Existing law generally requires the licensure and regulation of various health care facilities, including, among others, a hospice facility. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996, an initiative measure enacted by the approval of Proposition 215 at the November 5, 1996, statewide general election, prohibits specified criminal penalties from being imposed on a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates cannabis for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. Existing law, known as the Medical Marijuana Program, requires counties to administer an identification card program for qualified patients and provides immunity from arrest to qualified patients with a valid identification card or designated primary caregivers, within prescribed limits. This bill, the Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan's Law, would prohibit specified types of health care facilities from prohibiting or interfering with a terminally ill patient's use of medical cannabis within the health care facility, subject to certain restrictions. The bill would require a patient to provide the health care facility with a copy of their medical marijuana card or written documentation that the use of medical cannabis is recommended by a physician. The bill would authorize a health care facility to reasonably restrict the manner in which a patient stores and uses medical cannabis to ensure the safety of other patients, guests, and employees of the health care facility, compliance with other state laws, and the safe operations of the health care facility. The bill would prohibit the department that licenses the health care facility from enforcing these provisions, and compliance with the bill would not be a condition for obtaining, retaining, or renewing a license as a health care facility. The bill would authorize a health care facility to suspend compliance with these provisions if a regulatory agency, the United States Department of Justice, or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services takes specified actions, including initiating an enforcement action against a health care facility related to the facility's compliance with a state-regulated medical marijuana program.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes the Office of California-Mexico Affairs and provides that the office succeeds to, and is vested with, all the duties, powers, purposes, and responsibilities vested in the previously established Commission of the Californias. Existing law generally sets forth the duties and authority of that office with respect to California-Mexico relations. This bill would establish the Commission on California-Mexico Affairs, consisting of 9 voting and 2 nonvoting members, as specified. The bill would require the commission to, among other things, develop policy proposals and provide recommendations as to issues pertaining to the border between California and Mexico and to advise the Legislature and the Governor on matters of particular concern to this state in relation to border issues and matters with Mexico. The bill would expressly authorize the commission to develop and inform the Legislature of its position on pending legislative proposals, to make other legislative recommendations, and to state its position and viewpoint on issues developed in the performance of its duties and responsibilities. The bill would establish the California-Mexico Border Relations Account in the Special Deposit Fund within the State Treasury to receive specified moneys received by the commission and, upon appropriation, make the moneys in the account available to the commission for these purposes. The bill would also authorize the Governor to enter into an agreement with the governments of the State of Baja California and the State of Baja California Sur to establish the authority of a binational commission to support the coordination of activities between all three states that are related to cross-border programs, initiatives, projects, and partnerships of mutual interest to the governments and civil societies of the 3 states. (2) Existing law establishes the California-Mexico Border Relations Council and requires the council to, among other things, coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to cross-border programs, initiatives, projects, and partnerships that exist within state government, and to improve the effectiveness of state and local efforts that are of concern to California and Mexico. Beginning January 1, 2008, existing law requires the council to submit a report to the Legislature on its activities annually. Existing law also requires the State Department of Health Care Services to establish a permanent Office of Binational Border Health to facilitate cooperation between health officials and health professionals in California and Mexico, as specified, and requires that office to convene a voluntary community advisory group of representatives of border community-based stakeholders to develop a strategic plan with short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals and implementation actions, as provided. Existing law also requires the office to prepare an annual border health status report and submit it to the Director of Health Care Services, the Legislature, and the Governor. This bill, beginning on January 1, 2020, would require the California-Mexico Border Relations Council to provide a copy of the report submitted to the Legislature to the Commission on California-Mexico Affairs at the same time that it submits that report to the Legislature. The bill would also require the Office of Binational Border Health to provide a copy of the above-described strategic plan to the commission and to submit the above-described annual border health status report to the commission.
