PFAC maintains an active government relations program, engaging with state government on policies and proposals that pertain to licensed professional fiduciaries and the clients we serve.
The association has a professional legislative advocate, as well as a legislative committee comprised of PFAC members.
Together, they work throughout the year: reviewing and analyzing legislation and regulations, developing and implementing positions and strategies, preparing proposed legislation, regulations and amendments for sponsorship by the association, testifying in hearings, and negotiating with elected officials, regulators, and other interests.
The committee reports to the PFAC Board of Directors which makes the official decisions on PFAC’s policies and positions.
Advocacy has been a key function of the association for many years. PFAC co-sponsored the legislation that established the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau and the Professional Fiduciaries Act in state law over a decade ago, and it has been involved in legislation modifying and updating the Act over the intervening years.
The current PFAC legislative committee members are:
- Marilyn Kreibel
- Susanna Starcevic
PFAC’s legislative advocate is:
- Jerry Desmond, Desmond & Desmond LLC
Specific information about PFAC’s policies, positions, calls-to-actions and efforts are available to our members.
Legislative Updates:
Legislative Update – AB Sections
Legislative Update 09/20/2021
Legislative Update 06/11/2021
Measures of interest in the 2019-2020 legislative session include:
Location: 9/18/2019 – ASSEMBLY ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/18/2019
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Existing law authorizes a claimant to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of property taxes that are due on the residential dwelling of the claimant pursuant to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, the Senior Citizens Tenant-Stockholder Property Tax Postponement Law, the Senior Citizens Manufactured Home Property Tax Postponement Law, and the Senior Citizens Possessory Interest Holder Property Tax Postponement Law. Existing law, for purposes of these laws, does not allow a postponement of property taxes if the claimant’s household income exceeds $35,500. Existing law continuously appropriates revenues in the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund for, among other things, disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes pursuant to these laws. Existing law requires property tax postponement payments, from the time a payment is made, to bear interest at the rate of 7% per annum. This bill, beginning July 1, 2020, would lower the rate of interest on property tax postponement payments from 7% per annum to 5% per annum. The bill would revise the income
limitations to instead provide that a claimant’s household income cannot exceed $45,000, compounded
annually, as provided. Because this bill would provide for additional expenditures from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an
appropriation.
Location: 9/12/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/12/2019
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Existing law provides for the out-of-home placement, including foster care placement, of children who are unable to remain in the custody and care of their parents, and imposes various requirements on the county child welfare agency in regard to arranging and overseeing the foster care placement. Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to receive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services, the right to be placed in out-of- home care according to their gender identity, regardless of the gender or sex listed in their court or child welfare records, the right to review their own case plan and plan for permanent placement if the child is 12 years of age or older and in a permanent placement, and the right to attend Independent Living Program classes and activities if the child meets applicable age requirements.This bill would instead require all children and nonminor dependents in foster care to have these rights and would revise various rights, including providing the right to review their own case plan and plan for permanent placement to children 10 years of age or older
regardless of whether they are in a permanent placement and the right to not be prevented from attending Independent Living Program classes by the caregiver as a punishment. The bill would include additional rights, including, among others, the right to be referred to by the child’s preferred name and gender pronoun, the right to maintain the privacy of the child’s sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, except as provided, and the right to have reasonable access to computer technology and the internet. To the extent that the bill would impose additional duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/11/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLMENT
Current: Enrolled: 9/16/2019
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Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, requires a mandated reporter, as defined, to report whenever they, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, have knowledge of or observed a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months of confinement in a county jail, by a fine of $1,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine. This bill would add qualified autism service providers, qualified autism service professionals, and qualified autism service paraprofessionals, as defined, to the list of individuals who are mandated reporters. By imposing the reporting requirements on a new class of persons, for whom failure to report specified conduct is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 4/26/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 1/10/2019
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Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to appoint and commission notaries public in the number the Secretary of State deems necessary for the public convenience. Existing law authorizes notaries public to act as notaries in any part of the state.This bill, the California Online Notary Act of 2019, would, commencing on January 1, 2021, allow a notary public or an applicant for appointment as a notary public to register with the Secretary of State to be an online notary public by submitting an application for registration that meets certain requirements. The bill would require the Secretary of State to develop an application for registration and establish rules to implement the act on or before January 1, 2022. The bill would authorize the Secretary of State to charge an applicant a fee for an application for registration in an amount necessary to administer the act. The bill would authorize an online notary public to perform notarial acts, and online notarizations by means of audio-video communication. The bill would establish various requirements applicable to an online notary public, including requiring an online notary public to keep one or more secure electronic journals to record online notarial acts, requiring an electronic notarial certificate to be a specified form that is required to be signed under penalty of perjury, and requiring an online notary public to destroy certain information upon termination of a commission, as specified. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person who, without authorization, knowingly obtains, conceals, damages, or destroys the certificate, disk, coding, card, program, software, or hardware enabling an online notary public to affix an official electronic signature or seal. By creating a new crime, and by expanding the scope of the existing crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make other conforming changes.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 5/17/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/8/2019
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Existing law requires a state agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people and provides English language materials explaining services to provide the same type of materials in other languages, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to translate a specified notice of action into all languages spoken by a substantial number of the public receiving in-home supportive services, as specified.This bill would clarify that the department is required to provide translations of written content, as defined, and transcriptions or captioning of videos, in languages spoken by a substantial number of providers of in-home supportive services in California. The bill would permit the department to work with counties and the County Welfare Directors Association of California to repurpose existing, county-produced translations of written content and videos.
