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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes the department to enter contracts with managed care plans to provide Medi-Cal services. Under existing law, Medi-Cal covers early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment for individuals under 21 years of age, consistent with federal law. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations establishing a standard of care under which a child is evaluated for risk of lead poisoning by health care providers during the child's periodic health assessment. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to ensure that a child enrolled in Medi-Cal receives blood lead screening tests at 12 and 24 months of age, or at any time at which the child is identified as having a high risk of lead exposure, as described by the State Department of Public Health, and that a child 2 to 6 years of age, inclusive, receives a blood lead screening test if there is no record of a previous test for that child. The bill would require the department to report its progress toward blood lead screening tests for all enrolled children, as specified, in its annual External Accountability Set as part of the annual external quality review organization review, and annually on its Internet Web site, to ensure Medi-Cal managed care plans make certain each enrolled child receives required blood lead screening tests, and to ensure Medi-Cal managed care plans require health care providers to test enrolled children, as specified. The bill would further require the department to ensure a Medi-Cal managed care plan notifies a child's parent, parents, guardian, or other person charged with his or her support and maintenance, and the child's health care provider, with specified information, including when a child has missed a required blood lead screening test, as specified. The bill would require a contract between the department and a Medi-Cal managed care plan to ensure the plan and its contractors meet the standard of care for early and periodic screening when providing lead testing. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to prepare provider training guidelines, curriculum, and resources to educate providers about childhood lead poisoning prevention, exposure risks, exposure health effects, and sources of exposure. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to ensure a Medi-Cal managed care plan notifies and educates a contracted health care provider that, for 2 consecutive 12-month periods, fails to blood lead test at least 80% of the enrolled children, as specified, and to ensure that education reflects the training guidelines, curriculum, and resources developed by the State Department of Public Health. The bill would provide that it is the goal of the state that all children at risk of lead exposure receive blood lead screening tests. The bill would also make findings and declarations.
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Existing law, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 1991, establishes the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (Program) , which is administered by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations establishing a standard of care at least as stringent as the most recent United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention screening guidelines. Existing law provides that the standard of care shall require a child who is determined to be at risk for lead poisoning to be screened. Existing regulations require every health care provider who performs a periodic health assessment of a child to order a child who receives services from a publicly funded program for low-income children to be screened for lead poisoning. Existing law requires the department to collect and analyze all information necessary to effectively monitor appropriate case management efforts, prepare a biennial report on this material, and disseminate the report to local health departments and the general public. This bill would make it a goal of the state that all children at risk of lead exposure receive blood lead screening tests, and would require the department to take action, and to require local agencies to take action, necessary to ensure these goals are met. By requiring local agencies to take action to meet these goals, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to notify health care providers who perform periodic health assessments for children about, and would require those health care providers to inform parents and guardians about, the childhood lead exposure and blood lead screening tests, as specified. The bill would require the department to report on additional content, including the total number of children enrolled in Medi-Cal and who have secured blood lead screening tests. The bill would specify that any material in the report comply with state and federal privacy laws. The bill would require the department to prominently post the biennial report on the Internet Web site. The bill would require the department to collaborate with the State Department of Health Care Services to collect and analyze information related to children enrolled in Medi-Cal. Existing law requires the department to, by March 1, 2019, and by March 1 of each year thereafter, prepare and prominently post on its Internet Web site information that evaluates the department's progress in meeting the program goals. This bill would require the information to include the biennial report. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 105295 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 1097 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1097 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, 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 requires the State Department of Public Health to collect and analyze all information necessary to effectively monitor appropriate case management efforts related to lead poisoning in children. Existing law authorizes the department to contract with a public or private entity, including local agencies, to conduct case management. Existing law requires the department to prepare a biennial report describing the effectiveness of appropriate case management efforts, and to make that report available to local health departments and the general public. This bill would require the report to contain specified information for each county, including the number of children tested for lead poisoning. The bill would require the department to post the report on the department's Internet Web site. The bill would additionally require the department to provide the collected data to its Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 105295 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 1041 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1041 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, grants the Governor certain powers to be exercised in accordance with the State Emergency Plan and programs for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency. Existing law creates the Office of Emergency Services within the Governor's office and commits to the office the responsibility for the state's response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies. This bill would authorize the Office of Emergency Services to enter into an agreement directly with one or more certified community conservation corps, as defined, to perform emergency or disaster response services as the office deems appropriate.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the commission to adopt policies and programs that promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane, as defined, and that facilitate the development of a variety of sources of in-state biomethane. The commission has adopted 2 decisions implementing these requirements, the 2nd of which adopted a 5-year monetary incentive program effective June 11, 2015, for biomethane projects. Existing law requires the commission to modify the monetary incentive program in specified respects and to extend the program, as modified, until December 31, 2021. Existing law additionally requires the commission, before exhaustion of the funds available pursuant to the biomethane monetary incentive program, and before the expiration of the program, to consider options to promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane, including whether to allow recovery in rates of the costs of investments to (1) facilitate direct investment in the procurement and installation of utility infrastructure necessary to achieve interconnection between the natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline network and biomethane generation and collection equipment and of gathering lines for a dairy cluster biomethane project, (2) provide for the installation of utility infrastructure to achieve interconnection with facilities that generate biomethane, and (3) ensure that these investments for infrastructure are prudent and reasonable and provide a direct benefit to, and are in the interests of, all classes of ratepayers. With respect to the requirement that the commission consider options to promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane, including consideration of recovery in rates of the costs of investments for the 3 purposes described above, the bill would additionally require the commission to open a proceeding to consider those options by no later than July 1, 2019.
