January 9, 2025
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Many bills were passed and signed into law in 2024 but will not take effect until 2026 or beyond. We will continue to highlight the ones affecting us now and bring to the forefront new ones that we can support or fight in the future.
A Few California Laws in effect January 2025
Reproductive Rights
AB 352 requires companies that manage electronic health records to protect all Californians’ and visitors’ electronic medical records related to abortion, gender-affirming care, pregnancy loss, and other sensitive services.
This bill requires specified businesses that electronically store or maintain medical information on the provision of sensitive services on behalf of a provider of health care, health care service plan, pharmaceutical company, contractor, or employer to develop capabilities, policies, and procedures, on or before July 1, 2024, to enable certain security features, including limiting user access privileges and segregating medical information related to gender affirming care, abortion and abortion-related services, and contraception, as specified.
The bill prohibits a provider of health care, health care service plan, contractor, or employer from cooperating with any inquiry or investigation by, or from providing medical information to, an individual, agency, or department from another state or, to the extent permitted by federal law, to a federal law enforcement agency that would identify an individual or that is related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion or abortion-related services that are lawful under the laws of this state, unless the request for medical information is authorized in accordance with specified existing provisions of law.
AND
SB345 protects providers and people from enforcement action in California of other states’ laws that criminalize or limit reproductive and gender-affirming health care services.
In this connection, the bill would define a “legally protected health care activity” to mean specified acts, including, among others, the exercise and enjoyment, or attempted exercise and enjoyment, by a person of rights related to reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services secured by the Constitution or laws of this state or the provision of by a health care service plan contract or a policy, or a certificate of health insurance, that provides for those services.
Opioid Crisis
AB663 allows for more mobile pharmacies to be created in communities across the state and enables them to dispense treatment medications for opioid use disorder.
This bill authorizes a county, city and county, or special hospital authority to operate one or more mobile units as an extension of a pharmacy license held by the county, city and county, or special hospital authority, as described above. The bill would require the pharmacist-in-charge to determine the number of mobile units that are appropriate for a particular pharmacy license. The bill would additionally authorize a mobile unit to provide prescription medication within its jurisdiction to city-and-county-operated housing facilities.
Worker’s Rights
SB 616 expands the number of sick days available to workers from 3 to 5.
Voter Access
AB 545 allows voters with a disability to complete a regular ballot outside of any polling place—known as curbside voting—and removes the requirement for a voter to declare under oath that they are unable to mark their ballot in order to receive assistance doing so.
This bill expands that authority to allow a voter with a disability to vote by regular ballot outside any polling place, regardless of whether the polling place is inaccessible. The bill would require the posting of signage in specified areas indicating that the option is available for a voter with a disability to vote there, and the establishment of a method for a voter with a disability to contact a precinct board member in order to vote outside the polling place. The bill would require elections officials to include information regarding this option in the county elections internet website and the county voter information guide.
Oil
ABX21 grants the California Energy Commission new authority to penalize refineries and set a maximum gross gasoline refining margin if necessary to help combat price gouging. It also creates a new independent state watchdog to investigate market or price manipulation.
This bill requires those regulations to protect the health and safety of employees, local communities, and the public, and to include criteria that are required to be met before a refinery commences a turnaround or maintenance event, as provided.
This bill requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the committee, to consider the effects of refiners’ inventories of fuel and feedstocks and blending components on the price of transportation fuels in California. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission, by regulation, to develop and impose requirements for refiners operating in the state to maintain minimum levels of inventories of refined transportation fuels meeting California specifications, including any feedstocks and blending components, as specified.
The bill would prohibit the Energy Commission from applying a minimum inventory requirement to a refiner in a manner that would be met only by the construction of additional storage infrastructure, as determined by the Energy Commission. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2033.
This bill imposes an administrative civil penalty on a refiner or person who fails to comply with regulations adopted pursuant to the above-described authority and would authorize the Energy Commission to seek any form of injunctive or remedial relief to enforce compliance with those regulations, as provided.
Affordable Housing
SB 423 extends and expands existing law, requiring local governments that are failing to meet state housing planning goals to streamline affordable housing projects.
SB 4, known as the “Yes in God’s Backyard” bill, allows housing to be developed on property owned by religious or independent higher education institutions. These groups are given this authority “by right,” which requires no discretionary local governance intervention.
Addressing the Mental Health Crisis
SB 326 reforms the Mental Health Services Act—making better use of Mental Health Services Act funding to address today’s needs and increasing accountability to the public.
This bill recasts the Menta Health Services Act by, among other things, renaming it the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA), expanding it to include treatment of substance use disorders, changing the county planning process, and expanding services for which counties and the state can use funds. The bill would revise the distribution of MHSA moneys, including allocating up to $36,000,000 to the department for behavioral health workforce funding. The bill would authorize the department to require a county to implement specific evidence-based practices.
AB 531 issues $6.38 billion in bonds to fund 11,150 new behavioral health beds and housing as well as 26,700 outpatient treatment slots.
This bill provides that projects funded by the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2024 that provide housing for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness and who are inherently impacted by or at increased risk for medical diseases or conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other communicable diseases and are disbursed in accordance with the Multifamily Housing Program, or projects that are disbursed in accordance with the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, are a use by right and subject to the streamlined, ministerial review process.
The bill would define use by right for these purposes to mean that the local government’s review of the project does not require a conditional use permit, planned unit development permit, or other discretionary local government review or approval that would constitute a project subject to the approval process in CEQA.
Authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $6,380,000,000 to finance loans or grants for the acquisition of capital assets for the conversion, rehabilitation, or new construction of permanent supportive housing for veterans and others who are homeless and meet specified criteria, and for grants for the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, as specified.
Public Safety
SB 14 steepens penalties for human trafficking of minors in California. The law designates human trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act as a serious felony.
This bill includes human trafficking of a minor within the definition of a serious felony for all purposes, including for purposes of the Three Strikes Law, except as specified.
UC Transfer Process
AB 1291 establishes the University of California (UC) Associate Degree for Transfer Pilot Program, beginning with UCLA, to prioritize admission of a student who earns an associate degree for transfer (ADT) from selected community colleges and to redirect a student who meets those requirements but is denied admission to the applicable campus and offer admission to at least one other campus.
Expanding ADTs to the UC system allows qualified community college transfer students to fulfill the requirements of an ADT and meet the requirements for participating UC and CSU campuses, streamlining the transfer process and saving students money by being able to earn two degrees in four years.
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.