Location: 4/24/2019- ASSEMBLY APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Current: Amended: 3/6/2019
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The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law.This bill, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, would allow a credit against those taxes in an amount equal to 50% of the amount paid or incurred by a family caregiver during the taxable year for eligible expenses related to the care of an eligible family member, not to exceed $5,000. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of these credits to be allocated in each calendar year to $150,000,000 as well as any unused credit amount, if any, allocated in the preceding calendar year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to allocate and certify these tax credits to taxpayers on a first-come-first-served basis. The bill would make these provisions operative on the effective date of any budget measure specifically appropriating funds to the Franchise Tax Board for its costs to administer these provisions.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 5/17/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/4/2019
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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 and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of
benefits under the Medi-Cal program, including certain dental services, and dental managed care plans.This bill would require the department to implement a special needs treatment and management benefit that would be provided for 4 visits in a 12-month period for a Medi-Cal dental program beneficiary with special dental care needs, as defined. The bill would require a Medi-Cal dental program provider to document specified information, including the need for additional time to treat a Medi-Cal dental program beneficiary with special dental care needs, for purposes of reimbursement. The bill would not limit the provision or scope of Medi-Cal benefits covered under existing law. The bill would require the department to seek any necessary approvals from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement the bill. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions, by various means, including plan or provider bulletins, without taking regulatory action, and would require the department, by July 1, 2022, to subsequently adopt regulations. The bill would require the department, commencing January 1, 2020, to provide the Legislature with semiannual status reports to the Legislature until regulations have been adopted.
Location: 6/26/2019- ASSEMBLY CHAPTERED
Current: Chaptered: 6/26/2019
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Existing law establishes an express presumption of fraud or undue influence when a donative instrument makes a gift to the person who drafted or transcribed the instrument or to the care custodian of a transferor who is a dependent adult, as specified. Existing law exempts, among others, spouses and cohabitants of the transferor, from the presumption of fraud or undue influence.This bill would additionally subject to the above-described presumption a gift made to a care custodian who commenced a marriage, cohabitation, or domestic partnership with a transferor who is a dependent adult while providing services to that dependent adult, or within 90 days after those services were last provided to the dependent adult, if the donative transfer occurred, or the instrument was executed, less than 6 months after the marriage, cohabitation, or domestic partnership commenced.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 4/26/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/4/2019
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Existing law prohibits the State Department of Social Services from authorizing individuals who have been convicted of certain crimes from working or otherwise being present at a community care facility, a residential care facility for persons with a chronic, life-threatening illness, a residential care facility for the elderly, or a child daycare facility. The act requires the department to perform criminal background investigations of individuals as part of its licensing and regulatory oversight of these facilities.This bill would enumerate additional crimes that prohibit the department from authorizing an individual from working or otherwise being present at these facilities, including, among other crimes, the willful and unlawful use of personal identifying
information.
Location: 8/30/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 6/24/2019
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Existing law authorizes any postsecondary higher educational institution with a medical center to establish diagnostic and treatment centers for Alzheimer’s disease, and requires the State Department of Public Health to administer grants to the postsecondary higher educational institutions that establish a center pursuant to these provisions.
This bill contains other existing laws.
