California Bills

Existing law requires the canvass of an election to commence no later than the Thursday following the election and shall be continued daily, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted, for not less than 6 hours each day until completed. Existing law requires the elections official to prepare a certified statement of the results of the election and submit that certified statement to the governing body within 30 days of the election, except as specified. This bill would instead require the elections official to submit the certified statement of the results of the election on the 30th calendar day following the election. By increasing the duties of local elections officials relative to the days on which they would be required to certify election results, 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 generally sets forth the procedures and requirements for an adoption and authorizes an adoption facilitator to provide specific adoption services, including advertising for the purpose of soliciting parties to an adoption or locating children for an adoption or acting as an intermediary between the parties to an adoption, and charging a fee or other valuable consideration for services rendered. This bill would repeal the provisions relating to adoption facilitators and would expressly prohibit a person or organization from engaging in specified activities relating to adoption, unless the person or organization is either licensed as an adoption agency by the State Department of Social Services or an attorney licensed to practice law in California. The bill would make various conforming changes.

Existing law generally regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of people employed in any occupation. Existing law creates the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the head of which is the Labor Commissioner. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to enforce certain notice requirements concerning a mass layoff, relocation, or termination of employees, including call center employees. Existing law prohibits a call center employer from ordering a relocation of its call center, or one or more of its facilities or operating units within a call center, unless notice of the relocation is provided to the affected employees and the Employment Development Department, local workforce investment board, and the chief elected official of each city and county government within which the termination, relocation, or mass layoff occurs, as specified. Existing law requires a state agency authorized to enter into contracts relating to public benefit programs, as defined, to only contract for services provided by a call center that directly serves applicants for, recipients of, or enrollees in, those public benefit programs with a contractor that certifies in its bid for the contract that the services provided under the contract and any subcontract performed under that contract, to applicants for, recipients of, or enrollees in, those public benefit programs, will be performed solely with workers employed in California, subject to certain exceptions. Existing law imposes a civil penalty, as provided, for knowingly providing false information in that certification. This bill would require each state agency, on and after January 1, 2025, that enters a contract with a private entity specifically for call center work to provide public or customer service for that agency or another state agency to ensure that no later than January 1, 2026, at least 90% of the call center work is conducted in California, except in specified circumstances. This bill would also require each state agency that enters into a contract with a private entity for programs or other services, including no-fee contracts, in which call center work is included but the contract is not specifically for call center work, to prioritize the work being conducted in California. The bill would further require the Department of General Services to establish scoring incentives for those contracts, subject to certain conditions. The bill would create exceptions from these requirements for disasters and overflow work needs, as specified.

Existing law authorizes, upon the approval of a county board of supervisors, a county agricultural commissioner or other designated agency to establish within the county a livestock pass program for the purpose of issuing identification documents granting any qualifying livestock producer or a managerial employee of the qualifying livestock producer, access to the qualifying livestock producer's ranch property, or to the ranch property owned by another holder of a livestock pass with permission, during or following a flood, storm, fire, earthquake, or other disaster, as provided. Existing law provides that access by a livestock passholder to areas closed by specified public safety personnel where a menace to public health or safety exists during a calamity may only be granted by the incident commander, a law enforcement official having jurisdiction, or their designee. Existing law requires, when this access is granted by emergency response personnel other than the incident commander, that the emergency response personnel notify incident command when they grant the livestock passholder access. Existing law provides that a livestock pass issued by a county in which a livestock pass or equivalent program was established before January 1, 2022, shall be deemed to be in compliance with this livestock pass law until the expiration date noted on the livestock pass or until December 31, 2025, whichever date occurs first. Existing law requires, on or before July 1, 2023, the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a curriculum for livestock producers eligible for this livestock pass program. This bill would change the name of the "livestock pass program" to the "agricultural pass program" and make conforming changes. The bill would also make the agricultural pass program applicable to qualified agricultural producers, as defined, and their managerial employees. The bill would end the exemption that requires a county-authorized pass under an equivalent county program that was established before January 1, 2022, to be deemed in compliance with these state requirements. The bill would require a curriculum for the agricultural pass program to be developed by July 1, 2024, and would authorize the State Fire Marshal to utilize or adopt a curriculum already developed for a program equivalent to the agricultural pass program. To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on a county board of supervisors in approving agricultural passes for qualified agricultural producers, the bill would impose a state-mandated 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 a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program. Existing law requires a school district or charter school, as a condition of receipt of apportionment for pupils in a transitional kindergarten program, to ensure that credentialed teachers who are first assigned to a transitional kindergarten classroom after July 1, 2015, have, by August 1, 2023, met one of the following 3 designated criteria establishing qualification for the position: (1) at least 24 units in early childhood education, or childhood development, or both, (2) professional experience in a classroom setting with preschool age children meeting the criteria established by the governing board or body of the local educational agency that is comparable to the 24 units of education, as determined by the local educational agency, or (3) a child development teacher permit, or an early childhood education specialist credential, issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, commencing with the 2022–23 school year, to withhold a school district's or charter school's entitlements if a school district or charter school fails to comply with certain requirements, including, among others, the above-described qualification requirements, as specified. This bill would delay until August 1, 2025, the deadline for a credentialed teacher first assigned to a transitional kindergarten classroom on or after July 1, 2015, to meet one of the designated criteria referenced above, and would make a conforming change to the above-described withholding provision.

Existing law, the Dixon-Zenovich-Maddy California Arts Act of 1975, establishes the Arts Council, consisting of 11 appointed members, and sets forth its powers and duties, including providing for the exhibition of art works in public buildings throughout California. This bill would, in addition, require the council to employ strategies to achieve goals related to equity, community impact, artistic practice, and arts programs.

The United States Constitution generally requires a state to give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. Existing law sets forth procedures by which a person may enforce a judgment for the payment of money issued by the court of a state other than California. Existing law, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, determines how governmental entities may access information on electronic devices and from electronic communication service providers, as defined. Existing law requires a California corporation that provides electronic communication services or remote computing services to the general public to comply with a warrant issued by another state to produce records that would reveal the identity of the customers using those services, data stored by, or on behalf of, the customer, the customer's usage of those services, the recipient or destination of communications sent to or from those customers, or the content of those communications as if that warrant had been issued by a California court, except as specified. This bill would prohibit any government entity from seeking, or any court from enforcing, assisting, or supporting, a reverse-keyword or reverse-location demand, as defined, issued by a government entity or court in this state or any other state. The bill would prohibit a person or California entity from complying with a reverse-keyword or reverse-location demand. The bill would require a court to suppress any information obtained or retained in violation of these provisions, the United States Constitution, or California Constitution. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to commence a civil action for compliance with these provisions. The bill would require a government entity to immediately notify any person whose information was obtained in violation of these provisions of the violation and of the legal recourse available, as specified. The bill would authorize an individual whose information was obtained, or a service provider or other recipient of the reverse-keyword or reverse-location demand to file a petition to void or modify the demand or order the destruction of information obtained in violation of these provisions. The bill would authorize an individual whose information was obtained by a government entity in violation of these provisions to bring a civil suit against the government entity for damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, or other relief that the court deems proper. The California Constitution provides for the Right to Truth-in-Evidence, which requires a 23 vote of the Legislature to exclude any relevant evidence from any criminal proceeding, as specified. Because the bill would require any information obtained or retained in violation of the bill's provisions to be suppressed in a trial, hearing, or other proceeding, it would require a 23 vote. The bill would make these provisions severable.