(1) The federal Clean Air Act regulates the discharge of air pollutants into the atmosphere. The federal Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of pollutants into water. The federal Safe Drinking Water Act establishes drinking water standards for drinking water systems. The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 generally prohibits activities affecting threatened and endangered species listed pursuant to that act unless authorized by a permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, as appropriate. Existing state law regulates the discharge of air pollutants into the atmosphere. The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act regulates the discharge of pollutants into the waters of the state. The California Safe Drinking Water Act establishes standards for drinking water and regulates drinking water systems. The California Endangered Species Act requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish a list of endangered species and a list of threatened species, and generally prohibits the taking of those species. This bill would, until January 20, 2025, require specified agencies to take prescribed actions regarding certain federal requirements and standards pertaining to air, water, and protected species, as specified. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise the enforcement provisions of the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, as provided. (2) Existing law provides for the enforcement of laws regulating the discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere and waters of the state. Existing law provides for the enforcement of drinking water standards. Existing law provides for the enforcement of the California Endangered Species Act. This bill would, until January 20, 2025, authorize a person acting in the public interest to bring an action to enforce certain standards if specified conditions are satisfied. (3) Existing federal law, including the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, generally establishes standards for workers' health and safety. Existing state law, including the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, generally establishes standards for workers' health and safety. This bill would, until January 20, 2025, require specified agencies to take prescribed actions regarding certain requirements and standards pertaining to workers' health and safety. (4) Existing law makes it unlawful to take a bird, mammal, fish, reptile, or amphibian, except as authorized by law. This bill would make it unlawful for a person in California to transport, sell, offer for sale, possess with the intent to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish, wildlife, or plant that was taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, regulation, policy, or finding of the United States with regard to national or international trade of fish, wildlife, or plants in effect on January 19, 2017. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on January 20, 2025, and would repeal them on January 1, 2026. Under existing law, a violation of the Fish and Game Code is a crime. Because the above provision would be part of the Fish and Game Code, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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.
Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, subject to certain modifications. Existing law requires an annual reallocation of property tax revenue from local agencies in each county to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) in that county for allocation to specified educational entities. Existing law authorizes certain local agencies to form an enhanced infrastructure financing district, affordable housing authority, transit village development district, or community revitalization and investment authority for purposes of, among other things, infrastructure, affordable housing, and economic revitalization. This bill would establish in state government the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Program, which would be administered by the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee. The bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, joint powers agency, enhanced infrastructure financing district, affordable housing authority, community revitalization and investment authority, transit village development district, or a combination of those entities, to apply to the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to participate in the program and would authorize the committee to approve or deny plans for projects meeting specific criteria. The bill would also authorize certain local agencies to establish an affordable housing and community development investment agency and authorize an agency to apply for funding under the program and issue bonds, as provided, to carry out a project under the program. The bill would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to adopt guidelines for plans. Subject to the Legislature enacting a budget bill for the applicable fiscal year that specifies the amount for the committee to allocate pursuant to the program, the bill would require the committee to approve no more than $200,000,000 per year from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2026, and $250,000,000 per year from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2030, in transfers from a county's ERAF for applicants for plans approved pursuant to this program. This bill would provide that eligible projects include, among other things, the predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of workforce and affordable housing, certain transit-oriented development, and projects promoting strong neighborhoods. The bill would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee, upon approval of a plan and subject to specified conditions, to issue an order directing the county auditor to transfer an amount of ad valorem property tax revenue that is equal to the affordable housing and community development investment amount approved by the committee, except as provided, from the county's ERAF. The bill would require the county auditor to either deposit that amount into the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Fund, which this bill would create in the treasury of each county, or, if the applicant is a specified type of authority or special district to transfer to the city or county that created the authority or district an amount of property tax revenue equal to the amount approved by the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee for that authority or district. The bill would require the city or county that created the district to, upon receipt, transfer those funds to the authority or district in an amount equal to the affordable housing and community development investment amount for that authority or district. By imposing additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize applicants to use approved amounts to incur debt or issue bonds or other financing to support an approved project. The bill also would require each applicant that has received funding to submit annual reports, as specified, and would require the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Committee to provide a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, if it approves funding under the program, that includes certain project information. Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution sets forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts for each fiscal year. This bill would require the Director of Finance to adjust the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts for these purposes in a manner that ensures that the transfers from a county's ERAF pursuant to the Affordable Housing and Community Development Investment Program have no net fiscal impact upon the total amount of the General Fund revenue and local property tax revenue allocated to school districts and community college districts pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified. 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.
Existing law regulates the taking and possession of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, including the importation, transportation, possession, and live release of wild animals, as defined. This bill would prohibit a person from sponsoring, conducting, or operating a circus, as defined, in this state that uses any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse. The bill would prohibit a person from exhibiting or using any animal other than a domestic dog, domestic cat, or domesticated horse in a circus in this state. The bill would authorize a civil penalty against a person who violates these prohibitions pursuant to an action brought by the Attorney General, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Food and Agriculture, a district attorney, a city attorney, or a city prosecutor. The bill would specify how these civil penalty moneys would be deposited depending primarily on which entity brings the civil penalty action, including requiring the deposit of the moneys collected by the Department of Food and Agriculture into the Circus Cruelty Prevention Account, which the bill would create, with those moneys available upon appropriation for the purposes of the department's enforcement of these prohibitions.
Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and prescribes the membership, functions, and duties of the conservancy with regard to the protection, preservation, and enhancement of specified coastal lands in the state. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to fund and undertake plans and feasibility studies and to award grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for these purposes. This bill would additionally authorize the conservancy to provide technical assistance, and award grants for that purpose. Existing law authorizes the conservancy to undertake educational projects and programs for pupils in kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, relating to the preservation, protection, enhancement, and maintenance of coastal resources, and to award grants to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and public agencies for those purposes, subject to certain limitations, and requires an educational grant program established pursuant to these provisions to comply with certain requirements. This bill would instead authorize the conservancy to undertake educational projects and programs for adults and for pupils in kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, and to award grants to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and public agencies, including federally recognized Indian tribes, for educational projects and programs related to the preservation, protection, enhancement, maintenance, and enjoyment of coastal resources and for onsite and distance learning facilities, activities, and instructional programs that support the delivery of science, history, and social science content, in accordance with prescribed requirements. The bill would also authorize the conservancy to award grants for the construction and improvement of structures and facilities used for those projects and programs. The bill would prohibit the use of General Fund moneys for grants awarded to public educational institutions, including community colleges, and would prohibit the conservancy from spending more than 10% of the funds received for grants for educational projects and programs for grant administrative costs. The bill would authorize the conservancy to award funds not otherwise restricted, on and after January 1, 2020, for funding grants to nonprofit organizations that offer scientific, educational, or heritage programs that focus on the history and stewardship of the ocean and coastal resources.
Existing law provides funding for the development, construction, and maintenance of the state's bridges and highways and requires that a project study report be prepared for any new project involving the construction of a new bridge, or the replacement of a bridge with a history of documented suicides, that demonstrates that a suicide barrier was a feature that was considered during the project's planning process. This bill would require the Director of Transportation to select members for an advisory committee to provide input into the selection of a physical suicide deterrent system for the San Diego-Coronado Bridge that would include, but would not be limited to, a representative from the Department of the California Highway Patrol, a mental health advocate, a member of a local suicide prevention group, residents of specified cities, and representatives of specified city and county governments. The bill would also provide for the selection to the advisory committee of one representative each by the Assembly Members or State Senators whose districts include the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. This bill would repeal these provisions upon the Department of Transportation's selection of a physical suicide deterrent system for the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, or on January 1, 2030, whichever occurs first. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law makes it a crime for a person entrusted with the care or custody of any elder or dependent adult to willfully cause the elder or dependent adult to be injured or permit the elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation in which the elder or dependent adult's person or health is endangered. Existing law also authorizes county adult protective services agencies and local long-term care ombudsman programs to investigate elder and dependent adult abuse, but grants law enforcement agencies the exclusive responsibility for criminal investigations. Existing law requires local law enforcement agencies and long-term care ombudsman programs to revise or include in their policy manuals, as defined, specified information regarding elder and dependent adult abuse. This bill would eliminate the duty imposed on long-term care ombudsman programs to revise or include in their policy manuals specified information regarding elder and dependent adult abuse. The bill would also authorize local law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy regarding senior and disability victimization, as defined. The bill would require, if a local law enforcement agency adopts or revises a policy regarding elder or dependent adult abuse or senior and disability victimization on or after April 13, 2021, that the policy include specified provisions, including provisions related to enforcement and training. The bill would also make clarifying changes to provisions related to the entities that have jurisdiction to investigate elder and dependent adult abuse.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law, with specified exceptions, directs the commission to require any call identification service offered by a telephone corporation, or by any other person or corporation that makes use of the facilities of a telephone corporation, to allow the caller to withhold, on an individual basis, the display of the caller's telephone number from the telephone instrument of the individual receiving the call. However, existing law prohibits a caller from withholding the display of the caller's business telephone number when that number is being used for telemarketing purposes. Existing federal law, with certain exceptions, makes it unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or internet protocol enabled voice service, to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value and authorizes the chief legal officer of a state, or any other state officer authorized by law to bring actions on behalf of the residents of a state, to bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the state in an appropriate district court of the United States to enforce this prohibition. This bill would require a telecommunications service provider, on or before January 1, 2021, to implement specified technological protocols or alternative technology that provides comparable or superior capability to verify and authenticate caller identification for calls carried over an internet protocol network. The bill would authorize the commission and the Attorney General to bring an action pursuant to the above-described federal law and would authorize the commission, at the request of the Attorney General, to work with the Attorney General for the purpose of enforcing specified parts of that law.