Location: 6/4/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/3/2019
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Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as “mandated reporters,” to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Existing law states the Legislature’s intent that those receiving agencies in each county develop and implement cooperative arrangements in order to coordinate existing duties in connection with the investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect cases, and requires the local law enforcement agency to report investigations of suspected child abuse or neglect to the county welfare or probation department within 36 hours after starting its investigation.This bill would require certain agencies to develop and implement protocols for coordinating investigations of alleged child abuse and neglect involving children under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The bill would require, when an agency receives a report that contains a report of abuse or neglect alleged to have occurred in a resource family home, foster family home, certified foster home, the home of an approved relative or nonrelative extended family member, or a facility licensed to care for children by the department, to notify the licensing office or agency with oversight responsibility over the home or facility within the 24-hour period described above.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 8/30/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/11/2019
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(1)Existing law generally requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate designated types of care facilities. The department is required to investigate the criminal record of certain individuals who provide services to the residents and clients of a community care facility, a residential care facility for persons with chronic life-threatening illness, a residential care facility for the elderly, or a child daycare facility.
Violations of the licensing requirements for these different types of care facilities are crimes.This bill would expand who is required to comply with the requirement for obtaining a criminal record clearance by including individuals who are otherwise associated at the facility and would expand a requirement for the department to maintain criminal record clearances of individuals in its active files. The bill would require, until an automated information system for tracking changes in facility associations is available, the department to permit a licensee who operates more than one of the same kind of care facility to coordinate the criminal record clearances for
individuals associated with its facilities, and a licensee to update the department regarding individuals associated with its facilities, as specified. By expanding the requirements for these different licensees, this bill would expand the crimes for a failure to comply with those requirements, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 7/30/2019- ASSEMBLY CHAPTERED
Current: Chaptered: 7/30/2019
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(1)Existing law authorizes procedures to dispose of a decedent’s personal and real property that is valued below specified dollar amounts without a full probate administration. Existing law also authorizes procedures for a
decedent’s property, including unpaid compensation, to pass to a surviving spouse, under specified conditions that include whether the property is community, quasi-community, or separate property.This bill would increase the specified dollar amounts for a small estate to qualify for disposition without a full probate administration. The bill would also increase the dollar amounts for a surviving spouse to collect unpaid compensation from the decedent-spouse’s employer. The bill would also require, on April 1, 2022, and at each 3-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, the Judicial Council to adjust these dollar amounts based on a particular consumer price index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bill would further require the Judicial Council to publish the adjusted dollar amounts and the date of the next scheduled adjustment.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/11/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLMENT
Current: Enrolled: 9/16/2019
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Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is under the control of the director of the Director of Consumer Affairs, is comprised of various boards, as defined, that license and regulate various professions and vocations. With respect to the Department of Consumer Affairs, existing law provides that the Governor has power to remove from office any member of any board appointed by the Governor for specified reasons, including incompetence.This bill would instead provide that the appointing authority has power to remove a board member from office for those specified reasons.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/12/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/12/2019
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Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the department to implement managed mental health care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries through contracts with mental health plans, and requires mental health plans to be governed by various guidelines, including a requirement that a mental health plan assess the cultural competency needs of the program. Existing law requires mental health plan reviews to be conducted by an external quality review organization (EQRO) on an annual basis, and requires those reviews to include specific data for Medi-Cal eligible minor and nonminor dependents in foster care, such as the number of Medi-Cal eligible minor and nonminor dependents in foster care served each year.This bill would require each mental health plan to prepare a cultural competence plan to address specified matters, including mental health disparities in access, utilization, and outcomes by various categories, such as race, ethnicity, and immigration status. The bill would require a mental health plan to convene a committee for the purpose of reviewing and approving the cultural competence plan, to annually update its cultural competence plan and progress, to post this material on its internet website, and to submit its cultural competence plan to the department every 3 years for technical assistance and implementation feedback. The bill would require the department to develop at least 8 statewide mental health disparities reduction targets, to post the cultural competence plan submitted by each mental health plan to its internet website, and to consult with the Office of Health Equity to review and implement county assessments and statewide performance on mental health disparities reductions. The bill would require the department to direct the EQRO to develop a protocol for monitoring performance of each mental health plan, and to report on identified matters, including statewide progress related to the mental health disparities reduction targets. The bill would require the EQRO to publish specified information in the annual detailed technical report, such as recommendations for statewide strategies to reduce mental health disparities. The bill would require the mental health plan to meet specified mental health disparities reduction targets or make year-over-year improvements toward meeting the targets.