(1) Existing law, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, among other things, requires a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to comply with specified requirements, including a requirement to configure all default privacy settings offered by the online service, product, or feature to the settings that offer a high level of privacy, unless the business can demonstrate a compelling reason that a different setting is in the best interests of children, and to provide privacy information, terms of service, policies, and community standards concisely, prominently, and using clear language suited to the age of children likely to access that online service, product, or feature. Existing law establishes the California Children's Data Protection Working Group to deliver a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2024, and every 2 years thereafter, regarding best practices for the implementation of these provisions, as specified. Existing law requires the working group to select a chair and a vice chair from among its members and requires the working group to consist of 10 members, as specified. This bill would specify that the working group is within the Office of the Attorney General, and would require the report to, instead, be delivered on or before July 1, 2024, and every 2 years thereafter. The bill would instead require the working group to consist of 9 members, as specified. The bill would permit meetings of the working group to be conducted by means of remote communication, as specified. (2) The California Constitution generally prohibits the total annual appropriations subject to limitation of the state and each local government from exceeding the appropriations limit of the entity of government for the prior fiscal year, adjusted for the change in the cost of living and the change in population, and prescribes procedures for making adjustments to the appropriations limit. The California Constitution defines "appropriations subject to limitation" of the state to mean any authorization to expend during a fiscal year the proceeds of taxes levied by or for the state, exclusive of, among other things, state subventions for the use and operation of local government, except as specified. The California Constitution defines "appropriations subject to limitation" of an entity of local government to mean any authorization to expend during a fiscal year the proceeds of taxes levied by or for that entity and the proceeds of state subventions to that entity, except as specified, exclusive of refunds of taxes. Existing statutory provisions implementing these constitutional provisions establish the procedure for establishing the appropriations limit of the state and of each local jurisdiction for each fiscal year. Under existing law, revenues and appropriations for a local jurisdiction include subventions and with respect to the state, revenues and appropriations exclude those subventions. Existing law defines, for those purposes, "state subventions" as only including money received by a local agency from the state, the use of which is unrestricted by the statute providing the subvention. For fiscal years commencing with the 2020–21 fiscal year, existing law defines "state subventions" to additionally include money provided to a local agency pursuant to certain state programs and requires any money received by a local agency pursuant to that provision to be included within the appropriations limit of the local agency, up to the full appropriations limit of the local agency, as prescribed. This bill would require the Department of Finance to, no later than February 1 of each year, calculate the individual subvention amounts for each of those state programs and provide this information on an annual basis to the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities for distribution to local agencies. The bill would require local agencies to use the calculations provided for purposes of the above-described appropriations limit. By revising the duties of local officials with respect to the limitation of appropriations by local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, until January 1, 2027, establishes the Commission on the State of Hate in the state government, and specifies the goals of the commission, including providing resources and assistance to various state agencies, law enforcement agencies, and the public on the state of hate to keep these entities and the public informed of emerging trends in hate-related crime. Existing law provides for the appointment of 9 members, appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Committee on Rules. Existing law requires nonlegislative members of the commission to receive reimbursement for per diem expenses while engaged in commission activities, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and prohibits legislative members, ex officio members, and nonmember advisers of the commission from receiving compensation. This bill would instead authorize appointed members of the commission to receive a per diem of $100 for each public meeting and community forum of the commission that they attend, and would also entitle those individuals to reimbursement for expenses incurred. The bill would provide that legislative members, ex officio members, and nonmember advisers of the commission are not entitled to any per diem or reimbursement for expenses incurred while engaging in commission activities. Existing law requires nonlegislative members of the commission to receive reimbursement for per diem expenses while engaged in commission activities, upon appropriation by the Legislature and prohibits legislative members, ex officio members, and nonmember advisers of the commission from receiving compensation. Existing law requires the commission to issue an annual State of Hate report to the Governor and Legislature by July 1 of each year that describes the activities from the previous year and the recommendations for the following year. Existing law requires that report to include prescribed information, including a comprehensive accounting of hate crime activity statewide and relevant hate crime trends and statistics. Existing law requires the first annual report to be made available by July 1, 2023. For the annual report due by July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, the bill would instead require the commission to include that above-described information in the report only to the extent that specified information is available. For any annual report due by and after July 1, 2026, the bill would instead require the commission to include that above-described information. (4) Existing law, the California Youth Empowerment Act, establishes the California Youth Empowerment Commission within the state government to advise on providing meaningful opportunities for civic engagement to improve the quality of life for California's disconnected and disadvantaged youth. Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research within the Governor's office, and sets forth its powers and duties. This bill would place the commission within the Office of Planning and Research. The bill would make conforming changes. Existing law requires the commission, on or before January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, to publish an annual report to the Legislature, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secretary of California Health and Human Services, and Governor detailing the activities, issues, demographics, budget, and outcomes of the commission. This bill would instead require the commission to publish the first annual report on or before May 30, 2025. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint an executive director of the commission to, among other duties, assist the commission in carrying out its work and hire commission staff, including hiring deputy directors. This bill would delete the duty to hire deputy directors from the executive director's duties. Under existing law, these provisions are to be implemented only if funds are made available in the budget or through gifts and grants. This bill would instead specify that these provisions are to be implemented upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2027. This bill would instead repeal them on January 1, 2030. (5) Existing law establishes an Office of Health Equity in the State Department of Public Health for purposes of aligning state resources, decisionmaking, and programs to accomplish certain goals related to health equity and protecting vulnerable communities. Existing law requires the office to develop departmentwide plans to close the gaps in health status and access to care among the state's diverse racial and ethnic communities, women, persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning communities, as specified. Existing law requires the office to work with the Health in All Policies Task Force to assist state agencies and departments in developing policies, systems, programs, and environmental change strategies that have population health impacts by, among other things, prioritizing building cross-sectoral partnerships within and across departments and agencies to change policies and practices to advance health equity. Existing law establishes the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States to, among other things, identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies. Existing law requires the task force to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature. This bill, until January 1, 2030, would establish in state government a Racial Equity Commission. The bill would require the commission to be staffed by the Office of Planning and Research. The bill would require the commission to develop resources, best practices, and tools for advancing racial equity by, among other things, developing a statewide Racial Equity Framework that includes methodologies and tools that can be employed to advance racial equity and address structural racism in California. The bill would require the commission to prepare an annual report that summarizes feedback from public engagement with communities of color, provides data on racial inequities and disparities in the state, and recommends best practices on tools, methodologies, and opportunities to advance racial equity and to submit that report, on or after December 1, 2025, and no later than April 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to the Governor and the Legislature, as specified. (6) Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency when specified conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist. That act provides that the California Emergency Relief Fund is created as a special fund in the State Treasury to provide emergency resources or relief relating to state of emergency declarations proclaimed by the Governor. This bill would authorize the Department of Finance to transfer to the General Fund any unencumbered balance in the California Emergency Relief Fund of any appropriation for which the encumbrance period has expired. (7) Existing law, the Dixon-Zenovich-Maddy California Arts Act of 1975, establishes the Arts Council, consisting of 11 appointed members, and sets forth its powers and duties, including providing for the exhibition of art works in public buildings throughout California. This bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Arts Council to establish the California Creative Economy Workgroup to develop a strategic plan for the California creative economy. The bill would provide for the membership of the workgroup and require the workgroup to, among other things, collect and analyze data on the state of the California creative economy. The bill would require the workgroup to publish a report detailing the findings and recommendations of the workgroup on the council's website, and submit the report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by June 30, 2025. The bill would authorize the council to enter into a contract with a nonprofit organization to help facilitate workgroup meetings, compile information, and prepare a final report, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2025. (8) Existing law requires the Department of General Services, when authorized to sell or otherwise dispose of lands declared excess by a state agency and the department determines that the use of the land is not needed by any other state agency, to sell or otherwise dispose of the land in accordance with specified requirements. Existing law requires the net proceeds received from any real property disposition pursuant to those provisions to be paid to the Deficit Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund Subaccount until the bonds issued pursuant to the Economic Recovery Bond Act are retired, and, thereafter, to be deposited in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Notwithstanding that requirement, existing law requires the department to deposit into the General Fund the net proceeds of a lease entered into pursuant to certain provisions after specified deductions are made. This bill would authorize the department to deposit some or all of the net proceeds from the above-described real property dispositions into the Property Acquisition Law Money Account to maintain an operating reserve sufficient to continue redeveloping excess state properties as affordable housing, as defined. The bill would exempt those deposits necessary to maintain the operating reserve from the above-described requirement to deposit the net proceeds of leases into the General Fund. Existing law authorizes the department, with the consent of the state agency concerned, to let for a period not to exceed 5 years any real or personal property that belongs to the state if the director deems it to be in the best interest of the state. Existing law requires any money received pursuant to those provisions to be deposited in the Property Acquisition Law Money Account, and makes those funds available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would exempt funds necessary to maintain an operating reserve sufficient to continue redeveloping