California Senate Bill SB672 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 672AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Senator Hernandez FEBRUARY 27, 2015 An act to amend Section  103577 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital records.   1157 of the Evidence Code, relating to evidence.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 672, as amended, Hernandez.  Certified records of live birth: homeless persons: fees.   Discovery: pharmacy review committees.   Existing law exempts from discovery as evidence the proceedings and records of specified organized committees of health care professionals and review committees having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care.   This bill would extend this exemption, for purposes of civil proceedings only, to the proceedings and records of pharmacy organized committees and review committees, as described above.   Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, duties as State Registrar relating to the uniform administration of provisions relating to vital records and health statistics. Existing law requires the State Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to, upon request and payment of the required fee, supply to an applicant a certified copy of the record of a birth, fetal death, death, marriage, or marriage dissolution registered with the official. Existing law authorizes the issuance of certain records without payment of the fee.   Existing law, on and after July 1, 2015, requires each local registrar or county recorder to issue, without a fee, a certified record of live birth to any person who can verify his or her status as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth, as defined.   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 1157 of the   Evidence Code   is amended to read:  1157. (a) Neither the proceedings nor the records of organized committees of medical, medical-dental, podiatric, registered dietitian, psychological, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor,  pharmacy,  or veterinary staffs in hospitals, or of a peer review body, as defined in Section 805 of the Business and Professions Code, having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered in the hospital, or for that peer review body, or medical or dental review or dental hygienist review or chiropractic review or podiatric review or registered dietitian review  or   pharmacist review  or veterinary review or acupuncturist review committees of local medical, dental, dental hygienist, podiatric, dietetic,  pharmacy,  veterinary, acupuncture, or chiropractic societies, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or psychological review committees of state or local marriage and family therapist, state or local licensed clinical social worker, state or local licensed professional clinical counselor, or state or local psychological associations or societies having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care, shall be subject to discovery. (b) Except as hereinafter provided,  no   a  person in attendance at a meeting of any of  those   the  committees  described in subdivision (a)  shall  not  be required to testify as to what transpired at that meeting. (c) The prohibition relating to discovery or testimony does not apply to the statements made by  any   a  person in attendance at a meeting of any of  those   the  committees  who   described in subdivision (a) if that   person  is a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was reviewed at that meeting, or to  any   a  person requesting hospital staff privileges, or in  any   an  action against an insurance carrier alleging bad faith by the carrier in refusing to accept a settlement offer within the policy limits. (d) The prohibitions in this section do not apply to medical, dental, dental hygienist, podiatric, dietetic, psychological, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor,  pharmacy,  veterinary, acupuncture, or chiropractic society committees that exceed 10 percent of the membership of the society, nor to any of those committees if any person serves upon the committee when his or her own conduct or practice is being reviewed. (e) The amendments made to this section by Chapter 1081 of the Statutes of 1983, or at the 1985 portion of the 1985-86 Regular Session of the Legislature, at the 1990 portion of the 1989-90 Regular Session of the Legislature, at the 2000 portion of the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature, or at the 2011 portion of the 2011-12 Regular Session of the Legislature,  or at the 2015 portion of the 2015-   16 Regular Session of the Legislature,  do not exclude the discovery or use of relevant evidence in a criminal action.  SECTION 1.   Section 103577 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 103577. (a) On or after July 1, 2015, each local registrar or county recorder shall, without a fee, issue a certified record of live birth to any person who can verify his or her status as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. A homeless services provider that has knowledge of a person's housing status shall verify a person's status for the purposes of this subdivision. In accordance with all other application requirements set forth in Section 103526, a request for a certified record of live birth made pursuant to this subdivision shall be made by a homeless person or a homeless child or youth on behalf of themselves, or by any person lawfully entitled to request a certified record of live birth on behalf of a child, if the child has been verified as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth pursuant to this section. A person applying for a certified record of live birth under this subdivision is entitled to one birth record, per application, for each eligible person verified as a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. For purposes of this subdivision, an affidavit developed pursuant to subdivision (b) shall constitute sufficient verification that a person is a homeless person or a homeless child or youth. A person applying for a certified record of live birth under this subdivision shall not be charged a fee for verification of his or her eligibility. (b) The State Department of Public Health shall develop an affidavit attesting to an applicant's status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth. For purposes of this section, the affidavit shall not be deemed complete unless it is signed by both the person making a request for a certified record of live birth pursuant to subdivision (a) and a homeless services provider who has knowledge of the applicant's housing status. (c) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer this section through an all-county letter or similar instructions from the director or State Registrar without taking regulatory action. (d) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) A "homeless child or youth" has the same meaning as the definition of "homeless children and youths" as set forth in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.). (2) A "homeless person" has the same meaning as the definition of that term set forth in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.). (3) A "homeless services provider" includes all of the following individuals or entities: (A) A governmental or nonprofit agency receiving federal, state, or county or municipal funding to provide services to a "homeless person" or "homeless child or youth," or that is otherwise sanctioned to provide those services by a local homeless continuum of care organization. (B) An attorney licensed to practice law in this state. (C) A local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youth, as designated pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code, or a school social worker. (D) A human services provider or public social services provider funded by the State of California to provide homeless children or youth services, health services, mental or behavioral health services, substance use disorder services, or public assistance or employment services. (E) A law enforcement officer designated as a liaison to the homeless population by a local police department or sheriff's department within the state.