(1) The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the Energy Commission, consisting of 5 members appointed by the Governor. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified state and federal agencies and at least every 2 years, to conduct assessments and forecasts of all aspects of energy industry supply, production, transportation, delivery and distribution, demand, and prices. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the specified entities, to adopt a biennial integrated energy policy report containing certain information in a specified format. This bill would delete the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority from the list of specified entities with which the Energy Commission is required to consult for the purposes of the assessments and forecasts described above, and would repeal a requirement that the integrated energy policy report be provided to the authority. The bill would revise the content and format of the integrated energy policy report. (2) Existing law requires the Energy Commission to include in the integrated energy policy report an assessment of the state of the California energy technology and energy conservation industry's efforts to enter foreign markets, a description of international energy market prospects, an evaluation of the Energy Commission's export promotion activities, and recommendations for state government initiatives to foster the California energy technology and energy conservation industry's competition in world markets. Existing law requires the Governor, on or before 90 days after the receipt of the integrated energy policy report, to review the report and to report to the Legislature the Governor's agreement or disagreement with the policy recommendations contained in the report. This bill would repeal these requirements. (3) The Natural Gas Act requires the commission, beginning November 1, 2015, and every 4 years thereafter, to identify strategies to maximize the benefits obtained from natural gas as an energy source. This bill would make the Natural Gas Act inoperative on November 1, 2025.
Existing state and federal law sets specified limits on the total gross weight imposed on the highway by a vehicle with any group of 2 or more consecutive axles. Existing federal law authorizes a vehicle operated by an engine fueled primarily by natural gas to exceed these weight limits by an amount equal to the difference between the weight of the vehicle attributable to the natural gas tank and fueling system carried by that vehicle and the weight of a comparable diesel tank and fueling system. Under existing federal law, the maximum gross vehicle weight of that vehicle may not exceed 82,000 pounds. This bill would, to the extent expressly authorized by federal law, authorize a near-zero-emission vehicle or a zero-emission vehicle, as defined, to exceed the weight limits on the power unit by up to 2,000 pounds. Existing law prohibits a weighmaster from certifying the gross weight of a vehicle if the scale is located at the site where the vehicle is loaded, the vehicle is weighed before entering a highway, and the vehicle's gross weight exceeds 80,000 pounds, except if a special permit is issued. This bill would increase the weight limit to 82,000 pounds for a near-zero-emission or zero-emission vehicle.
Existing law authorizes a business to swipe a driver's license or identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles in any electronic device for prescribed verification and informational purposes. Existing law prohibits a business that swipes a driver's license or identification card in an electronic device from maintaining or using that information for any other purpose. A violation of those provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would expand those provisions to apply to scans as well as swipes. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, it 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 California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the campuses they operate. Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, using common course descriptors and pertinent recommendations of the American Council on Education, to determine, by July 1, 2015, for which courses credit should be awarded for prior military experience. This bill would instead require the chancellor to establish, by March 31, 2019, an initiative to expand the use of course credit at the California Community Colleges for students with prior learning. The bill would require the chancellor to submit, by January 1, 2020, a report on the initiative to the Legislature.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission and authorizes the commission to exercise ratemaking and rulemaking authority over all public utilities, as defined, subject to control by the Legislature. Existing law requires the commission to determine whether each proceeding is a quasi-legislative proceeding, an adjudication proceeding, or a ratesetting proceeding and, consistent with due process, public policy, and statutory requirements, to determine whether the proceeding requires a hearing. After those determinations are made, existing law requires the commission to assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case and an administrative law judge, when appropriate. Existing law requires the assigned commissioner to prepare and issue by order or ruling a scoping memo that describes the issues to be considered and the applicable timetable for resolution. This bill would require the assigned commissioner, rather than the commission, to determine, as part of the scoping memo, whether the proceeding requires a hearing, and would make conforming changes to related provisions. Existing law regulates communications in matters before the commission and defines an "ex parte communication" as any oral or written communication between a decisionmaker and an interested person concerning any matter before the commission that the commission has not specified as being a procedural matter and that does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other public proceeding, or on the official record of the proceeding on the matter. After a proposed decision or order is issued in a ratesetting case, existing law authorizes the commission to establish a "quiet period" during which no oral or written ex parte communications may be permitted and the commission may meet in closed session. If the commission holds the ratesetting decision, existing law authorizes the commission to establish a subsequent quiet period during the second half of the hold period, as described, authorizes ex parte communications only during the first half of the hold period, and authorizes the commission to meet in closed session for the second half of the hold period. This bill would revise those provisions relating to quiet periods to authorize the commission to establish a quiet period only after a proposed decision or order is issued and is scheduled for a vote or after a proposed decision is scheduled for a vote, but is then held and rescheduled for a vote, and to require the commission to establish a quiet period during the three business days before the commission's scheduled vote on a proposed decision.