2017 - 2018 Legislative Achievements
2017
Assembly Bill 422 – CSU Doctorate of Nursing Degree
Gives the California State University’s (CSU) authority to offer the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree programs at up to three campuses, including authorizing Fresno State.
Assembly Bill 340 – Early Screening and Assessment for Childhood Trauma
Creates programs for low-income children, adolescents and teenagers to receive critical recovery services.
Assembly Bill 242 (co-author) – Certificates of Death Involving Veterans
Officially records a veteran’s cause of death as suicide, and provides stronger support for related advocacy groups to raise public awareness on this issue
Assembly Bill 1048 – Dispensing Opioids
Gives pharmacists a more discerning role in dispensing/tracking opioid prescriptions. This change also removes the requirement that pain be assessed as a vital sign.
Assembly Bill 470 – Equity in Mental Health Services
Establishes robust tracking/evaluation measures to ensure Medi-Cal recipients receive timely access to quality mental health services that meet their cultural and language needs.
Assembly Bill 760 (co-author) – Education Code and The Center for Advanced Research and Technology
Authorizes permanent operating status for the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART), a high tech high school that is a joint collaboration of the Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified school districts.
Assembly Bill 258 – County Child Care Subsidy Plan
Expands access to $10M in state-subsidized child care programs, affecting up roughly 1,300 kids and their families in Fresno County.
Assembly Bill 563 – CalFresh Employment and Training Program
Eliminates an unintended penalty on individuals in the ABAWD (Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents) program seeking employment, and establishes a CalFresh E&T Center for Excellence. This also allows the Department of Social Services to directly contract with CalFresh E&T providers.
2018
Assembly Bill 2311 – International Doctor Residency
Makes permanent the UCLA’s International Medical Graduate Program - a leading producer in the state of family medicine physicians, especially those who are bilingual and can work in disadvantaged and underserved communities.
Assembly Bill 626 (co-author) – Homemade Food Operations Act
Home cooks can run small homemade food operations, making it the first law of its kind in the United States.
Assembly Bill 2499 – Limiting Health Insurance Profits
California insurance companies must now spend at least 80% of their premium income on patient care, and not on administrative costs or profits. Also ensures that the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) is not undercut, despite changes in federal efforts to lower that ratio.
Assembly Bill 2468 – Enforcing Bee Registration
Mandates bee farmers and anyone else who moves bees into the state register them or face stiff financial penalties, and protects bees from nearby chemical spray treatment of crops.
Senate Bill 895 (principal co-author) – Vietnamese, Hmong and Cambodian Curriculum
California schools must adopt a K-12th grade curriculum by 2023 that covers three areas of study: the Vietnamese American refugee experience, the 1975-1979 genocide that killed 2M Cambodians, and Hmong history/cultural studies.