Location: 3/21/2019- ASSEMBLY REV. & TAX
Current: Amended: 4/8/2019
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The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements.This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, in an amount equal to the cost paid or incurred during the taxable year for an initial professional license fee. The bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit.
This bill contains other related provisions.
Location: 6/4/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/13/2019
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Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and requires regional centers to identify and pursue all possible sources of funding for consumers receiving those services. Existing law defines a “developmental disability” as a disability that originates before an individual attains 18 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual.This bill would modify that definition to mean a disability that originates before an individual attains 22 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual. The bill would make various technical and nonsubstantive changes.
Location: 5/17/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 3/21/2019
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Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of professions and vocations by various boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law provides for the payment of a fee for the renewal of certain licenses, certificates, or permits in an inactive status, and, for certain licenses, certificates, and permits that have expired, requires the payment of all accrued fees as a condition of reinstatement of the license, certificate, or permit.This bill would limit the maximum fee for the renewal of a license in an inactive status to no more than 50% of the renewal fee for an active license. The bill would also prohibit a board from requiring payment of accrued and unpaid renewal fees as a condition of reinstating an expired license or registration.
Location: 5/1/2019- ASSEMBLY APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Current: Amended: 4/22/2019
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Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, funds a system of county mental health plans for the provision of mental health services, as specified. The act establishes the Mental Health Services Fund, which is continuously appropriated to, and administered by, the State Department of Health Care Services to fund specified county mental health programs, including innovative programs with the purpose of, among other things, increasing the quality of, and access to, services.This bill would appropriate $16,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Health Care Services to distribute to the North Orange County Public Safety Task Force for the development of a 2-year pilot program. The bill would require 1/2 of the moneys to be distributed on January 1, 2020, and 1/2 to be distributed on January 1, 2021, and would require the moneys to be used to provide a range of programs, services, and activities designed to assist individuals and families experiencing mental health crises. The bill would require the task force to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1, 2021, and again by July 1, 2022, documenting the findings and outcomes of the pilot program.
Location: 6/4/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/22/2019
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Existing law requires the Director of Health Care Services to, among other things, maintain or enter into contracts directly with nonprofit caregiver resource centers to provide direct services to caregivers of cognitively impaired adults, as defined, throughout the state.This bill would establish, until July, 1, 2026, a pilot program, administered by the Chief Service Officer of CaliforniaVolunteers, under which nonprofit entities known as Care Corps Grantees that would contract with the officer would select, train, and place volunteers to provide care to persons who are at least 65 years of age, who have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, and who have difficulty with self-care or living independently. The bill would establish selection criteria for prospective volunteers and specified training requirements. The bill would require the Care Corps Grantees to provide a stipend and an educational award, as specified, to volunteers. The bill would require the officer to appoint an advisory council and would require the officer and the advisory council to evaluate the program, as specified.
This bill contains other existing laws.
Location: 7/10/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/14/2019
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Exiting law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is comprised of boards that are established for the purpose of regulating various professions and vocations, and generally authorizes a board to charge fees for the reasonable regulatory cost of administering the regulatory program for the profession or vocation. Existing law establishes the Professions and Vocations Fund in the State Treasury, which consists of specified special funds and accounts, some of which are continuously appropriated. This bill would authorize each board within the department to increase every 4 years any fee authorized to be imposed by that board by an amount not to exceed the increase in the California Consumer Price Index for the preceding 4 years, subject to specified conditions. The bill would require the Director of Consumer Affairs to approve any fee increase proposed by a board except under specified circumstances. By authorizing an increase in the amount of fees deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
This bill contains other existing laws.
Location: 8/30/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 5/16/2019
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Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires contracts between the department and regional centers to specify the service area and the categories of persons that regional centers are expected to serve and the services and supports that are to be provided.This bill would require the Director of Developmental Services to identify regional centers that are in need of a satellite office or satellite offices in catchment areas where barriers to access may exist. The bill would require the director, on or before July 1, 2020, to consult with each regional center identified by the director to determine an appropriate location for the satellite office or offices. The bill would require each regional center identified by the director to inform the public of its plans to open one or more satellite offices, and to offer services to individuals with developmental disabilities at those satellite offices on or before July 1, 2021.
