(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that the statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. Existing law requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as provided, and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the state board to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants in the state. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions from livestock manure management operations and dairy manure management operations by up to 40% below the dairy sector's and livestock sector's 2013 levels by 2030. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to convene an interagency task force to evaluate the role of alternative manure management practices in achieving certain goals and to make specified findings and recommendations based on its evaluation. The bill would require the task force to include representatives from specified state agencies, external scientific and technical experts, and other stakeholders, as provided. The bill would require the task force to coordinate scenario modeling of alternative manure management practices adoption within the dairy and livestock industry under different policy and funding conditions, assess how alternative manure management practices can help the state meet groundwater sustainability plans, water quality plans, and nature-based climate solutions, and facilitate interagency data sharing, technical consultation, and identification of research needs, as provided. The bill would authorize the state board to incorporate the task force's findings and recommendations into updates to the above-described comprehensive strategy, the 2027 update to the scoping plan, and other planning documents as appropriate. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in partnership with various government agencies, to identify and recommend actions to address, with regard to both state agencies and the federal government, the permitting and siting challenges associated with composting and anaerobic digestion, and to encourage the continued viability of the state's organic waste processing and recycling infrastructure. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to convene relevant government agencies, with input from the regulated community, to create an efficient and effective process for approving new projects that manage livestock and dairy manure through on-farm composting or by selling or transferring manure to offsite users.
Existing property tax law, pursuant to constitutional authorization, provides for a "welfare exemption" for property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes and that is owned or operated by certain types of nonprofit entities, if certain qualifying criteria are met. That law provides a partial welfare exemption in the case of residential rental property used for lower income households, as specified, calculated as that percentage of the value of the property that is equal to the percentage that the number of units serving lower income households represents of the total number of residential units. This bill would provide a partial welfare exemption in the case of certain residential rental property used for low- and moderate-income households. The partial exemption would be equal to that percentage of the value of the property that is equal to the percentage that the number of units serving low- and moderate-income households, as defined, represents of the total number of residential units, as provided. The bill would require an owner to make specified certifications relating to the use of the property. By expanding the duties of local tax officials, and by expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would declare that its provisions are severable. 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. Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits and emissions reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined. The act authorizes that state board to include in those regulations the use of a market-based compliance mechanism, known as the California Cap-and-Invest Program, to comply with those regulations. Existing law requires moneys collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of the California Cap-and-Invest Program to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee established, as provided, and other relevant state agencies, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. Existing law defines "nature-based climate solutions" for these purposes to mean activities, such as restoration, conservation, and land management actions, that increase net carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in natural and working lands. This bill would annually appropriate the sum of $250,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands, including $150,000,000 to be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate solutions, as provided, and $100,000,000 to be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature, as provided. The bill would additionally appropriate, after those amounts are allocated, the sum of $150,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund sustainable agricultural practices and nature-based climate solutions, as provided.
Existing law, the Dental Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of dental hygienists by the Dental Hygiene Board of California. Existing law requires the board to license as a registered dental hygienist a person who satisfies specified requirements, including completion of a prescribed education program, satisfactory completion of an examination in California law and ethics, and satisfactory performance, within the preceding 3 years, of the dental hygiene examination given by the Western Regional Examining Board or any other clinical or dental hygiene examination approved by the board. This bill would require the board to license as a registered dental hygienist an applicant who has successfully completed the dental hygiene examination given by the American Board of Dental Examiners and submitted an application and appropriate fees. The bill would require the board to certify an individual as eligible to take that dental hygiene examination if they have earned a degree from a nonaccredited dental school and they meet certain other requirements. Among those requirements, the bill would include submission of verification of their degree's equivalence, as specified, satisfactory completion of specified examinations within the 5 years preceding application, and satisfactory completion of certain coursework, including, among other things, a board-approved course in soft-tissue curettage, local anesthesia, and nitrous oxide-oxygen analgesia, within the 2 years preceding application. The bill would deem an individual eligible to enroll in a board-approved course in soft-tissue curettage, local anesthesia, and nitrous oxide-oxygen analgesia if they have otherwise satisfied certain verification, examination, and coursework requirements, as specified.