excess state properties as affordable housing from the requirement that the funds be made available upon appropriation by the Legislature. (9) Existing law establishes the Department of Technology within the Government Operations Agency, under the supervision of the Director of Technology, also known as the State Chief Information Officer. Existing law establishes the Office of Information Security within the Department of Technology for the purpose of ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of state systems and applications and to promote and protect privacy as part of the development and operations of state systems and applications to ensure the trust of the residents of this state. Existing law requires an entity within the executive branch that is under the direct authority of the Governor to implement the policies and procedures issued by the office and authorizes the office to conduct, or require to be conducted, an independent security assessment of every state agency, department, or office, as specified. Existing law requires state agencies not covered by those above-described provisions to adopt and implement information security and privacy policies, standards, and procedures based upon standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Federal Information Processing Standards, as specified. Existing law requires these state agencies to certify, by February 1 annually, to the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly that the agency is in compliance with all adopted policies, standards, and procedures and to include a plan of action and milestones, as specified. Existing law requires the certifications to be kept confidential and requires the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly to consult with these state agencies on how to ensure confidentiality of the certifications and to determine the form required for certification. This bill would delete the above-described consultation requirements and would impose various security requirements, including, among others, restricting the transfer and storage methods of the certifications to electronic means. The bill would instead require these state agencies to submit the certifications to the Office of Information Security and would require the office to develop a form for this purpose. The bill would authorize the office to make recommendations and offer assistance to a state agency on completing the above-described plan of action and milestones, as specified. The bill would require the office to review the certifications and make an annual summary report available, by May 1, 2024, and by March 1 annually thereafter, to the appropriate legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst's Office. The bill would authorize a state agency, in lieu of complying with specified provisions, to instead annually submit a declaration to the Chief of the Office of Information Security, by January 15, confirming that the state agency is in compliance with those above-described provisions that apply to entities within the executive branch that is under the direct authority of the Governor. Because this declaration would be made under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law establishes, within the Department of Technology, the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy and requires the office, consistent with the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2021, to oversee the acquisition and management of contracts for the development and construction of, and for the maintenance and operation of, a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network to provide an opportunity for last-mile providers, anchor institutions, and tribal entities to connect to, and interconnect with other networks and other appropriate connections to, the broadband network to facilitate high-speed broadband service, as specified. Existing law requires the office, where feasible, to consider a term of access to dark fiber for no less than a 20-year indefeasible right to use and to consider including excess conduit capacity in projects to ensure for potential growth of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network. This bill would, where available, authorize the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy to enter into an agreement for the indefeasible right-to-use fiber only if the leased facilities and the number of fiber strands will deliver speeds comparable to those broadband facilities built or jointly built under the authority of the office. The bill would, upon execution of any contract for the lease, build, or joint-build of any portion of the middle-mile broadband network pursuant to these provisions, require the department within 60 days to update a map on its public internet website to identify those segments of this network that will be built, leased, or jointly built pursuant to those contracts. Existing law creates the Department of Technology Services Revolving Fund within the State Treasury to receive all revenues from the sale of technology or specified technology services, for other services rendered by the Department of Technology, and all other moneys properly credited to the Department of Technology and to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes with respect to the administration of the Department of Technology. This bill would create the State Middle-Mile Broadband Enterprise Fund. The bill would require internet service providers, governmental entities, and other users of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network to pay the Department of Technology fees for connection to the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, as provided. The bill would also require all revenues payable to the Department of Technology for activities undertaken for the maintenance, operation, repair, and expansion of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network to be deposited in the fund. The bill, until July 1, 2027, would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund to the Department of Technology for the maintenance, operation, repair, and expansion of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, thereby making an appropriation. On or after July 1, 2027, moneys in the fund are available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law requires the commission to establish specified accounts within the CASF, including, among other accounts, the Broadband Public Housing Account and the Federal Funding Account. Under existing law, of the $2,000,000,000 appropriated to the commission to fund last-mile broadband infrastructure in the Budget Act of 2021, the commission is required to allocate $1,000,000,000 for projects in rural counties and $1,000,000,000 for projects in urban counties, as specified. Existing law, until June 30, 2023, authorizes applicants to apply for and encumber specified allocated moneys for last-mile broadband projects, and would provide that any moneys not allocated pursuant to prescribed provisions shall be made available to the commission for the construction of last-mile broadband infrastructure anywhere in the state. This bill would require the commission to prioritize grants from the Broadband Public Housing Account to existing publicly supported housing developments that have not yet received a grant from the account and do not have access to free broadband internet service onsite. The bill would change the time period for applicants to apply for and encumber specified allocated moneys described above from June 30, 2023, to September 30, 2024. (11) Existing law establishes the Made in California Program within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development for the purposes of encouraging consumer product awareness and fostering purchases of high-quality products made in this state. Existing law requires, in order to be eligible under the program, a company to establish that the product is substantially made by an individual located in the state and that the finished product could lawfully use a "Made in U.S.A." label, as provided. This bill would remove the requirement that a company establish that the finished product could lawfully use a "Made in U.S.A." label in order to be eligible under the program. Existing law requires the office to require each company to register with the office for use of the Made in California label and requires a company filing for registration to submit a qualified third-party certification, as defined, at least once every 3 years, as specified. This bill would remove the requirement that the certification described above be a qualified third-party certification. Existing law requires the office to report to the Legislature on January 1 each year regarding the office's expenditures, progress, and ongoing priorities with the program. This bill would change the reporting date to February 15 of each year and would additionally require the report described above to include, among other things, the number of companies registered for the Made in California label and any other information about the program that the office deems appropriate. (12) Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing law prescribes the duties and functions of the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. Existing law establishes the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) within GO-Biz to serve as the principal advocate on behalf of small businesses, including to represent the views and interests of small businesses, among other duties. Existing law establishes various grant programs within CalOSBA. Chapter 74 of the Statutes of 2021 created, and Chapter 68 of the Statutes of 2022 subsequently amended, the California Venues Grant Program within CalOSBA to provide grants, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, to certain independent live events that have been affected by COVID-19 in order to support their continued operation, as specified. The program was repealed on December 31, 2022. This bill would reenact the program and would repeal it on June 30, 2024. Existing law establishes, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprises Program within CalOSBA to provide financial and technical assistance to employment social enterprises for purposes of accelerating economic mobility and inclusion for individuals who experience employment barriers. Existing law requires CalOSBA to administer the program to support employment social enterprises in the state through grants disbursed by one or more fiscal agents through June 30, 2024. This bill would remove the disbursement end date mentioned above. Existing law establishes the California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program within CalOSBA for the purpose of providing grants to eligible nonprofit performing arts organizations, as defined, to encourage workforce development. Existing law repeals the program on June 30, 2023. Existing law establishes the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program within CalOSBA to assist qualified small businesses affected by COVID-19 through administration of grants, in accordance with specified criteria, including geographic distribution based on COVID-19 restrictions, industry sectors most impacted by the pandemic, and underserved small businesses. Existing law repeals the program on January 1, 2024. Existing law establishes the California Small Business and Nonprofit COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Relief Grant Program within GO-Biz and implemented by CalOSBA to assist qualified small businesses or nonprofits that are incurring costs for COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. Existing law repeals the program on January 1, 2024. This bill would extend the repeal dates of the California Nonprofit Performing Arts Grant Program, the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, and the California Small Business and Nonprofit COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Relief Grant Program to June 30, 2024. Existing law establishes, until June 30, 2023, the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program within CalOSBA to assist qualified microbusinesses, as defined and certified under penalty of perjury, that have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as provided. Existing law requires CalOSBA to administer a request for proposal in no more than 2 rounds for a specified period of time per round for eligible grantmaking entities, defined as a county or consortium of nonprofit, community-based organizations, as specified, and, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, requires a grantmaking entity that receives an allocation to administer a county program to, among other things, award individual grants to qualified microbusinesses. This bill would extend the repeal date of the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program to June 30, 2024, and make conforming changes. By extending a program that requires qualified microbusinesses to make specified certifications under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the scope of the crime of perjury and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program. (13) Existing law, until January 1, 2025, establishes the California Small Agricultural Business Drought Relief Grant Program in the Office of the Small Business Advocate, under the authority of its director, to provide grants to qualified small agricultural businesses that have been affected by severe drought conditions, as prescribed. Existing law requires the office to allocate grants to qualified small agricultural businesses that meet the requirements of the program, upon appropriation of grant funds by the Legislature. Existing law defines a "qualified small business" for these purposes to mean a small business that meets specified criteria, including that the small business is a sole proprietor, independent contractor, C-corporation, S-corporation, cooperative, limited liability company, partnership, nonprofit, or limited partnership, with 100 or fewer full-time employees in the 2022 taxable year and has been affected