Existing law requires the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to develop and implement an International Trade and Investment Program, which among other things, attracts employment-producing direct foreign investment, and states related findings and declarations of the Legislature. Existing law requires the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to provide to the Legislature, and update every 5 years, a strategy for international trade and investment, as specified. This bill would recast these provisions to, among other things, expand the required program activities. The bill would also require the office to convene the Global Partnership Advisory Body, a statewide business partnership for international trade and investment, that would advise the director, as specified. The bill would require the director to provide to the Legislature a 5-year strategy for the implementation of the international trade and investment program, developed in consultation with the advisory body, which would give input on goals, performance metrics, and implementation tactics. The bill would require the strategy to be reviewed in at least one public hearing, as specified, and would make other conforming changes. Existing law authorizes GO-Biz to establish an international trade and investment office outside the United States if specified conditions are met. This bill would also authorize GO-Biz to establish regional trade assistance hubs within California to facilitate international trade and investment if specified conditions are met through a specified competitive designation process, and would make other conforming changes. Existing law establishes the Economic Development and Trade Promotion Account in the Special Deposit Fund within the State Treasury. Existing law authorizes the director to expend funds in the account, and any other state, federal, or private funds for international trade and investment offices or international trade shows or activities related to promoting international trade and investment events by entering into contracts to support international market development activities, including, but not limited to, trade shows, trade missions, promotional events, and seminars, as well as staffing support for those activities, in an amount not exceeding $200,000, except as specified. Existing law authorizes GO-Biz to accept moneys, including, but not limited to, state, federal, and private sector funds, for the purposes of operating any international trade and investment office or international trade show or activity related to promoting international trade and investment events. This bill would increase the amount that the director can expend from the account as described above to $500,000 and would expand the purposes for which the funds can be spent, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would make other conforming changes relating to funds donated by a private donor for an international trade and investment office.
Existing law, the Product Recall Safety and Protection Act, provides for the establishment and enforcement of various product safety standards for consumer products, and prohibits a commercial dealer, manufacturer, importer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer from placing into the stream of commerce a product that is unsafe, knowing that the product is unsafe. For purposes of the act, a manufacturer is any person who makes, and places into the stream of commerce, a product. This bill would instead state that a manufacturer is a person who manufactures a product and who owns or is the licensee of the brand or trademark under which the product is sold, as specified. Under the act, a manufacturer is required to provide for the safe return or appropriate disposal of an unsafe product at no cost to the end consumer or retailer in a manner that is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances. This bill would instead require the safe return or appropriate disposal of the unsafe product to be at no cost to the end consumer, a recycling center, a municipal facility that accepts the product for recycling or disposal, a retailer that sells the product, a permitted solid waste facility, a household hazardous waste collection facility, and a thrift retail store. Existing law provides that any violation of the act is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to a maximum of $20,000. This bill would instead authorize the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to administratively impose an administrative penalty on a person in violation of the act of $2,500 per day or $5,000 per day if the violation is intentional or knowing, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish through regulations a process by which the penalties will be assessed, including an informal hearing, as specified. The bill would create the Product Recall Penalty Account in the State Treasury and would require the department to deposit the penalties collected into the account. The bill would require moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be available for expenditure by the department for certain purposes. The bill would authorize the department to refer enforcement to the Department of Toxic Substances Control for unsafe products identified as hazardous waste, and would create the Hazardous Product Recall Penalty Account in the State Treasury. The bill would require moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be available for expenditure by the Department of Toxic Substances Control for certain purposes.
Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations, and charges the division with the enforcement of various laws affecting safe working conditions, including the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973. Existing law requires the Director of Industrial Relations to prepare and submit to the Legislature an annual report on the activities of the division, as specified. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires the department to contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center, to conduct a study evaluating opportunities to improve worker safety and safeguard employment rights, as specified. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to contract with the University of California, Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program and the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program to conduct a study to evaluate the understaffing and vacancies within the division and make recommendations to the department, the Department of Human Resources, and the Legislature on policies the state shall use to inform the consideration and establishment of career pathways to the Compliance Safety and Health Officer classification. The bill would authorize the University of California, as defined, to subcontract the responsibility for conducting the study to other specified entities. The bill would require the department to cooperate and collaborate with the University of California and its subcontractors, if any, in the conduct of the study. The bill would require the University of California and its subcontractors, if any, as part of the study, to hold at least one well-publicized and conveniently located meeting to provide an opportunity for comment by stakeholders and the public on the issues addressed in the study. The bill would require the University of California and its subcontractors, if any, to issue a report that includes certain information about the understaffing and vacancies of Compliance Safety and Health Officers within the division. The bill would require the report to be completed in 18 months, posted on the division's internet website, and forwarded to the Governor and the chairs of specified legislative committees. The bill would define terms for these purposes.
