Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange that facilitates the purchase of qualified health plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers, and meets certain other requirements. PPACA specifies that an individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States shall not be treated as a qualified individual and may not be covered under a qualified health plan offered through an exchange. Existing law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange for the purpose of facilitating the enrollment of qualified individual and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law governs health care service plans and insurers. A violation of the provisions governing health care service plans is a crime. This bill would create the California Health Exchange Program for All Californians within state government and would require that the program be governed by the executive board that governs the California Health Benefit Exchange. The bill would specify the duties of the board relative to the program and would require the board to, by January 1, 2016, facilitate the enrollment into qualified health plans of individuals who are not eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal coverage and would have been eligible to purchase coverage through the Exchange but for their immigration status. The bill would require the board to provide premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions to eligible individuals that are the same as the premium assistance and cost-sharing reductions the individuals would have received through the Exchange. The bill would create the California Health Trust Fund For All Californians as a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation, would require the board to assess a charge on qualified health plans, and would make the implementation of the program's provisions contingent on a determination by the board that sufficient financial resources exist or will exist in the fund. The bill would enact other related provisions. The bill would require health care services plans and health insurers to fairly and affirmatively offer, market, and sell in the Exchange at least one product within each of 5 levels of coverage, as specified. Because a violation of the requirements imposed on health care service plans would be a crime, the 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. 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. This bill would extend eligibility for full-scope Medi-Cal benefits to individuals who are otherwise eligible for those benefits but for their immigration status. The bill would require that benefits for those services be provided with state-only funds only if federal financial participation is not available. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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Existing law provides for a public postsecondary education system in this state. This system consists of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes these institutions to require that mandatory systemwide fees and tuition, among other fees, be paid by enrolled students. Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. This bill would require the Student Aid Commission and the Legislative Analyst to conduct a study of the effects of enacting, in future legislation, a Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pilot Program and would designate the Legislative Analyst as the lead agency in charge of preparing the study. The study would evaluate a pilot program designed to provide an additional option for students to finance the costs of their education, by paying the costs of upfront tuition, fees, and room and board, for enrollment at institutions of higher education, for admitted resident students who sign a binding contract to, upon graduation, pay 2 to 4%, inclusive, of their annual adjusted gross incomes to the state or the institution for a specified number of years, as provided. The bill would further specify that the pilot program could vary by institution. This bill would require the study to, among other things, identify at least one campus of each segment of public higher education and one campus of a nonprofit private postsecondary educational institution to participate in the pilot program and establish an immediate source of funding for the first 15 to 20 years, inclusive, of the pilot program, as provided. The bill would require that the study be presented for consideration by the Legislature, and would require the Student Aid Commission to submit a report on the study to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education and the Senate Committee on Education on or before September 30, 2015. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations related to these provisions.
Existing law establishes various public social services programs to provide protection, care, and assistance to the people of the state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and services to the needy and distressed. Existing law establishes homeless youth emergency service pilot projects in the Counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and San Francisco. This bill would create the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs Assistance Program. This bill would require that moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the program be allocated proportionally by the State Department of Social Services to each county that elects to establish a program based on the number of homeless youth in the county, which is to be used to establish and operate the program in the county. The bill would authorize a county to join with one or more other counties for the purpose of pooling their respective allocations and establishing a program for those counties. The bill would require each program to solicit proposals from and contract with nonprofit organizations for the purpose of providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth in the county or counties as directed by the entity administering the program and would require contracted nonprofit organizations to consult with the children and family commission of the county or counties, as specified, if the entity administering the program elects to include homeless youth from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, in its program. The bill would enact other related provisions.