Location: 6/4/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 3/21/2019
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Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law establishes the Employment First Policy, which is the policy that opportunities for integrated, competitive employment be given the highest priority for working age individuals with developmental disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disabilities. Existing law authorizes a consumer to choose a tailored day service or vouchered community-based training service, in lieu of any other regional center vendored day program, look-alike day program, supported employment program, or work activity program. Existing law requires a tailored day service to (1) include an individualized service design, as determined through the individual program plan (IPP) and approved by the regional center, that maximizes the consumer’s individualized choices and needs and (2) encourage opportunities to further the development or maintenance of employment, volunteer activities, or pursuit of postsecondary education, maximize consumer direction of the service, and increase the consumer’s ability to lead an integrated and inclusive life. This bill would authorize a consumer in a supported employment program or work activity program who has the stated goal of integrated competitive employment in their IPP to request to use tailored day services in conjunction with their existing program to achieve that goal, if specified criteria are met, including that the type, amount, and provider of tailored day service allowed under these provisions is determined through the IPP process. The bill would specify the maximum hours of tailored day services that may be authorized in conjunction with existing services under these provisions.
Location: 4/26/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 3/26/2019
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Existing law, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, establishes procedures and requirements for the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse. Existing law imposes various reporting requirements on mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse, as defined, of an elder or dependent adult, and imposes a civil penalty for a violation of these provisions. Under existing law, all officers and employees of financial institutions, as defined, are mandated reporters of suspected financial abuse. Existing law, the Money Transmission Act, provides for the licensure and regulation, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight, of certain persons engaged in the business of money transmission.This bill would require a business that is licensed under the Money Transmission Act whose primary business function is transmitting money, that operates out of a physical storefront or location and that does not engage in other transactions, to provide notice to customers who are 65 years of age or older making the customer aware that fraud has been committed in recent years by means of money transmittals. The bill would govern the manner for providing the notice and would require the customer who receives the notice to provide confirmation that the customer has read and understood the notice before proceeding with the transaction. The bill would require the notice to be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and would require the commissioner to prescribe that form. The bill would require a civil penalty in the amount of $5,000 to be imposed for the willful failure to provide this notice.
Location: 4/26/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/20/2019
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The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act makes the State Department of Developmental Services responsible for providing various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. Pursuant to that law, the department contracts with regional centers to provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities.This bill would expressly include mobile crisis services and paid employment for service providers as a means for which the department is authorized to establish guidelines for the usage of community placement funds.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 2/20/2019- ASSEMBLY REV. & TAX
Current: Introduced: 2/20/2019
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The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law.This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2024, in an amount equal to 25% of the amount paid or incurred during the taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, for home care services, not to exceed $5,000. The bill would define “home care services” to mean specified nonmedical services and assistance provided by a registered home care aide, as defined, a licensed home health agency, or a licensed hospice to a qualified taxpayer who, because of advanced age or physical or mental disability, cannot perform these services that enable the qualified taxpayer to remain in the qualified taxpayer’s residence.
This bill contains other related provisions.
Location: 7/10/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 5/2/2019
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(1)Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, beginning on January 1, 2020, grants consumers various rights with regard to their personal information held by businesses, including the right to know what categories of personal information and the specific pieces a business collects and to have information held by that business deleted, as specified. Existing law imposes certain responsibilities on the Attorney General in connection with the act, including creating regulations and providing guidance on how to comply with the act. This bill would revise the definition of “deidentified” to instead mean information that does not identify, and is not reasonably linkable, directly or indirectly, to a particular consumer, provided that the business makes no attempt to reidentify the information and takes reasonable technical and administrative measures designed to ensure that the data is deidentified, publicly commits to maintain and use the data in a deidentified form, and contractually prohibits recipients of the data from trying to reidentify it.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/12/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLMENT
Current: Enrolled: 9/18/2019
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Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, beginning on January 1, 2020, grants consumers various rights with regard to their personal information held by businesses, including the right to request a business to disclose specific pieces of personal information it has collected and the right to request a business to delete any personal information collected by the business. The act generally provides for its enforcement by the Attorney General, but also provides for a private right of action in certain circumstances. This bill would redefine “personal information” to mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. The bill would also define “publicly available” to mean information that is lawfully made available from federal, state, or local records. The bill would delete the above language specifying the conditions in which that information is not “publicly available.” The bill would, instead, provide that “personal information” does not include deidentified or aggregate consumer information. The bill would make related changes.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/13/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/13/2019
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Existing law establishes in state government, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services. Existing law requires the office to be responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law, the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, requires every local public agency, as defined, to have an emergency communication system and requires the digits “911” to be the primary emergency telephone number within the system. Existing law also requires the office to develop a plan and timeline of target dates for the testing, implementation, and operation of a Next Generation 911 emergency communication system, including text to 911 service, throughout the state. Existing law creates in state government the State 911 Advisory Board, which advises the office on, among other things, policies, practices, and procedures for the California 911 Emergency Communications Office.This bill would require the office, in consultation with relevant experts and stakeholders, to complete a study, as provided, to determine the feasibility of developing a statewide system that would enable all Californians, including older adults, individuals with disabilities, and other at-risk persons, to voluntarily provide vital health and safety information, with an encrypted connection, to be made available to all first responders in an emergency if a “911” call is placed. The bill would require the office to submit the results of the study in a report to the Legislature and the State 911 Advisory Board and make that report available to the public by January 1, 2021. The bill would also require the office to determine an estimate of the funding necessary to plan, test, implement, operate, and maintain the statewide system on an annual basis and to include the funding estimate in the report.
