California Bills

Existing law, the Government Claims Act, establishes the liability and immunity of a public entity for its acts or omissions that cause harm to persons. That act provides that a public entity is not liable for, among other things, an injury caused by (1) adopting or failing to adopt an enactment or by failing to enforce any law or by (2) the issuance, denial, suspension, or revocation of, or by the failure or refusal to issue, deny, suspend, or revoke, any permit, license, certificate, approval, order, or similar authorization, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would provide the County of Placer with certain protections from liability in connection with the removal of the collapsed Highway 49 Bridge.

Existing law provides that all property has an owner, whether that owner is the state, and the property is public, or the owner is an individual, and the property is private. Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law requires the department to enhance, protect, and perpetuate the ability of the private sector to produce food and fiber in a way that benefits the general welfare and economy of the state. This bill would prohibit a hedge fund from purchasing, acquiring, leasing, or holding a controlling interest, as defined, in agricultural land within the State of California. The bill would define a "hedge fund," for these purposes, to mean a privately offered investment vehicle, foreign or domestic, that pools the contributions of private investors in order to invest in a variety of asset classes, such as securities, futures contracts, options, bonds, currencies, real estate, agricultural land, water, energy, and other resources or commodities. This bill would exempt from this prohibition any agricultural land held by a hedge fund before the bill's effective date. The bill would make land transferred in violation of these provisions subject to divestiture, as specified. Existing federal law requires any foreign person, defined to include foreign governments, who acquires or transfers any interest, other than a security interest, in agricultural land to submit to the United States Secretary of Agriculture a report containing specified information relating to, among other things, the type of interest the foreign person acquired or transferred and their legal name, address, and citizenship or country in which they are created or organized. Existing federal law requires the secretary every 6 months to transmit to each state department of agriculture a copy of each report that was submitted to the secretary in the most recent 6-month period and that involved agricultural land located in that state. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the appropriate boards or departments and based on the above-described reports from the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and other information the department deems appropriate, to compile an annual report containing, among other information, the total amount of agricultural land that is under hedge fund ownership, how that land is currently being put to use, and any legislative, regulatory, or administrative policy recommendations in light of the information from the annual report. This bill would require the department to publish the inaugural annual report on its website by December 31, 2025, and by March 31 every year thereafter. The bill would require the department to deliver copies of any recommendations for legislative policy changes contained in the report to the Governor and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Agriculture. The bill would require the department to be reimbursed for costs incurred for compiling data, printing, and mailing the report, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law provides for a portion of gasoline and diesel excise tax revenues in the Highway Users Tax Account to be distributed by formula by the Controller to cities based on their population and to counties based on their number of registered vehicles and maintained miles of county highways. Existing law requires various funds, including a portion of gasoline and diesel excise tax revenues and revenues from certain vehicle fees, to be deposited in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account. Existing law, after certain allocations from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account are made, requires 50% of the remaining funds in the account to be annually apportioned to cities and counties by the Controller pursuant to a specified formula, which, for counties, includes the number of registered vehicles and maintained miles of county highways. Existing law requires the funds distributed to local governments from these accounts to be used for certain transportation purposes. Existing law requires each county to annually submit to the Department of Transportation any additions or exclusions from its mileage of maintained county highways. Existing law requires the department to certify county mileage figures to the Controller. Existing law, the Community Services District Law, authorizes the formation of community services districts for various specified purposes including acquiring, constructing, improving, and maintaining streets, roads, and any incidental works. Existing law grants a district that acquires, constructs, improves, and maintains streets, roads, and any incidental works the powers, duties, and authority of a county for those works. This bill would require the County of Riverside to report the mileage of the highways maintained by the De Luz Community Services District to the Department of Transportation as maintained county highways. The bill would require the Controller to deem those highways reported by a county, and certified by the department, to be maintained county highways for purposes of apportioning funds from the Highway Users Tax Account and the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account. The bill would authorize the county to allocate funds to the district to maintain county highways in the district. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the De Luz Community Services District in the County of Riverside.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to 50% of the amount paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, during the taxable year for qualified costs, as defined, related to virtual learning for a qualified dependent, as defined, not to exceed $2,500 per qualified dependent per taxable year. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to comply with the additional information requirement for any bill authorizing a new income tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law, known as the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to contract with a landowner to limit the use of agricultural land located in an agricultural preserve designated by the city or county to preserve the land, subject to conditions of the contract, that may include an agreement to a specified valuation of the land for purposes of property taxation. The act authorizes a landowner to petition the city council or board of supervisors, as applicable, for cancellation of the contract under specified circumstances and imposes a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the fair market value of the land without the restriction of the contract. This bill would authorize a board or council to grant a petition for cancellation where the land subject to the contract is located in a basin under the jurisdiction of an adjudicated watermaster or the groundwater sustainability agency. The bill would require the landowner to commit to limiting the amount of water rights to a specific solar energy project, as defined, that uses less water than the agricultural use. The bill would also require the board or council to make specified findings, including that the solar energy project use is being permitted that will use less water than the agricultural use. The bill would prohibit the imposition of a cancellation fee when a contract is canceled pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill would require the landowner to execute and record a deed restriction that includes a prohibition on the landowner from entering into a contract pursuant to the act with respect to the land if the landowner is issued a certificate of cancellation pursuant to the bill's provisions. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would exempt from CEQA the cancellation of a contract pursuant to the above-described authorization.

