Existing law establishes various personal rights and makes unlawful certain employment practices that discriminate on certain protected bases. Existing law makes a person who engages in certain prohibited conduct liable in a cause of action by the aggrieved person, as specified. This bill would prohibit an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment because a drug screening test has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their urine, hair, or bodily fluids. The bill would exempt from its provisions an employer that is required to conduct testing for nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites by federal law or regulations, or that would lose a monetary or licensing-related benefit for failing to conduct testing for nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites. The bill would also exempt employment in the building and construction trades. This bill would authorize a person who has suffered discrimination in violation of the bill's provisions to institute and prosecute in their own name and on their own behalf a civil action for specified relief. The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.
(1) Existing laws defines persons who are peace officers and the entities authorized to appoint them. Existing law requires certain minimum training requirements for peace officers including the completion of a basic training course, as specified. Existing law prescribes certain minimum standards for a person to be appointed as a peace officer, including moral character and physical and mental condition, and certain disqualifying factors for a person to be employed as a peace officer, including a felony conviction. This bill would disqualify a person from being employed as a peace officer if that person has been convicted of, or has been adjudicated by a military tribunal as having committed an offense that would have been a felony if committed in this state. The bill would also disqualify any person who has been certified as a peace officer by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and has had that certification revoked by the commission. (2) Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to set minimum standards for the recruitment and training of peace officers and to develop training courses and curriculum. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish a professional certificate program that awards basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates on the basis of a combination of training, education, experience, and other prerequisites, for the purpose of fostering the professionalization, education, and experience necessary to adequately accomplish the general police service duties performed by peace officers. Existing law authorizes the commission to cancel a certificate that was awarded in error or obtained through misrepresentation or fraud, but otherwise prohibits the commission from canceling a certificate that has properly been issued. This bill would require the commission to create a certification program for specified peace officers. The bill would make all records related to the revocation of a peace officer's certification public. This bill would require a peace officer's certificate to be suspended, revoked, or canceled when the person is ineligible to be a peace officer or when the person has been subject to a sustained termination for serious misconduct, as defined, on or after January 1, 2022. The bill would make each law enforcement agency responsible for investigation, findings, and actions by the agency on allegations of serious misconduct and would give the commission access to the agency files. The bill would require the commission to be notified of and to review a peace officer's file after 3 allegations of serious misconduct within 5 years. The bill would establish the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board, as specified, to make recommendations on the decertification of peace officers to the commission. The bill would require every law enforcement agency to notify the commission when a peace officer employed by that agency separates from employment. When a peace officer resigns or retires with a pending complaint, charge, or investigation of serious misconduct, the bill would require the law enforcement agency to complete the investigation into the serious misconduct within 90 days and report to the commission whether the complaint of serious misconduct was sustained, not sustained, unfounded, frivolous, or exonerated. The bill would require the commission to refer the files of peace officers whose termination for serious misconduct was sustained to the board to make a recommendation regarding the status of the officer's certificate and would require the commission to accept that recommendation or set forth the analysis and reasons for reaching a different result in writing. (3) Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to consider specified best practices when establishing policies and procedures for downloading and storing data from body-worn cameras, including, among other things, prohibiting the unauthorized use, duplication, or distribution of the data, and establishing storage periods for evidentiary and nonevidentiary data, as defined. This bill would make those requirements applicable to data obtained from unmanned aircraft systems. By imposing new requirements on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which health care services are provided to qualified low-income persons pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, the provision of prescription drugs is a Medi-Cal benefit, subject to the list of contract drugs and utilization controls. After a determination of cost benefit, existing law requires the Director of Health Care Services to modify or eliminate the requirement of prior authorization as a control for treatment, supplies, or equipment that costs less than $100, except for prescribed drugs. This bill would delete the prior authorization requirement for any drug prescribed for the treatment of a serious mental illness, as defined, for a period of 180 days after the initial prescription has been dispensed for a person over 18 years of age who is not under the transition jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The bill would require the department to automatically approve a prescription for a drug for the treatment of a serious mental illness if that drug was previously dispensed to the patient, as specified, and certain conditions are met, including that the patient is not under the transition jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The bill would require the department to authorize a pharmacist to dispense a 90-day supply of a drug prescribed for the treatment of a serious mental illness if that prescription drug is included in the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs and the prescription otherwise conforms to applicable formulary requirements, including that the patient has filled at least a 30-day supply for the same prescription in the previous 90 days, and to dispense an early refill prescribed for the treatment of a serious mental illness if that prescription drug is included in the Medi-Cal list of contract drugs and the prescription otherwise conforms to prescribed standards, such as limiting the number of refills to no more than 3 in a calendar year.
