Existing law makes it unlawful, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, to willfully cause or permit a child to suffer, or to inflict thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or, having the care or custody of a child, to willfully cause or permit the person or health of that child to be injured, or to willfully cause or permit that child to be placed in a situation where their person or health may be endangered and a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor or felony. This bill would make any adult who solicits or recruits a minor to commit a felony guilty of child endangerment pursuant to the provisions above and would, in addition and consecutive to any other punishment, make a violation punishable as a sentence enhancement in the state prison for 2, 4, or 6 years. By creating a new crime, 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, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer that provides prescription drug benefits and maintains one or more drug formularies to meet certain criteria for its formularies and the placement of drugs on formularies. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer that provides prescription drug benefits and maintains one or more drug formularies from making changes to a formulary during a plan or policy year, except in specified circumstances. If a plan or insurer implements a formulary change requiring an enrollee or insured to change to a different drug in the same drug class during the plan year, the bill would authorize the individual to remain on the previously covered drug for the rest of the plan year if the drug was previously approved for coverage for the individual's medical condition, is appropriately prescribed, and is considered safe and effective for treating that condition, and would require the plan or insurer to notify the individual and their provider no less than 90 days before the change is implemented. The bill would require a plan or insurer, or its pharmacy benefit manager, to report to the appropriate department any changes made to a formulary during a plan or policy year within 30 days of the change being made. The bill would authorize the departments to investigate and take enforcement action against a plan or insurer for noncompliance with the above-described requirements and to impose, after notice and the opportunity for a hearing, administrative penalties, as specified, for a violation of these provisions. The bill would authorize the departments to conduct audits related to these provisions. Because a willful violation of the bill's provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a health care service plan that provides prescription drug benefits to maintain an expeditious process by which prescribing providers may obtain authorization for a medically necessary nonformulary prescription drug. This bill would define "expeditious process" for the above-described purpose to require a plan to approve authorization within 72 hours for nonurgent requests, or within 24 hours if exigent circumstances exist, of a request for approval of a drug prescription. If the plan fails to meet those requirements, the bill would authorize an enrollee to request, and would require the plan to provide, 90 days of transitional coverage to the enrollee for the previously covered drug. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care to utilize existing data and its existing authority to collect data from plans and annually publish on its internet website and submit to the Legislature an aggregated report on information related to requests for approval of a nonformulary drug as described above. 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 After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, an initiative statute approved by the voters as Proposition 49 at the November 5, 2002, statewide general election, establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program under which participating public schools receive grants to operate before and after school programs serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 9, inclusive. The act requires an amount not to exceed $550,000,000 to be continuously appropriated to the State Department of Education from the General Fund in each fiscal year for purposes of the program, and requires the amount to be allocated to public elementary, middle, and junior high schools according to a specified priority scheme, as provided. The act authorizes the Legislature to appropriate funds for the program in excess of this continuous appropriation. The act makes each public elementary, middle, and junior high school in the state eligible to receive a 3-year renewable after school grant for after school programs to be operated during the regular school year, as provided. The act authorizes the Legislature to amend the provisions containing the priority scheme only by a statute, enacted by a 2/3 vote of each house and signed by the Governor, that furthers the purposes of the act. Existing law establishes the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (High School ASSETs) program to create incentives for establishing after school enrichment programs to provide academic support and safe, constructive alternatives for high school pupils in the hours after the regular schoolday and to support college and career readiness. Under existing law, a High School ASSETs program is authorized to operate as either (1) an after school only program or (2) a program with both after school elements and any combination of before school, weekend, summer, intersession, or vacation elements. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described ASES priority scheme and commencing with the 2027–28 fiscal year, prohibit the department from renewing any ASES grant to a school in which less than 55% of the enrolled pupils are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as provided. This bill would establish the High School After School Education and Safety Grant Program as a component of the ASES Program. The bill would require program grantees to comply with the rules and requirements governing the High School ASSETs program and provide a daily funding rate of $13.81 per pupil. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, and notwithstanding any other law, including the above-described priority scheme, require ASES Program appropriations in excess of the minimum requirement that have not been otherwise awarded, as provided, to be allocated to the department for expenditure consistent with the High School After School Education and Safety Grant Program. The bill would also require the department to annually allocate funds generated pursuant to the above-described nonrenewal of ASES grants for expenditure consistent with the High School After School Education and Safety Grant Program. By authorizing the expenditure of continuously appropriated funds for a new purpose, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to allocate these funds pursuant to a specified hierarchy, with first priority given to existing High School ASSETs grantees to fund an increase in their per pupil daily rate to $13.81 and second priority given to fund new high school programs that comply with the grant requirements, as provided. The bill would include a legislative finding and declaration that the bill furthers the purposes of the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002. This bill would, for the purposes of attendance tracking for the High School ASSETs program, authorize pupils to be counted as attending twice if they participated in both an after school element and a before school element of a High School ASSETs program. Existing law establishes the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to allocate funding appropriated in the annual Budget Act to local educational agencies pursuant to specified rules based on those local educational agencies' percentage of unduplicated pupils, as defined, and average daily attendance of pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, as provided. Existing law requires local educational agencies to annually declare their operational intent to the department to run an expanded learning opportunity program. This bill would, commencing with the 2027–28 fiscal year, and annually thereafter, require a local educational agency, before opting out of expanded learning opportunity program funding and programming for the year, to share with the department how the local educational agency meaningfully engaged and notified those families and pupils that would have otherwise received expanded learning opportunity program priority. To the extent this requirement imposes new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, commencing with the 2027–28 fiscal year and annually thereafter, require the department to publicly post on its internet website the list of local educational agencies that intend to not offer expanded learning opportunity programs. This bill, commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, would require the department or a local educational agency designated by the department to convene a stakeholder workgroup with specified representatives to provide recommendations related to providing quality care to transitional kindergarten and kindergarten pupils, as provided, and submit a report to be posted on the department's internet website on the full cost of providing accessible and quality expanded learning programs. Existing law requires the department to develop and submit a biennial report to the Legislature related to the pupils attending, and the program quality of, expanded learning programs. This bill would revise and recast these provisions by requiring the department to develop and submit an annual report to the Legislature related to the pupils attending expanded learning programs, including High School ASSETs programs, ASES programs, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and expanded learning opportunities programs. The bill would require the report to include, among other things, data derived from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and aggregate reporting on specified pupil information. The bill would require the department to make the data collected in CALPADS available and accessible to the public, at the local educational agency level, and would require the department to develop summaries of the annual report for policymakers and the public. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. Existing law establishes childcare resource and referral programs to serve a defined geographic area and provide prescribed services. Among the services provided by these programs is the establishment of a referral process that responds to parental need for information and that makes referrals to licensed child daycare facilities, as specified. Existing law requires, when making referrals, every agency operating both a direct service program and a resource and referral program to provide at least 4 referrals, at least one of which shall be a provider over which the agency has no fiscal or operational control, and information to a family on the family's ability to choose a license exempt provider. This bill would require every resource and referral program to provide information about expanded learning opportunities programs in its region, as provided. 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 establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law provides for the allocation of funding under the program among continuums of care, cities, counties, and tribes in 6 rounds, with rounds 1 to 5, inclusive, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness and round 6 administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, as provided. Existing law establishes round 7 of the program and states the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that specifies the parameters, as specified. To be eligible for round 5 or round 6 base program allocation, existing law requires a jurisdiction that is not a tribe to apply as part of a region and be signatory to a regionally coordinated homelessness action plan that meets specified requirements. This bill would apply to the allocation of funding available under round 8 of the program and require a round 8 regionally coordinated homelessness action plan to include certain components, including a description of programs and interventions provided by smaller jurisdictions, as defined, that serve the objects and goals of the program, as specified. The bill would authorize a region receiving funding under round 8 to allocate a portion of that funding to smaller jurisdictions to support those programs. The bill would prescribe requirements for a smaller jurisdiction to be eligible to