(1) 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 the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires that health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies provide coverage for certain services and treatments, including emergency medical transportation services. This bill would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2020, to provide that if an enrollee, insured, or subscriber (individual) receives covered services from a noncontracting air ambulance provider, the individual shall pay no more than the same cost sharing that the individual would pay for the same covered services received from a contracting air ambulance provider, referred to as the in-network cost-sharing amount. The bill would provide that an individual would not owe the noncontracting provider more than the in-network cost-sharing amount for services. The bill would authorize a noncontracting provider to advance to collections only the in-network cost-sharing amount that the individual has failed to pay. The bill would authorize a health care service plan, health insurer, or provider to seek relief in any court for the purpose of resolving a payment dispute, and would not prohibit a provider from using a health care service plan's or health insurer's existing dispute resolution processes. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act, effective until January 1, 2022, imposes a penalty of $4 until January 1, 2020, upon every conviction for a violation of the Vehicle Code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code, other than a parking offense. The act requires the county or the court that imposed the fine to transfer the moneys collected pursuant to that act to the Treasurer for deposit into the Emergency Medical Air Transportation and Children's Coverage Fund. Under the act, moneys in the fund are made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Health Care Services for children's health care coverage and administrative costs relating to emergency medical air transportation provider payments. Existing law requires the assessed penalty to continue to be collected, administered, and distributed until exhausted or until June 30, 2021, whichever occurs first, and requires any remaining unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the fund to be transferred to the General Fund, to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes, including funding children's health care coverage. This bill would impose the penalty until July 1, 2020, and would extend the above-specified dates by six months. (3) 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, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy and makes a violation of these requirements a crime. Existing law generally authorizes a pharmacist to dispense or furnish drugs only pursuant to a valid prescription, except as provided, such as furnishing emergency contraceptives, hormonal contraceptives, and naloxone hydrochloride, pursuant to standardized procedures. This bill would authorize a pharmacist to furnish preexposure prophylaxis and postexposure prophylaxis in specified amounts and would require a pharmacist to furnish those drugs if certain conditions are met, including that the pharmacist determines the patient meets the clinical criteria for preexposure prophylaxis or postexposure prophylaxis consistent with federal guidelines. The bill would require a pharmacist, before furnishing preexposure prophylaxis or postexposure prophylaxis, to complete a training program approved by the board. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 pursuant to a schedule of benefits, including pharmacist services, which are subject to approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill would expand the Medi-Cal schedule of benefits to include preexposure prophylaxis and postexposure prophylaxis as pharmacist services, as specified. 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 the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law authorizes health care service plans and health insurers that cover prescription drugs to utilize reasonable medical management practices, including prior authorization and step therapy, consistent with applicable law. For combination antiretroviral drug treatments medically necessary for the prevention of AIDS/HIV, existing law prohibits plans and insurers, until January 1, 2023, from having utilization management policies or procedures that rely on a multitablet drug regimen instead of a single-tablet drug regimen, except as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit plans and insurers from subjecting antiretroviral drugs, including preexposure prophylaxis or postexposure prophylaxis, to prior authorization or step therapy, except that if the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved one or more therapeutic equivalents of a drug, device, or product for the prevention of AIDS/HIV, the bill would instead require the plan or insurer to cover at least one of the therapeutically equivalent versions without prior authorization or step therapy. The bill would also prohibit plans and insurers from prohibiting, or allowing a pharmacy benefit manager to prohibit, a pharmacy provider from providing preexposure prophylaxis or postexposure prophylaxis, except as specified. The bill would prohibit plans and insurers from covering preexposure prophylaxis that has been furnished by a pharmacist in excess of specified amounts. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district or community college district to order an election and submit to the electors of the district the question of whether the bonds of the district shall be issued and sold to raise money for specified purposes. Existing law generally requires, to pass a school bond measure, that either at least 23 of the votes cast on the proposition of issuing bonds be in favor of issuing the bonds to pass the measure, or, if certain conditions are met, at least 55% of the votes cast on the proposition of issuing bonds be in favor of issuing the bonds. Existing law prohibits the total amount of bonds issued by a school district or community college district from exceeding 1.25% of the taxable property of the district, as provided. This bill would raise that limit to 2%. (2) Existing law also authorizes a unified school district to issue bonds receiving at least 55% of the votes cast on the proposition of issuing the bonds that, in aggregation with bonds issued with a 23 favorable vote, do not exceed 2.5% of the taxable property of the district, as provided. This bill would raise that limit to 4%. The bill would make a similar percentage increase for community college districts. (3) The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 provides for the adoption of rules, regulations, and procedures, under the administration of the Director of General Services, for the allocation of state funds by the State Allocation Board for the construction and modernization of public school facilities. This bill would, among other things, require a school district to submit to the Department of General Services a 5-year school facilities master plan or updated 5-year school facilities master plan, as provided, as a condition of participating in the school facilities program under the act, would require the school district to submit specified information in the school district's application for an apportionment of state funds, and would make other changes to requirements a school district is required to comply with before participating in programs under the act. The bill would require the department to process applications to participate in the program, as specified, and would make other changes to the method by which the board makes apportionments of moneys under the act. This bill would establish the 2020 State School Facilities Fund, and authorize the board to apportion, and make disbursements of, moneys in the fund, as provided. The bill would require, for bonds approved by voters in 2020 or thereafter, the board to adjust a school district's required local and state contribution, as specified. The bill would authorize new construction and modernization grants to be used for seismic mitigation purposes and, among other things, to establish schoolsite-based infrastructure to provide broadband internet access. The bill would also authorize modernization grants to be used, among other things, for the control, management, or abatement of lead and for the demolishment and construction of a building on an existing schoolsite that meets specified conditions. The bill would prohibit the use of new construction and modernization grants for the purchase of portable electronic devices with a useful life of less than 3 years. This bill would authorize funding for health and safety projects by a school district, as provided. This bill would authorize the board to provide a grant to test for lead in water outlets used for drinking or preparing food on schoolsites serving kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided. The bill would specify procedures that small school districts, as defined, may use to obtain project and construction management, new construction grants, and modernization grants. The bill would also make conforming changes in, and remove inoperative provisions from, the act. (4) The act also requires the board to adopt regulations for determining the amount of funding and the eligibility and prioritization of funding that school districts with a financial hardship may receive from bond acts for construction, modernization, or relocation assistance. The act requires those regulations to include consideration of various factors, including whether the school district's total bonding capacity is $5,000,000 or less, in which case the school district shall be deemed eligible for financial hardship. This bill, for purposes of the regulations related to financial hardship eligibility, would increase the total bonding capacity cap to $15,000,000, to be adjusted as specified. (5) The California Constitution prohibits the Legislature from creating a debt or liability that singly or in the aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities exceeds the sum of $300,000, except by an act that (A) authorizes the debt for a single object or work specified in the act, (B) has been passed by a 23 vote of all the Members elected to each house of the Legislature, (C) has been submitted to the people at a statewide general or primary election, and (D) has received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at that election. This bill would set forth the Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020 as a state general obligation bond act that would provide $15,000,000,000 to construct and modernize education facilities, as specified. This bond act would become operative only if approved by the voters at the March 3, 2020, statewide primary election. The bill would also provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at that election. (6) Existing law establishes the California State University, which is administered by the Board of Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would require the Board of Trustees and the Regents to comply with certain conditions, as provided, before receiving funds from the 2020 University Capital Outlay Bond Fund established pursuant to the Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020. (7) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to impose, as specified, an alternative fee, charge, dedication, or requirement on developers to fund school facilities, until the date new construction bond proceeds authorized by the Preschool-College Public Education Bond Act of 2016 are expended, or December 31, 2020, whichever is earlier. This bill would remove this authority beginning the earlier of January 1, 2021, or the date new construction bond proceeds authorized by the 2016 bond act are expended or apportioned, until January 1, 2028. The bill would also exempt multifamily housing developments that are located no further than 12 mile from a major transit stop, and reduce by 20% from specified amounts for any other multifamily housing developments, as specified, from any fee, charge, dedication, or other requirement for the construction or reconstruction of school facilities, as provided. (8) This bill, except for the provision making the provisions of the bill severable, would become effective upon the adoption of the Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020 by the voters at the March 3, 2020, statewide primary election.
Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the state agency primarily responsible for the administration and coordination of student financial aid programs at California postsecondary educational institutions. Existing federal law establishes the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program for purposes of providing financial aid to current and former foster youth who are attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law provides that the Student Aid Commission, through an interagency agreement with the State Department of Social Services, currently operates the program in California. Existing law authorizes the commission or the department, for the fiscal years 2018–19 to 2020–21, inclusive, to expend up to $80,000, of any moneys appropriated by the Legislature to expand the Chafee Educational and Training Vouchers Program age eligibility of former foster youth up to 26 years of age, for outreach to newly eligible former foster youth who are at least 23 years of age, but are not yet 26 years of age. Commencing with the 2021–22 award year, this bill would authorize the commission to make initial award offers of up to 200% of total state and federal program funding available for all awards, with the number of initial award offers and the amount of the award to be determined based on the historical rate of award acceptance. The bill would require the commission to make award offers contingent upon available funding. The bill would authorize the commission to adjust or withdraw offers to ensure that awards do not exceed available program funding. The bill would also require the commission to advise award offer recipients that offers may be withdrawn or adjusted before payment and that awards are payable to eligible students only if funding is available. This bill would impose certain requirements on a student who fails to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, as defined by the institution where the student is enrolled, to maintain Chafee grant eligibility, and would take away Chafee grant eligibility from a student who fails to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, as specified. The bill would require that institutions provide an appeal process in writing and reinstate the student's Chafee grant when certain conditions are met. The bill would also provide that a student who loses Chafee eligibility and subsequently is not enrolled for one or more terms shall regain eligibility upon reenrollment. The bill would require the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and would request the University of California, to provide all Chafee grant recipients, upon release of the first payment, with information regarding available support services on campus and the process for completing an educational plan and, in that notification, to strongly encourage Chafee grant recipients to avail themselves of those services if they have not already done so. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. This bill would limit the duration of receipt of a Chafee award to 5 years, which would not be required to be consecutive. The bill would prohibit an institution from requiring any other eligibility criteria for a Chafee grant than those described in this bill and in specified 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, 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 authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds. Existing law sets forth general administrative provisions applicable to voluntary contributions, which, among other things, repeal funds that fail to meet a minimum contribution amount of $250,000 in a given taxable year. This bill would allow a taxpayer to designate an amount in excess of personal income tax liability to be transferred into the Suicide Prevention Voluntary Contribution Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return to include a space for this fund when another voluntary contribution designation is removed or space becomes available. The bill would require the fund to meet an annual minimum contribution amount of $250,000, as specified. The bill would require moneys transferred to the Suicide Prevention Voluntary Contribution Fund to be continuously appropriated and allocated to the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to award grants and provide disbursements to crisis centers located in the state that are active members of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for the purpose of providing suicide prevention services and to reimburse the commission, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Controller for related administrative costs, as provided. The bill would provide that these provisions shall remain in effect only until January 1 of the 7th calendar year following the first appearance of the fund on the personal income tax return, and would repeal these provisions on December 1 of that year. The bill would provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during the 2nd and later calendar years after its first appearance on a return will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year. By continuously appropriating these funds, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law requires the court, in a case involving a conviction of a serious or violent felony resulting in a sentence of 15 years or more, to order that the defendant be provided reasonable access to discovery materials upon the prosecution of a postconviction writ of habeas corpus or a motion to vacate judgment and a showing that good faith