Existing federal law establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible low-income individuals by each county, as administered by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law establishes the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program) , which is administered by the State Department of Public Health and counties and under which nutrition and other assistance are provided to eligible low-income individuals who have been determined to be at nutritional risk. This bill would create the CalFresh and WIC Contingency Fund. Under the bill, moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation, to the above-described departments for CalFresh and WIC programs, respectively, solely for the purpose of maintaining continuity of CalFresh or WIC benefits, as applicable, during a federal government shutdown or other federal appropriations lapse, subject to certain conditions. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health, during a federal government shutdown or other federal appropriations lapse affecting the WIC Program, to obtain a temporary loan, line of credit, or other short-term financing arrangement for the purpose of maintaining uninterrupted WIC services and benefit issuance. The bill would authorize receipt of a loan for this purpose, subject to approval by the Director of Finance, from certain sources. The bill would set forth terms and conditions for repayment of the loan. The bill would require the departments to seek federal reimbursement for expenditures made from the fund or for loan repayments. Under the bill, any federal reimbursements received would, as applicable, be used for the loan repayments or be deposited into the fund until the fund is restored to its prewithdrawal balance. If either of the departments uses moneys in the fund, the bill would require the department to subsequently report that use to the Legislature. The bill would also require the departments to submit a joint report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance detailing certain information. The bill would make these provisions severable. The bill would make the provisions inoperative on January 20, 2029, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2030. However, the bill would resume any provisions necessary to effectuate the repayment of loans, the receipt of federal reimbursements, or the preparation and submission of required reports, until those obligations are fully satisfied. The bill would require the Department of Finance to determine the amount of unencumbered funds subject to reversion and to effectuate the transfer to the General Fund as soon as practicable following January 20, 2029.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 generally requires each local government lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to prepare a local coastal program for that portion of the coastal zone within its jurisdiction. The act requires a land use plan of a proposed local coastal program to be submitted to the California Coastal Commission for certification. Existing law requires local governments lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to, on or before January 1, 2034, develop a sea level rise plan with specified required content as part of a local coastal program that is subject to approval by the California Coastal Commission. This bill would authorize local governments lying, in whole or in part, within the coastal zone to include a neighborhood-scale adaptation approach, as defined, when including land use policies and implementation measures in their local coastal program or sea level rise plan, as provided. The bill would authorize the neighborhood-scale adaptation approach to include, but not be limited to, the identification of areas and assets that are subject to the approach, as specified, and policies that reflect the shared planning features and specific preferred adaptation strategies for different areas or development types based on the geophysical and land use characteristics intended to minimize, mitigate, or avoid coastal impacts.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services under fee-for-service or managed care delivery systems. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth various provisions relating to the department determining capitation rates for Medi-Cal managed care plans using actuarial methods and a certain methodology that considers, among other factors, utilization and cost data. Relative to these provisions of existing law, in 2023, the department entered into a multi-party settlement agreement for Medi-Cal managed care procurement for plan years beginning January 1, 2024, with specified Medi-Cal managed care plans and certain subcontracting plans. This bill would authorize a subcontracting plan subject to the above-described agreement to request a review of the Medi-Cal managed care rates paid by the primary plan for a particular rating period, as specified. The bill would require the department to direct an independent, qualified actuarial consultant to review those rates upon a showing by the subcontracting plan that certain conditions have occurred or are likely to occur, including, among others, a medical loss ratio in excess of 93% for the preceding 12-month period. If the department determines that the rates paid by the primary plan to the subcontracting plan for a particular rating period are not actuarially sound, the bill would require the department to order a revision of those rates, as specified. The bill would make any failure by the department to comply with these provisions reviewable and subject to appeal at the request of the subcontracting plan through a notice of dispute pursuant to the terms of the Medi-Cal managed care contract. The bill would require these disputes to be concluded and resolved within 120 calendar days of the initial request. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions through the use of all-county letters, plan letters, plan bulletins, amendments to the state Medi-Cal managed care contract, or similar instructions without taking any further regulatory action.
The Outdoor Advertising Act regulates placement of advertising displays adjacent to and within specified distances of highways that are part of the national system of interstate and defense highways and federal-aid highways. The act prohibits limitations on the customary maintenance of a lawfully erected advertising display within the state by any governmental entity without payment of compensation, as specified. This bill would authorize, as part of customary maintenance, an activity performed for the purpose of maintaining an advertising display in its existing physical configuration, including, but not limited to, replacing structural members and using stronger materials, as specified.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 requires oceanfront land suitable for recreational use to be protected for recreational use and development unless present and foreseeable future demand for public or commercial recreational activities that could be accommodated on the property is already adequately provided for in the area. Existing law, the California Ocean Protection Act, establishes the Ocean Protection Council and provides that the purpose of the act is to integrate and coordinate the state's laws and institutions responsible for protecting and conserving ocean resources, including coastal waters and ocean ecosystems, to provide for public access to the ocean and ocean resources, including to marine protected areas, for recreational use, and aesthetic, educational, and scientific purposes, consistent with the sustainable long-term conservation of those resources, among other objectives. Existing law establishes surfing as the official state sport. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the council to establish criteria and an application process for purposes of designating an area of the coastline as a state surfing reserve, as defined. The bill would authorize a local government to, after adopting a formal resolution, apply to the council for purposes of designating an area of the coastline within the jurisdiction of the local government as a state surfing reserve. The bill would require the local government to include in its application, among other things, a description of the proposed surfing reserve. The bill would require the council to approve the application if the area of the coastline meets the established criteria and would require, once the application is approved, the council to designate the area as a state surfing reserve. The bill would authorize the council to revoke its designation as a state surfing reserve if the council determines that the designated state surfing reserve no longer meets specified criteria and would require a local government to remove any signage used to identify a surfing reserve upon this revocation.
