Existing law establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The state board, in this capacity, administers the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project under which the agency issues a limited number of vouchers to incentivize the purchase and use of zero-emission commercial vehicles. The Budget Act of 2023 appropriated funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the state board for zero-emission drayage trucks to be administered through the project and, in expending those funds, requires the state board, before January 1, 2025, to limit the number and award amount levels under the project based on fleet size. This bill would require the state board to ensure that a voucher provided under the project for the purchase of a new, or the retrofit of a used, drayage truck is provided to an operator in an amount determined pursuant to a sliding scale established by the state board, based on the number of drayage trucks the operator owns. In administering the project, the bill would require the state board to prioritize the award of those vouchers to operators meeting certain criteria. The bill would also require the state board to ensure that these vouchers may be used to purchase a new drayage truck using, or to retrofit a used drayage truck to use, hydrogen fuel cell or battery electric technology as its source of propulsion.
(1) Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of residential tenancies. Existing law prohibits a landlord from, among other things, preventing a tenant from posting or displaying political signs, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would prohibit a landlord, before the landlord has accepted a prospective tenant's application for a dwelling unit, from asking the prospective tenant or otherwise inquiring into whether the prospective tenant plans to own or otherwise maintain a common household pet in the tenant's dwelling unit. The bill would require a prospective tenant, no later than 72 hours before entering into a rental agreement, to inform the landlord if the prospective tenant plans to own or otherwise maintain a common household pet. The bill would prohibit a landlord from preventing a tenant from owning or otherwise maintaining a common household pet without reasonable justification. The bill would provide that this provision does not limit or otherwise affect a landlord's ability to impose reasonable conditions on household pets, and does not apply to a rental agreement that prohibits the ownership or otherwise maintenance of a common household pet that was entered into before January 1, 2025. The bill would prohibit a landlord from imposing payment of a separate or additional rent by a tenant for the ownership or otherwise maintenance of a common household pet, and would provide that this provision does not apply to a rental agreement that authorizes a landlord to charge a separate or additional rent for the ownership or otherwise maintenance of a common household pet that was entered into before January 1, 2025. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. (2) Existing law authorizes a landlord to hold security for any tenant who is a party to the lease or agreement, subject to specified requirements. Existing law defines security as any payment, fee, deposit, or charge that is imposed, as specified, to reimburse the landlord for costs associated with processing a new tenant or that is imposed as an advance payment of rent, used for any purpose, including the repair of damages to the premises, as specified. This bill would specify that the purposes described above also include to repair damages caused by, or for other costs associated with, a common household pet, as defined, that is owned or otherwise maintained by a tenant in the premises.
Existing law requires the California State Auditor to conduct financial and performance audits as directed by statute. Existing law authorizes the California State Auditor to conduct these audits of any state agency, any local governmental agency, including any city, county, and school or special district, or any publicly created entity. Existing law affirms that irrigation districts are state agencies formed and existing for governmental purposes. Existing law authorizes an irrigation district to sell, dispose of, and distribute electricity for use outside of the district's boundaries. This bill would require the California State Auditor's Office to conduct a comprehensive assessment and inventory of the Imperial Irrigation District's assets related to its distribution of electricity, as provided. The bill would require the California State Auditor, on or before September 30, 2025, to submit the assessment and inventory to the Legislature, as provided.