efforts to obtain discovery materials from trial counsel were made and were unsuccessful. In a case in which a sentence other than death or life in prison without the possibility of parole has been imposed, if a court has entered a previous order granting discovery pursuant to the above provision, existing law authorizes a subsequent order granting discovery to be made in the court's discretion. Existing law states that those provisions, which took effect January 1, 2019, apply prospectively. This bill would instead make those provisions also apply to a case in which a defendant has ever been convicted of those specified felonies. By expanding the number of circumstances under which the court would be authorized to require local agencies to provide access to physical evidence, 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law provides for various exclusions from gross income, including an exclusion for the amount of student loan indebtedness repaid or canceled pursuant to a specified federal law. This bill would exclude from gross income the amount of student loan indebtedness discharged on or after January 1, 2019, and before January 1, 2024, for an eligible individual who is granted a discharge under specified conditions, as provided, including that the individual attended a Brightwood College school or a location of The Art Institute of California. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law authorizes a person who has been convicted of a felony, imprisoned or incarcerated, and granted a pardon because either the crime was not committed or the person was innocent of the crime to present a claim against the state to the board for the pecuniary injury sustained by the person through the erroneous conviction and imprisonment or incarceration. Under existing law, if a court grants a writ of habeas corpus but does not find the person factually innocent or if the court vacates a judgment due to new evidence of innocence, the person may move for a finding of factual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence. Existing law requires the board, under any of those circumstances, if the court makes a finding that the petitioner has proven their factual innocence, upon application by the person, and without a hearing, to recommend to the Legislature that an appropriation be made and the claim paid, as specified. This bill would make those provisions applicable to cases in which newly discovered evidence of actual innocence exists that requires vacation of a conviction. Existing law requires the claim for compensation for wrongful convictions to be presented to the board within 2 years after the judgment of acquittal, pardon granted, or release from custody. This bill would instead require the claim for compensation to be presented to the board within a period of 10 years after judgment of acquittal, dismissal of charges, pardon granted, or release from custody, whichever is later.
(1) Existing law regulating professions and vocations requires certain designated agencies, within the purview of the Department of Consumer Affairs, to require applicants to furnish their fingerprints for purposes of conducting criminal history record checks. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2021, add the California Architects Board and the Landscape Architects Technical Committee to the list of designated agencies subject to these provisions. The bill would also provide that beginning on January 1, 2021, the California Architects Board has the authority to obtain and review criminal offender record information to determine whether an applicant is subject to denial of a license. The bill would require, as a condition of the application for a license or reinstatement thereof, that each applicant furnish to the Department of Justice a full set of fingerprints for the purpose of conducting a criminal history check and undergoing a state and federal level criminal offender record information search. The bill would require an applicant to certify under penalty of perjury that the applicant's fingerprints have been furnished to the Department of Justice in compliance with this provision and to pay the reasonable regulatory costs for furnishing the fingerprints and conducting the searches. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the Architects Practice Act, establishes the California Architects Board consisting of 10 members and sets forth its powers and duties over the licensure and regulation of architects. The act permits the board to appoint a person who is exempt from civil service as its executive officer to exercise duties delegated to the officer by the board. Existing law transfers duties previously within the jurisdiction of the California State Board of Landscape Architects to the California Architects Board. Existing law also creates a Landscape Architects Technical Committee within the jurisdiction of the board and authorizes the committee to assist the board in examining candidates for a landscape architect's license and, after investigation, evaluate and make recommendations regarding potential violations of the act. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2020. