Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. A willful violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide benefits for specified conditions, including certain mental health conditions. This bill, effective July 1, 2012, would require those health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies, except as specified, to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment, as defined, for pervasive developmental disorder or autism. The bill would provide, however, that no benefits are required to be provided that exceed the essential health benefits that will be required under specified federal law. Because a violation of these provisions with respect to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. These provisions would be inoperative July 1, 2014, and repealed on January 1, 2015. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care, in conjunction with the Department of Insurance, to convene an Autism Advisory Task Force by February 1, 2012, to provide assistance to the department on topics related to behavioral health treatment and to develop recommendations relating to the education, training, and experience requirements to secure licensure from the state. The bill would require the department to submit a report of the Task Force to the Governor and specified members of the Legislature by December 31, 2012. Existing law establishes various communicable disease prevention and control programs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a list of reportable diseases and conditions and requires health care providers and laboratories to report cases of HIV infection to the local health officer using patient names and sets guidelines regarding these reports. Existing law requires the local health officers to report unduplicated HIV cases by name to the department. This bill would authorize the department to revise the HIV reporting form without the adoption of a regulation, as specified. Under the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, the State Department of Mental Health administers the provision of funds to counties for community mental health services programs. Existing law also permits counties to receive, under certain circumstances, Medi-Cal reimbursement for mental health services. Under existing law, negotiated net amounts or rates are used as the cost of services in contracts between the state and the county and between the county and a subprovider of services. Existing law establishes the method for computing negotiated rates. Existing law prohibits the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving service from a county mental health program from exceeding the actual or negotiated cost of the services. This bill would only allow the use of negotiated net amounts as the cost of services in a contract between the state and a county and the county and a subprovider of services, and would eliminate the use of negotiated rates. The bill would also specify that the charges for the care and treatment of each patient receiving a service from a county mental health program shall not exceed the actual cost of the service. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which basic health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Under existing law, the State Department of Health Care Services promulgates regulations for determining reimbursement of Short-Doyle mental health services allowable under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health and the State Department of Health Care Services to jointly develop a ratesetting methodology for use in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system that maximizes federal funding and utilizes, as much as practicable, federal Medicare reimbursement principles. Existing law requires that this ratesetting methodology contain incentives relating to economy and efficiency. The bill would delete the requirement that the ratesetting methodology in the Short-Doyle Medi-Cal system include incentives relating to economy and efficiency. 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.
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Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services to repair and alter buildings within the Capitol area, as defined. This bill would, until January 1, 2014, establish the State Capitol Sustainability Task Force to coordinate activities with state agencies and the private sector to develop and implement a State Capitol Sustainability Initiative for the State Capitol Building, the Legislative Office Building, and the State Capitol Park grounds.
Existing personal income tax allow individual taxpayers to contribute amounts in excess of their tax liability for the support of specified funds, including the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund. Those laws repeal the ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease Research Fund on January 1, 2013, or on the taxable year beginning on or after January 1 of the calendar year in which the Franchise Tax Board estimates, by September 1, that the contributions made on returns filed in that calendar year will be less than a minimum contribution amount, as defined, whichever occurs first. This bill would repeal those provisions and reenact similar provisions, except that the January 1, 2013, repeal date would be extended to January 1, 2016.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires an action or proceeding against local zoning and planning decisions of a legislative body to be commenced and the legislative body to be served within a year of accrual of the cause of action, if it meets certain requirements. Where the action or proceeding is brought in support of or to encourage or facilitate the development of housing that would increase the community's supply of affordable housing, a cause of action accrues 60 days after notice is filed or the legislative body takes a final action in response to the notice, whichever occurs first. This bill would authorize the notice to be filed any time within 3 years after a specified action pursuant to existing law. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that its provisions modify a specified court opinion. The bill would also provide that in that specified action or proceeding, no remedy pursuant to specified provisions of law abrogate, impair, or otherwise interfere with the full exercise of the rights and protections granted to a tentative map application or a developer, as prescribed. (2) The Planning and Zoning Law establishes a rebuttable presumption, in any action filed on or after January 1, 1991, taken to challenge the validity of a housing element, of the validity of a housing element or amendment if the Department of Housing and Community Development has found that the element or amendment substantially complies with specified provisions of existing law. This bill would provide that in any action brought against a city, county, or city and county to challenge the adequacy of a housing element, if a court finds that the adopted housing element or amended housing element for the current planning period substantially complies with specified provisions, the element or amendment be deemed to satisfy any condition of a state-administered housing grant program requiring a department finding of housing element compliance.
Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, act to make a provision applicable. Existing law also requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to establish model uniform academic standards, develop and implement a speedy process whereby high schools may obtain approval of their courses as satisfying specified admissions requirements, and develop a simple procedure to evaluate career technical education courses, as specified. This bill would request the Regents of the University of California, subject to availability of funds in the annual Budget Act, the availability of federal or private funds, or any combination thereof, to establish and maintain the University of California Curriculum Integration Institute (UCCII) to be administered by the President of the University of California. The UCCII would facilitate statewide collaboration and innovation among secondary level teachers, faculty, and instructors from various disciplines from the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, private higher education institutions, and statewide career technical education associations in providing pupils with course content and experience within priority industry sectors among those identified in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education. The UCCII would also develop, disseminate, and promote career-oriented, integrated academic and technical education courses that meet course requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University, and align with high-priority industry sectors among those identified in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards as adopted by the state board. The President of the University of California would be required to determine the priority among the industry sectors in consultation with, but not limited to, educators, industry leaders, representatives of organized labor, and appropriate state entities. The bill would make legislative declarations and findings.
Existing law provides for the establishment and maintenance of subject matter projects by the Regents of the University of California with the approval of the Concurrence Committee. Existing law provides that these subject matter projects are to create opportunities for researchers, higher education faculty, and elementary and secondary school faculty to work together to identify exemplary teaching practices, examine and develop research on learning, knowledge, and educational materials, and provide support to teachers to develop and enhance content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Existing law requires the Concurrence Committee to provide a final report to the Governor and to appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2011, including specified information relating to the subject matter projects. This bill would add 2 areas of emphasis for the subject matter projects. The first would provide teachers with instructional strategies for delivering career-oriented, integrated academic and technical content in a manner that is linked to high-priority industry sectors identified in the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education. The Concurrence Committee, in consultation with specified entities, would determine the priority of industry sectors. The 2nd would provide teachers with instructional strategies for ongoing collaboration on the delivery of career-oriented, integrated academic and technical content. The bill would enlarge the Concurrence Committee by adding a representative appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and make other changes. The bill would repeal the requirement of the January 1, 2011, report and, instead, require a report on or before January 1, 2016. This provision would be inoperative on January 1, 2018. This bill would add the goal of providing teachers with support in the implementation of career-oriented, integrated academic and technical courses that meet course requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University, and align with high-priority industry sectors, as specified. Existing law authorizes 6 topical subject matter projects. This bill would add physical education, arts, and world language, as specified, as topical subject matter areas. Existing law establishes a project advisory board within each subject matter project. This bill would make various changes to the board structure, including decreasing representation of specified groups, and adding a representative selected by the advisory board who is from an industry sector that principally utilizes the discipline addressed by the project. Existing law requires the project advisory board of each statewide subject matter project to use specified criteria in recommending funding for local project sites. This bill would add a criterion for local project sites that serve middle or high school teachers and would require the project advisory board to give special consideration to sites that utilize or are preparing to utilize instructional strategies to deliver career-oriented, integrated academic and technical content. Existing law repeals the article relating to instructional strategies on January 1, 2013, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends the date on which it becomes inoperative. This bill would extend that date until January 1, 2018. This bill, except for a specified provision, would become operative only if an appropriation is made in the annual Budget Act, or if federal funds are appropriated, or both, for the purposes of this bill.