California Bills

Under existing law, noncitizen victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes, as defined, are eligible for certain public social services and health care services to the same extent as individuals who are admitted to the United States as refugees. Existing law requires that those services discontinue if there is a final administrative denial of a visa application, as specified. Existing law requires that benefits and services under those provisions be paid from state funds to the extent federal funding is unavailable. This bill would prohibit the discontinuance of those services due to the denial of a visa application if the individual is eligible for those services on another basis. The bill would also expand those services to noncitizen victims of parental maltreatment, noncitizen children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, and noncitizens who fear persecution. The bill would add to the categories of eligible noncitizen victims for the services individuals who have filed a formal application or petition with the appropriate federal agency for status or relief under the federal Violence Against Women Act, for special immigrant juvenile status, for asylum status, or for parole as family members of victims of severe trafficking, as specified. The bill would also make nonsubstantive conforming changes. By increasing duties for counties to administer and determine eligibility for public social services and health care services, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Director of Social Services to adopt regulations, which may be emergency regulations, to implement these provisions no later than July 1, 2024. The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer these provisions through an all-county letter or similar instructions from the director until regulations are adopted. 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 every public agency, as defined, that conducts an establishment serving the public or open to the public and that maintains restroom facilities for the public, to make every water closet available without cost or charge, as provided. Existing law also requires publicly and privately owned facilities where the public congregates to be equipped with sufficient temporary or permanent restrooms to meet the needs of the public at peak hours. This bill would require each local government, as defined, to complete an inventory of public restrooms owned and maintained by the local government, either directly or by contract, that are available to the general population in its jurisdiction by July 1, 2024. The bill would require local governments to report their findings to the State Department of Public Health, which would be required to compile the information and to report the availability of public restrooms to the Legislature by March 1, 2025, as specified. The bill would require the Legislature to consider the report when evaluating the public's access to reliable public restrooms. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. By imposing additional duties on local governments, 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, the California Organic Food and Farming Act, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, county agricultural commissioners, and the Director of Public Health to enforce state and federal laws governing the production, labeling, and marketing of organic products, as specified. Existing law requires every person engaged in the state in the processing or handling of specified products for human consumption that are sold as organic to register with the director, as specified. Existing law requires the director to provide a registration form for those purposes and requires specified information on the registration form. The bill would require the director to create an online registration and payment option on or before January 1, 2026.

Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to administer various programs intended to promote the development of housing and to provide housing assistance and home loans. Existing law sets forth various general powers of the department in implementing these programs, including authorizing the department to enter into long-term contracts or agreements of up to 30 years for the purpose of servicing loans or grants or enforcing regulatory agreements or other security documents. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve an extension of a department loan, the reinstatement of a qualifying unpaid matured loan, the subordination of a department loan to new debt, or an investment of tax credit equity pursuant to specified rental housing finance programs, as specified, unless it would result in a rent increase for tenants of a development. Existing law authorizes the department to charge a monitoring fee to cover the aggregate monitoring costs in years the loan is extended and a transaction fee to cover its costs for processing restructuring transactions, and requires developer fee limitations to be consistent with specified laws and regulations, including regulations by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. This bill would revise and recast these provisions, including additionally authorizing the department to approve the payoff of a department loan in whole or part prior to the end of its term and the extraction of equity from a development for purposes approved by the department. The bill would prohibit the extension, reinstatement, subordination, payoff, extraction, or investment, as described above, if it would result in a rent increase for tenants of a development over and above the annual adjustment to the tenants' rents under the department's regulatory agreement. The bill would authorize the department to waive specified requirements in the regulatory agreement if the loan is paid off, including requiring occupancy and financial reports and governing the use of operating income and reserves for the development. The bill would authorize the department to charge additional fees as necessary to cover its costs for processing restructuring transactions, and would provide that the monitoring fees continue until the end of the term of the department's regulatory agreement, as specified. The bill would limit developer fees to the amount allowed by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee or to 25% of actual rehabilitation costs, as applicable.

Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in coordination with certain public agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in the California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. Existing law establishes the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes by improving ecosystem health, community wildfire preparedness, and fire resilience. Under the program, the Department of Conservation is required to provide block grants to regional entities to develop regional strategies that develop governance structures, identify wildfire risks, foster collaboration, and prioritize and implement projects within the region to achieve the program's goals. Existing law requires that regional priority strategy development be in coordination with public landowners and other relevant forest and fire planning efforts in wildfire and forest resiliency planning. This bill would, by January 1, 2025, require the Department of Conservation, in consultation with the task force and its member agencies, to establish guidelines for funding the implementation of the regional priority strategies, as provided, and to establish regional investment strategies to identify and align resources that support implementation of regional priority strategies that contribute to the goals and key actions identified in the California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued by the task force in January 2021 and any subsequent updates to this plan, and the implementation strategy. The bill would authorize conservancies, departments, and boards within the Natural Resources Agency to directly award regional block grants to eligible regional entities, forest collaboratives, and partnerships to implement regional plans, strategies, agreements, and initiatives. The bill would require the department to provide the task force and to post on its internet website a description, amount, and outcome of each regional block grant.