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2024. The bill would also confer specified powers of the board to its executive officer, or, in the executive officer's absence, to the acting executive officer. These powers would include receiving and filing accusations, issuing notices of hearings, and conducting various other duties in connection with the board's administrative hearing duties. The bill would additionally delegate to the executive officer the board's power to evaluate and determine qualifications and approve applicants for examination and determine eligibility for applicants for reciprocity licenses to waive the written examination. This bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions related to the renaming of the "State Board of Architectural Examiners" to the "California Architects Board." (3) Existing law authorizes boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs, to establish, by regulation, a system for issuing a citation to a licensee in accordance with certain provisions. Under existing law, the system is required to contain, among other elements, information provided to the licensee that if they desire a hearing to contest the finding of a violation, that hearing shall be requested by written notice to the board within 30 days of the date of issuance of the citation or assessment. This bill would authorize a cited person subject to the Architects Practice Act, in addition to requesting an administrative hearing as described above, to request an informal conference to review the acts charged in the citation, in accordance with certain procedural requirements and timeframes. (4) Under existing law, an architect is required to use a written contract when contracting to provide professional services, as specified. Existing law requires that the contract include, among other things, a description of services to be provided and a description of the procedure to be used to accommodate additional services. This bill would require the written contract to also include a description of the project, a description of the procedure that will be used to accommodate additional services and contract changes, the project address, a statement identifying the ownership and use of instruments of service prepared by the architect, and a statement notifying the client that the architect is licensed and regulated by the board located at a specified address. The bill would provide that the written contract requirement does not apply to professional services rendered to a public agency when using that agency's written contract. (5) Existing law requires a landscape architect to use a written contract when contracting to provide professional services. Existing law requires that the contract include, among other things, a description of services to be provided, a description of the procedure to be used to accommodate additional services, and a notice that landscape architects are licensed by the State of California. This bill would require the written contract to also include a description of the project for which the client is seeking services, a description of the procedure that the landscape architect and the client will use to accommodate contract changes, a statement identifying the ownership and use of instruments of service prepared, and a statement notifying the client that the landscape architect is licensed by the Landscape Architects Technical Committee located at a specified address. The bill would revise and recast related provisions governing written contracts for landscape architects. The bill would provide that the written contract requirement does not apply to professional services rendered to a public agency when using that agency's written contract. (6) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to advertise or represent that they are a "registered building designer" or registered or otherwise licensed by the state as a building designer. This bill would delete the above misdemeanor penalty provision prohibiting a person from advertising or representing that they are a "registered building designer" or registered or otherwise licensed by the state as a building designer. (7) Existing law requires a person licensed to practice architecture to complete, as a condition of license renewal, a specified amount of coursework regarding disability access requirements that depends on the date of renewal. Existing law requires a licensee to comply with specified recordkeeping requirements to that effect. This bill would revise and recast those requirements to, among other changes, require a licensee to complete 5 hours of coursework that meets certain requirements, and would require the board to promulgate regulations to establish qualifications for courses and course providers by January 1, 2023. The bill would also make a licensee who provides false or misleading information as it relates to completion of coursework requirements subject to an administrative citation or disciplinary action by the board and would make specified changes to the recordkeeping requirements. (8) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (9) 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 Pierce's Disease Control Program in the Department of Food and Agriculture and requires the Governor to appoint a statewide coordinator. Existing law establishes the Pierce's Disease Management Account in the Food and Agriculture Fund and allows certain money in this account to be expended to combat Pierce's disease and its vectors, including the glassy-winged sharpshooter, and for purposes relating to other designated pests and diseases, as provided. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on March 1, 2021, and repeals them on January 1, 2022. This bill would extend to March 1, 2026, the date on which the above provisions become inoperative, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2027. The bill would require the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to appoint a statewide coordinator. By extending the operative date for a partially continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law creates in the department the Pierce's Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board, which consists of specified members, and prescribes the functions and duties of the board with respect to implementation of the Pierce's disease program. Existing law provides for an annual assessment to be paid by grape processors, as defined, into the Food and Agriculture Fund and continuously appropriates the collected funds for the purposes of, among other things, research and other activities related to the Pierce's disease program. Existing law repeals these provisions on March 1, 2021. This bill would extend the repeal date of these provisions to March 1, 2026, and would make related conforming changes. By extending the date until which the assessments are collected, the bill would make an appropriation.