Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is comprised of boards that license and regulate various professions and vocations. Under existing law, each board within the department exists as a separate unit with specified functions. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establishes the position of Deputy Secretary for Climate within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to be appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, for the purpose of assisting in the oversight of California's workforce transition to a sustainable and equitable carbon-neutral economy. Existing law requires the deputy secretary to perform specified duties, including creating or coordinating programs with other state agencies to retrain and upskill workers for, among other jobs, clean energy jobs, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a zero-emission vehicle workforce development pilot project and a Clean Energy Workforce Training Council, as provided.
Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the department, the State Water Resources Control Board, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to develop and implement policies to aid in diverting organic waste from landfills by promoting the use of agricultural, forestry, and urban organic waste as a feedstock for compost and by promoting the appropriate use of that compost throughout the state to improve the state's soil organic matter. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would promote the recycling of organic byproducts by increasing the opportunities for organic byproducts to be recycled into livestock feed.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to administer various programs, such as the Electric Program Investment Charge program, that are funded by a charge on electrical ratepayers. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to require electrical corporations to implement various programs, such as energy efficiency programs, that are funded by electrical ratepayers. Under its authority, the Governor has issued an executive order directing the Energy Commission and the PUC to examine electrical ratepayer-funded programs under their respective jurisdictions and to identify programs and regulations that may be unduly adding to electricity rates for which the benefits provided may not be justified by the costs imposed on electrical ratepayers. The executive order requires those 2 commissions to report back to the Governor by January 1, 2025. This bill would require the Energy Commission and the PUC, by July 1, 2025, to each submit to the Legislature a report containing certain information required by the executive order. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to establish the Outdoor Equity Grants Program to increase the ability of underserved and at-risk populations to participate in outdoor environmental education experiences at state parks and other public lands where outdoor environmental outdoor education programs take place. Existing law requires the program to award grants to public organizations, including local governments and local educational agencies, joint power authorities, open-space authorities, regional open-space districts, other relevant public agencies or nonprofit organizations, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to gather information on applications following each award year to evaluate the effectiveness of outdoor environmental education programs in achieving the objectives of the grant program. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this provision.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil's level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires those reclassification procedures to use multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, among other things, an assessment of language proficiency using the English language development test that is developed or acquired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as provided. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, require the reclassification procedures developed by the department to authorize an English learner to be reclassified if the English learner achieves an English Learner Progress Indicator score of 3H or above on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California and the English learner also satisfies the other multiple measures criteria developed by the department, as specified. To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, 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, 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 authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue or renew environmental license plates to provide revenue for the California Environmental License Plate Fund that indicate on the plates the combination of letters or numbers, or both, requested as a registration number by the applicant, to be displayed on the applicant's vehicle in lieu of regular license plates. Existing law imposes fees for the issuance or renewal of an environmental license plate, in addition to the regular registration and renewal fees. Existing law also establishes procedures for the cancellation, transfer, or retention of the environmental license plates and requires the payment or reimbursement of additional fees in connection with those transactions, as specified. This bill would establish a similar program, to be known as the "8-letter license plate" program, for the support of the Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support Fund, which would be created by the bill. The bill would impose additional fees, including, but not limited to, fees for the issuance and renewal of an 8-letter license plate, as specified. The bill would require all revenue derived from the fees to be deposited in the fund and would continuously appropriate those moneys for specified purposes that include, among other things, subventions for open-space land programs, assistance to California fairs, and support of programs administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
The California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, including school districts, requires the state to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, unless an exception applies. Statutory provisions that establish procedures for making that reimbursement include a requirement that no claim shall be made or paid unless it exceeds $1,000. This bill would change the minimum claim amount to $800.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee, as defined, for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law requires an employer to provide medical treatment that is reasonably required to cure or relieve an employee from the effects of the injury. Existing law allows employers to create networks of medical treatment providers to send employees to for treatment. Existing law sets out criteria for these networks and exceptions for when an employee may be treated outside of the network. This bill would require the administrative director to establish a statewide medical provider network database, consisting of physicians who are willing and able to treat injured employees in the San Joaquin Valley region. The bill would require an employee to first seek treatment within their employer's or insurer's network, unless the employer's or insurer's network is unable to treat the employee within 30 days of the request for medical treatment. The bill would require physicians, in order to be included in the network, to, among other things, be in good standing with the Medical Board of California and agree to comply with the official medical fee schedule, as specified. The bill would require the administrative director to implement the network on or before January 1, 2027. The bill would state the Legislature's intent to address the shortage of available medical treatment for workplace injuries in the central valley region. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare.
Existing law establishes the state prisons under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law requires an individual incarcerated by the department who is transgender, nonbinary, or intersex, regardless of anatomy, to be housed at a correctional facility designated for men or women based on the individual's preference, except as specified for management or security concerns. This bill would require the department to deny a housing preference by an individual who is transgender, nonbinary, or intersex, regardless of anatomy, and require an individual to be housed in a facility consistent with the individual's anatomy, if the individual has been convicted of, or the department has credible evidence that the individual has committed, specific offenses, including, among others, rape or human trafficking, against one or more victims with a gender opposite to that of the individual, as determined by the individual's anatomy.
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential fire and property insurance. Existing law defines the measure of indemnity for a loss under a property insurance policy. Existing law requires a person who controls a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a specified wildfire-prone area to, among other things, maintain 100 feet of defensible space around the structure. This bill would exempt a residential property insurance policyholder from state and local laws, ordinances, fees, and fines associated with the removal of a tree if their insurer identifies the tree as a fire risk and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection confirms that the tree is a fire risk.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations with enforcement of the act. Existing law prohibits an employer from laying off or discharging an employee for refusing to perform work that would violate prescribed safety standards where the violation would create a real and apparent hazard to the employee or other employees. Existing law defines "employee" for purposes of those provisions to include a domestic work employee, except as specified. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to, among other things, allow an employee, acting in good faith, to refuse to perform a tasked assigned by an employer if it would violate those prescribed safety standards or if the employee has a reasonable apprehension that the performance of the assigned task would result in injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would make the employee's refusal contingent on the employee or another employee, if reasonably practical, having communicated or attempted to notify the employer of the safety or health risk and the employer having failed to provide a response that is reasonably calculated to allay the employee's concerns. The bill would require the employer to pay the employee full wages during their scheduled work hours until, among other things, the employee can reasonably conclude that the task will no longer result in the risk of serious injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would prohibit an employer from using an employee's refusal to perform an assigned task as grounds for any disciplinary action, and would make certain retaliation protections applicable to the bill's provisions. The bill would delete the provision defining "employee" to include a domestic work employee.
