The Pharmacy Law governs the practice of pharmacy in this state, including the permissible duties of licensed pharmacists. Among other permitted acts, a pharmacist filling a prescription order for a drug product prescribed by its trade or brand name may select another drug product with the same active chemical ingredients of the same strength, quantity, and dosage form, and of the same generic drug name as determined by a specified federal entity, of those drug products having the same active chemical ingredients. A person who knowingly violates the Pharmacy Law is guilty of a misdemeanor, as specified. This bill would authorize a pharmacist filling a prescription order for a biological product subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as specified, to select a biosimilar product, as defined by federal statute, provided that product is deemed by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be interchangeable with the prescribed product.
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Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to regulate various consumer products, including food and drugs, for the protection of the people of the state. This bill, known as the Public Health Epidemic Prevention Act of 2014, would authorize the department to request in writing that the manufacturer or a group of manufacturers of a contributing product, as defined, submit a written response to the department's determination that the product is a contributing product. The bill would require the written response to contain specified information, including an analysis of adverse public health impacts and a mitigation plan for those impacts. The bill would authorize the department to charge the manufacturer of the contributing product an amount not exceeding $20,000 for the reasonable costs of reviewing the analysis and mitigation document.
Existing law authorizes specified entities to receive state summary criminal history information from the Department of Justice. Existing law also requires mandated reporters, as defined, to report child abuse and neglect to local law enforcement. This bill would require the department to provide state summary criminal history information to the director of a community youth athletics program, or his or her designee, for the purposes of screening volunteers or employees who are left alone with minors and would prohibit a person from having access to minors as an employee or volunteer if the person has been convicted of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, a crime of child abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence. The bill would provide that completing the background check does not limit the liability of a mandated reporter.
(1) Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies, and provides for the designation of successor agencies that are required to wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies and to, among other things, make payments due for enforceable obligations, as defined. Existing law provides that the city, county, or city and county that authorized the creation of a redevelopment agency may elect to retain the housing assets and functions previously performed by the redevelopment agency. Existing law requires the entity assuming the housing functions of the former redevelopment agency to perform various functions. This bill would change provisions relating to the functions to be performed by the entity assuming the housing functions of the former redevelopment agency to instead refer to the housing successor. (2) Existing law provides that any funds transferred to the city, county, or city and county or the entity assuming the housing functions of the former redevelopment agency, together with any funds generated from housing assets, shall be maintained in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund which shall be used in accordance with applicable housing-related provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law, as specified. This bill would provide that funds in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund shall be used in accordance with applicable housing-related provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law, except as specified. The bill would require the housing successor to expend funds in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, other than those expended to meet enforceable obligations, for the purpose of monitoring and preserving the long-term affordability of units subject to affordability restrictions or covenants entered into by the redevelopment agency or the housing successor, for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services to individuals and families who are homeless or would be homeless but for this assistance, and for the development of affordable housing, as specified. (3) Existing law requires that moneys in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund be used to assist housing for persons of low income and housing for persons of very low income in at least the same proportion as the total number of housing units needed for each of those income groups bears to the total number of units needed for persons of moderate, low, and very low income within the community, as specified. This bill would provide that these provisions shall not apply, and would instead require that if the aggregate number of units of deed-restricted rental housing restricted to seniors and assisted by the housing successor, its former redevelopment agency, and its host jurisdiction within the previous 10 years exceeds 50% of the aggregate number of units of deed-restricted rental housing assisted by the housing successor, its former redevelopment agency, and its host jurisdiction within the same time period, then the housing successor shall not expend these funds to assist additional senior housing units until the housing successor or its host jurisdiction assists, and construction has started on, a number of units available to all persons regardless of age that is equal to 50% of the aggregate number of units of deed-restricted rental housing units assisted by the housing successor, its former redevelopment agency, and its host jurisdiction within the same time period. (4) Existing law requires that a