September 21, 2018 Edition
With just under 10 days remaining for Governor Jerry Brown to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature prior to their August 31 adjournment, many bills await the Governor’s action. Governor Brown has maintained a pace of approximately 50 bills per day, signing more bills than issuing vetoes.
On Tuesday, Governor Brown signed into law AB 626 (E. Garcia) which creates a new type of food facility defined as a “microenterprise home kitchen” in the California Retail Food Code and allows the sale of potentially hazardous foods directly to consumers in private homes. The measure takes effect January 1, 2019 and allows jurisdictions – city or county – to opt-in to permit these entities. CHEAC Staff will release a one-pager detailing key provisions of AB 626 notable to local health departments in the coming weeks.
CHEAC will issue a bill chart detailing final actions taken by Governor Brown after the September 30 deadline for governor action on bills.
On Thursday, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) announced a series of workshops to solicit input and feedback on the California Community Reinvestment Grants Program that is currently under development pursuant to the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Proposition 64) that was passed by California voters in 2016.
The program will provide grants to local health departments and community-based nonprofit organizations to support the following activities for communities disproportionately impacted by previous federal and state drug policies:
- Job placement
- Mental health treatment
- Substance use disorder treatment
- System navigation services
- Legal services to address barriers to reentry
- Linkages to medical care
Go-Biz will discuss the parameters of the program and solicit input from workshop attendees related to the development and implementation of the program. Representatives from local health departments, community-based nonprofit organizations, community leaders, and other applicable stakeholders are encouraged to attend. Workshop locations and registration information are available here. Additional information on the California Community Reinvestments Grants Program is available here.
Recently, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued two new resources related to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids assembles opioid-related information from the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health into one cohesive document to better inform the general public, particularly family and friends of individuals with elevated risk of opioid overdose, opioid misuse, and/or opioid use disorder. The spotlight report details latest prevalence statistics, progress reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and outlines the “gold standard” of treatment practices.
Additionally, the Surgeon General issued a digital postcard related to opioid misuse that was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The digital postcard details five action steps members of the general public can take to help curb the opioid epidemic. More information on the Surgeon General’s efforts related to opioids is available here.
