill would enact the Midwifery Workforce Training Act, under which the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, contract with programs that train certified nurse-midwives and programs that train licensed midwives to increase the number of students receiving quality education and training as a certified nurse-midwife or a licensed midwife, as specified. The bill would require the office to contract only with programs that include, or intend to include, a component of training designed for medically underserved multicultural communities, lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, or rural communities, and that are organized to prepare program graduates for service in those neighborhoods and communities. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to track data on pregnancy-related deaths, including specified health conditions, indirect obstetric deaths, and other maternal disorders predominantly related to pregnancy and complications predominantly related to the puerperium, and requires this data to be published at least once every 3 years. Existing law also requires the department to develop a plan to identify causes of infant mortality and morbidity in California and to study recommendations on the reduction of infant mortality and morbidity in California. This bill would, commencing August 1, 2022, establish the California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee, and would require the committee to, among other things, identify and review all pregnancy-related deaths and severe maternal morbidity. The bill would require the committee to be composed of a minimum of 13 members, as specified, and would authorize the committee to request from any state department, commission, local health department, or coroner, among others, specified information, including death records, medical records, and autopsy reports. The bill would make all proceedings, activities, and opinions of the committee confidential. This bill would require each county to annually report infant deaths to its respective local health department. The bill would require local health departments, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a Fetal and Infant Mortality Review committee to investigate infant deaths to prevent fetal and infant death under specified circumstances, and would require those local health departments that participate in the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review process to annually investigate, track, and review cases of term infants, as defined, who were born following labor with the outcome of intrapartum stillbirth, early neonatal death, or postneonatal death. The bill would require counties, hospitals, birthing centers, and state entities to provide to local health departments death records, medical records, and autopsy reports, among other information, that will help the local health department conduct the fetal and infant mortality review. By imposing duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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 pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would require the department to convene a workgroup to examine the implementation of the Medi-Cal doula benefit, as specified. No later than July 1, 2024, the bill would require the department to publish a report that addresses the number of Medi-Cal recipients utilizing doula services and identifies barriers that impede access to doula services, among other things, and would require the department to post that report on its internet website. (4) Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility, but provides an exemption to a woman who is pregnant and for whom it has been medically verified that the pregnancy impairs their ability to be regularly employed or participate in welfare-to-work activities or the county has determined that, at that time, participation will not readily lead to employment or that a training activity is not appropriate. This bill would remove the medical verification and county determination requirements, and would instead provide an exemption to any recipient who is pregnant. Because the bill would result in an increase in CalWORKs eligibility, thus increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. (5) 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. (6) 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.