specified percentage of all taxes that are allocated to a former redevelopment agency be used outside a specified project area upon a resolution of the agency and the legislative body that the use will be of benefit to the project. This bill would provide that program income a housing successor receives shall not be associated with a project area and may be expended anywhere within the jurisdiction of the housing successor or transferred for the purpose of developing transit priority projects, permanent supportive housing, housing for agricultural employees, or special needs housing, without a finding of benefit to a project area, as specified. The bill would also authorize 2 or more housing successors, as specified, to agree to transfer funds among their respective Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Funds, as specified. (5) Existing law provides that if excess surplus accumulates in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund, the former redevelopment agency may adopt a plan for expenditure of the moneys. Existing law also requires that upon failure of the former redevelopment agency to expend or encumber excess surplus in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund, it shall be required to disburse, expend, or encumber its excess surplus, as specified. This bill would provide that these provisions shall not apply, and would instead provide that if a housing successor has an excess surplus, the housing successor shall encumber the excess surplus for specified purposes or transfer the funds within 3 fiscal years. The bill would provide that if the housing successor fails to comply with this subdivision, the housing successor, within 90 days of the end of the 3rd fiscal year, shall transfer any excess surplus to the Department of Housing and Community Development for expenditure pursuant to the Multifamily Housing Program or the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program. (6) Existing law requires a former redevelopment agency, for each interest in real property acquired using moneys from the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund, to, within 5 years from the date it first acquires the property interest for the development of housing affordable to persons and families of low and moderate income, initiate activities consistent with the development of the property for that purpose. Existing law provides that in the event that physical development of the property for this purpose has not begun by the end of a specified time period, or if the former redevelopment agency does not comply with this requirement, the property shall be sold and the moneys from the sale, less reimbursement to the agency for the cost of the sale, shall be deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. This bill would provide that these provisions shall not apply to interests in real property acquired on or after February 1, 2012, and that with respect to interests in real property acquired by the former redevelopment agency prior to February 1, 2012, the specified time periods shall be deemed to have commenced on the date that the Department of Finance approved the property as a housing asset. (7) Existing law requires every former redevelopment agency to submit the final report of any audit undertaken and an annual report to its legislative body, as specified. Existing law also requires the Controller to compile and publish annually reports of the financial transactions of each former community redevelopment agency, to make the data available to the Legislature and its agents upon request, and to publish this information for each project area of each redevelopment agency. This bill would provide that these provisions shall not apply and, instead, would require the housing successor to conduct and provide to its governing body an independent financial audit of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund. It would also require the housing successor to post specified information on its Internet Web site.
Existing law authorizes a physician and surgeon to prescribe, dispense, or administer prescription drugs, including prescription-controlled substances, to an addict under his or her treatment, as specified. Existing law prohibits, except in the regular practice of his or her profession, any person from knowingly prescribing, administering, dispensing, or furnishing a controlled substance to or for any person who is not under his or her treatment for a pathology or condition other than an addiction to a controlled substance, except as specified. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2016, and only in specified counties, a licensed health care provider, who is already permitted pursuant to existing law to prescribe an opioid antagonist, as defined, and who is acting with reasonable care, to prescribe and subsequently dispense or distribute an opioid antagonist in conjunction with an opioid overdose prevention and treatment training program, as defined, without being subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution. Existing law requires a local health jurisdiction that operates or registers an opioid overdose prevention and treatment training program to collect prescribed data and report it to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary by January 1, 2015. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2016, and only in specified counties, a person who is not licensed to administer an opioid antagonist to do so in an emergency without fee if the person has received specified training information and believes in good faith that the other person is experiencing a drug overdose. Existing law prohibits that person, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, from being liable for any violation of any professional licensing statute, or subject to any criminal prosecution arising from or related to the unauthorized practice of medicine or the possession of an opioid antagonist. This bill would revise and recast these provisions to instead authorize a licensed health care provider who is permitted by law to prescribe an opioid antagonist and is acting with reasonable care to prescribe and subsequently dispense or distribute an opioid antagonist for the treatment of an opioid overdose to a person