Sen. Richard Pan

This measure would encourage the motion picture industry to take specified action with regard to the industry's depiction of smoking, and would encourage the State Department of Public Health, the Attorney General, and other state and local agencies to continue to expand efforts to reduce and eliminate the depiction of smoking in entertainment and media venues, as specified.

Existing law, the Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) , establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to members of the system, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations, and is administered by its board of administration. PERL authorizes a public agency to contract to make its employees members of PERS and prescribes a process for this. PERL prohibits participating employers from failing or refusing to pay their contributions on time. PERL authorizes the board to charge interest on agency contributions due and unpaid. This bill would require a contracting agency that fails to make its required employer contributions on time, and that fails to cure the delinquency within 7 days, to notify members and retired members who are current or past employees of that agency, or their beneficiaries, of the agency's delinquency by mail within 30 days of the payment having become delinquent. The bill would require the board to provide contact information in a specified format to contracting agencies for the purpose of providing notice to members and retired members who are current or past employees of that agency, or to their beneficiaries, and would prescribe a process in this regard. The bill would immunize contracting agencies for failure to provide notice if the contact information is incomplete or incorrect.

The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. The California Constitution qualifies this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and State Teachers' Retirement System from making investments in certain countries and in thermal coal companies, as specified, subject to the boards' plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of their respective systems. This bill would request the University of California to establish the Pension Divestment Review Program to assess divestment proposals. The bill would require the program to assess, upon the request of specified parties, a divestment proposal and to prepare a written analysis with relevant data on the effects of the proposal on employee pension funds and public policy, as prescribed. The bill would define a divestment proposal as a bill or constitutional amendment, introduced or amended in the Legislature, that would require the Public Employees' Retirement Fund or the Teachers' Retirement Fund to divest assets or restrict the fund from investing based on specific criteria or by reference to an external benchmark. The bill would require the program to use the services of a certified actuary or other person with relevant knowledge and expertise to determine the financial impact of a proposal, as specified, and to collaborate with experts in the public pension fund investment profession. The bill would authorize the Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement, and Social Security, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Employment and Retirement, the Speaker of the Assembly, or the President pro Tempore of the Senate to request assessment of a divestment proposal and would require the requesting party to forward the proposal to the program. Not later than 60 days after receiving a request, the bill would require the program to provide its analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the program's analysis to be made publicly available. The bill would create the Pension Divestment Review Program the moneys in which, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would be available to support the work of the program. The bill would appropriate $2,000,000 from the General Fund for support of the program for the 2018–19 fiscal year. The bill would require the program to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on or before January 1, 2020, regarding the implementation of these provisions.

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. The federal Medicaid program provisions prohibit payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. Existing law requires individuals under 19 years of age enrolled in restricted-scope Medi-Cal at the time the Director of Health Care Services makes a determination that systems have been programmed for implementation of these provisions, be enrolled in the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits, if otherwise eligible, pursuant to an eligibility and enrollment plan, as specified. Existing law makes the effective date of enrollment for those individuals the same day that systems are operational to begin processing new applications pursuant to the director's determination. This bill would additionally extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals 65 years of age or older, if otherwise eligible for those benefits, but for their immigration status, subject to an appropriation. The bill would also delete provisions delaying implementation until the director makes the determination described above. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and this bill would expand Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, 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 establishes 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 provides for a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, including certain dental services that are referred to as Denti-Cal, and dental managed care plans. This bill would require the department, for Denti-Cal and dental managed care plan beneficiaries with special dental care needs, to provide a payment adjustment to providers in the Denti-Cal program and for dental managed care plans, as specified. The bill would not limit the provision or scope of Denti-Cal services covered under existing law. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary approvals from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement the bill. The bill would require the department to implement its provisions only in a manner that is consistent with federal Medicaid law and regulations, and only to the extent that the necessary approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is not jeopardized. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific its provisions, and any applicable federal waivers and state plan amendments, by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action, and would require the department to subsequently adopt regulations, as specified, by July 1, 2022. The bill would require the department, commencing January 1, 2020, to provide the Legislature with semiannual status reports to the Legislature until regulations have been adopted.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2017, the adjusted gross income limit is $80,156 and $40,078, respectively. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on and after January 1, 2018, would increase the credit amount for a qualified renter, as specified, and would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation the credit amount for taxable years on and after January 1, 2023. The bill would authorize the Governor to suspend the increased credit amount by proclamation if the Governor finds and declares that an economic emergency exists in this state and it is necessary that the increased credit amount be suspended, in which case the credit amount would be the credit amount for the taxable year immediately preceding the taxable year in which the suspension of the credit applies. The bill would also provide that the increased credit amount is $0 for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, unless otherwise specified in a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. In the event the increased credit amount is $0, the existing credit amounts of $60 and $120, respectively, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

This measure would mark May 6, 2018, as the 136th anniversary of the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in order to recognize the harm caused by racially discriminatory immigration measures, and to honor the contributions of all immigrants and refugees who have enriched our communities. The measure would also declare the opposition of the Legislature to executive orders and a presidential proclamation signed by President Trump relating to immigration, call upon the President to revoke those orders and that proclamation, condemn the expansion of deportations being undertaken under the current presidential administration, and reaffirm that the state is open and welcoming to immigrants and refugees who are integral to life in our state.

This measure would proclaim June 2018 as California Grown Flower Month to recognize and honor the people of the California grown flower industry for their dedication and productivity.