The Barbering and Cosmetology Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of barbering, cosmetology, and hairstyling by the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology and makes liable for a misdemeanor a person, firm, association, or corporation that violates the act unless a specific penalty is otherwise provided. The act requires the board to admit to examination for a license as a hairstylist to practice hairstyling a person who has made application to the board in proper form, paid the fee required by the act, and meets certain qualifications, including that the person completed a course in hairstyling from a school approved by the board. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to the license as a hairstylist and would make conforming changes. The act also includes in the practice of barbering certain practices, including shampooing, arranging, dressing, curling, and waving and also the practice of hairstyling of all textures of hair by standard methods that are current at the time of the hairstyling. The act includes in the practice of cosmetology certain practices, including arranging, dressing, curling, waving, cleansing, shampooing, beautifying, or otherwise treating the hair of a person. This bill would remove the practices described above from inclusion in the practices of barbering and cosmetology, respectively. The bill would require a person who engages in the practices of arranging, beautifying, cleansing, curling, dressing, shampooing, or waving the hair of a person at an establishment to provide notice to consumers of the person's licensure status. By expanding the scope of the crime of violating the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law establishes various programs to provide assistance to homeless persons, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program and homeless youth emergency service pilot projects. Existing law also establishes the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to oversee the implementation of Housing First guidelines and regulations, and, among other things, identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a working group that includes representatives from all departments and agencies that currently receive funding relating to services for homeless individuals. The bill would require the working group to determine the best approach to creating a Department of Homelessness Prevention, Outreach, and Support and to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028.

Existing law authorizes the California Horse Racing Board to approve minisatellite wagering sites, as defined, under specified conditions. Existing law requires an organization formed by associations or fairs to operate the audiovisual signal system to execute a specified agreement with the association conducting a racing meeting and the minisatellite wagering facility that specifies, among other things, the components of its racing program, including live, out-of-zone, out-of-state, and out-of-country races, that an association or fair will make available to the site. This bill would explicitly require the agreement to specify which live in-state races would be provided by the association or fair to the site. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes, including deleting obsolete language.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction and other services to pupils in kindergarten and in grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes various state commissions and committees with responsibilities relating to this system, including the Educational Management and Evaluation Commission. Existing law establishes the commission to assist and advise the State Board of Education in the evaluation of the program achievement of educational programs, in the determination of the relative cost-effectiveness of educational programs, and in the making of recommendations concerning the expanded use, modification, or replacement of educational programs so as to produce a higher degree of program achievement and cost-effectiveness. This bill would delete provisions establishing the commission and other related provisions.

Existing law directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue special license plates to a person with a disability or a disabled veteran, or an organization or agency involved in the transportation of persons with disabilities or disabled veterans, as specified, for purposes of providing certain parking privileges. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a distinguishing placard to a qualified disabled veteran or person with a disability, upon application, to be displayed upon a parked vehicle for the purposes of identifying eligibility for certain parking privileges. For purposes of the department issuing special license plates and distinguishing placards, this bill would authorize the department to issue a special license plate or distinguishing placard to a veteran who has a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis that is connected to their military service, as specified.

Existing law, the Gambling Control Act, establishes the California Gambling Control Commission, which is responsible for licensing and regulating various gambling activities and establishments. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to investigate any violations of, and to enforce, the act. Under existing law, the commission is composed of 5 members who are appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. Existing law requires the Governor to fill any vacancies on the commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate, within 60 days of the date of the vacancy. This bill would reduce the time to fill a vacancy to within 45 days of the vacancy.