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. Under existing law, a health care service plan and a health insurer are required to offer group coverage for the treatment of infertility, as defined. This bill would require a health care service plan and a health insurer to provide, on a large group basis, coverage for medically necessary expenses for standard fertility preservation services when a necessary medical treatment may directly or indirectly cause iatrogenic infertility to an enrollee or insured. Because the bill would specify additional requirements for a health care service plan under the act, the willful violation of which would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
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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, until January 1, 2020, would establish specified standards if a trial court intends to enter into a new contract, or renew or extend an existing 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. The bill would require a contract for services in excess of $100,000 annually to include specific, measurable performance standards and provisions for audits on performance and cost savings, as specified. This bill would provide that these standards apply to any contract entered into, renewed, or extended after the effective date of this measure. 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, 2014, 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, 2013, and the effective date of this measure for services that were provided or are customarily provided by its trial court employees if the contract has a term extending beyond March 31, 2014. 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.
Existing law requires that an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse, as defined, be commenced within 8 years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within 3 years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by sexual abuse, whichever occurs later. Existing law provides that certain actions may be commenced on and after the plaintiff's 26th birthday if the person or entity against whom the action is commenced knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice, of any unlawful sexual conduct by an employee, volunteer, representative, or agent, and failed to take reasonable steps, and to implement reasonable safeguards, to avoid acts of unlawful sexual conduct in the future by that person. For a period of one year commencing January 1, 2003, existing law revived certain actions that would otherwise be barred solely because the applicable statute of limitations had expired. This bill would provide that the time limits for commencement of an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be applied retroactively to any claim that has not been adjudicated to finality on the merits as of January 1, 2014. This bill would revive, for a period of one year, a cause of action, as specified, that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations as of January 1, 2014, provided that the plaintiff's 26th birthday was before January 1, 2003, and the plaintiff discovered the cause of his or her injury on or after January 1, 2004. This bill would provide that a party shall be entitled to conduct discovery before the court may rule on a motion challenging the sufficiency of the plaintiff's showing that a person or entity knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice, of any unlawful sexual conduct and failed to take reasonable steps, and to implement reasonable safeguards, to avoid those acts in the future. This bill would specify that this entitlement shall not apply to a cause of action revived pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations to enforce employment safety laws. Existing law authorizes the division to conduct hearings, inspections, and investigations regarding alleged violations of employment safety laws and to issue citations to employers. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board in the department and prescribes procedures for the appeals board to hear and decide employer appeals of the division's enforcement actions. Existing law also establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board in the department and authorizes the standards board to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders, and to grant temporary or permanent variances from a standard or order upon request from an employer, and prescribes procedures for the standards board to conduct a hearing on a request for a permanent variance, as specified. This bill would revise and recast various provisions regarding the investigations and citations issued by the division, the persons or entities who are authorized to participate as parties in an appeal before the appeals board, the procedures that govern the standards board in issuing a temporary variance and in conducting a hearing on a permanent variance, the procedures that govern the appeals board in hearing, deciding, and reconsidering appeals, and procedures that govern the judicial review of the appeals board's decisions. The bill would make other related clarifying and conforming changes. Existing law requires an employer to file a complete report of every occupational injury or occupational illness, as defined, to each employee that results in lost time beyond the date of the injury or illness, or that requires medical treatment beyond first aid, with the department, or if an insured employer, with the insurer. Under existing law, in every case involving a serious injury or illness, or death, an additional report is required to be made immediately by the employer to the division, as specified. Under existing law, an employer is required to be assessed a civil penalty not less than $5,000 for a violation of the requirement to make the additional report to the division. This bill would authorize the division to increase the penalty in a settlement or decrease it to no less than $2,500 under specified conditions, including that the employer has declared, under penalty of perjury, that it made a timely report to its workers' compensation carrier or to a state, county, or local fire or police agency and that it was informed by that entity that the report satisfied the requirement to report to the division. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, 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.