Existing law requires the proposal, review, and adoption of standards and requirements to protect the health and safety of employees who engage in lead-related construction work. This bill would establish a registration program that, with certain exceptions, would require employers and contractors who perform lead-related construction work, as defined, to register with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health before commencing work. The bill would require payment of an application fee for registration in an amount determined by the division as prescribed and would require annual renewal of the registration with the payment of a renewal fee established by the division. Under the bill, those fees would be deposited into the Lead Contractor Registration Fund, which the bill would create, with the moneys in the fund to be used, upon appropriation, for the purpose of investigating, registering, and renewing registrations for lead-related construction work. The bill would require an application to include specified information and a declaration that any information provided by the applicant is genuine, true, and correct to the best of the applicant's knowledge, and would impose a civil penalty for false statements, enforceable by a public prosecutor. The bill would require the division to deny an application if it makes a specific determination and would authorize an employer or contractor to appeal that denial to the Director of Industrial Relations. The bill would establish administrative penalties to be imposed by the division for violations of these provisions.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to administer, until January 1, 2016, a self-generation incentive program for distributed generation resources and to separately administer solar technologies pursuant to the California Solar Initiative. The Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, may authorize electrical corporations to annually collect not more than the amount authorized for the program in the 2008 calendar year through December 31, 2014. This bill would extend the authority of the Public Utilities Commission to authorize electrical corporations to continue making the annual collections through December 31, 2017. The bill would extend the Public Utilities Commission's administration of the program to January 1, 2019. Existing law limits eligibility for incentives under the self-generation incentive program to distributed energy resources that the Public Utilities Commission, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, determines will achieve reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. This bill would further limit eligibility for incentives under the self-generation incentive program to distributed energy resource technologies that the Public Utilities Commission determines meet specified additional requirements. The bill would require the commission to determine a capacity factor for each distributed energy recourse technology. This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to evaluate the self-generation incentive program's overall success and impact based on specified performance measures and to evaluate the self-generation incentive program's progress toward reducing barriers to the adoption of distributed energy resources and the self-generation incentive program's effectiveness in providing certain capabilities generally related to grid reliability. This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, on or before July 1, 2015, to update the factor for avoided greenhouse gas emissions based on certain information. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, in allocating funds between eligible technologies, to consider the relative amount and cost of certain factors. The bill would require recipients of the self-generation incentive program funds to provide to the Public Utilities Commission and the State Air Resources Board relevant data and would subject them to inspection to verify equipment operation and performance. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the program that is extended under the provisions of this bill are within the act and a decision or order of the commission implements the program requirements, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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 requires that persons released from prison after serving a prison term for a felony, with exceptions, be released into postrelease community supervision for a period not exceeding 3 years. Existing law provides for immediate, structured, and intermediate sanctions to punish violations of an offender's conditions of postrelease supervision. Existing law allows the revocation of postrelease supervision by a revocation hearing officer appointed by the court upon a finding that the person has violated the conditions of postrelease supervision. This bill would allow a person on postrelease supervision who has a revocation petition filed against him or her to file an application for bail or release on his or her own recognizance with the superior court. The bill would provide that bail or own recognizance release pending revocation of postrelease community supervision is a matter within the sole discretion of the court. The bill would require an application for bail or own recognizance release made pursuant to these provisions to be governed by the procedures set forth in existing law for the taking of bail and granting of own recognizance release and would state that its provisions do not prohibit a court from making any order authorized by those provisions.
Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure of residential care facilities for the elderly by the State Department of Social Services and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law authorizes a person to request an inspection of a facility by transmitting notice of an alleged violation of law to the department. Existing law requires the department to review a complaint and conduct an onsite inspection within 10 days and requires the department to provide the substance of the complaint to the licensee no earlier than the time of the inspection. This bill, beginning July 1, 2015, would make various changes to this complaint procedure, including prohibiting the department from giving a licensee advance notice of an investigation regarding a complaint and requiring the department to conduct an onsite investigation within one working day of receiving a complaint if the complaint alleges physical abuse, sexual abuse, or a threat of imminent danger. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the department conduct investigations in the manner required to ensure maximum effectiveness while respecting the rights of residents and to complete an investigation, except as specified, within 90 days of receiving a complaint, or within 30 days when the complaint alleges physical abuse, sexual abuse, or a threat of imminent danger. The bill would prohibit a licensee, or officer or employee of the licensee, from interfering with or obstructing an investigation conducted pursuant to these provisions and would require the department to assess an immediate civil penalty, as specified, per day per violation for violations of that prohibition. Because a violation of this prohibition would also be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a complainant who is dissatisfied with the department's investigation, findings, or enforcement to file an appeal, as specified, and would require the department to inform the complainant of these appeal rights, as specified. Existing law prohibits a licensee from discriminating or retaliating in any manner against a person receiving the services of the licensee's residential care facility for the elderly, or against an employee of the licensee's facility, on the basis, or for the reason that, the person or employee or any other person has initiated or participated in the filing of a complaint, grievance, or a request for inspection with the department, or has initiated or participated in the filing of a complaint, grievance, or request for investigation with the appropriate local ombudsman, or with the state ombudsman. This bill would require the department to assess an immediate civil penalty, as specified, per day for each violation of these provisions. 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) Under existing law, when the Department of Motor Vehicles determines that an applicant is lawfully entitled to a driver's license, the department is required to issue that license to the applicant. Existing law specifies the contents of a driver's license and requires the application for a driver's license or identification card to contain a space for an applicant to indicate whether he or she has served in the Armed Forces of the United States and to give his or her consent to be contacted regarding eligibility to receive state or federal veterans' benefits. This bill would, commencing November 11, 2015, allow an applicant for a driver's license or identification card to allow a person to request the driver's license or identification card be printed with the word "VETERAN." The applicant would be required to present to the Department of Motor Vehicles, on a form developed jointly by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Motor Vehicles, proof of veteran status. The bill would require county veterans service offices to verify an applicant's veteran status for these purposes, as specified. The department would be required to print the word "VETERAN" on the face of a driver's license or identification card issued to a person who makes that request and presents that verification to the department. (2) Existing law establishes certain fee amounts for the applications for, and renewal of, driver's licenses and identification cards. This bill would authorize the department to charge an additional fee in an unspecified amount to a person who requests that the person's driver's license or identification card be designated as provided above.
The Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act establishes a trial court employee personnel system that provides authority to hire trial court personnel, regulates the classification and compensation of trial court employees, labor relations, and personnel files, and requires each trial court to establish a system of employment selection and advancement and an employment protection system. Existing law authorizes state agencies to use personal services contracts to achieve cost savings if specified standards are satisfied, including, among other things, the contract does not cause the displacement of civil service employees and the contract is awarded through a publicized, competitive bidding process. The State Personnel Board is required to review a proposed contract upon the request of an employee organization for compliance with those standards. This bill would establish specified standards if a trial court intends to enter into a contract for any services that are currently or customarily performed by that trial court's employees. Among other things, the bill would require the trial court to clearly demonstrate that the contract will result in actual overall cost savings to the trial court for the duration of the entire contract as compared with the trial court's actual costs of providing the same services. This bill would provide that these standards apply to any contract entered into on or after January 1, 2015. The bill would provide that its provisions do not apply to a contract under specified circumstances, including when services are incidental to a contract for the purchase or lease of real or personal property. This bill would require each trial court to provide a report by February 1, 2015, to the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the chairpersons of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Assembly Judiciary Committee if the trial court entered into a contract between July 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014, inclusive, for services that were provided or are customarily provided by its trial court employees if the contract has a term extending beyond March 31, 2015. This report would be required to include specified information relating to these contracts, including an analysis of whether the contract resulted in the displacement of trial court employees. The bill would provide that its provisions are severable.
This measure would call upon all Californians to observe César Chávez's birthday, March 31, as a day of public service, to recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that farmworkers go through to feed all the families in our state, and to learn from César Chávez's life and his mission of nonviolence, social justice, and selfless service to others.