Existing law, the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act, classifies controlled substances into 5 designated schedules, with the most restrictive limitations generally placed on controlled substances classified in Schedule I, and the least restrictive limitations generally placed on controlled substances in Schedule V. Existing law creates the Research Advisory Panel, as specified, to conduct hearings on, and in other ways study, research projects concerning controlled substances. Existing law authorizes the panel to approve research projects that have been registered with the Attorney General concerning the nature and effects of cannabis or hallucinogenic drugs and the treatment of abuse of controlled substances. Existing law authorizes a person who, under federal law, is entitled to use controlled substances for the purpose of research, instruction, or analysis to lawfully obtain and use those controlled substances upon approval by the panel, as specified. This bill, the California Veterans' Right to Try Act, would, until January 1, 2032, authorize the Research Advisory Panel to submit an investigational new drug application to the United States Food and Drug Administration requesting approval for a clinical trial of Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substances to study the administration and efficacy of those compounds among a patient pool comprised exclusively of veteran subjects with comorbidities that commonly overlap with the incidence of suicidality among veterans. This bill would make technical changes and would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services in the California Health and Human Services Agency. Existing law authorizes the public guardian, a county position, to apply for appointment as guardian or conservator of the person, estate, or both, of any person domiciled in the county requiring a guardian or conservator if there is no one else who is qualified and willing to act and whose appointment would be in the best interest of the person, or if there is an imminent threat to a person's health or safety or the person's estate. The public guardian is required to apply for appointment if ordered by the court. This bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services to establish the position of the State Public Guardian to assist counties with performing their duties as a public guardian or public conservator. The bill would require the State Public Guardian to perform specified duties, including, among other things, providing guidance and technical assistance to local public guardians and public conservators to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal laws and promoting access to training materials necessary to perform the duties of a public guardian or public conservator, including materials required for compliance with continuing education requirements. The bill would limit the duties of the State Public Guardian to support of public guardianships and public conservatorships under the Probate Code and, to the extent possible, not those conservatorships for persons with a grave disability pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
The Corporation Tax Law imposes on every corporation doing business in the state, as defined, a tax according to or measured by net income and, in the case of a corporation with income derived from or attributable to sources both within and without this state, apportions the income between this state and other states and foreign countries in accordance with a single sales formula based on the sales within and without this state, except that in the case of an apportioning trade or business that derives more than 50% of its gross business receipts from conducting one or more qualified business activities, as defined, business income is apportioned in accordance with a specified 3-factor formula. Existing federal law, for purposes of determining a taxpayer's gross income for federal income tax purposes, requires that a person who is a United States shareholder of any controlled foreign corporation, as defined, to include in their gross income the net CFC tested income, as provided. The Corporation Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2003, for purposes of determining income derived from or attributable to sources within this state, allows corporations to make a statutory election as to whether their income is determined on a "water's-edge" basis or on a worldwide unitary basis. Under existing law, the election to report income on a water's-edge basis remains in effect until terminated, and provides conditions for the termination of the election. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, would require a taxpayer that files on a water's-edge basis to account for net CFC tested income within the water's-edge group, as provided. The bill would require a taxpayer that files on a water's-edge basis to include all income and apportionment factors of any corporation, other than a bank, whose sales factor, instead of the average of 3 factors, in the United States is at least 20%. The bill would also terminate all water's-edge elections for the first taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2028, and would not allow a taxpayer to make a water's-edge election, or file on a water's-edge basis, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2028. The bill would authorize any taxpayer that has made a water's-edge election to terminate that election without the consent of the Franchise Tax Board for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2028. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law, the Genetic Information Privacy Act, requires a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, as defined, to provide a consumer with certain information regarding the company's policies and procedures for the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure, as applicable, of genetic data, and to obtain a consumer's express consent for collection, use, or disclosure of the consumer's genetic data, as specified. Existing law assesses a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for a negligent violation of these provisions, and a civil penalty between $1,000 and $10,000, inclusive, for a willful violation of these provisions. This bill would require all local law enforcement agencies in the state to report to the Attorney General starting July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the number of reports filed in the past year on the theft of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the current status of those cases. The bill would require the Attorney General to, on or before January 1, 2028, report to the Legislature, and post on its internet website, the number of police reports filed on the theft of DNA and the current status of those cases. By increasing duties on local law enforcement, 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.