The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (act) requires a retailer selling a covered electronic device in this state to collect from a consumer at the time of retail sale a covered electronic waste recycling fee or a covered battery-embedded waste recycling fee, as specified. The act defines "covered electronic device" to include certain video display devices and battery-embedded products. The act requires all charges collected pursuant to the act to be deposited into specified subaccounts within the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, and outlines certain other requirements related to the establishment, adjustment, and administration of the charge. Moneys in the subaccounts are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including, but not limited to, paying covered electronic waste recycling fee refunds and making electronic waste recovery and recycling payments. Moneys in the account may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for other specified purposes, including the administration of the act by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and to provide funding to DTSC to implement and enforce the hazardous waste control laws as they relate to covered electronic devices. Existing law incorporates the requirements and other provisions of the act by reference as requirements and provisions of the hazardous waste control laws. The act also expressly authorizes DTSC to enforce the act, and all regulations adopted pursuant to the act, through the hazardous waste control laws. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would, among other things, expand the definition of "covered electronic device" to include a "customer-owned solar PV module," as defined, thereby expanding the scope of the act to include covered solar photovoltaic (PV) module products, for limited purposes, as provided. The bill would also require, on or before October 1, 2026, and on or before October 1 each year thereafter, CalRecycle to establish a covered solar PV recycling fee based on the reasonable regulatory costs to administer covered electronic waste recycling. The bill would require the charge to be imposed upon a consumer or a service provider serving the consumer for the purchase of a new or refurbished covered solar PV module product. The bill would also require the charge to be adjusted annually based on the California Consumer Price Index. The bill would create the Covered Solar PV Module Recycling Fee Subaccount as a continuously appropriated fund in the Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account. Because the funds deposited to the Covered Solar PV Module Recycling Fee Subaccount would be a new source of funds in the continuously appropriated subaccount within the continuously appropriated Electronic Waste Recovery and Recycling Account, the bill would make an appropriation. By expanding the scope of the act to make it applicable to covered solar PV module products, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. Beginning January 1, 2028, the bill would require a solar photovoltaic module, that is not a customer-owned solar PV module, to be included in a plan that describes how the module will be managed at the end of its useful life, who is responsible for managing it, and how it will be recycled, refurbished, or reused. 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 requires the Public Utilities Commission to enforce rules governing the extension of service by electrical corporations, as specified. This bill would require the commission, no later than January 1, 2025, to provide guidance to electrical corporations for the prioritization of projects in each electrical corporation's distribution interconnection queue and for the prioritization of customer service connections, including the prioritization of projects that are in the final stage before commencing construction, as determined by the commission. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission implementing its requirements would therefore be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services and sets forth its powers and duties, including approval and adoption of building standards and codification of those standards into the California Building Standards Code. Existing law, the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act, requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to adopt, among other regulations, lighting and other building design and construction standards that increase efficiency in the use of energy for new residential and nonresidential buildings to reduce the wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy, including energy associated with the use of water, and to manage energy loads to help maintain electrical grid reliability. Existing law also requires the commission to adopt standards for minimum levels of operating efficiency and other cost-effective measures to promote the use of certain energy- and water-efficient appliances. This bill would require, with certain exceptions, a state agency, as defined, to ensure that an outdoor lighting fixture that is newly installed on or after January 1, 2024, on a structure or land that is owned, leased, or managed by the state agency meets prescribed criteria, including using a lamp with a correlated color temperature that does not exceed 2,700 Kelvin.