(1) Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would require the trustees and the board of governors, and request the regents, to: (1) identify the students in their respective systems who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were obliged to stay away from the campuses at which they were enrolled during the 2019–20 and 2020–21 academic years; (2) ascertain the amounts of campus fees collected from each of the students identified under subdivision (a) , and calculate from those amounts of campus fees, the amounts from which the students received no value because of their enforced absence from campus and which should therefore be refunded to the students; and (3) submit the total amounts ascertained and calculated to the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts with respect to identification of students and calculation of amounts to be refunded, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the Controller for allocation for payment of refunds to students of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, and the University of California for campus fees overpaid due to campus closures in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 academic years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) 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. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the sealer of a county to inspect and test weighing and measuring devices, as specified, that are used or sold in the county. Existing law also requires the sealer of a county to weigh or measure packages to determine whether they contain the amount represented, as provided. Existing law, until January 1, 2022, authorizes the board of supervisors of a county, by ordinance, to charge an annual registration fee, not to exceed the county's total cost of actually inspecting or testing weighing and measuring devices required of the county sealer, to recover the costs of the county sealer to perform these duties. Existing law, until January 1, 2022, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to establish by regulation an annual administrative fee to recover reasonable administrative and enforcement costs incurred by the Department of Food and Agriculture for exercising supervision over and performing investigations in connection with the activities performed by county sealers described above, and requires the administrative fee to be collected for every device registered with each county office of weights and measures and paid annually to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. This bill would extend the authority of the board of supervisors of a county to charge an annual registration fee to recover the costs of the county sealer, as provided, until January 1, 2027, and would extend certain other related provisions. The bill would also continue the annual administrative fee to recover the costs incurred by the department described above until January 1, 2027.
(1) Existing law requires a person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains an electrical transmission or distribution line upon specified lands to maintain clearances and firebreaks around certain electrical equipment, as provided. Existing law provides that a person is not required to comply with the above provisions relating to the clearing on any land if the person does not have the legal right to maintain that clearing. This bill would delete the above provision of law that excludes a person, as provided, from having to maintain the clearing and would make conforming changes. The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (act) prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act defines timber operations for these purposes to mean the cutting or removal, or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products from timberlands for commercial purposes, as provided. The act defines "commercial purposes" to include, among other things, the cutting or removal of trees that are processed for sale, barter, exchange, or trade, as provided. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would also include, as part of the definition of "commercial purposes" any cutting or removal of timber or other solid wood forest products by any person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line upon specified lands, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated program. The bill would require a utility company, before commencing work to maintain clearances and firebreaks around certain electrical equipment, to notify, in writing, the owner of the land upon which the work will be performed no less than 21 days before the commencement of the work, as provided. The bill would require the notice to include specified information, including information regarding the landowner's right to object to the work and information regarding the landowner's options for the disposition of the timber or other solid wood forest products, as provided. The bill would require that a person who violates these provisions be subject to a civil penalty imposed by a court in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each violation. The bill would authorize a city attorney or county counsel to bring action to enforce these provisions, as provided. The bill would also make conforming changes. Existing law provides that civil actions can only be commenced within prescribed periods, based on the nature of the action, including a 3-year limitations period for specified violations of the act. This bill would provide that an action commenced by a city attorney or a county counsel to enforce the provisions described above relating to notice before a utility company commences work to maintain clearances and firebreaks around certain electrical equipment is subject to a 3-year limitations period, as provided. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires an applicant for the renewal of a driver's license to pay to the Department of Motor Vehicles a fee of $30 for that renewal. Existing regulations provide for the annual increase of that fee based on the Consumer Price Index. This bill would, until January 1, 2026, waive the renewal fee for applicants who have reached the age of 65 years on the date of application and are seeking a noncommercial license.
Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency to oversee departments and offices that provide services in specified areas, including, health care, mental health, public health, and alcohol and drug treatment. Existing law establishes within the agency, the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law requires the department to license and regulate facilities that provide residential nonmedical services to adults who are recovering from problems related to alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug misuse or abuse, and who need alcohol, drug, or alcohol and drug recovery treatment or detoxification services. Existing law also requires the department to implement a voluntary certification procedure for alcohol and other drug treatment recovery services. Existing law requires a program licensed or certified by the department to disclose ownership or control of, or financial interest in, a recovery residence. Existing law defines a recovery residence for this purpose to mean a residential dwelling that provides primary housing for individuals who seek a cooperative living arrangement that supports personal recovery from a substance use disorder and that does not require licensure by the department or does not provide licensable services, as specified. This bill would enact the Excellence in Recovery Residence Housing Act. The bill would require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, on or before January 1, 2023, to develop and publish on the department's internet website consensus-based guidelines and nationally recognized standards for counties to promote the availability of high-quality recovery residence housing for individuals with a substance use disorder. The bill would require the guidelines and standards to be developed in consultation with specified agencies and organizations, to build on existing best practices and suggested guidelines developed by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and to use language that serves to distinguish recovery residence housing from the treatment of addiction. The bill would require the secretary to request the University of California, Los Angeles to conduct a study on the availability of high-quality recovery residence housing and on state, tribal, and local regulation and oversight of recovery residence housing. The bill would require the secretary to request the University of California, Los Angeles, based on the study, if conducted, to submit a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Health on or before January 1, 2023, that contains the results of the study and other specified information, including recommendations for state and local policies to promote the availability of high-quality recovery residence housing in California.
Existing law authorizes a school district, county superintendent of schools, child development program, local agency, private school, parochial school, or any other agency that qualifies for federal aid under specified federal school meal programs, to apply to the State Department of Education for all available federal and state funds so that a nutritionally adequate breakfast or lunch, or both, may be provided to pupils each schoolday at each school, as provided. Existing law describes a nutritionally adequate breakfast or lunch for this purpose as one that qualifies for reimbursement under the most current meal pattern for the federal School Breakfast Program or the federal National School Lunch Program. This bill would revise the sodium and sugar requirements for a nutritionally adequate breakfast or lunch to be more stringent than federal requirements, as provided. The bill would require the sodium requirements, commencing with the 2031–32 school year, to be determined by the department in alignment with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The bill, commencing with the 2025–26 school year, would require that a breakfast or lunch meet, on average over the school week, requirements that the department develops that are consistent with the quantitative recommendations for limiting added sugars established pursuant to specified federal dietary guidelines.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 imposes various limitations on contributions that may be made to, or accepted by, candidates for elective office. A violation of the act's provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. This bill, the Corporate-Free Elections Act, would prohibit a candidate for elective office from receiving a contribution from a business entity, and a business entity from making a contribution to a candidate for elective office, and would make related findings and declarations. By expanding the scope of existing crimes with regard to contribution limitations, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is administered through the Director of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law vests the department with jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. The California Constitution establishes the 5-member Fish and Game Commission, with members appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. Existing law requires the commissioners to annually elect one of their number as president. Existing law requires the commission to formulate the general policies for the conduct of the department and requires the director to be guided by those policies and be responsible to the commission for the administration of the department in accordance with those policies. This bill would establish in the department the Office of the Ombudsperson, administered through the ombudsperson. The bill would require the commission to appoint the ombudsperson and would require the office to operate independently of department staff and to report to the president of the commission. The bill would require the office to undertake specified duties under the supervision of the president of the commission, including working independently as an intermediary to provide individuals with a confidential process to address complaints regarding the department and resolve disputes with the department. The bill would require information provided to the ombudsperson pursuant to the confidential process to be protected as confidential and to be exempt from public disclosure, including, but not limited to, disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Under existing law, the board of governors selects the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to serve as the chief executive officer of the segment. Existing law establishes various programs establishing courses of study at campuses of the California Community Colleges. This bill would make available, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, the sum of $10,000,000 to the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges for the purpose of expanding student pathways to biotechnology programs, as specified. The bill would authorize the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, or its authorized designees, to contract with the Foundation for California Community Colleges for the purpose of providing administrative support for the expansion of pathways to biotechnology programs. The bill would require the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2025, to submit a report to the appropriate budget and policy committees of the Legislature regarding the outcomes resulting from the use of these funds, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.