Existing law authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to issue a limited lines travel insurance agent license to any organization engaged in transacting travel insurance through travel retailers that do not meet other specified requirements. Existing law requires the transaction of travel insurance under the license of an organization holding a limited lines travel insurance agent license to be subject to specified conditions, including that a limited lines travel insurance agent may authorize a travel retailer to transact travel insurance if the limited lines travel insurance agent is clearly identified on marketing materials and fulfillment packages distributed by travel retailers to customers. Existing law requires an applicant for a limited lines travel insurance agent license to submit specified documents to the commissioner, including a written application for licensure signed by the applicant or officer of the applicant. Existing law requires the person or organization licensed pursuant to these provisions to pay the costs associated with any enforcement action. This bill would enact the California Travel Insurance Act and would revise and recast these provisions by, among other things, expanding and modifying definitions, including adding to the definition of travel insurance for coverage for personal risks emergency evacuation and the repatriation of remains. The bill would require a travel insurer to pay premium tax on travel insurance premiums paid by specified individuals, including primary certificate holders under a group travel insurance policy and individual primary policyholders, who are residents of this state. The bill would require a travel insurer to document the state of residence of the policyholder or certificate holder and report as premium only the amount allocable to travel insurance. The bill would also authorize travel protection plans, as defined, to be offered for one price for the combined features of the plan if specified conditions are met, including that the plan clearly discloses to the consumer that it includes travel insurance, travel assistance services, as defined, and cancellation fee waivers, as defined, at or prior to the time of purchase and the fulfillment materials, as defined, describe the included services in the plan and include the travel insurance disclosures and contact information for those providing the services. The bill would require a person offering travel insurance to be subject to existing provisions governing unfair trade practices regarding the business of insurance and would require the documents provided to consumers prior to the purchase of travel insurance to be consistent with the policy itself. The bill would require the fulfillment materials, as defined, to be provided to a policyholder or certificate holder as soon as practicable. The bill would authorize the policyholder or certificate holder to cancel a policy or certificate for a full refund from the date of purchase of a travel protection plan until certain specified dates, including 15 days following the date of delivery, as defined, of the plan's fulfillment materials by postal mail. The bill would also expressly prohibit a person transacting travel insurance or travel protection plans from using a negative option or opt out requiring an affirmative action to deselect coverage. The bill would prohibit a person from representing themselves as a travel administrator, as defined, unless the individual is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent or holds other specified licenses, including a valid managing general agent license. The bill would hold an insurer responsible for the acts of a travel administrator, administrative travel insurance underwritten by the insurer, and for the travel administrator maintaining all books and records relevant to the insurer. The bill would require the travel administrator to make those records available to the commissioner upon request. The bill would state the purpose of the above provisions would be to promote the public welfare by creating a comprehensive legal framework within which travel insurance may be sold in the state and would require the above provisions to supersede general provisions of law otherwise applicable to travel insurance.
(1) Existing law prohibits a community college district from excluding an applicant to a registered nursing program on the basis that the applicant is not a resident of that district or has not completed prerequisite courses in that district, and prohibits a community college district from implementing policies, procedures, and systems that have the effect of excluding an applicant or student who is not a resident of that district from a registered nursing program of that district. This bill would repeal the latter prohibition. (2) Existing law authorizes a community college registered nursing program, if it determines that the number of applicants to the program exceeds its capacity, to admit students to the program using a multicriteria screening process, a random selection process, or a blended combination of random selection and a multicriteria screening process, as specified. Existing law requires that the criteria applied in a multicriteria screening process include consideration of the life experiences or special circumstances of an applicant, as listed. Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to report annually to the Legislature and the Governor on students admitted to community college registered nursing programs through a multicriteria screening process, as provided. Existing law repeals these provisions relating to admission to community college nursing programs on January 1, 2025. This bill would add being a resident of the community college district to the list of life experiences or special circumstances specified for consideration in a multicriteria screening process. The bill would extend operation of these provisions relating to admission to community college nursing programs until January 1, 2030.
Existing law requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement. Existing law defines "public works," for the purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to investigate allegations that a contractor or subcontractor violated the law regulating public works projects, including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Existing law requires any copy of records made available for inspection as copies and furnished upon request to the public or any public agency to be marked or obliterated to prevent disclosure of an individual's name, address, and social security number but specifies that any copy of records made available to a Taft-Hartley trust fund for the purposes of allocating contributions to participants be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual's full social security number, as specified. This bill would require an owner or developer, as defined, undertaking any public works project to make specified records available upon request to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, to multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust funds, and to joint labor-management committees, as specified. The bill would also apply this requirement to an owner or developer that undertakes a development project that includes work subject to the requirements of public works. The bill would subject an owner or developer, for failing to comply with the provisions of this act, to a penalty by the commissioner, as specified, and would deposit the penalties into a specified fund. This bill would require the Director of Industrial Relations to adopt rules to govern the release of those records, as specified.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to recommend that an incarcerated person's sentence be recalled if the incarcerated person has a serious and advanced illness with an end-of-life trajectory or is permanently medically incapacitated with a medical condition or functional impairment that renders them permanently unable to complete basic activities of daily living, as specified. Existing law exempts an incarcerated person who was convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer from seeking recall and resentencing under these provisions. Existing law additionally authorizes, when a defendant has been committed to the state prison or to a county jail for the commission of a felony, the court to recall the sentence and either reduce a defendant's term by modifying the sentence, or vacate the conviction and impose judgment on any necessarily included lesser offense or lesser related offense, and resentence the defendant to a reduced term, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit an incarcerated person convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer from seeking recall and resentencing under the provision permitting the court to recall and resentence a defendant convicted of a felony offense. The bill would specify that an individual would not be rendered ineligible for relief under these provisions if there is evidence that the incarcerated person's constitutional rights were violated in the proceedings related to the conviction or sentence at issue, or if there was evidence that undermines the integrity of the underlying conviction or sentence.