Existing law provides that the Department of Transportation has full possession and control of all state highways. Existing law describes the authorized routes in the state highway system. Existing law authorizes the California Transportation Commission to select, adopt, and determine the location for state highways on routes authorized by law, as specified. Existing law authorizes the commission to adopt an existing road as a state highway on an authorized route if the road is constructed to adequate standards. Existing law provides that State Highway Route 59 is from Route 152 northerly to Route 99 near the City of Merced and from Route 99 near the City of Merced to Snelling. This bill would, on or before December 31, 2030, require the commission to reach an agreement with the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne for the acquisition and adoption of county road J59 as a state highway, as specified. The bill would, on and after January 1, 2031, instead provide that State Highway Route 59 is from Route 152 northerly to Route 99 near the City of Merced and from Route 99 near the City of Merced to the junction of Routes 108 and 120.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality and prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (act) and the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program. The act requires mandatory minimum penalties to be assessed for serious violations, as defined, relating to waste discharge requirements, and for certain violations relating to waste discharge requirements and reports whenever there are 4 or more violations in a period of 6 consecutive months, except as provided. The act authorizes the state board or regional board, in lieu of assessing all or a portion of those mandatory minimum penalties against a publicly owned treatment works serving a small community, to instead require the publicly owned treatment works to spend an equivalent amount towards the completion of a compliance project proposed by the publicly owned treatment works if the state board or regional board make specified findings. The act defines "a publicly owned treatment works serving a small community" for these purposes to mean a publicly owned treatment works serving a population of 20,000 persons or fewer or a rural county, with a financial hardship as determined by the state board after consideration of specified factors. This bill would expand the authorization for the state board or regional board to require funding of a compliance project in lieu of the otherwise mandatory penalty to apply to a publicly owned treatment works serving a population of 3,000 persons or fewer, with a financial hardship, determined by the state board, within the 10 years preceding the assessment of the penalty.
Existing law places with the State Department of Social Services responsibility for various programs, services, and systems relating to early learning and care, including, among others, various childcare and development programs, the California Child Care Initiative Project, the Child Development Management Information System, and other related data systems, as specified. This bill would establish the statewide Early Childhood Integrated Data System under the department to, among other things, link data across programs serving children from birth to 5 years of age. The bill would require the department to establish the Interagency Early Childhood Data Task Force to coordinate efforts on development and implementation of the system, as specified. The bill would require the task force to annually submit a report to the Legislature on the progress in developing, establishing, and operating the data system, with the report containing certain recommendations. The bill would require the department to ingest data, sourced from administrative data systems maintained by each data provider, to be implemented in 2 phases, as specified. The bill would set forth certain conditions on the department relating to the ingestion, deletion, use, and sharing of the data.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes to a licensed nurse employed at a rural health facility, as specified, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, in an amount equal to $2,000 per taxpayer per taxable year. The bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to provide an annual list to the Franchise Tax Board of rural health facilities, as specified. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined, to include tax credits, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include findings and reporting requirements in compliance with this requirement. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law, the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (Cal/WARN Act) , among other things, prohibits an employer from ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment unless, 60 days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to the employees affected by the order and to the Employment Development Department and certain local officials. Existing law requires the notice to contain specified information and makes an employer who fails to give the required notice liable to each employee entitled to notice who lost their employment for back pay and the value of the cost of any benefits to which the employee would have been entitled had their employment not been lost, as provided. Existing law also makes an employer subject to civil penalties, as provided, for each day of the employer's violation. Existing law defines "employer" for these purposes to mean any person, as defined, who directly or indirectly owns and operates a covered establishment and defines "covered establishment" to mean any industrial or commercial facility or part thereof that employs, or has employed within the preceding 12 months, 75 or more persons. This bill would add "public agency" to the definitions of employer and covered establishment, thereby making the Cal/WARN Act applicable to public agencies. The bill would, in the case of a sale of part or all of an employer's business, make the seller responsible for providing the notice for any mass layoff, relocation, or termination up to and including the effective date of the sale, and make the purchaser responsible for providing the notice following the effective date of the sale. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes.