Location: 4/26/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Introduced: 2/20/2019
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Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires the county welfare department to assess each recipient’s continuing monthly need for in-home supportive services at varying intervals as necessary, but at least once every 12 months, and requires the monthly needs assessment to be divided by 4.33 to establish a recipient’s weekly authorized number of hours, subject to specified adjustments. Existing law requires that in-home supportive services and waiver personal care services be performed by providers within a workweek, as defined, that does not exceed 66 hours per week, as reduced by a specified net percentage, and specifies that there are bimonthly payroll periods. This bill would instead require the county welfare department to measure each recipient’s continuing need for supportive services on a weekly basis for purposes of its required assessment of the recipient’s continuing need, and would specify that a “payroll period” means 2 workweeks. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Location: 5/17/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/2/2019
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Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including residential facilities, adult day programs, foster family homes, community treatment facilities, and others, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for persons with life-threatening illness and child daycare facilities by the department. Existing law makes violation of these provisions a misdemeanor.This bill would require community care facilities, including a resource family, certified or licensed foster family home, or a small family home, residential care facilities for persons with a life-threatening illness, and child daycare facilities, to have an emergency and disaster plan that includes specified requirements, including plans for transportation needs and evacuation procedures. The bill would require that community care facilities that serve adults and residential care facilities for persons with life-threatening illness to provide specified training to staff, to conduct quarterly drills, and to review the plan annually and make updates as necessary. The bill would require applicants for new community care facilities licenses, for facilities that will serve adults, and licenses for residential care facilities for persons with life- threatening illness to provide the emergency and disaster plan with the original application and would require a review of the plans by the department upon inspection. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state- mandated local program.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 7/10/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/22/2019
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Existing law regulates continuing care contracts and imposes certain reporting and reserve requirements on continuing care communities. Existing law establishes the Continuing Care Provider Fee Fund, which consists of specified fees from continuing care providers and which is continuously appropriated to the State Department of Social Services to oversee the continuing care provider program. Existing law requires the department to adjust the fees to reduce the amounts collected when the balance of the fund is projected to exceed $500,000 for the next budget year.This bill would rename the fund as the CCRC Oversight Fund. The bill would also remove the requirement that the department reduce the amounts collected when the fund is projected to reach $500,000 and would, instead, require the department to, as needed, adjust the fees on continuing care providers to ensure that the balance in the fund is adequate to fund the reasonable regulatory costs of the program for the year and does not exceed an amount adequate to fund those costs. By authorizing additional amounts to be deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the approved budget for the Continuing Care Contracts Section to be posted on the department’s internet website.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/5/2019- ASSEMBLY ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/5/2019
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Existing law authorizes an elder or dependent adult who has suffered abuse, or another person who is legally authorized to seek that relief on behalf of that elder or dependent adult, to seek a protective order and governs the procedures for issuing that order.This bill would authorize the court to order a restrained party, if appropriate, to participate in mandatory clinical counseling or anger management courses, as specified, when the court issues a protective order for abuse involving acts of physical abuse or acts of deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering. The bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before January 1, 2021, to revise or promulgate forms as necessary to effectuate these provisions.