receive funding pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. This bill would add criminal history, as defined, to the list of protected characteristics under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, declares the public policy of the state to be that it is necessary to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, or color, among other characteristics. The act declares discrimination in housing accommodations because of race, color, or religion, among other characteristics, to be against public policy. In that regard, the act prohibits various forms of employment and housing discrimination, including various types of discrimination because of a person's race, color, or national origin, among other characteristics. This bill would add criminal history, as defined, to the list of protected characteristics under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, sets forth the duties of the Office of Emergency Services with respect to specified emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response activities within the state. Existing law establishes the Public Safety Communications Division within the office and prescribes certain duties in regard to statewide public safety communications systems, including providing for coordination of, and comment on, plans, policies, and operational requirements from departments that utilize public safety communications in support of their principal function. This bill would make the above-described duties the exclusive responsibility of the division and prohibit a state public agency from performing those duties, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would require the division to serve as the primary authority for all statewide and interjurisdictional public safety communications, and to provide oversight, management, and ongoing coordination of all statewide public safety communications systems. The bill would require state public agencies to utilize the public safety communications systems established and maintained under these provisions. The bill would prohibit the division or a state public agency from entering into a contract for a technical, maintenance, or system support services without approval by the office. The bill would also prohibit a state public agency participating in the statewide public safety communications system from delegating, assigning, or entering into a contract for essential operation, duties, or functions of public safety communications, without approval or authorization from the office, as specified. The bill would require a state public agency, if it enters into a contract within the scope of work of the division staff, to notify the division's state bargaining representative immediately via email and make their best effort to connect with representative.
The California Constitution generally limits ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property. For purposes of this limitation, "full cash value" is defined as the assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill under "full cash value" or, thereafter, the appraised value of that real property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership has occurred. The California Constitution specifies that "newly constructed" does not include the construction or reconstruction of seismic retrofitting components, as defined by the Legislature. Existing law, pursuant to that constitutional authorization, defines seismic retrofitting components to mean seismic retrofitting improvements and improvements utilizing earthquake hazard mitigation technologies. Existing law, pursuant to constitutional authorization, also excludes from the definition of "newly constructed" the construction or installation of certain fire sprinkler systems, or other fire extinguishing systems, fire detection systems, or fire-related egress improvements. This bill would require the State Board of Equalization to clarify that a home hardening retrofitting improvement, as defined, to an existing structure is considered nonassessable repair and maintenance, provided that the improvement does not add square footage, change the property's use, include structural reconfigurations, or include substantial rehabilitation.
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than that driver, or in the death of a person, to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and provide specified personal information to the injured person or the occupants of the other vehicle and to any traffic or police officer at the scene of the accident. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in injury, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine. Existing law requires a person who flees the scene of the crime after committing specified vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated or vehicle manslaughter to be punished for an additional term of imprisonment of 5 years in the state prison, upon conviction, and in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed. This bill would instead require a person who violates the requirement to stop to be subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 4, or 5 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, and by a specified fine, if the vehicle accident results in death.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, formerly known as the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Housing and Community Development that includes, among other specified information, the number of units of housing demolished and new units of housing that have been issued a completed entitlement, a building permit, or a certificate of occupancy, thus far in the housing element cycle, as specified. The Planning and Zoning Law also provides for the creation by local ordinance, or by ministerial approval if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, of accessory dwelling units in areas zoned for single-family or multifamily dwelling residential use in accordance with specified standards and conditions. This bill would require a city or county that has an accessory dwelling unit ordinance to submit as part of their annual report the code section where that ordinance is located and the date the ordinance was enacted or most recently updated. By increasing the scope of data required to be reported in the annual report, 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.