Existing law, the California Health Facilities Financing Authority Act, establishes the California Health Facilities Financing Authority, which has authority to, among other things, make secured or unsecured loans to, or purchase secured or unsecured loans of, any participating health institution in accordance with an agreement between the authority and the participating health institution to refinance indebtedness incurred by that participating health institution, as specified, in connection with projects undertaken, for health facilities acquired, or for working capital. Existing law also authorizes the authority to award grants to eligible clinics and health facilities, as specified. Existing law establishes the California Health Facilities Financing Authority Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, to carry out the purposes of the act. This bill, the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2026, would establish the medical debt relief program, which would be administered by the authority. The bill would require the authority to enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Health Care Access and Information to implement the program. The bill would require the authority and department to convene a stakeholder advisory group, as specified, no later than July 1, 2027, to advise on the development, implementation, and administration of the program. The bill would require the stakeholder advisory group, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop recommendations for the authority and department, including, among others, criteria for the ranking and priority of eligible recipients to receive discharge of their medical debt. This bill would authorize the authority, in consultation with the department, to, among other things, contract with a medical debt relief coordinator, as defined, for purposes of acquiring medical debt of eligible recipients either directly from a providing health institution or from a debt buyer, as specified. The bill would require the authority to, among other things, maintain books and records of all the medical debt acquired and canceled. The bill would require the authority to maintain a public internet website for information about the program. This bill would create the California Medical Debt Relief Program Account within the California Health Facilities Financing Authority Fund and would make all moneys in the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the authority for carrying out the purposes of the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2026. The bill would require the authority, in consultation with the department, to provide a report to the Legislature and Governor by January 1 of each year, starting January 1, 2028. Existing law requires a hospital to report specified financial and utilization data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information, including, among other things, total operating expenses, and deductions from revenue, such as bad debts and charity care. This bill would require a hospital to report to the department outstanding medical debt owed to the hospital, including debt amount, bill adjustments, source of coverage, whether charity care or discount was provided, demographic data, ZIP Code, and whether the debt led to litigation or wage garnishment.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee, as defined, for injuries that arise out of, and in the course of, employment. Existing law requires employers to provide medical, surgical, chiropractic, acupuncture, licensed clinical social worker, and hospital treatment reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of the injury. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for an employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or discriminate against, or for an insurer to advise, direct, or threaten an insured to discharge, an employee because they have filed or made known their intention to file a claim for compensation, or an application for adjudication, or because the employee has received a rating, award, or settlement, as specified. This bill would require an employee, when possible, to make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment outside of work hours. The bill would require the employee, if the timing of the treatment is foreseeable, to provide notice if treatment occurs during work hours, as specified, and require the employer to provide this leave during work hours unless business necessity requires the treatment to occur at a different time or on a different day. The bill would require that the leave taken by an employee pursuant to these provisions run concurrently with leave taken pursuant to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the California Family Rights Act if the employee would have been eligible for that leave. If an employer denies an employee's request to attend scheduled treatment, and the employer knows or should know that a business necessity does not require the treatment to occur at a different time or on a different day, the bill would make that denial a misdemeanor. The bill would also make it a misdemeanor for an employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, or discriminate against an employee because the employee requested or took leave pursuant to these provisions. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make other conforming changes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, allows a corporation, trust, or association that would otherwise be taxable as a domestic corporation to elect to be treated as a real estate investment trust (REIT) if specified requirements are met in relation to the character of income received by the entity, including a requirement that 95% of the entity's income fits into several categories, including rents from real property. Existing law specifically excludes from the term "rents from real property" impermissible tenant service income, defined to include amounts received directly or indirectly for managing or operating real property. This bill would allow affected employees of a lodging facility, as defined, or their representative to provide evidence to the Labor Commissioner of activities performed by a REIT that constitute direct or indirect operation or management of a lodging facility. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to confirm receipt of that evidence and, within 45 days of receipt, would require the Labor Commissioner to provide the affected employee or representative a written response to the submission, and would require the Labor Commissioner to forward that response to the Franchise Tax Board.