by severe drought according to the United States Department of Agriculture drought monitor. Existing law requires the office to report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2024, on the number of grants and dollar amounts awarded for specified categories. This bill would rename the program as the California Small Agricultural Business Drought and Flood Relief Grant Program and would extend the program until January 1, 2027. The bill would expand the purpose of the program to additionally provide grants to qualified small agricultural businesses that have been affected by flood conditions. The bill would prescribe how program grant funds are to be allocated in the Budget Act of 2022 related to drought impacts and how those funds are to be allocated in the Budget Act of 2023 related to storm flooding impacts. The bill would update the definition of a qualified small business for these purposes to require that the small business be domiciled in California with 100 or fewer in the 2022 and 2023 taxable years. The bill would expand the definition of a qualified small business to include a small business that is within or serves a county that has a state or federal disaster declaration for flooding. The bill would authorize the office to amend an existing contract with a fiscal agent to meet the requirements of the bill's provisions, and would also authorize applicants to apply for relief grants under these provisions. The bill would require the office to report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2026, on the number of grants and dollar amounts awarded for specified categories. The bill would also make various conforming changes. (14) Existing law, the Financial Information System for California (FISCal) Act, requires the Department of Finance, the Controller, the Department of General Services, and the Treasurer to collaboratively develop, implement, and utilize a single integrated financial management system for the state, as prescribed. To facilitate the transition of the state's accounting book of record, existing law requires, on or before July 1, 2023, the Controller to provide the necessary system and interface requirements to the department to perform accounting functions and produce financial reports, as specified, and, on or before March 1, 2023, and with the department, to evaluate and develop a timeline to complete the original scope for the Controller's accounting book of record functionality. This bill would, instead, require the Controller to provide the above-described system and interface requirements and, with the department, evaluate and develop the above-described timeline on December 31, 2023, to facilitate the integration of the state's accounting book of record by July 1, 2026. (15) Existing law continues into existence the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) division within GO-Biz as the Zero-Emission Vehicle Market Development Office. Existing law requires the office to develop and adopt an equity action plan as part of the ZEV Market Development Strategy that considers optimizing for equity benefits in ZEV deployment. Existing law requires the equity action plan to include, among other things, recommendations on actionable steps and metrics to measure and improve access to ZEVs, infrastructure, and ZEV transportation options in low-income, disadvantaged, and historically underserved communities. Existing law also requires the office to assess progress towards the plan, as specified. This bill would instead require the equity action plan to include recommendations on actionable steps and metrics to measure and improve access to ZEVs, public and private charging infrastructure, and ZEV transportation options in low-income, disadvantaged, and historically underserved communities, including, but not limited to, shared vehicles and other alternatives to single-owner vehicle ownership. The bill would also require the assessment of progress towards the equity action plan to include metrics tracking state and federal subsidies for ZEVs and different ownership structures for ZEVs. (16) Existing law creates the Attorney General antitrust account in the General Fund, which is available to the Department of Justice for expenditure in carrying out the antitrust activities of the department and for refund of any money erroneously paid into the account. Money in the account is available for expenditure only upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Bill and if at any time the account exceeds $3,000,000, the excess is required to be transferred to the unallocated funds within the General Fund. This bill would delete the requirement that amounts in excess of $3,000,000 be transferred to the General Fund. Existing law generally makes the Attorney General responsible for representing state agencies in litigation matters. Under existing law, revenues in the Litigation Deposits Fund are continuously appropriated to the Department of Justice for litigation purposes. Existing law establishes the Legal Services Revolving Fund and requires state agency payments for legal services rendered by the Attorney General to be deposited therein. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to expend the money in the Legal Services Revolving Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for litigation activities. Existing law authorizes the Department of Justice to expend revenues transferred to the Legal Services Revolving Fund from the Litigation Deposits Fund only if approved by the Department of Finance. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to prepare and submit to specified individuals quarterly reports concerning the activity of the Litigation Deposits Fund that detail the number of deposits received, the receipt of interest income, disbursements to claimants, and the amount used for litigation costs of the department. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2023, require the Department of Justice to transfer deposited funds, with certain exceptions, to the General Fund or a state special fund subject to legislative oversight no later than 3 months after the receipt of funds, a final settlement agreement is signed by all involved parties, a court judgment has been entered, or all appeals have been exhausted, whichever is latest. The bill would require the Department of Justice to transfer funds deposited prior to July 1, 2023, for which a final settlement agreement has been signed by all involved parties, a court judgment has been entered, or for which all appeals have been exhausted by January 1, 2024. The bill would require the Department of Justice to provide specified information with the quarterly reports concerning the activity of the Litigation Deposits Fund, including the number of new deposits received as of the prior report, the amount of each deposit, the case associated with each deposit, the specific legal section or sections of the department pursuing the case, the date each case was initiated and closed, the estimated litigation costs associated with each case, whether the department specifically sought reasonable attorney's fees and costs and the amount awarded for these purposes, and the fiscal terms and statewide benefits associated with each case. (17) Existing law provides for various memorials and monuments on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to maintain state buildings and grounds. Existing law authorizes tribal nations in the Sacramento, California, region, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a monument to the California Native people of the Sacramento, California, region on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the planning, construction, and maintenance of the monument to be funded exclusively through private funding from the tribal nations in the Sacramento, California, region. This bill would instead require that the planning and construction of the monument be funded exclusively through private funding from the tribal nations in the Sacramento, California region, and require the Department of General Services to be responsible for regular maintenance of the monument, as specified. (18) Existing law authorizes a governing body of a political subdivision, as those terms are defined, to declare a shelter crisis if the governing body makes a specified finding. Upon declaration of a shelter crisis, existing law, among other things, suspends certain state and local laws, regulations, and ordinances to the extent that strict compliance would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis. Existing law establishes the Department of General Services within the Government Operations Agency and requires it to perform various functions and duties with respect to property within the state, including assisting in the development of permanent supportive housing and emergency shelters. This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to assist a political subdivision with delivery and installation of emergency sleeping cabins and related improvements, as defined, in prescribed cities and counties if the political subdivision has declared a shelter crisis. The bill would limit the authority granted under the bill to the delivery of up to 1,200 emergency sleeping cabins. The bill would require the Department of General Services to execute a prescribed written transfer agreement with the political subdivision. The bill would authorize the department, in providing assistance to political subdivisions, to utilize any delivery method it deems appropriate and advantageous. The bill would further authorize the department to carry out a project on real property that is not owned by the state, subject to the owner's consent and provided that a political subdivision leases or owns the site for the purposes of operating the cabins. The bill would exempt work performed by the Department of General Services under the bill from specified laws and regulations, including provisions relating to public contracts, state building standards, and, with certain exceptions, the California Environmental Quality Act. These provisions would be repealed as of January 1, 2025. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sacramento, the City of San Jose, the County of San Diego, and the City of Los Angeles. (19) Existing law establishes the Office of Tax Appeals, and requires the office to publish a written opinion for each appeal decided by each tax appeals panel, as described. Existing law also requires the office to adopt regulations as necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the office. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, generally governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law exempts any standard, criterion, procedure, determination, rule, notice, or guideline established by the office from the requirements of the APA. This bill would restate the existing exemption from the Administrative Procedure Act to instead apply to any policy, procedure, notice, or guideline issued by the office. The bill would also exempt any final written opinion published by office from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would authorize the office to designate any published written opinion as precedential in any matter or proceeding before the office, unless overruled, superseded, or otherwise designated nonprecedential by the office. The bill would declare that the designation of an opinion as precedential is not a rulemaking within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act. (20) Existing law establishes the Litigation Deposits Fund, under the control of the Department of Justice and consisting of moneys received by the state as litigation deposits, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Controller to use money in the fund for cashflow loans to the General Fund, as specified. This bill would authorize the Department of Finance to authorize budgetary loans from the fund to the General Fund pursuant to the annual budget process, as specified. (21) Existing law authorizes the Adjutant General and the Military Department to establish support programs and educational programs for the benefit of the Military Department and its soldiers, airmen, and cadets, and their family members. Existing law establishes the California Military Department Support Fund to support those programs. Existing law also establishes the California National Guard Military Family Relief Fund as an account within the California Military Department Support Fund for the purpose of providing financial aid grants to eligible members of the California National Guard who are California residents and who have been called to active duty. This bill would repeal the California National Guard Military Family Relief Fund and deposit all remaining moneys from the fund into the California Military Department Support Fund. The bill would also remove the aid grant program funded by the California National Guard Military Family Relief Fund. (22) Existing law allows the Adjutant General of the Military Department to lease or authorize the use of armories that are built or acquired by the state and requires all revenues to be deposited in the Armory Discretionary Improvement Account. This bill would establish the Army Facilities Agreement Program Income Fund. The bill would require revenue received from nonfederal tenants' use of Military Department facilities to be deposited into the fund, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, made available for maintenance of Army National Guard facilities. (23) Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system. Existing law provides that the General Fund consists of money received into the State Treasury not required by law to be credited to any other fund. This bill would create the Southeast Los Angeles Cultural Center Development Advisory Panel to provide advice to the state and the County of Los Angeles in the development of the Southeast Los Angeles Cultural Center. The bill would require the department to convene the panel within 60 days of completion of appointments to the panel. The bill would require the panel to be chaired by the Director of Parks and Recreation and would authorize the county supervisor of southeast Los Angeles for the 4th supervisorial district to cochair the panel, as provided. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and would authorize the county supervisor, to appoint 9 panel members, as provided. The bill would require the panel to, among other things, by January 1, 2027, develop a recommended operations plan for the Southeast Los Angeles Cultural Center, which shall not include a commitment of ongoing state resources for operation and maintenance. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2032, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2033. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the southeast Los Angeles region. (24) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office for the purpose of serving the Governor and the Governor's cabinet as staff for long-range planning and research and constituting the comprehensive state planning agency. This bill would exempt from CEQA the actions of the Office of Planning and Research and its subsidiary entities to provide financial assistance for planning, research, or project implementation related to land use or climate resiliency, adaptation, or mitigation if the project that is the subject of the application for financial assistance will be reviewed by another public agency pursuant to CEQA or by a tribe pursuant to an alternative process or program implemented by the tribe for evaluating environmental impacts. (25) Existing law establishes the Community Resilience Center Program, administered by the Strategic Growth Council in coordination with the Office of Planning and Research, to provide funding for the construction of new, or the retrofitting of existing, facilities that will serve as community resilience centers, as specified. Existing law authorizes the council, until July 1, 2025, to authorize advance payments on a grant awarded under the program in accordance with certain provisions that authorize specified state departments and authorities to make advance payments to community-based private nonprofit agencies under certain circumstances and subject to certain requirements. This bill would instead authorize the council, until July 1, 2025, to authorize advance payments on a grant awarded under the program in accordance with certain other provisions that authorize state agencies administering specified programs to advance payments to local agencies, nongovernmental entities, and other state agencies if certain criteria are met and subject to certain requirements. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2025, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2026. (26) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (27) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

(1) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including group home facilities, short-term residential therapeutic programs (STRTPs) , and adult residential facilities (ARFs) , by the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law, the department similarly regulates residential care facilities for the elderly. A violation of provisions relating to these facilities is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires administrators of these facilities, with specified exemptions, to complete a department-approved certification program, uniformly referred to as administrator certification training programs. Under existing law, these programs require a specified minimum number of hours, depending on the facility type, of classroom instruction that provides training on a uniform core of knowledge in specified areas. Existing law also requires administrator certificates to be renewed every 2 years, conditional upon the certificate holder submitting documentation of a specified number of hours of continuing education, based on the facility type. Existing law permits up to one-half of the required continuing education hours to be satisfied through online courses, and the remainder to be completed in a classroom instructional setting, as prescribed. This bill would revise those provisions by deleting the classroom instruction requirement for initial certification and continuing education purposes, and instead would require instruction that is conducive to learning and allows participants to simultaneously interact with each other as well as with the instructor. The bill would authorize up to one-half of continuing education hours to be satisfied through self-paced courses, rather than online courses. The bill would make various conforming changes. Existing law authorizes the department to license as ARFs, subject to specified conditions, adult residential facilities for persons with special health care needs (ARFPSHNs) , which provide 24-hour services to up to 5 adults with developmental disabilities who have special health care and intensive support needs, as defined. Existing law requires the department to ensure that an ARFPSHN meets specified administrative requirements, including requirements related to fingerprinting and criminal records. This bill additionally would require an ARFPSHN to meet the administrator certification requirements of an ARF, including, but not limited to, completing a department-approved administrator certification training program requiring a designated minimum number of hours of instruction conducive to learning, in which participants are able to simultaneously interact with each other as well as with the instructor, that provides training on the uniform core of knowledge applicable to ARFs, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for an administrator's certificate to submit an application for certification to the department and pass an examination, as prescribed. Because a violation of the above-described requirements would be a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law includes within the definition of a community care facility, full-service adoption agencies and noncustodial adoption agencies, both of which are licensed entities authorized to provide specified adoption services. Under existing law, a facility is deemed to be an unlicensed community care facility and maintained and operated to provide nonmedical care if it is unlicensed, not exempt from licensure, and if it satisfies one of several specified conditions, including, among others, performing any of the functions of an adoption agency or holding itself out as performing any of the functions of an adoption agency, as specified. Existing law prohibits the operation of an unlicensed community care facility in the state and makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law generally sets forth the procedures and requirements for an adoption. Existing law authorizes an adoption facilitator to provide specific adoption services, including advertising for the purpose of soliciting parties to an adoption, locating children for an adoption, or acting as an intermediary between the parties to an adoption, and charging a fee or other valuable consideration for services rendered. Existing law makes it a crime for an unlicensed person or organization to advertise that they or it will place, accept, supply, provide, or obtain children for adoption, or to cause any advertisement to be published in or by any public medium soliciting, requesting, or asking for any child or children for adoption. This bill would repeal the provisions relating to adoption facilitators and would expressly state that an adoption facilitator that continues to operate on or after January 1, 2024, shall be deemed an unlicensed adoption agency. The bill would prohibit a person or organization from engaging in specified activities relating to adoption unless the person or organization has a valid and unrevoked license to operate as a licensed adoption agency, as defined, that is authorized to place children for adoption, or the person or organization is exempt from licensure, as specified. The bill would make various conforming changes. By changing the scope of existing crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to make referrals to law enforcement agencies based on these violations and would authorize a person aggrieved by these violations to bring a civil action for relief, as specified. The bill would authorize any other interested person who, based upon information or belief, claims a person or entity is continuing to operate as an unlicensed adoption agency on or after January 1, 2024, to bring a civil action for injunctive relief on behalf of the general public. The bill would require the department to create a section on its internet website dedicated to educating the public on unlicensed adoption agencies, as specified, including, among other things, a statement notifying the public of the prohibition against adoption facilitators in the state after January 1, 2024, and a listing of all persons or organizations on the department's statewide adoption facilitator registry as of December 31, 2023. The bill would require the department to individually notify each adoption facilitator on the registry as of July 1, 2023, that operations must cease and require the adoption facilitators to provide specified notices to the public and to individuals under contract that they will be ceasing operation. The bill would appropriate $317,000 from the Federal Trust Fund to the department for the implementation of these provisions. (2) Existing law, the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act (act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of home care organizations by the State Department of Social Services and the registration of home care aides. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a license to a home care organization, and requires the license to be renewed every 2 years. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to satisfy certain requirements, including, but not limited to, submitting proof of general and professional liability insurance, workers' compensation insurance, and an employee dishonesty bond, as specified. Existing law requires proof of that coverage to be provided at the time of each license renewal. Existing law requires the department to notify a licensed home care organization in writing of its registration expiration date and the process of renewal, as specified. This bill would revise the provisions relating to the licensure of home care organizations, including, but not limited to, deleting the requirement for a home care organization licensee to provide proof of the insurance and bond coverage at the time of renewal. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, on or before January 1, 2026, to require biennial inspections to ensure that licensed home care organizations possess those policies. The bill would specify that a home care organization license that is not renewed expires 2 years after the date of issuance. Existing law requires the administration of the act to be fully supported by fees and not civil penalties, as specified. Existing law creates the Home Care Fund to fund the administration of the act, which consists of all licensure and registration fees authorized by the act. This bill, notwithstanding those provisions, would authorize General Fund moneys, as appropriated in the Budget Act of 2023 and the Budget Act of 2024, to be used to administer the act. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature, by January 10, 2025, on the solvency of the Home Care Fund, including any new resources, and recommendations on a new fee structure that allows the home care program to be self-sustaining or request any additional resource needs. The bill would require the department, beginning January 1, 2024, to submit quarterly written progress updates, including specified information regarding the department's progress within the home care program, to the relevant legislative budget subcommittees and the Legislative Analyst's Office. The bill would make the quarterly update requirements inoperative on the later of January 10, 2025, or when the department delivers the report on the solvency of the Home Care Fund to the Legislature. Existing law authorizes the department to deny an application for licensure or suspend or revoke any license issued pursuant to the act on specified grounds, including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct that is inimical to the health, morals, welfare, or safety of either an individual receiving home care services or the people of the State of California. This bill additionally would authorize the department to prohibit an individual from becoming a registered home care aide or remaining registered on the home care aide registry, or being a licensee of, or serving in other specified capacities for a home care organization if the individual has engaged in the above conduct or other specified behavior. Among other actions, the bill would authorize the department to remove the individual from contact with clients, prospective clients, or confidential client information of a home care organization, pending a final decision of the matter, and to serve an immediate order of exclusion on the individual. The bill would authorize an excluded individual to appeal that decision, as prescribed. (3) Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits and, at the time of redetermination, require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility. Existing law additionally requires at the time of the redetermination, and at other intervals as deemed necessary, the county to require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility with a written declaration of the relevant information. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2024, or on the date that the State Department of Social Services notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) can perform the necessary automation to implement this change, require, if contact is not made or the annual certificate of eligibility is not completed, the county to send a reminder notice to the recipient no later than 5 days prior to the end of the month. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these changes by all-county letter or similar directive until regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt regulations implementing the changes no later than July 1, 2025. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, guaranteed income payments received by an individual from the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program are not considered income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any state or local benefit or assistance program, as specified. This bill would exempt all guaranteed income payments from consideration as income or resources for purposes of the CalWORKs program. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific this provision through all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted, as specified. By expanding the scope of CalWORKs eligibility, and thereby increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the provisions relating to the redetermination notice and exempt income and resources. Existing law establishes maximum aid grant amounts to be provided to each family receiving aid under CalWORKs. Existing law requires, effective October 1, 2022, and through September 30, 2024, that the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2022, be increased by 10%, in addition to another specified percentage increase. Effective October 1, 2024, existing law conditions an increase in the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2024, on an appropriation for this purpose in the Budget Act of 2024. This bill would remove the expiration set for September 30, 2024, thereby extending indefinitely the 10% increase for the CalWORKs maximum aid payments. The bill would also remove the above-described appropriation condition for an increase in maximum aid payments. The bill would also, commencing on October 1, 2023, increase the maximum aid payments in effect on July 1, 2023, by 3.6%. Because moneys from the General Fund are continuously appropriated to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program, this bill would make an appropriation for the maximum aid payment increases. By increasing the duties of counties relating to these CalWORKs maximum aid payments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires that if a family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under CalWORKs, aid will be paid to a pregnant person as of the date of the application for aid, as specified. Existing law establishes the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (home visiting program) , a voluntary program for the purpose of supporting positive health, development, and well-being outcomes for pregnant and parenting people, families, and infants born into poverty. Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, existing law requires the department to award funds to participating counties in order to provide voluntary evidence-based home visiting services to assistance units that meet specified requirements. Existing law requires a participating county to describe in its application for funding, among other things, the voluntary populations of CalWORKs applicants and recipients that the county intends to serve. Existing law requires those populations to include individuals who are pregnant or are parents or caretaker relatives of a child less than 24 months of age at the time the individual enrolls in the program. Existing law also requires pregnant individuals who have applied for CalWORKs aid within 60 calendar days before reaching the 2nd trimester of pregnancy, and are otherwise eligible for CalWORKs aid, to be eligible for the home visiting program. This bill would delete the provision limiting eligibility for the home visiting program with respect to pregnant CalWORKs applicants who have not reached the 2nd trimester. The bill would authorize the department to implement and administer these provisions by means of all-county letters or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted. (4) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to administer the California Guaranteed Income Pilot Program to provide grants to eligible entities for the purpose of administering pilot programs and projects that provide a guaranteed income to participants. Existing law defines an eligible entity, for purposes of the program, as a nonprofit organization, as specified, or a city, county, or city and county. Existing law requires the department to review and evaluate the pilot programs and projects funded to determine the economic impact of the programs and projects and their impact on the outcomes of individuals who receive guaranteed income payments. Existing law authorizes the department to accept and expend funds from nongovernmental sources for any grants awarded pursuant to the program and for the review and evaluation of pilot programs. This bill would require the department's evaluation to include the applicability of the lessons learned from the pilot program for the state's California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, with the objective of reaching the goals of improved outcomes for families and children living in poverty. The bill would authorize the department to accept and expend funds from any source, public or private, to administer the program. The bill would revise the definition of an eligible entity to also include a tribe, consortium of tribes, or tribal organization, or any combination thereof. (5) Existing federal law establishes the federal 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 individuals by each county. Existing law sets maximum allotment amounts by household size. Existing law establishes a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system, administered by the State Department of Social Services, for the purpose of providing cash and food assistance benefits, including CalFresh benefits. This bill would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to administer the CalFresh Minimum Nutrition Benefit Pilot Program to provide an eligible household receiving a monthly CalFresh allotment of less than a minimum monthly benefit, established by the bill to be $50, with an additional 12 months of state-funded nutrition benefits that when added together with the federal allotment, totals no less than $50 per month. The bill would confer the department with sole discretion to identify additional eligibility criteria and to define the scope of the pilot program, and would require the department to consult with counties and stakeholders to identify and prioritize populations or regions with persistently higher levels of hunger. The bill would require these benefits to be delivered through the EBT system, and would, to the extent permitted by federal law, exclude these benefits from being considered income for any means-tested program. By imposing additional duties on counties administering the program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, until July 1, 2024, requires the State Department of Social Services to create the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program to provide time-limited additional CalFresh nutrition benefits to residents of prioritized disadvantaged communities that are served by public water systems that consistently fail to meet primary drinking water standards. The bill would extend that program to July 1, 2025, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2026. Existing law establishes the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project and requires the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and specified stakeholders, to include within the EBT system a supplemental benefits mechanism that allows an authorized retailer to deliver and redeem supplemental benefits. Existing law defines supplemental benefits for these purposes to mean additional funds delivered to a CalFresh recipient's EBT card upon purchase of California-grown fresh fruits and vegetables using CalFresh benefits. Existing law requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature, including the results of an evaluation of the pilot projects, as specified, 9 months after the department has received sufficient data to evaluate the pilot projects, but not later than January 1, 2022. Existing law specifies that the pilot project is to remain in effect until January 1, 2024, and is repealed as of that date. This bill would remove the requirement that agricultural products be California-grown. The bill would extend the pilot program provisions to January 1, 2027, and repeal them as of that date. The bill would extend the deadline for the department to submit a report including the results of an evaluation of the pilot projects from January 1, 2022, to September 1, 2025. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature by March 1, 2026, regarding the transition of the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project to a supplemental benefits program that is fully state-managed, without grantee intermediaries, as specified. Existing federal law provides for the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which states and covered Indian tribal organizations that elect to participate provide nutrition assistance through electronic benefit transfer or other methods, as specified, during the summer months for eligible children, as defined, to ensure continued access to food when school is not in session for the summer. The Summer EBT program requires, for calendar year 2024, a benefit to be provided in an amount equal to $40, for each eligible child in an eligible household per month during the summer operational period. Under existing federal law, eligible children may include, among others, those who are certified to receive free or reduced-price school breakfast or lunch, as specified. Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law requires that all applications and records concerning any individual made or kept by any public officer or agency in connection with the administration of any provision of law relating to free or reduced-price meal eligibility be kept confidential, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT benefit program. The bill, notwithstanding specified provisions relating to the confidentiality of certain pupil records, would authorize the department and the State Department of Education to share data for the limited purpose of administering the Summer EBT benefit program, including, but not limited to, identifying eligible students and evaluating program outcomes. (6) Existing law authorizes, in certain circumstances, a child who has been removed from their parent or guardian to be placed with a relative or nonrelative extended family member if the relative or nonrelative extended family member is either an approved resource family or has been assessed by a county social worker or a county probation agency and, among other things, the relative or nonrelative extended family member has not been convicted of a crime for which a criminal record exemption cannot be granted, has been granted a criminal record exemption, or, in certain circumstances, a criminal record exemption is pending. Existing law, notwithstanding those provisions, authorizes the court to order placement with a relative, regardless of the status of any criminal exemption or resource family approval, if the court finds that the placement does not pose a risk to the health and safety of the child, as specified. Under existing law, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payments (Kin-GAP) provide aid on behalf of children eligible for financial participation under certain federal provisions who are in kinship care, as specified. Existing law also establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (state Kin-GAP) , which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative guardian. Existing law requires aid in the form of state-funded Kin-GAP to be provided on behalf of any child under 18 years of age and to any eligible youth under 19 years of age who has had a kinship guardianship established, as described above, and who meets other requirements, including that the child or youth has been adjudicated a dependent child or ward of the juvenile court, has been residing for at least 6 consecutive months in the approved home of the prospective relative guardian, and has had a kinship guardianship established and the dependency jurisdiction or wardship terminated, as specified. This bill would revise provisions relating to eligibility for Kin-GAP and state Kin-GAP aid by defining "approved home of the prospective relative guardian," for purposes of those programs, to include specific references to a relative approved as a resource family or a tribally approved home, as specified. With respect to state Kin-GAP, the bill also would include within that definition the home of a relative that has been assessed by the juvenile court and into which the court has authorized placement. The bill also would revise the definition of a "relative" under Kin-GAP to include an adult who meets the definition of an extended family member under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) , as specified. The bill also would make various technical changes. To the extent that this bill would impose new administrative duties on county welfare departments, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, under which counties provide payments to foster care providers on behalf of qualified children in foster care. Existing law establishes a schedule of basic rates to be paid for the care and supervision of each foster child, administered by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) , which provides payments to approved relative caregivers who are caring for children and nonminor dependents who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law requires a monthly basic rate to be paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a licensed foster family home or with a resource family, or placed in an approved home of a relative or approved home of a nonrelative extended family member, or placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, create a housing supplement