So far, new bill introductions are trickling out. Expect this to ramp up as we get into February. Here’s a sampling:
AB 1618 (Aguiar-Curry) – Would require the Department of Health Care Services to establish the Office of the Healthy Brain Initiative to conduct all department activities relating to Alzheimer’s disease and to implement the action agenda items in the Healthy Brain Initiative, as defined. The bill would also, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the office to establish a program in up to 10 local health jurisdictions, as specified, and award participating local health jurisdictions one-time grant funding, to develop local initiatives that are consistent with the Healthy Brain Initiative.
AB 1627 (Ramos) – Would require the department to provide funding to local behavioral health departments to provide naloxone, free of charge, to individuals who attend a training program on the administration of naloxone, as specified. The bill would also require the department to award funding to law enforcement agencies that establish and implement overdose response teams to combat the ongoing opioid crisis. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount to the department for the purposes of implementing these provisions.
AB 1630 (Weber) – Would, when a person is determined to be incompetent to stand trial or when a court determines that competency has been restored, require the clerk of the court to transmit that information to the Department of Justice for inclusion in the person’s state summary criminal history information. If a person has been deemed incompetent to stand trial in any jurisdiction and there has been no official restoration of competence, the bill would establish a presumption of mental incompetence and would require a court before which a defendant is appearing on a new charge to assess whether competence has been restored.
AB 1635 (Nguyen) – Would create an account within the Mental Health Practitioner Education Fund and, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, require the use of moneys in that account to fund grants to repay educational loans for specified mental health practitioners who commit to providing direct patient care for at least 24 months in a facility that provides mental health services to individuals who have been referred to that facility by a suicide prevention hotline.
AB 1636 (Weber) – Regarding sex offenses, would recast the circumstances under which the Medical Board of California can suspend, revoke, and reinstate physician licenses.