at risk of an opioid-related overdose or a family member, friend, or other person in a position to assist a person at risk of an opioid-related overdose. The bill would authorize these licensed health care providers to issue standing orders for the distribution of an opioid antagonist to a person at risk of an opioid-related overdose or to a family member, friend, or other person in a position to assist the person at risk. The bill would authorize these licensed health care providers to issue standing orders for the administration of an opioid antagonist by a family member, friend, or other person in a position to assist a person experiencing or suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose. The bill would provide that a licensed health care provider who acts with reasonable care and issues a prescription for, or an order for the administration of, an opioid antagonist to a person experiencing or suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose is not subject to professional review, liable in a civil action, or subject to criminal prosecution for issuing the prescription or order. The bill would provide that a person who is not otherwise licensed to administer an opioid antagonist, but who meets other specified conditions, is not subject to professional review, liable in a civil action, or subject to criminal prosecution for administering an opioid antagonist. The bill would also delete the repeal date and reporting requirements and expand the applicability of these provisions statewide.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Developmental Services and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of the state developmental centers. Existing law establishes the State Department of State Hospitals and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of state hospitals. This bill would require designated investigators of developmental centers and state hospitals to request a sexual assault forensic medical examination for any resident of a developmental center or any resident of a state hospital, as applicable, who is a victim or is reasonably suspected to be a victim of sexual assault, as defined, performed at an appropriate facility off the grounds of the developmental center or state hospital in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would authorize a sexual assault forensic medical examination to be performed at a developmental center or a state hospital by an independent sexual assault forensic examiner designated to perform examinations of victims of sexual assault in the jurisdiction of the developmental center or state hospital only under specified circumstances. Existing law requires a developmental center to immediately report specified incidents involving a resident to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the city or county in which the developmental center is located. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including long-term health care facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law provides for a citation system for the imposition of civil penalties against long-term health care facilities, including penalties specifically applicable to certain skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities, in violation of applicable laws and regulations. This bill would deem a developmental center's failure to report an incident that occurs in a distinct part long-term health care facility to local law enforcement a class B violation subject to certain penalties, as specified. The bill would provide that if the incident occurs in the general acute care hospital or acute psychiatric hospital portion of the developmental center, a failure to immediately report the incident would be subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each day the incident is not reported. The bill would make other related changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 4427.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code made by AB 602, to become operative if AB 602 and this bill are both enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2014, and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008, as approved by the voters, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $900,000,000, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, for purposes of financing the Cal-Vet program for farm, home, and mobilehome purchase assistance for veterans. This bill would amend the Veterans' Bond Act of 2008 to reduce the amount of bonds that are authorized to be issued under the act from $900,000,000 to $300,000,000. The bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (the bond act) to authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide multifamily housing to veterans pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA) , also enacted by the bill. The bill would authorize the Legislature to amend the provisions of the bond act, by majority vote, for specified purposes. The bill would impose a specified reporting requirement on the Department of Housing and Community Development to evaluate, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, any program established by the former pursuant to the VHHPA. The bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide specified assistance to veterans. The bill would provide for submission of a specified section to the voters at the June 3, 2014, statewide primary election, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides for creation of one or more special benefit districts within a transit district or rapid transit district relative to the issuance of bonds to be repaid through special assessments levied on property within the special benefit district, or certain zones within the special benefit district, with the proceeds of the bonds to be used for specified transit improvements. Existing law enacts similar provisions applicable to a municipal transit system owned by a city or city and county. This bill would repeal all of these provisions. Existing law, with respect to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, authorizes the creation of one or more benefit districts by the authority for rail transit purposes. This bill, until January 1, 2021, would enact new general provisions similar