The Governor is nearly finished acting on bills for the 2022 Legislative Session – that’s his all important signature (whether signing or vetoing) included below. At midnight tonight, the 21-22 session will officially be over.
The Legislature will convene its 2023-24 session on Monday, December 5. On this day, legislators will be sworn in and new bills will be introduced. Legislators will then recess on December 5 until January 2, 2023.
AB 988
AB 988 (Bauer-Kahan) Mental health: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has been signed by the Governor. In his signing message, the Governor noted that more work needs to be done, “(I am)…directing the California Health and Human Services Agency to propose cleanup language as part of the 2023-24 Governor’s Budget to ensure this bill delivers on its promise to build a fully operational and comprehensive 9-8-8 system in California.” You may view the full singing message here.
Three CSAP Co-Sponsored Bills Signed!!!
SB 929, SB 1035, and SB 1227 have been signed by the Governor. Unfortunately, SB 1238 (Behavioral health services: existing and projected needs) was vetoed. You can view the veto message here.
SB 929 (Eggman) Community mental health services: data collection
Requires the State Department of Health Care Services to collect additional data on the implementation of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act annually.
SB 1035 (Eggman) Mental health services: assisted outpatient treatment
Allows courts to conduct status hearings with a person who is subject to an assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) order and their treatment team to receive information regarding progress and adherence to the treatment plan, including medication adherence and other items.
SB 1227 (Eggman) Involuntary commitment: intensive treatment
Allows for a single 30-day extension of the existing option for 30-day intensive treatment. Our hope is that an additional 30 days to recover can reduce the need for a conservatorship.
Other Bills of Interest Signed by the Governor
AB 1663 (Maienschien) Protective proceedings
Will prioritize less-restrictive alternatives to probate conservatorships and establish greater protections for conservatees to ensure that they maintain choice and control over their lives.
AB 2242 (Santiago) Mental health services
Requires that individuals who have been detained for mental health evaluation and treatment receive a care coordination plan for ongoing care on release. The Governor noted in his signing message, “I also agree that the specific care coordination supports outlined in this bill should be provided without delay.”
SB 225 (Wiener) Health care coverage: timely access to care
Codifies timely access standards for follow-up appointments.
SB 1019 (Gonzalez) Medi-Cal managed care plans: mental health benefits
Requires Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans (MCPs), no later than January 1, 2025, to conduct annual outreach and education for their enrollees and primary care physicians regarding the mental health benefits covered by the plan based on an annual plan that the Medi-Cal managed care plan develops.
You may view the Conservatorship / LPS Reform legislation that was signed by the Governor, view here. You may view all other bills tracked by CSAP that have been signed by the Governor, here. There are a handful of CSAP tracked bills still pending on the Governor’s desk. You may view those here; next week we will provide you with the final final disposition of bills this session.
Vetoed Bills
Below are some bills CSAP tracked in 2022 that were vetoed by the Governor:
SB 1143 (Roth) Acute Care Psychiatric Hospital Loan Fund. A veto message can be found here.
SB 1302 (Portantino) Pupil health: school-based health centers: grant program: Mental Health Services Act: Mental Health Services Fund. A veto message can be found here.
SB 1446 (Stern) Behavioral health-related treatment, housing that heals, and other services or supports. In his veto message, the Governor said “I share the author’s concern regarding the need for increased behavioral health services and housing supports, especially for individuals who need it the most. This is why my Administration has invested more than $8 billion to ensure that California’s most vulnerable populations have access to timely, necessary, and life-saving prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, housing, and harm reduction behavioral health services…” You can view the full veto message here.
Scope
AB 2236 (Low) Optometry: certification to perform advanced procedures. In his veto message, the Governor said he is not “…convinced that the education and training required is sufficient to prepare optometrists to perform the surgical procedures identified.” Although not directly related to psychiatry, still an important veto. You may view the full veto message here.
SB 964 (Wiener) Behavioral Health: Would have required the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) to commission consultants to prepare a report for the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2024, that provides a landscape analysis of the current behavioral health workforce and the state’s behavioral health workforce needs, and to make recommendations on how to address the state’s behavioral health workforce shortage. The Governor vetoed this bill.
In the coming weeks, we will sort through various veto messages. Are there (relatively speaking) patterns that can be instructive heading into – what looks pretty likely – Governor Newsom’s second term? We think so. Stay tuned.