Location: 5/17/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 4/8/2019
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Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and requires, among other things, that a state agency make available to the public facts, evidence, documents, testimony, or other evidence on which the state agency relies to support the agency’s determination that the proposed action will not have a significant adverse economic impact on business.This bill would, with certain exceptions, require a state agency to assist a small business, as defined, in complying with all statutes and regulations administered by the state agency and in any enforcement action by the state agency. The bill would require a state agency to establish a policy, by December 31, 2020, that provides for the reduction of civil penalties for violations of regulatory or statutory requirements by a small business under appropriate circumstances. The bill would authorize the state agency to update the policy to reflect current issues and conditions affecting small businesses and the state agency.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/17/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/17/2019
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Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes a schedule of benefits under the Medi-Cal program and provides for various services, including various behavioral and mental health services.This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to establish, no later than July 1, 2020, a statewide peer support specialist certification program, as a part of the state’s comprehensive mental health and substance use disorder delivery system and the Medi-Cal program. The certification program’s components would include, among others, defining responsibilities, practice guidelines, and supervision standards, determining curriculum and core competencies, specifying training and continuing education requirements, establishing a code of ethics, and determining a certification revocation process. The bill would require an applicant for the certification as a peer support specialist to meet specified requirements, including successful completion of the curriculum and training requirements.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 5/17/2019- SENATE 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 5/1/2019
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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 health care service plan contracts or health insurance policies issued, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2000, to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, as defined, and of serious emotional disturbances of a child, as specified, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions.This bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance annually to report to the Legislature the information obtained through activities taken to enforce state and federal mental health parity laws.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 8/30/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 5/17/2019
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Existing law, the Children’s Mental Health Services Act, establishes an interagency system of care for the delivery of mental health services to seriously emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children and their families. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act, an initiative statute enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, also funds a system of county mental health plans for the provision of mental health services, as specified. Existing law provides for the operation and administration of various mental health programs by the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.This bill would require the commission, subject to an appropriation, to administer an Integrated Youth Mental Health Program for purposes of establishing local centers to provide integrated youth mental health services, as specified. The bill would authorize the commission to establish the core components of the program, subject to specified criteria, and would require the commission to develop the selection criteria and process for awarding funding to local entities for these purposes. The bill would authorize the commission to implement these provisions by means of an informational letter, bulletins, or similar instructions.
Location: 5/13/2019- SENATE APPR. SUSPENSE FILE
Current: Amended: 4/22/2019
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Existing federal law, the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE Act), for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, encourages and assists individuals and families to save
private funds for the purpose of supporting persons with disabilities to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life by excluding from gross income distributions used for qualified disability expenses by a beneficiary of a Qualified ABLE Program established and maintained by a state, as specified. Existing federal law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, increases the amount of contributions allowed to an ABLE account, adds special rules for the increased contribution limit, and exempts from taxation distributions from a qualified tuition program, as defined, rolled into an ABLE account. Existing federal law additionally allows a “savers tax credit” to qualified taxpayers for qualified retirement savings contributions, defined to include contributions by the taxpayer to their ABLE account.This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2026, would conform to those changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2026, would, in partial conformity with the federal “savers tax credit,” allow a credit for qualified retirement savings contributions to ABLE accounts.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/18/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/18/2019
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Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval and adoption. Existing law requires the commission to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the code in its entirety once every 3 years. Existing law, the State Housing Law, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of building standards to the California Building Standards Commission.This bill would, at the next triennial building standards rulemaking cycle that commences on or after January 1, 2020, require the Department of Housing and Community Development to investigate possible changes to the building standards in the California Residential Code for adoption by the California Building Standards Commission to promote aging-in-place design, as specified.
Location: 8/30/2019- ASSEMBLY 2 YEAR
Current: Amended: 3/21/2019
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Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, the Medi-Cal program, pursuant to a federal waiver, administers the Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment (Family PACT) Program, to provide comprehensive clinical family planning services to any person who has a family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and who is eligible to receive those services.This bill would require the department, if there are any reductions in federal financial participation to the Family PACT Program, to submit to the Legislature a plan, within 60 days of the reduction, to ensure the sustainability of the program and other specified family planning services. The bill would require that the plan include an estimate of funding required to sustain the program and identification of nonstate or special funds that could be used to sustain program services.
This bill contains other existing laws.
Location: 8/30/2019- SENATE CHAPTERED
Current: Chaptered: 8/30/2019
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Existing law provides that when more than one violation of certain specified offenses occurs in more than one jurisdictional territory, jurisdiction for any of those offenses and any other properly joinable offenses may be in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred if all district attorneys in the counties with jurisdiction over any of the offenses agree to the venue.This bill would create a similar authority for the prosecution of specified financial elder abuse felony offenses occurring in multiple jurisdictions.
