Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors by the Contractors State License Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs. Under existing law, willful or deliberate disregard by a licensed contractor of various state building, labor, and safety laws constitutes a cause for disciplinary action by the board. Existing law provides for related disciplinary proceedings and requires the board to promulgate regulations covering the assessment of civil penalties under those disciplinary provisions, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes a civil penalty not less than $200 and not to exceed $15,000 for certain violations relating to unlicensed persons, as specified. Existing law authorizes a civil penalty not to exceed $8,000 or $30,000 for other violations of the Contractors State License Law, as provided. This bill, commencing July 1, 2026, would increase the minimum civil penalties for violations related to unlicensed persons to at least $1,500 and would impose minimum civil penalties of at least $500 or $1,500 for other specified violations, as provided. The bill would also authorize the Contractors State License Board to adjust the amounts of these minimum civil penalties for inflation every 5 years, as provided. Existing law authorizes the board to set specified fees according to a prescribed schedule. Existing law, notwithstanding this fee schedule, authorizes the board to set fees to maintain the amount of the reserve fund at a level not to exceed approximately 6 months of annual authorized board expenditures. This bill would increase the above-described limit on the reserve fund to a level not to exceed approximately 12 months of annual authorized board expenditures. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 7099.2 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 291 to be operative only if this bill and SB 291 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act establishes stewardship programs for various products, including, among others, carpet. The act includes a product stewardship for carpet program and a successor carpet producer responsibility program, and requires the product stewardship for carpet program to become inoperative upon the completion of certain conditions related to the implementation of the successor carpet producer responsibility program. Existing law, the product stewardship for carpet program, requires a manufacturer of carpets sold in this state, individually or through a carpet stewardship organization, to submit a carpet stewardship plan to the department, which is required to include specified elements, including achieving specified carpet recycling rates and a funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to carry out the plan. Existing law authorizes the department to administratively impose a civil penalty of $10,000 per day on any person in violation of the program or $25,000 per day if the violation is intentional, knowing, or negligent, as specified. This bill would instead authorize the department to impose administrative, rather than civil, penalties in those amounts, and to impose an administrative penalty of $25,000 per day if the violation is intentional or knowing. Existing law requires a carpet stewardship organization to include nonvoting board members with representation from, among others, a retailer that sells carpet. This bill would instead require the stewardship organization to create a governing board for the stewardship program, with 14 voting members, as specified. Existing law requires a manufacturer of carpets sold in this state, individually or through a carpet stewardship organization, to submit to the department an annual report describing its activities to achieve the purposes of the program, as provided. Existing law authorizes a carpet stewardship organization to award grants and subsidies to incentivize the recycling of carpet materials that have the highest recyclability. This bill would require a carpet stewardship organization to include in its annual report specified information related to the grants and subsidies provided pursuant to the program, as specified. (2) Existing law, the successor carpet producer responsibility program, requires producers of covered products to form and join a single producer responsibility organization (PRO) for the collection and recycling of a covered product. Existing law defines "PRO" to include, among others, the carpet stewardship organization, as defined by the product stewardship for carpet program. Existing law defines a "covered product" as carpet, as defined, and requires the PRO to develop a producer responsibility plan for the collection, transportation, recycling, and the safe and proper management of covered products in the state. This bill would remove the carpet stewardship organization from the definition of PRO. The bill would redefine "carpet" to have the same definition used by the product stewardship for carpet program. Existing law requires an assessment to be added to the price of all covered products sold in the state to fund the program. Existing law also requires the costs of the program to be borne by producers of covered products, as provided. This bill would eliminate the requirement for the costs of the program to be borne by producers of covered products. Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2029, a person who removes a covered product as part of the installation of a covered product to transport, or contract to transport, all of the removed covered product to an approved collection site, as provided. Under existing law, an approved collection site is a solid waste facility that has agreed to be a collection site for the PRO. This bill would exempt a covered product from this transport requirement if certain conditions are met, including that it is returned to the producer. The bill would recast approved collection sites and would expand them to include certain carpet recycling centers, municipal facilities, and retailers. Existing law requires the governing board of a PRO to include 4 nonvoting members, including, but not limited to, a nonvoting member representing a nonprofit organization established to promote a circular economy and to address environmental issues. Existing law requires the PRO to submit an annual report to the department on or before July 1 of each year, as provided. Existing law requires a producer to publish on its internet website, for each of its covered products, an environmental product declaration that identifies a covered product's components, as provided. This bill would instead require the PRO to create a governing board for the program, with 14 voting members, as specified. The bill would require the annual report to be submitted on or before September 1 of each year, instead of July 1 of each year. The bill would instead require a producer to publish on its internet website, for each of its covered products, the components that constitute more than 1% of the product's weight and any component that is a hazardous chemical, as specified. Existing law requires the PRO to submit to the department an annual report, as specified, and to make the report publicly available on the PRO's internet website. Existing law requires the PRO to provide annual grants to apprenticeship programs for training carpet installers in proper carpet recycling techniques, as provided. This bill would require the PRO to include in its annual report specified information related to the grants and incentive payments provided pursuant to the program, as specified. Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan, among other things, to explain how producers will use standardized stamping or some other means to provide a visual mark on the back of a covered product that is a synthetic material to allow expeditious sorting of the carpet, as provided. This bill would instead require a producer responsibility plan to explain how producers will use standardized stamping or some other means to provide a visual mark on the back of a covered product that provides the name of the producer, the date of manufacture, and a listing of the types of face fibers and backing materials contained in the product. Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to describe how the PRO will provide free dropoff and convenient collection system for covered products. This bill would require a producer responsibility plan to instead provide the ability for people to drop off postconsumer carpet, free of charge, at collection sites that are open according to a prescribed schedule. Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to provide annual grants to apprenticeship programs, as provided. This bill would require a producer responsibility plan to additionally allocate $2,000,000 annually to apprenticeship programs operated by labor organizations, as provided. Existing law requires the department to review a submitted producer responsibility plan and to approve or disapprove the producer responsibility plan, as provided. Existing law requires, if the PRO subsequently submits a revised producer responsibility plan and the department disapproves the revised plan, the PRO to revise and resubmit the revised plan consistent with the department's direction. This bill would authorize, rather than require, the PRO to resubmit one additional revised producer responsibility plan if the initial revised plan is disapproved and would delete the requirement for the revised plan to be consistent with the department's direction. Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan in effect as of January 1, 2025, to continue in effect, as provided, until it expires or is revoked, as provided. This bill would repeal this provision. Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to prioritize expenditure of assessments collected pursuant to the product stewardship for carpet program on activities to carry out the producer responsibility plan, including grants for apprenticeship programs. This bill would instead require a producer responsibility plan to require the expenditure of assessments collected pursuant to the carpet producer responsibility program to be used for activities that support the implementation of the producer responsibility plan, including grants for apprenticeship programs. Existing law authorizes the department to establish, review, and adjust performance standards, which may include, but are not limited to, collection, reduction in disposal, and maximizing recycling. Existing law requires the producer responsibility plan to meet any performance standards published by the department. Existing law requires the department to use sales data to establish the performance standard for recycling carpet, as specified. This bill would eliminate the requirement for the department to use sales data to establish the performance standard for recycling carpet. Existing law authorizes the department to determine the PRO ineligible to act as the PRO if the PRO violates the provisions of the carpet producer responsibility program 3 or more times. This bill would require the above-described violations to be knowing or intentional violations. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations to implement the program with an effective date no earlier than December 31, 2026. This bill would instead require the department to adopt the regulations no later than January 1, 2029.
Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and requires the department to be responsible for, among other things, fire protection and prevention, as provided. Existing law establishes the California Conservation Camp program for the purpose of having incarcerated persons work on projects supervised by the department. Existing law requires the department to utilize incarcerated persons assigned to conservation camps in performing fire prevention, fire control, and other work at the department. This bill would require the department to, in partnership with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Conservation Camp program, implement a standardized process to ensure that all individuals who complete the department's firefighting training program (FFT program) while incarcerated receive official written certification before their release, as specified. The bill would require the department to, on or before January 1, 2027, award hiring preference under Category Placement 2 to qualified formerly incarcerated individuals who apply for positions with the department. The bill would also require the department to track the number of incarcerated individuals who have completed the FFT program and are set to be released within 90 days, develop and implement policies and procedures to track and report the outcomes of the Formerly Incarcerated Firefighter Certification and Employment Program, and report annually to the Legislature on the implementation and effectiveness of the program, as provided. The bill would make these provisions operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes, as provided.