to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority provisions that would authorize an operator, defined to mean a transit district, municipal operator, or other public agency operating or contracting for the operation of transit, commuter rail, or intercity rail services, to create one or more special benefit districts within the service area of the operator relative to the issuance of bonds to be repaid through special assessments levied on property within the special benefit district, or zones within the special benefit district. An operator other than a transit district or municipal operator would be authorized to implement these provisions only if the action is consistent with the general or specific plans of the city or county within which the special benefit district is to be created. The proceeds of the bonds would be required to be used for eligible transit projects, including transit stations and rail facilities, as defined. The eligible transit projects would be required to provide special benefits to parcels of land, and improvements on those parcels, within the vicinity of transit stations. The bill would require the area included in a benefit district established under these provisions to lie not more than12 mile from the center point of a transit station. The bill would require the special benefit assessments authorized by the bill to be levied and collected by the applicable county and would thereby 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 designates the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as the regional transportation planning agency for the San Francisco Bay Area. Existing law creates the Bay Area Toll Authority, governed by the same board as the commission, with specified powers and duties relative to the administration of certain toll revenues from state-owned toll bridges within the geographic jurisdiction of the commission. Existing law authorizes the authority to do all acts necessary or convenient for the exercise of its powers and the financing of projects, including the authorization to acquire, construct, manage, maintain, lease, or operate any public facility or improvements and to invest any money not required for immediate necessities as the authority deems advisable. This bill would prohibit the authority from purchasing or otherwise acquiring office space and office facilities in addition to the office space and office facilities located at 390 Main Street in San Francisco. Existing law authorizes the authority to make contributions to the commission in furtherance of the exercise of the authority's powers, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the authority to make contributions to the commission on a reimbursement-for-cost basis, but reimbursement is not required to the extent the authority determines that the contributions are in furtherance of the exercise of the authority's powers. This bill would limit direct contributions by the authority to the commission to 1% of gross annual toll bridge revenues, and would include a contribution for overhead expenses as an authorized contribution. The bill would authorize contributions by the authority to the commission on a reimbursement-for-cost basis to be provided in the form of a loan, and would require those loans to be repaid at a specified interest rate. The bill would limit the amount of these loans to 1% of gross annual toll bridge revenues.
Existing federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) , establishes certain requirements relating to the provision of health insurance, and the protection of privacy of individually identifiable health information. 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 its provisions a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, provides that medical information, as defined, may not be disclosed by providers of health care, health care service plans, or contractors, as defined, without the patient's written authorization, subject to certain exceptions, including disclosure to a probate court investigator, as specified. A violation of the act resulting in economic loss or personal injury to a patient is a misdemeanor and subjects the violating party to liability for specified damages and administrative fines and penalties. The act defines various terms relevant to its implementation. Existing law, the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, generally regulates how insurers collect, use, and disclose information gathered in connection with insurance transactions. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to incorporate HIPAA standards into state law and to clarify standards for protecting the confidentiality of medical information in insurance transactions. The bill would define additional terms in connection with maintaining the confidentiality of this information, including a "confidential communications request" which an insured, or a subscriber or enrollee under a health care service plan, may submit for the purpose of specifying the method for transmitting medical information communications. This bill would specify the manner in which a health care service plan or health insurer, on and after January 1, 2015, would be required to maintain confidentiality of medical information regarding the treatment of an insured, subscriber, or enrollee, including requiring a health care service plan or health insurer to accommodate requests by insureds, subscribers, and enrollees to receive requests for confidential communication of medical information in situations involving sensitive services or situations in which disclosure would endanger the individual. This bill would specifically authorize a provider of health care to communicate information regarding benefit cost-sharing arrangements to the health care service plan or health insurer, as specified. This bill would also prohibit the health care service plan or health insurer from conditioning enrollment in the plan or eligibility for benefits on the waiver of certain rights provided for in the bill. The bill also would make conforming technical changes. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, and because this bill would expand the scope of a crime, the bill would create 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.