Location: 9/10/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/10/2019
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Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of mortgages and deeds of trust. Existing law authorizes a beneficiary of a deed of trust to substitute a new trustee for the existing trustee in accordance with certain statutory requirements, and that substitution is not effective in certain cases unless it is signed by the respective parties under penalty of perjury. Under existing law, a trustee named in a recorded substitution of trustee is deemed to be authorized to act in this capacity under the mortgage or deed of trust for all purposes from the date the substitution is executed by the mortgagee, beneficiaries, or by their authorized agents.This bill would authorize a trustee to resign or refuse to accept appointment as trustee at that trustee’s own election without the consent of the beneficiary or by their authorized agents, under a trust deed upon real property or an estate for years. The bill would require the trustee to give prompt written notice of resignation or refusal to accept appointment to the beneficiary or their authorized agents by mailing, as specified, an envelope containing a notice of resignation of trustee by recording the notice of resignation in each county in which the substitution of trustee under which the trustee was appointed is recorded, and by attaching to the recorded notice an affidavit stating that notice has been mailed to all beneficiaries and their authorized agents, as specified. The bill would make the resignation or refusal to accept appointment of that trustee effective upon the recording of the notice of resignation in each county in which the substitution of trustee under which the trustee was appointed is recorded. The bill would also require the trustee and any successor in interest to that trustee to retain and preserve every writing relating to the trust deed or estate for years under which the trustee was appointed for at least 5 years after a notice of resignation is mailed and recorded. The bill would specify that the resignation of the trustee does not affect the validity of the mortgage or deed of trust, except that no action required to be performed by the trustee under those provisions or under the mortgage or deed of trust may be taken until a substituted trustee is appointed. The bill would make related conforming and nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 9/10/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/10/2019
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Existing law authorizes an individual to contribute amounts in excess of the individual’s personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds. Existing law sets forth general administrative provisions applicable to voluntary contributions, which, among other things, provide that a voluntary tax contribution remains in effect only until January 1 of the 7th calendar year following the first appearance of the contribution on the personal income tax return, and requires that a minimum contribution of $250,000 must be received for the fund to continue appearing on the tax return, as specified.This bill would eliminate the requirement that the California Senior Citizen Advocacy Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund meet a minimum contribution amount in order for the fund to appear on the return for the following year, thereby allowing the fund to remain on the personal income tax form until the provisions repeal, pursuant to existing law, on January 1, 2025.
This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Location: 6/26/2019- SENATE CHAPTERED
Current: Chaptered: 6/26/2019
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Existing law, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, provides for the award of attorney’s fees and costs to, and the recovery of damages by, a plaintiff when it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is liable for physical abuse or neglect, as defined, and the defendant has also been found guilty of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of that abuse.This bill would extend those remedies to cases in which the defendant is liable for abandonment, as defined, and the above conditions have been met.
Location: 9/17/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/17/2019
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Existing law makes it a crime for a person entrusted with the care or custody of any elder or dependent adult to willfully cause the elder or dependent adult to be injured or permit the elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation in which the elder or dependent adult’s person or health is endangered. Existing law also authorizes county adult protective services agencies and local long-term care ombudsman programs to investigate elder and dependent adult abuse, but grants law enforcement agencies the exclusive responsibility for criminal investigations. Existing law requires local law enforcement agencies and long-term care ombudsman programs to revise or include in their policy manuals, as defined, specified information regarding elder and dependent adult abuse.This bill would eliminate the duty imposed on long-term care ombudsman programs to revise or include in their policy manuals specified information regarding elder and dependent adult abuse. The bill would also authorize local law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy regarding senior and disability victimization, as defined. The bill would require, if a local law enforcement agency adopts or revises a policy regarding elder or dependent adult abuse or senior and disability victimization on or after April 13, 2021, that the policy include specified provisions, including provisions related to enforcement and training. The bill would also make clarifying changes to provisions related to the entities that have jurisdiction to investigate elder and dependent adult abuse.
Location: 9/10/2019- SENATE ENROLLED
Current: Enrollment: 9/10/2019
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Existing law requires various licenses to be obtained by a person before engaging in certain professions or vocations or business activities, including licensure as a healing arts professional by various boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs.This bill would authorize any state agency that issues any business license to establish a process for a person or business that has been displaced or is experiencing economic hardship as a result of an emergency, as defined, to submit an application for reduction or waiver of fees required by the agency to obtain a license, renew or activate a license, or replace a physical license for display.