Existing law requires agencies and departments administering state programs related to homelessness to adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate core components of Housing First, as defined. Under existing law, Housing First includes time-limited rental or services assistance, so long as the housing and service provider assists the recipient, among other things, in accessing permanent housing. Existing law defines "state programs" for this purpose as any program a California state agency or department funds, implements, or administers for the purpose of providing housing or housing-based services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, except as provided. Under existing law, the core components of Housing First include, among others, services that are informed by a harm-reduction philosophy that recognizes drug and alcohol use and addiction as a part of tenants' lives, where tenants are engaged in nonjudgmental communication regarding drug and alcohol use, and where tenants are offered education regarding how to avoid risky behaviors and engage in safer practices, as well as connected to evidence-based treatment if the tenant so chooses. This bill would clarify, pursuant to that core component, that state departments or agencies may allow programs to fund recovery housing, as defined, that use substance use-specific services, peer support, and physical design features supporting individuals and families on a path to recovery from addiction that emphasizes abstinence, so long as the state program meets specified requirements. The bill would require the housing related to time-limited rental or services assistance to meet the core components of Housing First.
Existing law allows a court to issue a gun violence restraining order prohibiting and enjoining a named person from having custody or control of any firearms or ammunition if the person poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to themselves or another by having custody or control of a firearm or ammunition. Existing law authorizes a court to issue a gun violence restraining order to prohibit a person from purchasing or possessing a firearm or ammunition for a period of one to 5 years, subject to renewal for additional one- to 5-year periods, if the subject of the petition poses a significant danger of self-harm or harm to another in the near future by having a firearm and the order is necessary to prevent personal injury to the subject of the petition or another. Existing law makes it a crime to own or possess a firearm in violation of a gun violence restraining order. If the court finds evidence of an extreme risk of violence, including repeated and egregious instances of specified facts, and those facts existed 12 months prior to a petition being filed, this bill would require a court to issue a gun violence restraining order for 5 years. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this 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.
The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature, with the approval of 23 of the membership of each house, to allow a county board of supervisors to exempt from property taxation those properties having a value too low to justify the costs of assessment and collection. Existing property tax law implementing this authority generally limits any exemption granted under this constitutional provision by a county board of supervisors to real property with a total base year value, or personal property with a full value, not exceeding $10,000, or $50,000 for lien dates occurring on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, in the case of possessory interests and, in the case of certain possessory interests, for lien dates occurring on or after January 1, 2025. This bill would instead apply the above-described authority for an exemption of $50,000 to lien dates occurring on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2030, in the case of possessory interests and, in the case of certain possessory interests, to lien dates occurring on or after January 1, 2030. 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 declare findings and reporting requirements in compliance with this requirement, including that each county assessor report to the State Board of Equalization, as specified, and post that information on its internet website. By imposing additional duties on each county assessor, this 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, 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 requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law prohibits a person who is found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial. Existing law requires a court, if a question is raised as to a defendant's mental competence, to hold a hearing into the defendant's mental competence. Under existing law, if a defendant is found incompetent, the court shall, as specified, order the defendant to treatment for the restoration of competence. Under existing law, if the defendant's competence is restored, the defendant shall be returned to the court with a certificate of restoration. This bill would clarify that a certificate of restoration of mental competence is presumed to apply to any felony case pending against the defendant in the same county at the time the defendant was restored to competence, subject to specified exceptions.
Existing law establishes various social services and programs to address the needs of young people in this state, including the California Youth Empowerment Commission in the Office of Planning and Research. The commission consists of 13 voting commissioners between 14 and 25 years of age and 5 nonvoting members. Existing law charges the advisory commission with making recommendations to the Legislature, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Governor on issues that affect youth, including career preparation, civic engagement, and employment. This bill would add to the list of topics upon which the commission may offer its advice and recommendations fostering a new generation of young Californians to enter the civil service workforce.