The Debt Collection Licensing Act generally regulates the business of debt collection and prohibits a person from engaging in the business of debt collection in this state without first obtaining a license pursuant to the act. The act prescribes the duties and powers of the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation, which include conducting prescribed examinations as often as the commissioner deems necessary and appropriate, and authorizing the commissioner to conduct those examinations electronically, as specified. The act also establishes the Debt Collection Advisory Committee to advise the commissioner on matters relating to debt collection or the debt collection business, as specified. This bill would require the commissioner to conduct examinations remotely unless an onsite examination is considered necessary for the protection of the public, as specified. The bill would also rename the Debt Collection Advisory Committee as the Debt Collection Advisory Board, require the commissioner to request the advice of the board before the initial publication or adoption of fee schedules or a proposed regulation, except as specified, and exempt the board from the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law authorizes a public agency to establish a contractual assessment program, under which public agency officials and individual property owners may enter into voluntary contractual assessments to finance certain improvements to real property, as specified. To finance those improvements, existing law authorizes a public agency to issue bonds, or to advance its own funds and later sell bonds to reimburse itself for those advances. Under the program, those bonds or advances would be repaid through the voluntary contractual assessments, which constitute a lien against the lots and parcels land, as specified. To establish a contractual assessment program, existing law requires the legislative body of the public agency to adopt a resolution that, among other things, provides certain details of the program, including the kinds of projects and the geographic area within which properties would be eligible for financing under the program. Existing law authorizes a public agency to establish a contractual assessment program to finance certain kinds of improvements that are attached to real property, including energy or water efficiency improvements. This contractual assessment program is commonly known as a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. The California Financing Law requires the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation to license and regulate persons who administer a contractual assessment program on behalf of a public agency, as specified. Existing law, the Wildfire Safety Finance Act (act) , authorizes the legislative body of any public agency that has accepted the designation of Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to create a voluntary contractual assessment program to finance wildfire safety improvements, as specified. The act defines "wildfire safety improvements" as, among other things, permanent wildfire resilience and safety improvements fixed to existing real property. The act prohibits a wildfire safety improvement financed under the act from being used as a part of a project to construct a new home or to rebuild or reconstruct a home that was destroyed or damaged in a fire. Existing law repeals the Wildfire Safety Finance Act on January 1, 2029. This bill would indefinitely extend the operation of certain provisions of the Wildfire Safety Finance Act and would revise the requirements on a legislative body of a public agency to establish a voluntary contractual assessment program under the act. In this regard, the bill would eliminate the requirements that the legislative body accept a designation of Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The bill would instead authorize any public agency that has established a PACE program or established a special tax relating to a specified community facilities district to enter into voluntary contractual assessments with property owners to finance the installation of wildfire safety improvements, as defined. The bill would, until January 1, 2035, modify the projects eligible for financing under the act to, among other things, include wildfire safety improvements consisting of Class A fire-rated roofs, enclosed eaves, fire-resistant vents, multipane windows, and other wildfire safety improvements identified in regulations adopted by the Department of Insurance, as specified. The bill would also, until January 1, 2035, include improvements that contribute to the defensible space Zones 1 and 2 of a property, which includes the space between 0 and 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structures that can be fixed to a building or structure, as specified. The bill, until January 1, 2035, would require a program administrator providing wildfire safety improvements to have a hardship program that includes a process for requesting that a program administrator remove a lien if a wildfire destroys the property or improvements. Existing law requires a program administrator to submit, for each PACE program it administers, a biannual report to the public agency that includes certain information, including the number of PACE assessments funded, by city, county, and ZIP Code. This bill would require that report to include the total number of wildfire safety improvements, including the average cost of each product type. The bill would also require the report to include the estimated total amount of savings produced by the wildfire safety improvements installed in the calendar year by city, county, and ZIP Code. The bill would require a program administrator providing wildfire improvements to file a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2030, that includes the information included in the above-described report provided to the public agency, information relating to complaints regarding the wildfire safety improvements, and a description of the above-described hardship program, as specified.
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 establishes the California Coastal Commission and prescribes procedures for the preparation, approval, and certification of local coastal programs. The act requires any proposed amendments to a certified local coastal program to be submitted to, and processed by, the commission in accordance with specified procedures. The act generally requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone to obtain a coastal development permit from the commission before certification of the local coastal program or to a local government after certification of a local coastal program, as provided. The act finds and declares that it is important for the commission to encourage the protection of existing and the provision of new affordable housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income in the coastal zone and requires the commission to encourage housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income. This bill would, notwithstanding specific provisions of the act, require the commission to approve a coastal development permit or a local coastal program amendment submitted by a local government restricting or prohibiting non-owner-occupied short-term rentals, regardless of the availability of other visitor-serving accommodations, if the local agency made findings that it was necessary to address significant local housing needs and the commission determines that the permit or amendment strikes a reasonable balance between local housing needs and public access to the coast.