(1) Existing law authorizes a specified health care provider who diagnoses an STD, as specified, to prescribe, dispense, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to that patient's sexual partner or partners without examination of that patient's partner or partners. The Pharmacy Law provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy. A violation of the Pharmacy Law is a crime. The Pharmacy Law requires a pharmacist to dispense a prescription in a container that, among other things, is correctly labeled with the name of the patient or patients. Existing regulation requires a pharmacist to ensure that a patient receives written notice of their right to consult with a pharmacist, when the patient or the patient's agent is not present. This bill would name the above practice "expedited partner therapy." The bill would require a health care provider to include "expedited partner therapy" or "EPT" on a prescription if the practitioner does not have the name of a patient's sexual partner, and would authorize a pharmacist to dispense an expedited partner therapy prescription and label the drug without an individual's name if the prescription includes "expedited partner therapy" or "EPT." The bill would specify that a health care provider is not liable in a medical malpractice action or professional disciplinary action, and that a pharmacist is not liable in a civil, criminal, or administrative action, if the health care provider's use of expedited partner therapy is in compliance with the law, except in cases of intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or wanton or reckless activity. The bill would amend the Pharmacy Law to require a pharmacist to provide written notice that describes the right of an individual receiving expedited partner therapy to consult with a pharmacist about the medication and potential drug interactions. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to provide coverage for reproductive and sexual health care services. This bill would require health care service plans and insurers to provide coverage for home test kits for sexually transmitted diseases, as defined, and the laboratory costs for processing those kits, that are deemed medically necessary or appropriate and ordered directly by a health care provider or furnished through a standing order for patient use based on clinical guidelines and individual patient health needs. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires every licensed physician and surgeon or other person engaged in prenatal care of a pregnant woman, or attending the woman at the time of delivery, to obtain or cause to be obtained a blood specimen of the woman to test for syphilis at the time of the first professional visit or within 10 days thereafter. This bill would instead require every licensed health care professional engaged in providing prenatal care or attending a birthing patient at the time of delivery to provide syphilis screening and testing as outlined in the most recent guidelines published by the State Department of Public Health or other clinical guidelines. (4) Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses, registers, and regulates clinical laboratories and various clinical laboratory personnel. Existing law authorizes an HIV counselor who receives specified training and works in specified counseling and testing sites to perform HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) , or combined HIV/HCV tests, including performing skin punctures for purposes of withdrawing blood for purposes of these tests, as specified. Under existing law, an HIV counselor must receive training directly from the Office of AIDS or work directly with HIV counseling staff that have been trained by the Office of AIDS or its agents. This bill would authorize an HIV counselor to also perform specified sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests. The bill would require an HIV counselor to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of HIV, HCV, and STDs to provide appropriate counseling and referrals to patients and to demonstrate proficiency in administering rapid HIV, HCV, and STD tests before administering those tests. The bill would also allow HIV counselors to receive HIV counseling training through a training course that has been certified by the Office of AIDS and would authorize that department to determine which tests are to be included in trainings. (5) Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and 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. Existing law prohibits a Medi-Cal managed care plan from restricting a beneficiary's choice of a qualified provider from whom the beneficiary may receive covered family planning services. Under existing law, the Medi-Cal program administers the Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT) Program within the department to provide comprehensive clinical family planning services to a person with a family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Existing law authorizes the department, subject to appropriation and draw down of federal matching funds, to provide reimbursement for sexually transmitted disease related services as part of the Family PACT Program. The bill would, under specified conditions, include in the benefits for Medi-Cal and the Family PACT program home test kits for sexually transmitted diseases and the laboratory testing required to process those kits that are deemed medically necessary or appropriate and ordered directly by a health care provider or furnished through a standing order for patient use based on clinical guidelines and individual patient health needs. (6) 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 Climate Ready Program in the State Coastal Conservancy to address the impacts and potential impacts of climate change on resources within the conservancy's jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to undertake projects within its jurisdiction, including projects related to beach and bluff erosion and other coastal hazards that threaten coastal communities, infrastructure, and natural resources. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, in collaboration with the California Institute of Technology, the California Geological Survey, the University of California, the United States Geological Survey, the Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, and other stakeholders, to develop a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system in California through a public-private partnership, which is required to include, among other things, the installation of field sensors. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The University of California comprises 10 institutions of higher education, which are located at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, to conduct research on coastal cliff landslides and erosion in the County of San Diego, as provided. The bill would require the research to be completed by January 1, 2025. The bill would require by no later than March 15, 2025, the institution to provide a report to the Legislature with recommendations for developing a coastal cliff landslide and erosion early warning system based on available research. The bill would exempt the Regents of the University of California and its employees, acting in good faith, from civil liability for any harm resulting from measurements, predictions, or warnings regarding bluff failure, cliff landslides, or erosion contained in the report or from the research or related to the recommendations, unless those damages are the result of acts or omissions constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