(1) Existing property tax law, pursuant to constitutional authorization, provides for a "welfare exemption" for property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes and that is owned or operated by certain types of nonprofit entities, if certain qualifying criteria are met. For the 2022–23 fiscal year through the 2027–28 fiscal year, in the case of an owner of property that is a community land trust, as defined, existing property tax law requires that a unit continue to be treated as occupied by a lower income household for these purposes if the occupants were lower income households on the lien date in the fiscal year in which their occupancy of the unit commenced and the unit continues to be rent restricted, notwithstanding an increase in the income of the occupants of the unit to 140% of area median income, adjusted for family size. Existing law requires that a lease between a community land trust and a lower income household satisfy specified requirements in order for these provisions to apply, including being a renewable 99-year ground lease and a public agency or official must make a finding that the contract serves the public interest of creating or preserving affordable housing, as provided. This bill would eliminate specified requirements of a lease agreement between a lower income household and a community land trust in order for the unit to continue to be treated as occupied by a lower income household, as described above. (2) Existing property tax law requires the assessor to consider in the assessment of land the effect of any enforceable restrictions to which the use of the land may be subjected, including, among others, a renewable 99-year ground lease between a community land trust and the qualified owner, as defined, of an owner-occupied single-family dwelling or an owner-occupied unit in a multifamily dwelling that meets certain other conditions. Existing property tax law defines the term "community land trust" for these and other purposes to mean a nonprofit corporation that satisfies specified requirements, including a requirement that all dwellings and units located on property owned by the nonprofit are either sold to a qualified owner, as defined, or leased to low- or moderate-income persons or families, and the land owned by the nonprofit corporation, on which a dwelling or unit sold to a qualified owner is situated, is leased by the nonprofit corporation to the qualified owner for the convenient occupation and use of that dwelling or unit for a renewable term of 99 years. This bill would amend the definition of community land trust to extend these requirements to a wholly owned subsidiary of the trust that is solely directed and managed by the trust. (3) Existing law prescribes various requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust and prescribes a procedure for the exercise of that power. Existing law prescribes certain requirements that apply in the case of sales of real property containing one to 4 residential units, inclusive, that is acquired through foreclosure under a mortgage or deed of trust by an institution or that is acquired at a foreclosure sale by an institution, as defined, including requiring that the institution only accept offers from eligible bidders during the first 30 days after the property is listed for sale. Existing law defines "eligible bidder" for the purposes to include, among others, a community land trust, defined by reference to the above-described provisions relating to the assessment of real property for taxation. Existing law creates the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, for the purpose of preserving affordable housing and promoting resident ownership or nonprofit organization ownership of residential real property. Upon appropriation, existing law requires the department to provide loans and grants to eligible borrowers to support the acquisition of one to 25 unit properties meeting specified criteria. Existing law requires that an eligible borrower be one of 3 specified types of entities, including a limited liability company in which a community land trust, defined by reference to the above-described provisions relating to the assessment of real property for taxation, either holds a controlling interest or is the managing member. This bill would revise the definition of the term "community land trust" for purposes of the above-described provisions relating to sales of real property acquired through foreclosure, and for purposes of the Foreclosure Intervention Housing Preservation Program, to incorporate the above-described changes to the definition of that term made by the bill for purposes of the assessment of real property for taxation. (4) Existing law, the Los Angeles County Regional Housing Finance Act, establishes the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency for the purpose of increasing the supply of affordable housing in the County of Los Angeles by providing for significantly enhanced funding and technical assistance at a regional level for renter protections, affordable housing preservation, and new affordable housing production, as specified. Existing law requires the agency to distribute regional housing revenue in the form of a grant, loan, or other financing tool, as provided, and specifies that grants, loans, or other financing provided to community land trusts and other similarly structured nonprofit entities to acquire, rehabilitate, and preserve existing housing is an eligible use of that funding. Existing law establishes the CalHome Program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to enable low- and very low income households to become or remain homeowners. Existing law requires the department, under the program, to use appropriated funds to provide grant or loan funds to local public agencies or nonprofit corporations for specified purposes relating to the promotion of home ownership. Existing law provides that mutual housing, community land trusts, and limited equity cooperative housing are deemed to be forms of home ownership eligible to receive assistance under the program. This bill would define the term "community land trust" for purposes of the Los Angeles County Regional Housing Finance Act and the CalHome Program by reference to the above-described provisions relating to the assessment of real property for taxation, as amended by the bill. (5) By expanding the duties of local tax officials, this bill would establish 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.

The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act makes the State Department of Developmental Services responsible for providing various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. Pursuant to that law, the department contracts with regional centers to provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law prohibits regional centers from purchasing any service that would otherwise be available from Medi-Cal, Medicare, and private insurance, among other sources, when a consumer or a consumer's family meets the criteria of this coverage, but chooses not to pursue that coverage. Existing law also prohibits regional centers from purchasing medical or dental services for a consumer 3 years of age or older unless the regional center is provided with documentation of a Medi-Cal, private insurance, or health care service plan denial, and the regional center determines that an appeal of the denial by the consumer or the consumer's family does not have merit. This bill would remove the requirement for the regional center to determine that the appeal of the denial by the consumer or the consumer's family does not have merit. The bill also would specify that a consumer or family is not required to appeal the denial of services from another agency that has a legal responsibility to serve all members of the general public and is receiving public funds for providing those services in order for a regional center to purchase those services as part of a consumer's individual program plan.

Existing law requires instruction to be given in the elementary and secondary schools by appropriately trained instructors on drug education and the effects of the use of tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, dangerous drugs, as defined, and other dangerous substances. Existing law authorizes a public or private elementary or secondary school to determine whether or not to make emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist and trained personnel available at its school, and to designate one or more volunteers to receive related training to address an opioid overdose, as specified. This bill would require those school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that voluntarily determine to make naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist available on campus to ensure that the naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist is placed in an appropriate location that is widely known and easily accessible, both during school hours and after school hours. The bill would require the naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to be located on campus grounds in at least one of several specified locations. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop an opioid overdose training program and program toolkit, as defined, to be made available to public high schools for public high school pupils to be trained on how to identify and respond to an opioid overdose, including by administering a federally approved opioid overdose reversal medication, as provided. The bill would require the department, by April 1, 2025, to notify public high schools of the availability of the program toolkit. The bill would require the department to provide the program toolkit upon request to those public high schools that opt to host the program on their campuses and to consider making its representatives available to provide the training onsite at public schools upon request. The bill would require the department to collaborate with local, state, and national organizations, as provided, to provide pupils with integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased educational materials on opioid and drug overdose prevention, opioid and drug safety, and stigma reduction. The bill would require the department to collect, on an annual basis, data on the number of pupils participating in the program and to share this information with the Legislature and the Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees on Education, Health, and Human Services, as provided.