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations that establish minimum, specific, and numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios by licensed nurse classification and by hospital unit for all general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals. Existing law requires the regulations adopted by the department for acute psychiatric hospitals that are not operated by the State Department of State Hospitals to take into account the special needs of the patients served in the psychiatric units. Existing law generally makes a willful violation of those licensing provisions a crime. Under existing law, on and after July 1, 2015, any acute psychiatric hospital that submits a completed application and is operated by the State Department of State Hospitals may be approved by the State Department of Public Health to offer, as a supplemental service, an Enhanced Treatment Program (ETP) that meets certain conditions, including sufficient and documented evaluation of violence risk of the patient. Existing law requires an ETP to meet certain requirements relating to staffing and patient room features and to implement certain policies and procedures on patient care. Under existing law, those ETP provisions remain in effect for each pilot ETP until January 1 of the 5th calendar year after each pilot ETP site has admitted its first patient, and the provisions are repealed as of January 1 of the 5th calendar year after each pilot ETP site has admitted its first patient. Existing law requires the State Department of State Hospitals to post a declaration on its internet website regarding the timing of that repeal condition. This bill would delete the above-described provisions regarding ETP repeal. The bill would instead repeal those provisions on January 1, 2030, as specified. To the extent that the bill would extend the operation of certain ETP sites, and by extending ETP requirements, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would specify regulations for acute psychiatric hospitals not operated by the State Department of State Hospitals are deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare, and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations for these facilities no later than January 31, 2026, and permanent regulations thereafter, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to readopt the emergency regulations, as specified. The bill would authorize the emergency regulations to include, among other things, staffing standards specific to acute psychiatric hospitals. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to use the direct care staffing level data it collects to determine whether a skilled nursing facility has met its nursing hours or direct care service hours per patient per day requirements, as specified. Existing law requires the department to assess specified administrative penalties on skilled nursing facilities that fail to meet these requirements and establishes an administrative process that skilled nursing facilities may use to appeal determinations or assessments made by the department. Existing law continues in the Special Deposit Fund the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account and requires the administrative penalties described above to be deposited into that account. Under existing law, the account is continuously appropriated to the department to support the implementation of these provisions. This bill would remove the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account from the Special Deposit Fund. The bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (3) Existing law requires a clinic, health facility, home health agency, or hospice to prevent unlawful or unauthorized access to, and use or disclosure of, patients' medical information, as defined. Existing law requires the clinic, health facility, home health agency, or hospice to report any unlawful or unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, a patient's medical information to the State Department of Public Health and to the affected patient or the patient's representative, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to assess administrative penalties for violation of these provisions and gives the department discretion to consider all factors when determining the amount of a penalty. Existing law requires these and other specified penalty moneys to be deposited into the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account, which is established within the Special Deposit Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law requires the moneys in the account to be expended for internal quality improvement activities in the Licensing and Certification Program. This bill would remove the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account from the Special Deposit Fund and, notwithstanding specified provisions of law, require all interest earned on the moneys deposited in the account to be retained in the account. The bill would also, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (4) Existing law also establishes the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account. Existing law requires all administrative fines assessed by the State Department of Public Health for unlawful disclosures of confidential medical information, as specified, to be deposited in that account. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law requires money in the account to be used for purposes of supporting quality improvement activities of the department. The bill would, effective July 1, 2025, abolish the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account and transfer all moneys in the account to the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would require all remaining balances, assets, liabilities, and encumbrances of the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account as of July 1, 2025, to be transferred to, and become part of, the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would require the administrative fines assessed for unlawful disclosures of confidential medical information described above to be deposited in the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require money in the account to be used for purposes of supporting quality improvement activities of the Licensing and Certification Program. The bill would also, notwithstanding any other provision of law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (5) Existing law provides for the licensure of long-term health care facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law establishes the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account in the Special Deposit Fund into which moneys from civil penalties for violations of state and federal law, respectively, are deposited. Existing law requires the moneys in those accounts to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with state and federal law for the protection of health or property of residents of long-term health care facilities, as specified. This bill would remove the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account from the Special Deposit Fund. (6) Existing law requires a skilled nursing facility, by January 1, 2026, to have an alternative source of power, as defined, to protect resident health and safety, as defined, for no fewer than 96 hours during any type of power outage. Existing law imposes specific compliance requirements based on whether a skilled nursing facility uses a generator as its alternative source of power, or batteries or a combination of batteries in tandem with a renewable electrical generation facility. This bill would instead require a skilled nursing facility to comply with these provisions on or after January 1, 2026, commencing on the first day of the Medi-Cal skilled nursing facility rate year for which the State Department of Health Care Services publishes a written notice on its internet website that the Legislature has appropriated sufficient funds for the express purpose of providing an add-on to the Medi-Cal skilled nursing facility per diem rate for the projected Medi-Cal cost compliance, as specified. The bill would authorize the State Department of Health Care Services to implement these requirements by means of provider bulletins, policy letters, or other similar instructions, without taking regulatory action. (7) 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a pharmacy benefit manager under contract with a health care service plan to, among other things, register with the Department of Managed Health Care. This bill would instead require a pharmacy benefit manager contracting with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later. The bill would establish application requirements, and would require a pharmacy benefit manager applying for licensure to reimburse the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care for the actual cost of processing the application, including overhead, up to an amount not to exceed $25,000. The bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to submit financial statements to the department at specified intervals, and would require those statements and other proprietary information to be kept confidential, as specified. The bill would authorize the director to suspend or revoke a pharmacy benefit manager license, but would provide that, once issued, a license remains in effect until revoked or suspended. The bill would authorize a pharmacy benefit manager whose license has been revoked, or suspended for more than one year to petition the director to reinstate the license, and would authorize the director to prescribe a fee, not to exceed $500, for the actual cost of processing the petition. The bill would create the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fund in the State Treasury, into which fees, fines, penalties, and reimbursements collected from pharmacy benefit managers would be deposited, except fines and administrative penalties for specified acts or omissions would be deposited into the newly created Pharmacy Benefit Manager Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund in the State Treasury. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information to implement and administer the Health Care Payments Data System to learn about and seek to improve public health, population health, social determinants of health, and the health care system. This bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to provide specified data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information regarding drug pricing, fees, and other information. The bill would require a licensed health care service plan to pay an annual fee for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal years for the reasonably necessary expenses of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to fund the Health Care Payments Data Program. The bill would also require a licensed pharmacy benefit manager to pay amounts twice per year to fund the actual and reasonably necessary expenses of the department to implement pharmacy benefit manager licensing and the actual and reasonably necessary expenses of the Department of Health Care Access and Information pertaining to data reporting by pharmacy benefit managers. The bill would require the Health Care Payments Data Program advisory committee to include pharmacy benefit managers. (8) Existing law requires large group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, including a maximum of 3 completed oocyte retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers, as specified. Existing law also requires small group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, to offer coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services. This bill would instead require compliance with the above-described provisions by large and small group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care and the Insurance Commissioner to issue guidance regarding these provisions until January 1, 2027, and would require the departments to consult with each other and stakeholders in issuing that guidance. (9) Existing law authorizes the State Public Health Officer, to the extent allowable under federal law, and upon the availability of funds, to expend moneys from the continuously appropriated AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Rebate Fund for a program to cover the costs of prescribed ADAP formulary medications for the prevention of HIV infection and other specified costs. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health, to the extent that the activities are an allowable use of funds, to spend up to $23,000,000 from the ADAP Rebate Fund to implement certain programs, including an allocation of $5,000,000 annually for 3 years, beginning on July 1, 2024, to the Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (TGI) Wellness and Equity Fund to fund services related to care and treatment for eligible individuals living with HIV and AIDS. Under existing law, expenditure from the ADAP Rebate Fund also includes an allocation of $5,000,000, in the 2024–25 fiscal year, available until June 30, 2027, to distribute funding to a community-based organization to make internal and external condoms available, if Senate Bill 954 of the 2023–24 Regular Session becomes effective, aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. This bill would additionally allow the moneys allocated to the TGI Wellness and Equity Fund to fund services related to HIV prevention, and would have the allocation begin instead on July 1, 2025. With regard to funding for condoms, the bill would remove the condition that Senate Bill 954 become effective, and would authorize the allocation until June, 30, 2028. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to spend up to $75,000,000 from the ADAP Rebate Fund to support current or eligible HIV services and programs, as specified. The bill would specify the allocation of those funds, including by authorizing up to $65,000,000 of that $75,000,000 to be spent to supplement or fund services, programs, or initiatives for which federal funding has been reduced or eliminated. By adding to the purposes of the ADAP Rebate Fund, and by extending the terms of certain allocations, the bill would make an appropriation. (10) Existing law requires the Office of Health Equity within the State Department of Public Health to administer the TGI Wellness and Equity Fund for purposes of funding grants to create programs, or funding existing programs, focused on coordinating trans-inclusive health care for individuals who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, or intersex. This bill would instead refer only to the State Department of Public Health, without specifying the office, for purposes of administering the fund. Existing law authorizes use of the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to fund grants for certain purposes, including grants to TGI-serving organizations for the purpose of facilitating therapeutic arts programs, such as dancing, painting, or writing. This bill would restructure that specific purpose by having the grants be made available to TGI-serving organizations for facilitating evidence-based therapeutic arts programs. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions. (11) Existing law, the California Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act of 2020, requires the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to enter into partnerships, in consultation with other state departments as necessary, to, among other things, increase patient access to affordable drugs. Existing law authorizes CHHSA to enter into partnerships regarding over-the-counter naloxone products to allow the development, manufacturing, or distribution of those products by an entity that is authorized to do so under federal or state law. This bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, would additionally authorize CHHSA to enter into partnerships to increase competition, lower prices, and address supply shortages for generic or brand name drugs to address emerging health concerns, for the development, production, procurement, or distribution of vaccines, as specified, and for the manufacture, purchase, or distribution of medical supplies or medical devices. (12) Existing law requires, when a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, that a jury determine whether the defendant was sane or insane at the time the offense was committed. Under existing law, if a defendant is found to be not guilty by reason of insanity, the court is required to commit the person to the State Department of State Hospitals or any other appropriate public or private treatment facility, as specified. If a defendant is confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility as an inpatient, existing law requires the medical director of the facility to submit a report, at 6-month intervals, to the court and the community program director of the county of commitment setting forth the status and progress of the defendant. This bill would instead require the above-described report to be submitted every 12 months. (13) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, including prescribed drugs subject to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs. Existing law requires a specified health care service plan contract, including a Medi-Cal managed care plan, to cover the costs for COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing, as provided, regardless of whether the services are provided by an in-network or out-of-network provider. Existing law prohibits this coverage from being subject to copayment, coinsurance, deductible, or any other form of cost sharing. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan from imposing prior authorization or any other utilization management requirements on COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to seek any federal approval it deems necessary to implement those provisions regarding COVID-19. This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan, as defined, to cover COVID-19 screening, testing, immunizations, and therapeutics in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, all plan letters, the Medi-Cal provider manual, Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts with the department, as specified, and other guidance. The bill would exclude Medi-Cal managed care plans from the above-described prohibitions against cost sharing and utilization management by a health care service plan for COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing. The bill would remove the above-described requirement on the State Department of Health Care Services to seek federal approval. (14) Existing law sets forth a schedule of benefits covered under the Medi-Cal program, including hospice service that is certified under the federal Medicare Program, subject to utilization controls. Under existing law, coverage is available only to the extent that no additional net program costs are incurred. Under existing law, prior authorization is not required for hospice services, with exceptions in the case of any admission that violates federal law or for inpatient hospice services. This bill would make the above-described restriction on prior authorization inoperative on July 1, 2026, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2027. Under the bill, hospice services would be covered under Medi-Cal in accordance with Medicare requirements and subject to utilization controls, while maintaining the condition on net program costs. The bill would condition implementation of this coverage on the availability of federal financial participation and receipt of any necessary federal approvals. (15) Existing law authorizes the department to enter into contracts with manufacturers of single-source and multiple-source drugs, on a bid or nonbid basis, for drugs from each major therapeutic category. Existing law requires all pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide to the department a state rebate equal to an amount not less than 10% of the average manufacturer price based on Medi-Cal utilization data for any drug products that have been added to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs under provisions relating to treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or an AIDS-related condition or to treatment of cancer. Existing law authorizes the department to restrict the availability of the drug products of certain manufacturers by requiring prior authorization when the department has not received a timely rebate payment, but authorizes a beneficiary to continue obtaining those drugs if the beneficiary qualifies for continuing care status. Continuing care status requires a beneficiary to have been taking the drug at the time the manufacturer is placed on prior authorization status and the department to receive a claim for the drug with a date of service that is within 100 days prior to the date the manufacturer was placed on prior authorization status. This bill would delete the above-described provisions on continuing care status and, instead, beginning January 1, 2026, would authorize beneficiaries to continue to receive drugs previously prescribed but subject to prior authorization if their pharmacy provider or prescriber initiates a prior authorization request that is subsequently approved by the department. This bill would, effective January 1, 2026, for pharmaceutical manufacturers renewing or entering new state rebate agreements, require that the rebate amount be in an amount not less than 20% of the average manufacturer price if the federal rebate is less than 50% of that price, or an amount not less than 15% of that price if the federal rebate is 50% or greater of that price. Under existing law, for purposes of the above-described drug products, if the pharmaceutical manufacturer does not enter into a supplemental rebate agreement within 60 days after the addition of the drug to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs, the manufacturer is required to provide to the department a state rebate equal to not less than 20% of the average manufacturer price, as specified. This bill would increase the state rebate minimum threshold to not less than 25% of the price. The bill would make a conforming change to a related provision. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal Drug Rebate Fund, into which nonfederal moneys collected by the department under the above-described rebate provisions are deposited. Under existing law, funds deposited into the Medi-Cal Drug Rebate Fund are continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of funding the nonfederal share of health care services for children, adults, seniors, and persons with disabilities enrolled in the Medi-Cal program. By increasing the state rebate minimum threshold for the above-described drug products, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the department, when it determines that a drug should be removed from the list of contract drugs, to conduct a public hearing to receive comment on the impact of removing the drug. This bill would, instead of a public hearing, require the department to provide individual notice to impacted beneficiaries that the drug is only obtainable through the prior authorization process. The bill would require that the notice include a description of the beneficiary's right to a fair hearing and would encourage the beneficiary to consult a physician. The bill would require the department to also provide provider notice about the removal of the drug, as specified. (16) Existing law requires, with exceptions, the temporary placement of a Medi-Cal provider under payment suspension upon receipt of a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending under the Medi-Cal program against the provider. Existing law sets forth related provisions regarding the department's collection of overpayments, appeal procedures afforded to the provider, offsetting of the overpayments to satisfy audit or appeal findings if the findings are against the provider, and return of the overpayments if the findings are in favor of the provider, as specified. Existing law authorizes the lifting of a payment suspension upon resolution of an investigation for fraud or abuse. This bill would create the Medi-Cal Anti-Fraud Special Deposit Fund for the deposit of outstanding Medi-Cal payments intercepted as a result of a payment suspension. Under the bill, moneys would be continuously appropriated and allocated, but would remain in the fund until the department lifts the suspension, after which the department would be authorized to return the intercepted Medi-Cal payments to the provider or to offset the payments against any liabilities or restitution owed by the provider to the department. (17) Existing law, the Medi-Cal Long-Term Care Reimbursement Act, requires the department to implement a facility-specific ratesetting system for certain skilled nursing facilities using a cost-based reimbursement rate methodology. Existing law requires the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals, for managed care rating periods that begin between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2026, inclusive, to establish and implement the Workforce and Quality Incentive Program. Under that program, a network provider furnishing skilled nursing facility services to a Medi-Cal managed care enrollee is authorized to earn performance-based directed payments from the Medi-Cal managed care plan with which they contract, as specified, in addition to other certain payments. Existing law repeals the act on January 1, 2028, as specified. This bill would instead apply the program to managed care rating periods that begin between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025, inclusive. The bill would make the provisions relating to the program inoperative on January 1, 2026, and authorize the department to conduct all necessary closeout activities applicable to any managed care rating period before January 1, 2026. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2027, or on the date that the Director of Health Care Services certifies to the Secretary of State that all necessary closeout activities have been completed, whichever is later, but no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would delete a related provision regarding the supplementation of funds available for payments made under the program, as described above, for the 2026 calendar year. (18) Existing law, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, expands the schedule of benefits to include an annual cognitive health assessment for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are 65 years of age or older if they are otherwise ineligible for a similar assessment as part of an annual wellness visit under the Medicare Program. Existing law makes a Medi-Cal provider eligible to receive the payment for this benefit only if they comply with certain requirements, including completing cognitive health assessment training, as specified. Existing law requires the department, by January 1, 2024, and every 2 years thereafter, to consolidate and analyze data related to the benefit, and to post information on the utilization of, and payment for, the benefit on its internet website. This bill would delete the requirement that a Medi-Cal provider complete specified cognitive health assessment training to be eligible to receive the payment. The bill would also delete the requirement that the department consolidate and analyze data and post information related to the benefit every 2 years. (19) Existing law authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to terminate a contract or impose sanctions if the director finds that an entity that contracts with the department for the delivery of health care services, known as a contractor, fails to comply with contract requirements, state or federal law or regulations, or the state plan or approved waivers, or for other good cause. Existing law includes various entities as part of the definition of "contractor" for purposes of these provisions, including Medi-Cal managed care plans and Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery systems. This bill would add, to the list of contractors subject to the above-described provisions, entities under the Home- and Community-Based Alternatives (HCBA) Waiver and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , as specified. (20) Under existing law, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services are covered Medi-Cal benefits. Under existing law, FQHC and RHC services are reimbursed on a per-visit basis, as defined. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, require reimbursement for FQHC and RHC services that are eligible for federal financial participation. The bill would revise the definition of visit for purposes of this provision to mean a face-to-face encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified health professionals that is eligible for federal financial participation or an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified health professionals using specified modalities, including, among others, video synchronous interaction, when services delivered through those modalities meet the applicable standard of care and are eligible for federal participation. (21) Existing law requires the department to establish the Nondesignated Public Hospital Intergovernmental Transfer Program to provide supplemental payments to nondesignated public hospitals in a manner that maximizes federal financial participation in the resulting supplemental payments. Existing law authorizes a transferring entity, as defined, to agree to transfer its intergovernmental transfer (IGT) allocation, as defined, to the state in accordance with the program, and requires the state to deposit the transferred funds into the Medi-Cal Inpatient Payment Adjustment Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund. Existing law authorizes the state to retain 9% of each intergovernmental transfer amount to reimburse the department, or transfer to the General Fund, for the administrative costs of operating the program and for the benefit of Medi-Cal children's health care programs. This bill would require a nondesignated public hospital participating in the program to reimburse the department for specified administrative costs as a condition of receiving the above-described supplemental payments. Beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year and every fiscal year thereafter, the bill would require the state to retain a percentage of each IGT amount associated with interim supplemental payments such that the total amount retained is equal to the projected administrative cost to the department, as specified. The bill would require the department to project the specified administrative costs each fiscal year to determine the percentage to be retained. To the extent the bill would continuously appropriate additional moneys, the bill would make an appropriation. (22) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal Hospital/Uninsured Care Demonstration Project Act, which revises hospital reimbursement methodologies under the Medi-Cal program to maximize the use of federal funds consistent with federal Medicaid law and stabilize the distribution of funding for hospitals that provide care to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured patients. Existing law provides funding, in supplementation of Medi-Cal reimbursement, to various hospitals, including nondesignated public hospitals, in accordance with certain provisions relating to disproportionate share hospitals. Existing law establishes the Nondesignated Public Hospital Supplemental Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, in the State Treasury, and requires all amounts in the fund for a project year in excess of the amount necessary to make specified supplemental payments to be available for negotiation by the California Medical Assistance Commission, as provided. For the 2025–26 fiscal year, this bill would require additional supplemental payments to be made to nondesignated public hospitals that meet certain criteria such that the specified payments made are equal to the prescribed amount transferred from the General Fund plus the applicable amount of federal financial participation that is available for the nonfederal share of payments. The bill would require the remaining amounts in the fund to be used for supplemental payments to nondesignated public hospitals pursuant to a methodology developed by the department, as specified. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2026, abolish the fund effective December 31, 2028, and repeal these provisions on July 1, 2030. The bill would authorize the department to conduct any necessary and remaining duties, as specified, even after these provisions become inoperative. (23) The federal Medicaid program prohibits payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. Existing state law extends Medi-Cal eligibility for the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits to an individual who does not have satisfactory immigration status if they are otherwise eligible for those benefits, as specified. This bill would instead exclude an individual who is 19 years of age or older and does not have satisfactory immigration status from dental benefits under Medi-Cal, as specified and would, beginning no sooner than July 1, 2027, require individuals who are not pregnant and who are 19 to 59 years of age, inclusive, to pay a monthly premium of $30, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would make an individual who is 19 years of age or older and does not have satisfactory immigration status and who applies for Medi-Cal on or after January 1, 2026, eligible only for pregnancy-related services and emergency medical treatment. The bill would delay the implementation of certain provisions until the director makes specified communications to the Department of Finance. The bill would make other conforming changes. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and this bill would alter Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (24) Existing law prohibits the use of an assets or resources test for individuals whose income eligibility for Medi-Cal is determined based on the application of a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) . Existing federal law authorizes a state to establish a non-MAGI standard for determining the eligibility of certain populations. Existing law, subject to receipt of any necessary federal approvals, prohibits the use of resources, including property or other assets, to determine Medi-Cal eligibility for applicants or beneficiaries whose eligibility is not determined using the MAGI-based financial methods. Existing law requires the department to seek federal authority to disregard all resources as authorized by the flexibilities provided pursuant to federal law. This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2026, remove the above-described prohibition on the use of resources for determining Medi-Cal eligibility in non-MAGI cases and implement a disregard of $130,000 in nonexempt property for a case with one member and $65,000 for each additional household member, up to a maximum of 10 members, as specified. As part of conforming changes, the bill would make certain provisions inoperative on January 1, 2026, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2027. The bill would make certain inoperative provisions operative for purposes of reinstating references to resources or assets. The bill would make certain additional changes to the above-described provisions, including modifying the timeline of certain regulations and changing certain reporting requirements. By creating new duties for counties relating to the consideration of resources for determining Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (25) Existing law establishes the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency and its departments, with the purpose of transforming the state's behavioral health system into an innovative ecosystem in which all children and youth 25 years of age and younger, regardless of payer, are screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health needs. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that the initiative include, among other things, grants to qualified entities to support implementation of the initiative for behavioral health services in schools and investments for behavioral health workforce, education, and training. Existing law authorizes the Department of Health Care Access and Information to award competitive grants to qualified entities and individuals to expand the supply of behavioral health counselors, coaches, peer supports, and other allied health care providers serving children and youth, including those at schoolsites. Existing law defines a "behavioral health coach," for purposes of those provisions, to mean a new category of behavioral health provider who, among other things, (A) is trained specifically to help address the unmet mental health and substance use needs of children and youth, (B) receives appropriate supervision from licensed staff, and (C) has training and qualifications, including psychoeducation, system navigation, crisis deescalation, safety planning, coping skills, and motivational interviewing. This bill would revise these provisions to replace the term "behavioral health coach" with "certified wellness coach." The bill would specify that a certified wellness coach receives appropriate supervision and coordination from staff who are licensed or who hold a pupil personnel services credential or school nurse services credential. The bill would add crisis referral to, and remove crisis deescalation and safety planning from, the list of a certified wellness coach's training and qualifications. (26) Existing law, as a component of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to award competitive grants to entities that it deems qualified to, among other things, expand access to licensed medical and behavioral health professionals, counselors, peer support specialists, community health workers, and behavioral health coaches serving children and youth. This bill would revise that provision to replace the term "behavioral health coaches" with "certified wellness coaches." (27) Existing law establishes a Department of Health Care Access and Information within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law requires the department, on or before July 1, 2023, to develop and approve statewide requirements for community health worker certificate programs and to approve the curriculum required for programs to certify community health workers. Existing law requires the department, on or before July 1, 2023, to review, approve, or renew evidence-based curricula and community-defined curricula for core competencies, specialized programs, and training. Existing law requires an organization that seeks approval or renewal of a community health worker certificate program to submit a community health worker certificate program plan, submit to periodic reviews, and submit annual community health worker certificate program reports, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to request that an individual who is either enrolled in, or who has completed, a community health worker certificate program submit specified workforce data. Existing law defines "community health worker" to, among other things, include nonlicensed health workers with the qualifications developed pursuant to these provisions. This bill would repeal these provisions. The bill would make conforming changes to provisions defining "community health worker" by cross-reference to the above-described definition. (28) 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. (29) 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. (30) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