(1) Under existing law, the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, if a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes or attempts to interfere, by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney, is authorized to bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured. Existing law also authorizes an action brought by the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney, to seek a civil penalty of $25,000. Existing law also allows an individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights has been interfered with to prosecute a civil action for damages on their own behalf. The bill would eliminate certain immunity provisions for peace officers and custodial officers, or public entities employing peace officers or custodial officers sued under the act. (2) Existing laws defines persons who are peace officers and the entities authorized to appoint them. Existing law requires certain minimum training requirements for peace officers including the completion of a basic training course, as specified. Existing law prescribes certain minimum standards for a person to be appointed as a peace officer, including moral character and physical and mental condition, and certain disqualifying factors for a person to be employed as a peace officer, including a felony conviction. This bill would prohibit a person who has been convicted of a felony, as specified, from regaining eligibility for peace officer employment based upon any later order of the court setting aside, vacating, withdrawing, expunging or otherwise dismissing or reversing the conviction, unless the court finds the person to be factually innocent of the crime for which they were convicted at the time of entry of the order. The bill would disqualify a person from being employed as a peace officer if that person has been convicted of, or has been adjudicated in an administrative, military, or civil judicial process as having committed, a violation of certain specified crimes against public justice, including the falsification of records, bribery, or perjury. The bill would also disqualify any person who has been certified as a peace officer by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and has surrendered that certification or had that certification revoked by the commission, or has been denied certification. The bill would disqualify any person previously employed in law enforcement in any state or United States territory or by the federal government, whose name is listed in the national decertification index, or any other database designated by the federal government, or who engaged in serious misconduct that would have resulted in their certification being revoked in this state. The bill would require a law enforcement agency employing certain peace officers to employ only individuals with a current, valid certification or pending certification. (3) Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to set minimum standards for the recruitment and training of peace officers and to develop training courses and curriculum. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish a professional certificate program that awards basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates on the basis of a combination of training, education, experience, and other prerequisites, for the purpose of fostering the professionalization, education, and experience necessary to adequately accomplish the general police service duties performed by peace officers. Existing law authorizes the commission to cancel a certificate that was awarded in error or obtained through misrepresentation or fraud, but otherwise prohibits the commission from canceling a certificate that has properly been issued. This bill would require the Department of Justice to provide the commission with necessary disqualifying felony and misdemeanor conviction data for all persons known by the department to be current or former peace officers, as specified. The bill would grant the commission the power to investigate and determine the fitness of any person to serve as a peace officer in the state. The bill would direct the commission to issue or deny certification, which includes a basic certificate or proof of eligibility, to a peace officer in accordance with specified criteria. The bill would require the commission to issue a proof of eligibility or basic certificate, as specified, to certain persons employed as a peace officer on January 1, 2022, who do not otherwise possess a certificate. The bill would declare certificates or proof of eligibility awarded by the commission to be property of the commission and would authorize the commission to suspend or revoke a proof of eligibility or certificate on specified grounds, including the use of excessive force, sexual assault, making a false arrest, or participating in a law enforcement gang, as defined. The bill would create the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division within the commission to review investigations conducted by law enforcement agencies and to conduct additional investigations into serious misconduct that may provide grounds for suspension or revocation of a peace officer's certification, as specified. The bill would require the division to review grounds for decertification and make findings as to whether grounds for action against an officer's certification exist. The bill would require the division to notify the officer subject to decertification of their findings and allow the officer to request review. The bill would also create the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board with 9 members to be appointed as specified. The bill would require the board to hold public meetings to review the findings after an investigation made by the division and to make a recommendation to the commission. The bill would require the commission to review the recommendation made by the board based on whether there is evidence that reasonably supports the board's conclusion that misconduct has been established and, if action is to be taken against an officer's certification, return the determination to the division to commence formal proceedings consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would require the commission to notify the employing agency and the district attorney of the county in which the officer is employed of this determination, as specified. The bill would make all records related to the revocation of a peace officer's certification public and would require that records of an investigation be retained for 30 years. The bill would require an agency employing peace officers to report to the commission the employment, appointment, or separation from employment of a peace officer, any complaint, charge, allegation, or investigation into the conduct of a peace officer that could render the officer subject to suspension or revocation, findings by civil oversight entities, and civil judgements that could affect the officer's certification. In case of a separation from employment or appointment, the bill would require each agency to execute an affidavit-of-separation form adopted by the commission describing the reason for separation. The bill would require the affidavit to be signed under penalty of perjury. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the board to report annually on the activities of the division, board, and commission, relating to the certification program, including the number of applications for certification, the events reported, the number of investigations conducted, and the number of certificates surrendered or revoked. By imposing new requirements on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 832.7 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 16 to be operative only if this bill and SB 16 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

This measure would proclaim November 3, 2021, as One Health Day, to celebrate and bring attention to the need for a One Health approach to address shared health threats at the human-animal-environmental interface.

This measure would designate the month of September 2021 as Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month and the first week of September 2021 as Blood Donation Week.

This measure would declare August 2021 as Valley Fever Awareness Month.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Westside Parkway on State Route 58 in the County of Kern as the Harvey L. Hall Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the costs of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering those costs, erect those signs.