to the basic rate paid for a nonminor dependent placed in a supervised independent living placement, as specified. The bill would require the department to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and CalSAWS to develop and implement the necessary system changes to implement the housing supplement. The bill would require the monthly housing supplement payment to be added to the rate paid to the nonminor dependent and prorated based on the number of days in a month the dependent is in a placement eligible for the supplement. The bill would prohibit an overpayment from being collected on this housing supplement. The bill would require the department to calculate this housing supplement by November 1 of each year and inform county welfare agencies, by means of all-county letters or similar written instructions, in the month of July of the following year of the amount of the supplement. Because counties would administer these extended benefits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. ICWA governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of the child's parent or guardian. Existing law specifies that the state is committed to protecting the essential tribal relations and best interest of an Indian child by promoting practices in accordance with ICWA. Existing law authorizes a federally recognized tribe to approve a home for the purpose of foster or adoptive placement of an Indian child pursuant to ICWA and authorizes a tribe to designate a tribal organization to do the same. Existing law, the Tribally Approved Homes Compensation Program, provides funding to federally recognized Indian tribes to assist in funding the costs associated with recruiting and approving homes for the purpose of foster or adoptive placement of an Indian child pursuant to ICWA, as described above. Existing law requires an Indian tribe, to be eligible for the funding allocation, to enter into an agreement, as specified, with the department on or before May 1 prior to the fiscal year for which funding is requested. This bill would delete the May 1 deadline and instead require an Indian tribe that seeks funding to submit a letter of interest each year to the department by a deadline established by the department, as specified. Existing law establishes the Tribal Dependency Representation Program to provide funding to assist any federally recognized Indian tribe located in California, or with lands that extend into California, in funding legal counsel to represent the Indian tribe in a California Indian child custody proceeding that is initiated or ongoing in the juvenile court. Existing law requires an Indian tribe that seeks funding for this purpose to submit an annual letter of interest to the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, to provide each Indian tribe that enters into a specified agreement and submits a letter of interest an annual base allocation of $15,000 for legal counsel, except that if the annual Budget Act provides for an allocation of funds of more than $15,000 per eligible tribe, then each eligible tribe would receive an adjusted allocation, subject to a requirement that the adjusted allocation be based on a methodology considering the number of Indian children in foster care or prospective adoptive placements through the juvenile court. Existing law requires that the allocation and implementation plan be established by the department in government-to-government consultation with tribes on or before June 30, 2023. This bill would remove the requirement that the adjusted allocation be based on a methodology considering the number of Indian children in foster care or prospective adoptive placements through the juvenile court. This bill would remove the requirement that the allocation plan be established on or before June 30, 2023. Existing law establishes the Bringing Families Home Program, and, subject to an appropriation, requires the State Department of Social Services to award program funds to counties and tribal governments for the purpose of providing housing-related supports to eligible families experiencing homelessness, as defined, if that homelessness prevents reunification between an eligible family and a child receiving child welfare services, as defined, or when lack of housing prevents a parent or guardian from addressing issues that could lead to foster care placement. This bill would, for purposes of the program, expand the definition of "child welfare services" to include those services provided by a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, in accordance with tribal law or custom, if it provides at least one of specified child welfare services. The bill would expand the definition of "homeless" to include an individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence, as specified, has no other residence, and lacks the resources or support networks to obtain other permanent housing. The bill would also make certain changes to the existing definition of "permanent housing" for purposes of the program. Existing law requires the department to award the above-described program funds to county child welfare agencies and tribes according to specified criteria, including a requirement for a county or tribe receiving state funds to provide matching funds, except between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. Existing law requires the department, no later than July 1, 2024, to adopt regulations implementing specified changes to the program that were enacted in 2021, including changes to the definitions of "homeless" and "eligible family" and the exception period for the fund-matching requirement. This bill would extend the exception period to June 30, 2025, for the fund-matching requirement. This bill would instead require the department to adopt regulations implementing all provisions of the program no later than July 1, 2024. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish the Children's Crisis Continuum Pilot Program for the purpose of developing treatment options that are needed to support California's commitment to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. Existing law requires proposals for participation in the pilot program to be submitted no later than January 31, 2022, and that grant funds be disbursed no later than March 31, 2022. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, jointly with the State Department of Health Care Services, to submit an interim report to the Assembly Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Human Services by April 1, 2025. Existing law authorizes the departments to issue guidance without taking further regulatory action until March 1, 2022. Existing law authorizes the pilot program to be implemented for 5 years from the date of a specified appropriation. This bill would require that the pilot program be implemented for 5 years from the date grant recipients are selected. The bill would extend the deadline for proposal submissions from January 31, 2022, to December 1, 2022, and the deadline for disbursement of grant funds from March 31, 2022, to June 30, 2023. The bill would extend the date by which the interim report is due from April 1, 2025, to April 1, 2027. The bill would extend the date that any guidance issued without taking further regulatory action is to be provided from March 2022 to on an ongoing basis during the pilot program. Existing law establishes a system of statewide child welfare services, administered by the State Department of Social Services and county child welfare agencies, with the intent that all children are entitled to be safe and free from abuse and neglect. Existing law requires the department to implement the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS) to administer and evaluate the state's child welfare services and foster care programs. Existing law also requires the department and the Office of Systems Integration, in collaboration with the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to seek resources to enable the necessary level of engagement by the counties in the Child Welfare Services-New System (CWS-NS) , a successor information system, as specified. Existing law requires the existing (CWS/CMS) operations and functionality to be maintained at a level at least commensurate with its December 2015 status, and not to be decommissioned prior to the full statewide implementation of the CWS-NS in all counties, as specified. This bill would replace various references to CWS-NS with updated references to the Child Welfare Services – California Automated Response and Engagement System (CWS-CARES) . The bill would make declarations of legislative intent for the CWS-CARES information technology (IT) project to meet specified objectives, intended to align with the scope approved in the most recent Special Project Report for the system. Those objectives would include, among others, replacing the CWS/CMS with a federally compliant Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System, incorporating relevant end-user feedback into product design, development, and implementation, and limiting any additional delays to the project design, development, and implementation that could lead to federal noncompliance penalties or the potential loss of federal funding, as specified. The bill would make additional findings and declarations with respect to the need for ongoing oversight of the CWS-CARES IT project by the Legislature and designated state departments, and would update and expand existing oversight criteria. The criteria would include, among others, requiring the department and the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration to convene monthly meetings with specified government entities, and to submit monthly project status reports to the Legislature and other relevant stakeholders, including updates on the progress made toward successful completion on the project and other prescribed information. (7) Existing law establishes the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP) , which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Existing law requires the department to submit, by January 1, 2024, a report to the Legislature that includes recommendations on the administration of the program. This bill would require the department, on or before February 1, 2024, to provide a written communication to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature describing the process that would need to occur in order to switch the method the state uses to meet the federal maintenance of supplementary payment levels requirement for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled from the current payment level method to the total expenditures method. The bill would require the written communication to include, among other things, a feasible timeline for notifying the federal Social Security Administration of the change. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2025, and repeal them as of January 1, 2026. Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient, and the state SSP payment for a recipient is the amount required, when added to the nonexempt income and SSI benefits available to the recipient, to provide the maximum benefit payment. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP. Existing law, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2022, and commencing January 1, 2023, increases the amount of aid paid under SSP by a percentage increase calculated by the department and the Department of Finance, and requires those departments to notify specified legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst's Office of the final percentage increase effectuated by the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2022 for the purposes of implementing the increase. This bill would, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023, and commencing January 1, 2024, similarly increase the amount of aid paid under SSP by a percentage increase calculated by the same 2 departments, and would require those departments to notify the same legislative committees and the Legislative Analyst's Office of the final percentage increase effectuated by the appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023 for the purposes of implementing the increase. (8) Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law requires remuneration to a provider who has the legal duty to provide for the care of their child who is the recipient of supportive services only when the provider leaves full-time employment or is prevented from obtaining full-time employment because no other suitable provider is available and when the inability of the provider to provide supportive services may result in inappropriate placement or inadequate care. This bill would delete those above-described conditions under which a provider who has the legal duty to provide for the care of their child who is the recipient of supportive services may be remunerated for the services provided. The bill would require that these policy changes to minor provider eligibility guidelines are to take effect 60 days after the department issues policy guidance and, if needed, fiscal guidance through all-county letter or similar written instructions. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to administer the Career Pathways Program for providers of in-home supportive services, related services, or waiver personal care services, to increase the quality of care, recruitment and retention of providers for recipients and to provide training opportunities for career advancement in the home care and health care industries. Existing law requires the program to be implemented as a pilot project no later than September 1, 2022, or as otherwise specified, until March 31, 2024, or until a later date, subject to an appropriation. Existing law requires the submission of an interim report, as specified, to the Legislature by no later than May 1, 2023, with a final report of the evaluation of the pilot project submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 2024. This bill would extend the deadline of the final report from December 31, 2024, to September 30, 2025. The bill would also extend the operative end date of the pilot program from March 31, 2024, to March 31, 2025. Existing law requires a specified mediation process, including a factfinding panel recommending settlement terms, to be held if a public authority or nonprofit consortium and the employee organization fail to reach agreement on a bargaining contract with in-home supportive service (IHSS) workers on or after October 1, 2021. Existing law subjects a county to a one-time withholding of 1991 Realignment funds if, among other things, the county does not reach an agreement with the employee organization within 90 days after the release of the factfinding panel's recommended settlement terms. Existing law specifies that the amount of the 1991 Realignment funding withholding would be 7% of the county's 2020–2021 fiscal year IHSS Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirement. Existing law requires the State Controller to deposit any amounts withheld pursuant to these provisions into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, as specified. This bill would, beginning October 1, 2023, increase the amount of the 1991 Realignment funding withholding to 10% of the county's prior fiscal year IHSS MOE requirement and would require that the withholding continue once each fiscal year, until the county enters into a collective bargaining agreement. The bill would make other conforming changes. By increasing the amounts withheld from the counties and deposited into the continuously appropriated General Growth Subaccount of the Sales Tax Growth Account of the Local Revenue Fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Under existing law, the county's allocation is increased by the amount of the prior year's reduction when the penalty above is imposed. This bill would provide that the county's allocation be increased by the prior year's reduction only in the year after the county enters into a collective bargaining agreement with the employee organization. Existing law requires the state and counties to share the annual cost of providing IHSS pursuant to a specified cost ratio, and requires all counties to have a rebased County IHSS MOE, and requires the rebased MOE to be adjusted for the annualized cost of increases in provider wages, health benefits, or other benefits, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes a county to negotiate a wage supplement, and requires the wage supplement to subsequently be applied to the minimum wage when the minimum wage increase is equal to or exceeds the county wage paid without the inclusion of the wage supplement and the increase to the county wage paid takes effect at the same time as the minimum wage increase. Existing law provides that the above-described requirement does not apply for any changes to provider wages or health benefits locally negotiated, mediated, or imposed by a county, public authority, or nonprofit consortium, for which a rate change request was submitted to the State Department of Social Services for review prior to January 1, 2018, and instead requires that in these cases, the wage supplement subsequently be applied to the minimum wage when the minimum wage is equal to or exceeds the county individual provider wage including the wage supplement. This bill would delete the above provision. (9) Existing law requires public social services for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons to be available in at least 3 regions throughout the state. Under existing law, those services include, among other things, complete communication services through interpreter services by a professional interpreter, job development, and counseling. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish the criteria for funding those services and to contract with public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for purposes of these provisions. Existing law requires those contracts to be competitively bid pursuant to a request for proposals, as specified. This bill would authorize grants to, as an alternative to contracts with, public agencies or private nonprofit corporations for purposes of the department's requirements regarding those public social services. The bill would require those contracts or grants to be competitively bid pursuant to a request for proposals or applications. The bill would make conforming changes to related provisions. (10) Existing law establishes the Home Safe Program, which requires the State Department of Social Services to award grants to counties, tribes, or groups of counties or tribes, that provide services to elder and dependent adults who experience abuse, neglect, self-neglect, or exploitation and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria for adult protective services, for the purpose of providing prescribed housing-related supports to eligible individuals. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of the program, including "adult protective services," which is defined to mean activities performed on behalf of elders and dependent adults who have come to the attention of the adult protective services agency due to potential abuse or neglect. Existing law requires grantees that receive grants under the Home Safe Program to provide matching funds, but exempts that requirement for the period between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. This bill would expand the definition of "adult protective services" to include activities performed, in accordance with tribal law or custom, on behalf of older and dependent adults who have come to the attention of a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, due to potential abuse or neglect. The bill would define "older adult" for purposes of the program to mean any person residing in this state who is 60 years of age or older and, for individuals receiving services from a tribe, or tribal entity or agency, any person residing in this state within the age range established by tribal law or custom for tribal programs serving needy and vulnerable older adults. The bill would also extend the exemption period for required matching funds to June 30, 2025. Existing law establishes the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program under the administration of the State Department of Social Services. Under the existing program, state funds are granted, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to a participating county for the provision of outreach, case management, and advocacy services to assist clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to obtain disability benefits. Existing law requires a grantee, with the assistance of the department, to seek reimbursement of funds used for housing assistance, general assistance, or general relief from the federal Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to an interim assistance reimbursement agreement, as specified. Existing law also requires a grantee that receives state funds to provide matching funds. Existing law waives the requirement to seek reimbursement of funds through June 30, 2024, and exempts a grantee from the requirement to match certain funds between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024. Existing law allows any changes made to the procedure for matching funds put in place by prior legislation to be made by all-county letters or similar instructions from the department. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations regarding those specific changes by July 1, 2024. This bill would extend the reimbursement waiver and exemption for a grantee to match certain funds through June 30, 2025. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations for the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program as a whole by July 1, 2024. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services, utilizing no more than $10,500,000 of one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021 for the purposes of the CalWORKs Housing Support Program, the Home Safe Program, the Bringing Families Home Program, and the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program, to contract with vendors for the purpose of establishing a system to collect data and track outcomes, and to contract with independent evaluation and research agencies to evaluate the impacts of each of those programs. Existing law authorizes the department, utilizing no more than an equivalent amount of those appropriated funds, to contract with entities to provide technical assistance for each of those programs. This bill would authorize the department to utilize no more than $10,500,000 of the combined one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2021 and the Budget Act of 2022 for the above-described purposes. The bill would also authorize the department to utilize no more than $10,500,000 of the one-time funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2022 in a manner consistent with those purposes to contract with entities to provide technical assistance for each of those programs. Existing law requires the department to report annually to the Legislature on contracts and expenditures made, data collected, and evaluations performed pursuant to the above-described provisions by February 1 of each year. This bill would instead require the department to report specified information under that timeline, including information on the dollar amounts and contracted entities, the number of requests for service, the number of families or individuals approved to receive program services as applicable to each program, certain information about the Community Care Expansion Program, and trend information on the capacity of the programs. If any provisions of tribal law, tribal governance, tribal charter, or difference in tribal entity or agency legal structure would cause a violation of, would fail to satisfy, or would create inconsistencies with, program requirements for the above-described housing programs or the Community Care Expansion Program, the bill would authorize the modification or waiver of any regulatory or other program requirement set forth by the department, as necessary to ensure program compatibility or to avoid an unnecessary administrative burden on tribes. The bill would authorize the department to implement this provision without taking regulatory action. (11) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to allocate federal funds for refugee social services programs to eligible counties and, in certain circumstances, to qualified nonprofit organizations. This bill would authorize the department to also allocate funds, as described, to private for-profit organizations. The bill would require the department to prioritize funding qualified nonprofit organizations and counties over for-profit organizations, when practicable. The bill would require the department to track and document the funding provided to each type of service provider and the purposes for use of the funding, and to report this information to the appropriate fiscal and policy staff of the Legislature on a semiannual basis. Existing federal regulations provide that certain persons who do not have legal status in the United States and who meet specified guidelines may apply for deferred action on removal from the United States, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to the availability of funding, to contract with qualified nonprofit legal services organizations to provide legal services to unaccompanied, undocumented minors, as defined, who are transferred to the care and custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement and who are present in this state. Existing law specifies various requirements for those contracts, including, among other things, that they be executed only with nonprofit legal services organizations that meet specified requirements and that they provide for legal services to unaccompanied undocumented minors on a fee-per-case basis, as specified. Existing law also requires the department, subject to the availability of funding, to provide grants to qualified organizations, as specified, to be used to provide persons living in California with specified services, including, but not limited to, services to assist with the application process for initial or renewal requests of deferred action under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and services to obtain other immigration remedies. Existing law requires the grants to be awarded only to qualified nonprofit organizations that meet specified requirements, including a specified number of years of experience relating to immigration issues, as provided. Existing law requires a legal services organization that provides legal training and technical assistance, as defined, to, among other things, have at least 10 years of experience conducting immigration legal services and technical assistance. This bill would remove the requirement that contracts provide for legal services to unaccompanied minors on a fee-per-case basis and instead require the department to determine the funding method. The bill would allow grants to be used to provide immigration benefits, as defined. This bill would also authorize the department to approve a nonprofit legal service organization to receive a grant if it has at least 3 years of experience, as specified, and has conducted trainings on immigration issues for persons beyond its staff. (12) Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency and includes within the agency, among others, the Office of Systems Integration, under the control of the Director of the Office of Systems Integration. Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for public assistance programs, including, among others, the CalWORKs program. This bill would, among other things, rename that office the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration. The bill would authorize the Director of Finance to authorize a loan from the General Fund to the California Health and Human Services Automation Fund, if various requirements are met. (13) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (14) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.