Existing law provides for the regulation of various professions and vocations, including those of an athlete agent. This bill would enact the Athletic Training Practice Act which would provide for the licensure and regulation of athletic trainers, as defined. The bill would establish, until January 1, 2019, the Athletic Trainer Licensing Committee within the Physical Therapy Board of California to implement these provisions, including issuing and renewing athletic training licenses and imposing disciplinary action. Under the bill, the committee would be comprised of 7 members, to be appointed to 4-year terms as specified. Commencing July 1, 2014, the bill would prohibit a person from practicing as an athletic trainer or using certain titles without a license issued by the committee, except as specified. The bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2017, a person from using the title "athletic trainer," unless licensed by the committee. The bill would specify the requirements for licensure, including the payment of a license application fee established by the committee. The bill would define the practice of athletic training and prescribe supervision requirements on athletic trainers. The bill would establish the Athletic Trainers' Account within the Physical Therapy Fund for the deposit of license application and renewal fees, and would make those fees available to the committee for the purpose of implementing these provisions upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(1) Existing law prohibits a person from possessing a firearm or deadly weapon for a period of 6 months whenever he or she communicates to a licensed psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim or victims. Under existing law, a violation of this provision is a crime. Existing law allows a person subject to these provisions to petition the superior court of his or her county for an order that he or she may possess a firearm, as provided. This bill would increase the prohibitory period from 6 months to 5 years. By increasing the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise the provisions allowing a person to petition the court for an order that he or she may possess a firearm to conform with other provisions of existing law. (2) Existing law allows a person to be taken into custody and placed in an approved facility for a 72-hour treatment and evaluation if the person is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or is gravely disabled, as a result of a mental disorder. Existing law allows the person to be certified for a longer duration under certain conditions, as specified. Existing law prohibits a person who has been taken into custody, assessed, and admitted to a facility pursuant to these provisions from owning, possessing, controlling, receiving, or purchasing a firearm, or from attempting to do the same, for a period of 5 years after the person is released from the facility. Existing law imposes additional penalties for certain crimes involving possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. This bill would increase the above prohibitory period on having a firearm from 5 years to 10 years. The bill would make conforming changes. By expanding the scope of these crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires reports to be submitted immediately to the Department of Justice in connection with mentally ill individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms and dangerous weapons. This bill would specify that, for these purposes, "immediately" means a period of time not exceeding 24 hours. The bill would require notices and reports submitted to the Department of Justice in connection with these provisions to be submitted in an electronic format, in a manner prescribed by the Department of Justice. (4) Existing law requires the State Department of State Hospitals to maintain records in its possession that are necessary to identify persons who come within the prohibition on possessing firearms due to mental illness and requires the State Department of State Hospitals to make these records available to the Department of Justice upon request. This bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals to make these records available to the Department of Justice electronically, within 24 hours 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, known as the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, contains provisions relating to employer-employee relations between the state and the employees of state institutions of higher education, including the University of California and the California State University, as well as the Hastings College of the Law. These provisions assign major responsibilities for implementation to the Public Employment Relations Board. Under the act, an "employee" or "higher education employee" is defined as any employee of the Regents of the University of California, the Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, or the Trustees of the California State University. The act further provides that the board may find student employees whose employment is contingent on their status as students are employees only if the services they provide are unrelated to their educational objectives, or that those educational objectives are subordinate to the services they perform and that coverage under this act would further the purposes of the act. This bill would provide that student employees whose employment is contingent upon their status as students are employees or higher education employees for purposes of the act. The act prohibits "scope of representation," for purposes of the University of California only, from including, among other things, conditions for the award of certificates and degrees to students. This bill would provide that the conditions for the award of certificates and degrees to students that are outside of the scope of representation include what is required for students to achieve satisfactory progress toward their degrees.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2003, and every 2 years thereafter, to adopt an integrated energy policy report which includes an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2004, and every 2 years thereafter, to prepare an energy policy review to update analyses from the integrated energy policy report or to raise energy issues that have emerged since the release of the integrated energy policy report. The Public Utilities Act imposes various duties and responsibilities on the Public Utilities Commission with respect to the purchase of electricity and requires the Public Utilities Commission to review and adopt a procurement plan and a renewable energy procurement plan for each electrical corporation, as defined, pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish a rewewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. The program requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to perform various activities, including certification of eligible renewable energy resources, the design and implementation of an accounting system to verify compliance with the renewables portfolio standard by retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities, and establishing a system for tracking and verifying renewable energy credits, as defined. This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Water Resources, the Independent System Operator, electrical corporations, publicly owned utilities, federal power marketing authorities, and the federal Bureau of Reclamation, to perform a technical analysis of the potential use of existing hydroelectric and pumped storage facilities, as specified, to provide additional operational flexibility that could facilitate the integration of eligible renewable energy resources for the state's electrical grid. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to complete its technical analysis and include its analysis in an energy policy review by November 1, 2014.