(1) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations that establish minimum, specific, and numerical licensed nurse-to-patient ratios by licensed nurse classification and by hospital unit for all general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special hospitals. Existing law requires the regulations adopted by the department for acute psychiatric hospitals that are not operated by the State Department of State Hospitals to take into account the special needs of the patients served in the psychiatric units. Existing law generally makes a willful violation of those licensing provisions a crime. Under existing law, on and after July 1, 2015, any acute psychiatric hospital that submits a completed application and is operated by the State Department of State Hospitals may be approved by the State Department of Public Health to offer, as a supplemental service, an Enhanced Treatment Program (ETP) that meets certain conditions, including sufficient and documented evaluation of violence risk of the patient. Existing law requires an ETP to meet certain requirements relating to staffing and patient room features and to implement certain policies and procedures on patient care. Under existing law, those ETP provisions remain in effect for each pilot ETP until January 1 of the 5th calendar year after each pilot ETP site has admitted its first patient, and the provisions are repealed as of January 1 of the 5th calendar year after each pilot ETP site has admitted its first patient. Existing law requires the State Department of State Hospitals to post a declaration on its internet website regarding the timing of that repeal condition. This bill would delete the above-described provisions regarding ETP repeal. The bill would instead repeal those provisions on January 1, 2030, as specified. To the extent that the bill would extend the operation of certain ETP sites, and by extending ETP requirements, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would specify regulations for acute psychiatric hospitals not operated by the State Department of State Hospitals are deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare, and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations for these facilities no later than January 31, 2026, and permanent regulations thereafter, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to readopt the emergency regulations, as specified. The bill would authorize the emergency regulations to include, among other things, staffing standards specific to acute psychiatric hospitals. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to use the direct care staffing level data it collects to determine whether a skilled nursing facility has met its nursing hours or direct care service hours per patient per day requirements, as specified. Existing law requires the department to assess specified administrative penalties on skilled nursing facilities that fail to meet these requirements and establishes an administrative process that skilled nursing facilities may use to appeal determinations or assessments made by the department. Existing law continues in the Special Deposit Fund the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account and requires the administrative penalties described above to be deposited into that account. Under existing law, the account is continuously appropriated to the department to support the implementation of these provisions. This bill would remove the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account from the Special Deposit Fund. The bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the Skilled Nursing Facility Minimum Staffing Penalty Account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (3) Existing law requires a clinic, health facility, home health agency, or hospice to prevent unlawful or unauthorized access to, and use or disclosure of, patients' medical information, as defined. Existing law requires the clinic, health facility, home health agency, or hospice to report any unlawful or unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, a patient's medical information to the State Department of Public Health and to the affected patient or the patient's representative, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department to assess administrative penalties for violation of these provisions and gives the department discretion to consider all factors when determining the amount of a penalty. Existing law requires these and other specified penalty moneys to be deposited into the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account, which is established within the Special Deposit Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law requires the moneys in the account to be expended for internal quality improvement activities in the Licensing and Certification Program. This bill would remove the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account from the Special Deposit Fund and, notwithstanding specified provisions of law, require all interest earned on the moneys deposited in the account to be retained in the account. The bill would also, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (4) Existing law also establishes the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account. Existing law requires all administrative fines assessed by the State Department of Public Health for unlawful disclosures of confidential medical information, as specified, to be deposited in that account. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law requires money in the account to be used for purposes of supporting quality improvement activities of the department. The bill would, effective July 1, 2025, abolish the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account and transfer all moneys in the account to the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would require all remaining balances, assets, liabilities, and encumbrances of the Internal Health Information Integrity Quality Improvement Account as of July 1, 2025, to be transferred to, and become part of, the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would require the administrative fines assessed for unlawful disclosures of confidential medical information described above to be deposited in the Internal Departmental Quality Improvement Account. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require money in the account to be used for purposes of supporting quality improvement activities of the Licensing and Certification Program. The bill would also, notwithstanding any other provision of law, authorize the State Controller to use the funds in the account for cash flow loans to the General Fund, as specified. (5) Existing law provides for the licensure of long-term health care facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law establishes the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account in the Special Deposit Fund into which moneys from civil penalties for violations of state and federal law, respectively, are deposited. Existing law requires the moneys in those accounts to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with state and federal law for the protection of health or property of residents of long-term health care facilities, as specified. This bill would remove the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and the Federal Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account from the Special Deposit Fund. (6) Existing law requires a skilled nursing facility, by January 1, 2026, to have an alternative source of power, as defined, to protect resident health and safety, as defined, for no fewer than 96 hours during any type of power outage. Existing law imposes specific compliance requirements based on whether a skilled nursing facility uses a generator as its alternative source of power, or batteries or a combination of batteries in tandem with a renewable electrical generation facility. This bill would instead require a skilled nursing facility to comply with these provisions on or after January 1, 2026, commencing on the first day of the Medi-Cal skilled nursing facility rate year for which the State Department of Health Care Services publishes a written notice on its internet website that the Legislature has appropriated sufficient funds for the express purpose of providing an add-on to the Medi-Cal skilled nursing facility per diem rate for the projected Medi-Cal cost compliance, as specified. The bill would authorize the State Department of Health Care Services to implement these requirements by means of provider bulletins, policy letters, or other similar instructions, without taking regulatory action. (7) 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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a pharmacy benefit manager under contract with a health care service plan to, among other things, register with the Department of Managed Health Care. This bill would instead require a pharmacy benefit manager contracting with a health care service plan or health insurer to secure a license from the Department of Managed Health Care on or after January 1, 2027, or the date on which the department has established the licensure process, whichever is later. The bill would establish application requirements, and would require a pharmacy benefit manager applying for licensure to reimburse the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care for the actual cost of processing the application, including overhead, up to an amount not to exceed $25,000. The bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to submit financial statements to the department at specified intervals, and would require those statements and other proprietary information to be kept confidential, as specified. The bill would authorize the director to suspend or revoke a pharmacy benefit manager license, but would provide that, once issued, a license remains in effect until revoked or suspended. The bill would authorize a pharmacy benefit manager whose license has been revoked, or suspended for more than one year to petition the director to reinstate the license, and would authorize the director to prescribe a fee, not to exceed $500, for the actual cost of processing the petition. The bill would create the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fund in the State Treasury, into which fees, fines, penalties, and reimbursements collected from pharmacy benefit managers would be deposited, except fines and administrative penalties for specified acts or omissions would be deposited into the newly created Pharmacy Benefit Manager Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund in the State Treasury. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information to implement and administer the Health Care Payments Data System to learn about and seek to improve public health, population health, social determinants of health, and the health care system. This bill would require a pharmacy benefit manager to provide specified data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information regarding drug pricing, fees, and other information. The bill would require a licensed health care service plan to pay an annual fee for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 fiscal years for the reasonably necessary expenses of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to fund the Health Care Payments Data Program. The bill would also require a licensed pharmacy benefit manager to pay amounts twice per year to fund the actual and reasonably necessary expenses of the department to implement pharmacy benefit manager licensing and the actual and reasonably necessary expenses of the Department of Health Care Access and Information pertaining to data reporting by pharmacy benefit managers. The bill would require the Health Care Payments Data Program advisory committee to include pharmacy benefit managers. (8) Existing law requires large group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, including a maximum of 3 completed oocyte retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers, as specified. Existing law also requires small group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, to offer coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services. This bill would instead require compliance with the above-described provisions by large and small group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Managed Health Care and the Insurance Commissioner to issue guidance regarding these provisions until January 1, 2027, and would require the departments to consult with each other and stakeholders in issuing that guidance. (9) Existing law authorizes the State Public Health Officer, to the extent allowable under federal law, and upon the availability of funds, to expend moneys from the continuously appropriated AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Rebate Fund for a program to cover the costs of prescribed ADAP formulary medications for the prevention of HIV infection and other specified costs. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health, to the extent that the activities are an allowable use of funds, to spend up to $23,000,000 from the ADAP Rebate Fund to implement certain programs, including an allocation of $5,000,000 annually for 3 years, beginning on July 1, 2024, to the Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Intersex (TGI) Wellness and Equity Fund to fund services related to care and treatment for eligible individuals living with HIV and AIDS. Under existing law, expenditure from the ADAP Rebate Fund also includes an allocation of $5,000,000, in the 2024–25 fiscal year, available until June 30, 2027, to distribute funding to a community-based organization to make internal and external condoms available, if Senate Bill 954 of the 2023–24 Regular Session becomes effective, aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. This bill would additionally allow the moneys allocated to the TGI Wellness and Equity Fund to fund services related to HIV prevention, and would have the allocation begin instead on July 1, 2025. With regard to funding for condoms, the bill would remove the condition that Senate Bill 954 become effective, and would authorize the allocation until June, 30, 2028. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to spend up to $75,000,000 from the ADAP Rebate Fund to support current or eligible HIV services and programs, as specified. The bill would specify the allocation of those funds, including by authorizing up to $65,000,000 of that $75,000,000 to be spent to supplement or fund services, programs, or initiatives for which federal funding has been reduced or eliminated. By adding to the purposes of the ADAP Rebate Fund, and by extending the terms of certain allocations, the bill would make an appropriation. (10) Existing law requires the Office of Health Equity within the State Department of Public Health to administer the TGI Wellness and Equity Fund for purposes of funding grants to create programs, or funding existing programs, focused on coordinating trans-inclusive health care for individuals who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming, or intersex. This bill would instead refer only to the State Department of Public Health, without specifying the office, for purposes of administering the fund. Existing law authorizes use of the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to fund grants for certain purposes, including grants to TGI-serving organizations for the purpose of facilitating therapeutic arts programs, such as dancing, painting, or writing. This bill would restructure that specific purpose by having the grants be made available to TGI-serving organizations for facilitating evidence-based therapeutic arts programs. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions. (11) Existing law, the California Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act of 2020, requires the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to enter into partnerships, in consultation with other state departments as necessary, to, among other things, increase patient access to affordable drugs. Existing law authorizes CHHSA to enter into partnerships regarding over-the-counter naloxone products to allow the development, manufacturing, or distribution of those products by an entity that is authorized to do so under federal or state law. This bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, would additionally authorize CHHSA to enter into partnerships to increase competition, lower prices, and address supply shortages for generic or brand name drugs to address emerging health concerns, for the development, production, procurement, or distribution of vaccines, as specified, and for the manufacture, purchase, or distribution of medical supplies or medical devices. (12) Existing law requires, when a defendant pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, that a jury determine whether the defendant was sane or insane at the time the offense was committed. Under existing law, if a defendant is found to be not guilty by reason of insanity, the court is required to commit the person to the State Department of State Hospitals or any other appropriate public or private treatment facility, as specified. If a defendant is confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility as an inpatient, existing law requires the medical director of the facility to submit a report, at 6-month intervals, to the court and the community program director of the county of commitment setting forth the status and progress of the defendant. This bill would instead require the above-described report to be submitted every 12 months. (13) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program, including prescribed drugs subject to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs. Existing law requires a specified health care service plan contract, including a Medi-Cal managed care plan, to cover the costs for COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing, as provided, regardless of whether the services are provided by an in-network or out-of-network provider. Existing law prohibits this coverage from being subject to copayment, coinsurance, deductible, or any other form of cost sharing. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan from imposing prior authorization or any other utilization management requirements on COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to seek any federal approval it deems necessary to implement those provisions regarding COVID-19. This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan, as defined, to cover COVID-19 screening, testing, immunizations, and therapeutics in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, all plan letters, the Medi-Cal provider manual, Medi-Cal managed care plan contracts with the department, as specified, and other guidance. The bill would exclude Medi-Cal managed care plans from the above-described prohibitions against cost sharing and utilization management by a health care service plan for COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing. The bill would remove the above-described requirement on the State Department of Health Care Services to seek federal approval. (14) Existing law sets forth a schedule of benefits covered under the Medi-Cal program, including hospice service that is certified under the federal Medicare Program, subject to utilization controls. Under existing law, coverage is available only to the extent that no additional net program costs are incurred. Under existing law, prior authorization is not required for hospice services, with exceptions in the case of any admission that violates federal law or for inpatient hospice services. This bill would make the above-described restriction on prior authorization inoperative on July 1, 2026, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2027. Under the bill, hospice services would be covered under Medi-Cal in accordance with Medicare requirements and subject to utilization controls, while maintaining the condition on net program costs. The bill would condition implementation of this coverage on the availability of federal financial participation and receipt of any necessary federal approvals. (15) Existing law authorizes the department to enter into contracts with manufacturers of single-source and multiple-source drugs, on a bid or nonbid basis, for drugs from each major therapeutic category. Existing law requires all pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide to the department a state rebate equal to an amount not less than 10% of the average manufacturer price based on Medi-Cal utilization data for any drug products that have been added to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs under provisions relating to treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or an AIDS-related condition or to treatment of cancer. Existing law authorizes the department to restrict the availability of the drug products of certain manufacturers by requiring prior authorization when the department has not received a timely rebate payment, but authorizes a beneficiary to continue obtaining those drugs if the beneficiary qualifies for continuing care status. Continuing care status requires a beneficiary to have been taking the drug at the time the manufacturer is placed on prior authorization status and the department to receive a claim for the drug with a date of service that is within 100 days prior to the date the manufacturer was placed on prior authorization status. This bill would delete the above-described provisions on continuing care status and, instead, beginning January 1, 2026, would authorize beneficiaries to continue to receive drugs previously prescribed but subject to prior authorization if their pharmacy provider or prescriber initiates a prior authorization request that is subsequently approved by the department. This bill would, effective January 1, 2026, for pharmaceutical manufacturers renewing or entering new state rebate agreements, require that the rebate amount be in an amount not less than 20% of the average manufacturer price if the federal rebate is less than 50% of that price, or an amount not less than 15% of that price if the federal rebate is 50% or greater of that price. Under existing law, for purposes of the above-described drug products, if the pharmaceutical manufacturer does not enter into a supplemental rebate agreement within 60 days after the addition of the drug to the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs, the manufacturer is required to provide to the department a state rebate equal to not less than 20% of the average manufacturer price, as specified. This bill would increase the state rebate minimum threshold to not less than 25% of the price. The bill would make a conforming change to a related provision. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal Drug Rebate Fund, into which nonfederal moneys collected by the department under the above-described rebate provisions are deposited. Under existing law, funds deposited into the Medi-Cal Drug Rebate Fund are continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of funding the nonfederal share of health care services for children, adults, seniors, and persons with disabilities enrolled in the Medi-Cal program. By increasing the state rebate minimum threshold for the above-described drug products, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the department, when it determines that a drug should be removed from the list of contract drugs, to conduct a public hearing to receive comment on the impact of removing the drug. This bill would, instead of a public hearing, require the department to provide individual notice to impacted beneficiaries that the drug is only obtainable through the prior authorization process. The bill would require that the notice include a description of the beneficiary's right to a fair hearing and would encourage the beneficiary to consult a physician. The bill would require the department to also provide provider notice about the removal of the drug, as specified. (16) Existing law requires, with exceptions, the temporary placement of a Medi-Cal provider under payment suspension upon receipt of a credible allegation of fraud for which an investigation is pending under the Medi-Cal program against the provider. Existing law sets forth related provisions regarding the department's collection of overpayments, appeal procedures afforded to the provider, offsetting of the overpayments to satisfy audit or appeal findings if the findings are against the provider, and return of the overpayments if the findings are in favor of the provider, as specified. Existing law authorizes the lifting of a payment suspension upon resolution of an investigation for fraud or abuse. This bill would create the Medi-Cal Anti-Fraud Special Deposit Fund for the deposit of outstanding Medi-Cal payments intercepted as a result of a payment suspension. Under the bill, moneys would be continuously appropriated and allocated, but would remain in the fund until the department lifts the suspension, after which the department would be authorized to return the intercepted Medi-Cal payments to the provider or to offset the payments against any liabilities or restitution owed by the provider to the department. (17) Existing law, the Medi-Cal Long-Term Care Reimbursement Act, requires the department to implement a facility-specific ratesetting system for certain skilled nursing facilities using a cost-based reimbursement rate methodology. Existing law requires the department, subject to any necessary federal approvals, for managed care rating periods that begin between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2026, inclusive, to establish and implement the Workforce and Quality Incentive Program. Under that program, a network provider furnishing skilled nursing facility services to a Medi-Cal managed care enrollee is authorized to earn performance-based directed payments from the Medi-Cal managed care plan with which they contract, as specified, in addition to other certain payments. Existing law repeals the act on January 1, 2028, as specified. This bill would instead apply the program to managed care rating periods that begin between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025, inclusive. The bill would make the provisions relating to the program inoperative on January 1, 2026, and authorize the department to conduct all necessary closeout activities applicable to any managed care rating period before January 1, 2026. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2027, or on the date that the Director of Health Care Services certifies to the Secretary of State that all necessary closeout activities have been completed, whichever is later, but no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would delete a related provision regarding the supplementation of funds available for payments made under the program, as described above, for the 2026 calendar year. (18) Existing law, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, expands the schedule of benefits to include an annual cognitive health assessment for Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are 65 years of age or older if they are otherwise ineligible for a similar assessment as part of an annual wellness visit under the Medicare Program. Existing law makes a Medi-Cal provider eligible to receive the payment for this benefit only if they comply with certain requirements, including completing cognitive health assessment training, as specified. Existing law requires the department, by January 1, 2024, and every 2 years thereafter, to consolidate and analyze data related to the benefit, and to post information on the utilization of, and payment for, the benefit on its internet website. This bill would delete the requirement that a Medi-Cal provider complete specified cognitive health assessment training to be eligible to receive the payment. The bill would also delete the requirement that the department consolidate and analyze data and post information related to the benefit every 2 years. (19) Existing law authorizes the Director of Health Care Services to terminate a contract or impose sanctions if the director finds that an entity that contracts with the department for the delivery of health care services, known as a contractor, fails to comply with contract requirements, state or federal law or regulations, or the state plan or approved waivers, or for other good cause. Existing law includes various entities as part of the definition of "contractor" for purposes of these provisions, including Medi-Cal managed care plans and Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery systems. This bill would add, to the list of contractors subject to the above-described provisions, entities under the Home- and Community-Based Alternatives (HCBA) Waiver and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , as specified. (20) Under existing law, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services are covered Medi-Cal benefits. Under existing law, FQHC and RHC services are reimbursed on a per-visit basis, as defined. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, require reimbursement for FQHC and RHC services that are eligible for federal financial participation. The bill would revise the definition of visit for purposes of this provision to mean a face-to-face encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified health professionals that is eligible for federal financial participation or an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and specified health professionals using specified modalities, including, among others, video synchronous interaction, when services delivered through those modalities meet the applicable standard of care and are eligible for federal participation. (21) Existing law requires the department to establish the Nondesignated Public Hospital Intergovernmental Transfer Program to provide supplemental payments to nondesignated public hospitals in a manner that maximizes federal financial participation in the resulting supplemental payments. Existing law authorizes a transferring entity, as defined, to agree to transfer its intergovernmental transfer (IGT) allocation, as defined, to the state in accordance with the program, and requires the state to deposit the transferred funds into the Medi-Cal Inpatient Payment Adjustment Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund. Existing law authorizes the state to retain 9% of each intergovernmental transfer amount to reimburse the department, or transfer to the General Fund, for the administrative costs of operating the program and for the benefit of Medi-Cal children's health care programs. This bill would require a nondesignated public hospital participating in the program to reimburse the department for specified administrative costs as a condition of receiving the above-described supplemental payments. Beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year and every fiscal year thereafter, the bill would require the state to retain a percentage of each IGT amount associated with interim supplemental payments such that the total amount retained is equal to the projected administrative cost to the department, as specified. The bill would require the department to project the specified administrative costs each fiscal year to determine the percentage to be retained. To the extent the bill would continuously appropriate additional moneys, the bill would make an appropriation. (22) Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal Hospital/Uninsured Care Demonstration Project Act, which revises hospital reimbursement methodologies under the Medi-Cal program to maximize the use of federal funds consistent with federal Medicaid law and stabilize the distribution of funding for hospitals that provide care to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured patients. Existing law provides funding, in supplementation of Medi-Cal reimbursement, to various hospitals, including nondesignated public hospitals, in accordance with certain provisions relating to disproportionate share hospitals. Existing law establishes the Nondesignated Public Hospital Supplemental Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, in the State Treasury, and requires all amounts in the fund for a project year in excess of the amount necessary to make specified supplemental payments to be available for negotiation by the California Medical Assistance Commission, as provided. For the 2025–26 fiscal year, this bill would require additional supplemental payments to be made to nondesignated public hospitals that meet certain criteria such that the specified payments made are equal to the prescribed amount transferred from the General Fund plus the applicable amount of federal financial participation that is available for the nonfederal share of payments. The bill would require the remaining amounts in the fund to be used for supplemental payments to nondesignated public hospitals pursuant to a methodology developed by the department, as specified. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2026, abolish the fund effective December 31, 2028, and repeal these provisions on July 1, 2030. The bill would authorize the department to conduct any necessary and remaining duties, as specified, even after these provisions become inoperative. (23) The federal Medicaid program prohibits payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. Existing state law extends Medi-Cal eligibility for the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits to an individual who does not have satisfactory immigration status if they are otherwise eligible for those benefits, as specified. This bill would instead exclude an individual who is 19 years of age or older and does not have satisfactory immigration status from dental benefits under Medi-Cal, as specified and would, beginning no sooner than July 1, 2027, require individuals who are not pregnant and who are 19 to 59 years of age, inclusive, to pay a monthly premium of $30, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would make an individual who is 19 years of age or older and does not have satisfactory immigration status and who applies for Medi-Cal on or after January 1, 2026, eligible only for pregnancy-related services and emergency medical treatment. The bill would delay the implementation of certain provisions until the director makes specified communications to the Department of Finance. The bill would make other conforming changes. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations and this bill would alter Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (24) Existing law prohibits the use of an assets or resources test for individuals whose income eligibility for Medi-Cal is determined based on the application of a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) . Existing federal law authorizes a state to establish a non-MAGI standard for determining the eligibility of certain populations. Existing law, subject to receipt of any necessary federal approvals, prohibits the use of resources, including property or other assets, to determine Medi-Cal eligibility for applicants or beneficiaries whose eligibility is not determined using the MAGI-based financial methods. Existing law requires the department to seek federal authority to disregard all resources as authorized by the flexibilities provided pursuant to federal law. This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2026, remove the above-described prohibition on the use of resources for determining Medi-Cal eligibility in non-MAGI cases and implement a disregard of $130,000 in nonexempt property for a case with one member and $65,000 for each additional household member, up to a maximum of 10 members, as specified. As part of conforming changes, the bill would make certain provisions inoperative on January 1, 2026, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2027. The bill would make certain inoperative provisions operative for purposes of reinstating references to resources or assets. The bill would make certain additional changes to the above-described provisions, including modifying the timeline of certain regulations and changing certain reporting requirements. By creating new duties for counties relating to the consideration of resources for determining Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (25) Existing law establishes the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, administered by the California Health and Human Services Agency and its departments, with the purpose of transforming the state's behavioral health system into an innovative ecosystem in which all children and youth 25 years of age and younger, regardless of payer, are screened, supported, and served for emerging and existing behavioral health needs. Existing law requires, subject to an appropriation, that the initiative include, among other things, grants to qualified entities to support implementation of the initiative for behavioral health services in schools and investments for behavioral health workforce, education, and training. Existing law authorizes the Department of Health Care Access and Information to award competitive grants to qualified entities and individuals to expand the supply of behavioral health counselors, coaches, peer supports, and other allied health care providers serving children and youth, including those at schoolsites. Existing law defines a "behavioral health coach," for purposes of those provisions, to mean a new category of behavioral health provider who, among other things, (A) is trained specifically to help address the unmet mental health and substance use needs of children and youth, (B) receives appropriate supervision from licensed staff, and (C) has training and qualifications, including psychoeducation, system navigation, crisis deescalation, safety planning, coping skills, and motivational interviewing. This bill would revise these provisions to replace the term "behavioral health coach" with "certified wellness coach." The bill would specify that a certified wellness coach receives appropriate supervision and coordination from staff who are licensed or who hold a pupil personnel services credential or school nurse services credential. The bill would add crisis referral to, and remove crisis deescalation and safety planning from, the list of a certified wellness coach's training and qualifications. (26) Existing law, as a component of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to award competitive grants to entities that it deems qualified to, among other things, expand access to licensed medical and behavioral health professionals, counselors, peer support specialists, community health workers, and behavioral health coaches serving children and youth. This bill would revise that provision to replace the term "behavioral health coaches" with "certified wellness coaches." (27) Existing law establishes a Department of Health Care Access and Information within the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law requires the department, on or before July 1, 2023, to develop and approve statewide requirements for community health worker certificate programs and to approve the curriculum required for programs to certify community health workers. Existing law requires the department, on or before July 1, 2023, to review, approve, or renew evidence-based curricula and community-defined curricula for core competencies, specialized programs, and training. Existing law requires an organization that seeks approval or renewal of a community health worker certificate program to submit a community health worker certificate program plan, submit to periodic reviews, and submit annual community health worker certificate program reports, as specified. Existing law authorizes the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to request that an individual who is either enrolled in, or who has completed, a community health worker certificate program submit specified workforce data. Existing law defines "community health worker" to, among other things, include nonlicensed health workers with the qualifications developed pursuant to these provisions. This bill would repeal these provisions. The bill would make conforming changes to provisions defining "community health worker" by cross-reference to the above-described definition. (28) 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. (29) 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. (30) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of marijuana for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The existing Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee, as defined, for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law requires every employer to secure the payment of workers' compensation as provided by law and imposes civil and criminal penalties on employers that fail to secure the payment of workers' compensation. Existing law authorizes an employer, pursuant to this provision, to insure against liability in insurers duly authorized to write compensation insurance in the state or to secure from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure. This bill would authorize the administrative director or their agent to require an employer that is licensed or required to be licensed under MAUCRSA to provide proof that it has secured payment of workers' compensation to the administrative director or their agent. The bill would authorize the administrative director or their agent to establish a schedule for compliance that includes dates for when a licensee may be required to comply with these requirements. The bill would require the administrative director to provide assistance to any employer or entity that notifies the administrative director that it has been unable to obtain coverage and authorize the administrative director to extend the deadline for compliance, and would exempt any employer that secures the payment of workers' compensation pursuant to these provisions from civil or criminal liability for prior failure to secure the payment of compensation. The bill would authorize the administrative director to contract with one or more agents to assist employers in complying with these provisions, as specified.
Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps and requires young adults participating in the corps program to be generally engaged in projects that do specified things, including, among other things, projects that directly contribute to the conservation of energy. This bill would instead require young adults participating in the corps program to be generally engaged in projects that, among other things, promote or contribute to the conservation of energy and the development or enhancement of clean energy, climate resilience, or sustainable nature-based solutions. Existing law provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that the corps blend academic and job skills training with personal growth opportunities in order to develop productive youths who can make substantial contributions as California workers and citizens. This bill would require the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish a Green Collar Certification Program that provides corpsmembers participating in the corps with skills and education including, but not limited to, reducing carbon emissions in residential and nonresidential buildings, preparing communities for environmental disasters, and developing conservation infrastructure projects that stabilize shorelines and restore ecological habitats, as provided. The bill would require the director to issue a Green Collar Certificate to a corpsmember who successfully completes the program. The bill would require the director, in administering the program, to collaborate with specified entities to identify emerging workforce needs, as specified. The bill would authorize the director to authorize certified community conservation corps to implement the program pursuant to guidelines established by the corps, as specified. This bill would also authorize the director to apply for and accept grants or donations of funds from any public or private source that are provided for specified purposes relating to the program. The bill would establish the Green Collar Certification Program Fund and would require the grants or donations described above to be deposited into the fund. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund to the director for specified purposes relating to the program. By providing for the continuous appropriation of fund moneys to the director, this bill would create an appropriation.
Under existing law, it is the public policy of this state to encourage the utilization of apprenticeship as a form of on-the-job training, when such training is cost effective in developing skills needed to perform public services. Existing law requires state and local public agencies to make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for apprenticeable occupations in their respective workforces. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials. Existing law requires, as a minimum requirement for a preliminary multiple-subject, single-subject, or education specialist teaching credential, the satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as specified. This bill would require the commission and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to partner in the dissemination, approval, and monitoring of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs in California, and to communicate apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, local educational agencies, and other potential sponsors of educator apprenticeship programs. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, would authorize the commission to issue apprenticeship certificates or permits to educator candidates without a credential who are employed by local educational agencies and participating in approved credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, as specified. The bill would authorize the commission and the division to enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish processes and procedures for information sharing, application review, and data collection and reporting, and would authorize the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in consultation with the commission, to issue rules and regulations that govern credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, including the approval and denial of programs, registration of agreements, program administration and procedures, evaluations, working conditions, and minimum standards, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for a new credentialed educator apprenticeship program or for the expansion of an existing credentialed educator apprenticeship program into a new geographic or credential area to submit specified documentation to the chief. The bill would require the division to present the apprenticeship program application to the commission for its review, as provided, and would require the commission, if it is satisfied that specified conditions have been met, to provide written notice of that fact to the chief.
Existing law requires a contract entered into by any state agency for the procurement or laundering of apparel, garments, or corresponding accessories, or the procurement of equipment, materials, or supplies, other than procurement related to a public works contract, to require that a contractor certify that nothing furnished to the state pursuant to the contract has been laundered or produced by certain types of labor, including forced labor, as defined. Existing law makes any person who falsely certifies pursuant to these provisions guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would, for a contract entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, revise the above contracting requirements to also require a contractor to certify that the contract complies with specified requirements relating to human trafficking, including certain prohibitions on contractors, contractor employees, subcontractors, subcontractor employees, and their agents. The bill would revise the definition of forced labor to mean knowingly providing or obtaining labor or services of a person by, among other things, threats of serious harm to, or physical restraint against, that person or another person. This bill would require contractors and subcontractors to notify employees of specified prohibited activities and the actions that may be taken against them for violations. The bill would provide that a contractor is ineligible for, and shall not bid on, or submit a proposal for, a contract under these provisions if the contractor has failed to certify its compliance. The bill would also require a contractor to exercise due diligence in ensuring that its subcontractors comply with those requirements, including requiring each subcontractor to sign a certification. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require, before a contract or subcontract is awarded, a proposed contractor or proposed subcontractor to provide a certification to the contracting officer or contractor, as applicable, that states the contractor or subcontractor has implemented a compliance plan, as specified, and has conducted due diligence that either (1) to the best of the contractor's or subcontractor's knowledge and belief, certain parties have not engaged in any specified prohibited activities or (2) if the contractor or subcontractor is aware of abuses relating to the specified prohibited activities, then certain parties have taken the appropriate remedial and referral actions. This bill would require a contractor or subcontractor to take specified actions to ensure compliance with the above-described provisions, including requiring the contractor or subcontractor to disclose to the contracting officer and the state agency with oversight information sufficient to identify the nature and extent of a violation of a prohibited activity. The bill would specify certain actions a contractor would be required to take if a contractor, contractor employee, subcontractor, subcontractor employee, or agent violates these provisions or specified provisions, including, among others, notifying its employees of the actions that will be taken against the employee or agent for violations. Existing law authorizes certain sanctions to be imposed if a contractor knew or should have known that the apparel, garments, corresponding accessories, equipment, materials, or supplies furnished to the state were laundered or produced in violation of specified conditions, including, among others, voiding the contract under which the prohibited apparel, garments, or corresponding accessories, equipment, materials, or supplies were laundered or provided at the option of the state agency and removing the contractor from the bidder's list for a period not to exceed 360 days. This bill would, for a contract entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, authorize additional sanctions, including, among others, requiring a contractor to remove a contractor employee from the performance of the contract, requiring the contractor to terminate a subcontractor, and suspending contract payments until the contractor has taken appropriate remedial action. The bill would also specify that these requirements govern contracts and subcontracts entered into by a state agency, regardless of place of performance. Existing law authorizes a contractor to request a hearing before an administrative law judge when sanctions are imposed. Existing law requires the administrative law judge to consider any measures the contractor has taken to ensure compliance with the above-described provisions and authorizes the administrative law judge to waive any or all sanctions if it is determined that the contractor has acted in good faith. This bill would, for a contract entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, authorize the administrative law judge to additionally consider mitigating factors and aggravating factors, as specified. Existing law authorizes a state agency that investigates a complaint against a contractor for violation of the above-described provisions to limit its investigation to evaluating the information provided by the person or entity submitting the complaint and information provided by the contractor. This bill would, for a contract entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, authorize the state agency to limit its investigation to credible information. The bill would require the contracting officer, upon receipt of credible information regarding a violation of specified provisions, to promptly notify the state agency with oversight, the agency debarring and suspending official, and law enforcement officials with jurisdiction over the alleged offense, as specified. The bill would authorize the contracting officer to direct the contractor to take specific steps to abate the alleged violation or enforcement of the requirements of its compliance plan. 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 California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts and local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to, no later than June 30, 2017, bring before the board of governors any policies, regulations, and guidance necessary to accomplish, among other things, providing work-based learning opportunities for students that increase their employability and earning potential, as provided. Existing law requires a percentage of the funds apportioned for community colleges under the program to be apportioned directly to community college districts in the consortia to fund, among other things, student grants to cover fees for third-party certification and licensing. This bill would require the chancellor's office to revise, no later than June 30, 2026, the above-described policies, regulations, and guidance necessary to provide students, employers, or both, with paid work-based learning opportunities, as provided. The bill would authorize a community college district to also use those funds apportioned directly to community college districts to provide direct support to students, employers, or both, for paid work-based learning to increase employability and employment, as provided.
