Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to initiate and carry on any program, activity, or to act in any manner that is not in conflict with or inconsistent with, or preempted by, any law and that is not in conflict with the purposes for which school districts are established. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms in regulating these sources. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the moneys from the fund to be used to facilitate the achievement of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the act and, where applicable and to the extent feasible, to maximize economic, environmental, and public health benefits to the state, among other goals. This bill, beginning July 1, 2025, would require state agencies administering competitive grant programs that allocate moneys from the fund to give specified communities preferential points during grant application scoring for programs intended to improve air quality, to provide for a specified application timeline, and to allow applicants from the Counties of Imperial and San Diego to include daytime population numbers in grant applications. This bill, for competitive grant programs that involve housing, urban forestry, urban greening, or planning and that allocate moneys from the fund after July 1, 2025, would require state agencies administering those moneys from the fund to develop at least 3 categories for applications based on the population and density of the communities in which the proposed project is to be located and to develop scoring criteria for each category. This bill would additionally require the moneys in the fund to be used to facilitate the achievement of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the act and, where applicable and to the extent feasible, to promote climate adaptation, accelerate the development of low-carbon technology and reduce vehicle miles traveled, and promote partnerships between jurisdictions and public agencies, Native American tribes in the state, nonprofits, and other community institutions, among other objectives. This bill also would require the Department of Finance to include in an annual report to the Legislature specified information on the applications received for each grant program allocating moneys from the fund.
Existing law regulates the hiring of real property and imposes various requirements on landlords relating to the application for, and leasing of, residential rental property, including prohibiting the imposition of an application screening fee greater than the cost of gathering information concerning the applicant, or the cost of using a tenant screening service or a consumer credit reporting service. Existing law specifies that in no case shall the application screening fee charged by the landlord or their agent be greater than $30. Existing law requires a landlord or their agent give a copy of a consumer credit report to an applicant who has paid an application screening fee and who is the subject of that report, if so requested by the applicant. This bill would require, under the circumstances described above, that the consumer credit report be given to the applicant within 24 hours. The bill would also make other nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Existing law establishes the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation to encourage the increased use of active modes of transportation. Existing law provides that the program is funded by state and federal moneys through appropriations in the annual Budget Act and that certain moneys, excluding specified federal moneys for recreational trails projects appropriated to the Department of Parks and Recreation, are to be appropriated for that purpose. Existing law requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to cause to be prepared the California Recreational Trails System Plan, a comprehensive plan for the development and operation of a statewide system of recreation trails, as specified. The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Under the act, if any moneys allocated pursuant to the act are not encumbered or expended by the recipient entity within the time period specified by the administering agency, the unexpended moneys are required to revert to the administering agency for allocation, as specified. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to establish the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Program to, beginning in 2024, award competitive grants on a biennial basis for new, expanded, or improved public access opportunities through nonmotorized recreational trail creation, improvement, enhancement, and restoration projects. The bill would create the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Fund in the State Treasury, and would require that specified moneys, including, to the extent consistent with Proposition 68, unexpended Proposition 68 moneys that revert to the administering agency for allocation, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be deposited into the fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available for allocation by the department for purposes of the program, as specified. In order to reduce the financial burdens associated with frontloaded cost structures and match requirements, the bill would authorize the department to create a loan or grant process for advanced payment and match assistance to reduce barriers to participation in the program. Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, statewide primary direct election, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act creates the Habitat Conservation Fund and requires the moneys in the fund to be used for specified purposes generally relating to the acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wildlife habitat, including $2,000,000 annually for 50% matching grants to local agencies for projects meeting specified purposes and, additionally, for the acquisition of wildlife corridors and urban trails, nature interpretation programs, and other programs that bring urban residents into park and wildlife areas. The act, as initially approved by the electors, required the Controller, until June 30, 2020, to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Habitat Conservation Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds, and authorizes the Legislature to extend the operative effect of this transfer by statute. Except for the extension of this transfer and other specified exceptions, the act prohibits the Legislature from amending the act except by a 45 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature. The act requires any amendment of the act to be consistent with, and further the purposes of, the act. Existing law extends the transfer of these funds until June 30, 2030. This bill would encourage the department, to the extent consistent with Proposition 117, to allocate 50% of the $2,000,000 described above for purposes of increasing access to trails.
Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services administers various social services programs, such as the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, to provide benefits to eligible individuals. Existing law requires counties to administer these programs. Existing law requires a county human services agency to designate at least one employee as a staff liaison, as provided. Existing law requires the staff liaison to serve as a point of contact for academic counselors and other relevant professional staff at a campus of an institution of public higher education located within the county and provide information on programs and services offered by the agency that may be available to students attending a campus of an institution of public higher education within the county. This bill would require the department to convene a workgroup that meets quarterly, comprised of relevant stakeholders as needed to share best practices, updates, challenges, or other topics related to programs and services offered by the department that may be available to students attending a campus of an institution of public higher education. The bill would require the department, with input from relevant stakeholders, to, among other things, discuss and examine different approaches or activities that could increase enrollment in programs of eligible students. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with stakeholders, to submit a report, on or before June 30, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, to the Legislature with findings and recommendations relating to increasing enrollment in programs and services offered by the department that may be available to students, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Clean Transportation Program, administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation Development Commission to provide financial assistance to develop and deploy innovative technologies that transform California's fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state's climate change policies. Existing law specifies projects that are eligible for financial assistance, including alternative and renewable fuel projects to develop and improve alternative and renewable low-carbon fuels, including, among other fuels, hydrogen. Existing law specifies that the moneys in the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, are to be used by the commission to implement the program. Existing law, until January 1, 2024, requires the commission to annually allocate $20,000,000, not to exceed 20% of the moneys appropriated by the Legislature from the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund, to fund the deployment of publicly available hydrogen-fueling stations, as provided. This bill would, except for the Clean Transportation Program and moneys allocated from the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund, require the commission, when considering providing funding for projects for the construction and operation of hydrogen-fueling medium- and heavy-duty stations, to evaluate whether the project needs to also include access for light-duty vehicles. In this evaluation, the bill would require the commission to consider safety, regional light-duty vehicle hydrogen fueling needs, and the station fueling capacity.
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of state highways and associated property. Existing law provides for the department to dispose of property that is no longer needed for highway purposes on terms, standards, and conditions established by the California Transportation Commission. Section 10 of Article XIX of the California Constitution authorizes the Legislature, by statute, with respect to surplus state property located in the coastal zone and acquired with revenues restricted by Article XIX to transportation purposes, to authorize the transfer of that property to the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Board, or the State Coastal Conservancy for specified purposes for a consideration at least equal to the property's purchase price. This bill would require the department to sell and transfer certain surplus state property it owns in the City of Pacifica to the Department of Parks and Recreation for state park purposes. The bill would make various findings and declarations in that regard. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the surplus state property in the City of Pacifica.
Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a youth offender parole hearing for offenders sentenced to state prison who committed specified crimes when they were under 25 years of age. Existing law makes a person who was convicted of a controlling offense that was committed when the person was 25 years of age or younger and for which the sentence is a life term of less than 25 years to life eligible for release on parole at a youth offender hearing by the board during the person's 20th year of incarceration. Existing law makes a person who was convicted of a controlling offense that was committed when the person was 25 years of age or younger and for which the sentence is a life term of 25 years to life eligible for release on parole at a youth offender hearing by the board during the person's 25th year of incarceration. Under existing law, a murder perpetrated by specified means or under certain circumstances is defined as murder of the first degree. All other kinds of murder are of the 2nd degree. Existing law, as added by the Briggs Initiative, a measure approved by the voters at the November 7, 1978, statewide general election, requires that persons convicted of first-degree murder be subject to death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, or confinement in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life. Existing law, as approved by the voters as Proposition 67 at the June 7, 1988, statewide primary election, made the 2nd-degree murder of a peace officer, as specified, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life. Existing law, as approved by the voters as Proposition 222 at the June 2, 1998, statewide primary election, prohibits a person convicted of murder from being given credits to reduce a minimum term imposed, and prohibits a person from being released on parole prior to serving the minimum term of confinement, as specified. These acts do not provide for amendment by the Legislature. Existing law, the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act: Jessica's Law, adopted by voters as Proposition 83 at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, requires a habitual sexual offender to be imprisoned in the state prison for 25 years to life. Proposition 83 allows its amendment by a statute passed by 23 of both houses of the Legislature. This bill would instead make a person who was convicted of a controlling offense that was committed when the person was 25 years of age or younger and for which the sentence is a life term of less than 25 years to life or a life term of 25 years to life eligible for release on parole at a youth offender hearing by the board during the person's 15th year of incarceration. The bill would require the board to complete, by January 1, 2026, all hearings for individuals who are or will be entitled to have their parole suitability considered at a youth offender parole hearing by these provisions. By decreasing the period of incarceration for a person sentenced pursuant to the above initiative statutes, the bill would amend those initiative statutes.
Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration within the California Health and Human Services Agency to implement a statewide automated welfare system, known as the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) , for various public assistance programs, including the CalWORKs program, CalFresh, and the Medi-Cal program. Under existing law, among other duties, the state is consolidating existing consortia systems into the single CalSAWS. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and supervise the Cash Assistance Program for Aged, Blind, and Disabled Legal Immigrants (CAPI) , which provides cash assistance to aged, blind, and disabled legal immigrants who are not citizens of the United States, as specified. Existing law establishes the state-funded Trafficking and Crime Victim Assistance Program (TCVAP) , which provides critical benefits and services to noncitizen victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes. Existing law also requires the department, after setting aside state administrative funds, to allocate social services funds derived from appropriated federal funds and federally targeted assistance to eligible counties. Existing law requires these funds, known as Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) , to be used by the county, pursuant to a plan developed by the county, to provide services to refugees that lead to successful self-sufficiency and social integration for the refugees. This bill would require CalSAWS to accept and process applications for CAPI, TCVAP, and RCA. The bill would require a county social services department to post on its internet website general information identifying available immigrant benefit services, including, but not limited to, those programs. By increasing the duties of county human services departments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, with 60 days of the effective date of the bill, to report to the budget committees and relevant policy committees of the Legislature the department's plan to ensure that potential beneficiaries are able to apply online for those programs by December 1, 2024, or when the department notifies the Legislature that CalSAWS can perform the necessary automation to implement it, as specified. The bill would require the department to implement the bill's requirements by all-county letters or similar instructions, beginning no later than March 1, 2024, or when the department notifies the Legislature that CalSAWS can perform the necessary automation to implement it, until regulations are adopted. The bill also would make findings and declarations relating to CalSAWS automation activities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law regulates the provision of programs and services relating to mental health and requires the creation of community programs to increase access to, and quality of, community-based mental health services. Existing law requires any program permitting mental health professions to respond to emergency mental health crisis calls in collaboration with law enforcement to ensure the program is supervised by a licensed mental health professional, including, among others, a licensed clinical social worker, except as specified. This bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to establish a mentorship program that will connect students enrolled in behavioral health programs with community-based organizations, as specified. The bill would require the department to coordinate a cost-of-living stipend that a student mentee may use for specific expenses. The bill would authorize a community-based organization to apply for the stipend and would require the community-based organization to distribute the stipend to its student mentees distinct from wages earned for work performed. This bill would require the department to offer an increased stipend to encourage bilingual students to participate in the program. This bill would require an eligible student to enter into an agreement with a community-based organization to complete the mentorship program concurrent with their education and to work for the community-based organization after graduation, as specified. The bill would require a community-based organization to, among other things, formally mentor each student mentee and offer each student mentee permanent employment upon successful completion of their educational program.
Existing law generally regulates the operation of vessels and associated equipment used, to be used, or carried in vessels used on waters subject to the jurisdiction of the state. This bill would require, prior to installation and use, any equipment installed on a commercial harbor craft that interacts with the propulsion system of the craft to be approved for use with the propulsion system, as specified. The bill would require that equipment to include an automatic override or bypass feature that ensures continued power to, and operation of, the craft.
Existing law, the Community Services District Law, provides for the formation of community services districts, governed by a 5-member board of directors, to provide specified services within the boundaries of the district and for the financing of those services by specified charges and indebtedness. Under that law, a district may destroy a record pursuant to specified provisions governing the destruction of records of special districts. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.