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners to assess the English language development of each of those pupils in order to determine the level of proficiency of those pupils. The assessment primarily consists of the administration of the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) that assesses pupils in grades 2 to 12, inclusive, in English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, and pupils in kindergarten and grade 1 in English listening and speaking. Existing law requires that the assessment be conducted upon initial enrollment, and annually thereafter during a period of time determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education, until the pupil is redesignated as English proficient. This bill would require a school district to annually conduct the assessment during a period that commences on the day upon which 55% of the instructional year is completed through July 1 of that calender year and would require the assessment to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil in order to provide information to be used to determine if the pupil is an English learner. These changes would not be implemented unless and until the State Department of Education receives written documentation from the United States Department of Education that implementation is permitted by federal law or until the 2013–14 school year, whichever occurs later. The bill would apply these provisions, to the extent required by federal law, to a county office of education and a charter school, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would prohibit a pupil in any of grades 3 to 12, inclusive, from being required to retake those portions of the CELDT that measure English language skills for which he or she has previously tested as advanced within the appropriate grade span, as determined by the State Department of Education in accordance with specified law. Notwithstanding the above prohibition, the bill also would prohibit a pupil in any of grades 10 to 12, inclusive, from being required to retake those portions of the CELDT that measure English language skills for which he or she has previously tested as early advanced or advanced. These prohibitions would not be implemented until the CELDT publisher's contract that is in effect on January 1, 2012, expires and unless and until the department receives written documentation from the United States Department of Education that implementation is permitted by federal law. 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.
(1) Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the use of risk factors and specified characteristics to deny an injured worker his or her rightful benefit when disabled in the workplace. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the apportionment of risk factors and characteristics without prohibiting the apportionment of documentable preexisting nonindustrial causes of disability or holding an employer liable for any percentage of permanent disability not directly caused by an injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment. (2) Existing law requires any physician who prepares a report addressing the issue of permanent disability due to a claimed industrial injury to address the issue of causation of the permanent disability, and requires that the report include an apportionment determination in order to be considered complete on the issue of permanent disability. Existing law requires a physician to make an apportionment determination by finding what approximate percentage of the permanent disability is caused by the direct result of injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment and what approximate percentage is caused by other factors. This bill would prohibit the approximate percentage of the permanent disability caused by other factors from including consideration of race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or genetic characteristics.
Existing law authorizes school districts to provide specified medical services in connection with athletic events that are under the jurisdiction of, or sponsored or controlled by, school districts. These services include medical or hospital insurance for pupils injured while participating in athletic activities and ambulance service for pupils, instructors, spectators, and other individuals in attendance at athletic activities. This bill would require a school district that elects to offer athletic programs to immediately remove from a school-sponsored athletic activity for the remainder of the day an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury during that activity. The bill would prohibit the return of the athlete to that activity until he or she is evaluated by, and receives written clearance from, a licensed health care provider, as specified. The bill would require, on a yearly basis, a concussion and head injury information sheet to be signed and returned by the athlete and the athlete's parent or guardian before the athlete's initiating practice or competition. These provisions would not apply to an athlete engaged in an athletic activity during the regular schoolday or as part of a physical education course, as specified.
(1) Existing law authorizes employees of public schools to form, join, and participate in the activities of an employee organization for the purpose of representation on matters of employer-employee relations, including terms and conditions of employment. The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to choose whether to be represented by a single provider organization, as defined, that would be designated pursuant to a specified petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding individual family child care providers available to provider organizations and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information. The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to perform various functions, including meeting with state regulatory agencies and engaging in various types of negotiation on matters within a specified scope of representation with the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the Superintendent and other state agencies that administer programs of publicly funded child care. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes and from interfering with, intimidating, restraining, coercing, or discriminating against a family child care provider because the family child care provider joins or refuses to join a provider organization. The state, as defined, also would be subject to the latter prohibition. (2) Existing law, the Budget Act of 2011, identifies AB 101 as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill, to take effect immediately. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the Budget Act of 2011, this act is not a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill, thereby declaring that this act not take effect immediately.