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. CEQA establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of a decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA. If an action or proceeding is brought seeking judicial review, CEQA establishes a procedure for the preparation of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding and requires the lead agency to prepare and certify the record of proceedings, but authorizes the plaintiff or petitioner to elect to prepare the record of proceedings. This bill, in an action or proceeding seeking judicial review under CEQA of certain actions taken by a city with a certain population or by a city and county before January 1, 2025, defined as a "housing element update project," would prohibit a court from enjoining, invalidating, voiding, setting aside, or issuing an order to suspend, invalidate, rescind, void, or set aside the decision for the housing element update project, except to the extent the court finds it necessary to avoid an imminent threat to public health and safety. The bill would require the lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings and would authorize the concurrent preparation of the record of proceedings.
Under existing law, except as specified, any person who receives an overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits is liable for the amount overpaid. Exceptions to liability include if the overpayment was not due to fraud, misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure on the part of the recipient, the overpayment was received without fault on the part of the recipient, and its recovery would be against equity and good conscience. Under existing law, if the Director of Employment Development finds that an individual has been overpaid unemployment compensation benefits because the individual, for the purpose of obtaining those benefits, either made a false statement or representation with actual knowledge of the falsity or withheld a material fact, then the director is required to assess against the individual an amount equal to 30% of the overpayment amount. Existing law requires 50% of the overpayment assessment amount to be deposited into the Unemployment Trust Fund and 50% into the Employment Development Department Benefit Audit Fund, both of which are continuously appropriated funds, and requires that all interest collected is deposited into the Employment Development Department Benefit Audit Fund. Existing law authorizes the director to take specified steps to recover overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits including, among others, initiating proceedings for a summary judgment against the liable person if the director finds that overpayment may not be waived due to specified circumstances. Existing law authorizes the director, not later than 3 years after the overpayment became final, to file with the clerk of the proper court in the county from which the overpayment of benefits was paid or in the county in which the claimant resides, a certificate containing specified provisions, including a statement of the amount due, including any assessment, plus interest from the date that the initial determination of overpayment was made. Existing law also authorizes the director to offset the amount of the overpayment received by the liable person against any amount of benefits to which the person becomes entitled within 6 years of notice of overpayment determination. This bill would modify the 30% penalty assessment to be a one-time penalty, to the extent required by federal law. The bill, with regard to the director's findings regarding overpayment, would additionally require the director to find that a false statement or representation, or the withholding of a material fact, was made with fraudulent intent. The bill would make conforming changes relating to the one-time penalty. The bill, with regard to summary judgment proceedings, would delete the authorization for interest on the amount of overpayment. The bill would authorize interest to be charged and collected on overpayments, to be calculated at a specified rate, if an individual has been charged an overpayment penalty for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits. The bill would require revenues of that interest to be deposited 50% into the Unemployment Trust Fund and 50% into the Employment Development Department Benefit Audit Fund. Under the bill, the moneys in those funds attributable to those revenues would not be continuously appropriated and would only be available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would limit offsets as prescribed. The bill would require the director, to the extent authorized by applicable federal law, to waive any overpayment for which the director determines the person to whom the overpayment was made is not at fault. The bill would require the director to seek waivers of federal law for any overpayment recovery required by federal law for overpayment for which the director determines the person to whom the overpayment was made is not at fault. The bill would prohibit the director from commencing recovery of overpayments of unemployment compensation benefits until the termination of the declared COVID-19 state of emergency, as prescribed. The bill would require the Employment Development Department, commencing July 1, 2022, to post on its internet website prescribed information on overpayment and repayment for benefit payments for the period from March 1, 2020, to the date the department resumes eligibility determinations, until the repayment period for all overpayment notices to be included in the posted information has elapsed.
Existing law, commonly known as the Ellis Act, generally prohibits public entities from adopting any statute, ordinance, or regulation, or taking any administrative action, to compel the owner of residential real property to offer or to continue to offer accommodations, as defined, in the property for rent or lease. Existing law authorizes any public entity that has in effect any control or system of control on the price at which accommodations are offered for rent or lease to require by statute or ordinance, or by regulation, that the owner notify the entity of an intention to withdraw those accommodations from rent or lease, and to require that the notice contain specified statements. This bill would, when a public entity has a price control system in effect, prohibit an owner of accommodations from filing a notice with a public entity of an intent to withdraw accommodations or prosecuting an action to recover possession of accommodations, or threatening to do so, if not all the owners of the accommodations have been owners of record for at least 5 continuous years, with specified exceptions, or with respect to property that the owner acquired within 10 years after providing notice of an intent to withdraw accommodations at a different property. This bill would require an owner of accommodations notifying the public entity of an intention to withdraw accommodations from rent or lease, as provided, to identify each person or entity with an ownership interest in the accommodations, as provided. That information would be available for public inspection. The bill would prohibit an owner or any person or entity with an ownership interest from acting in concert with a coowner, successor owner, prospective owner, agent, employee, or assignee to circumvent these provisions. The bill would provide specified, nonexclusive remedies for a violation. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and makes the department responsible for administering various housing programs throughout the state, including, among others, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Housing for a Healthy California Program, and the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program. This bill would establish the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2022, to take specified actions to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, provide grants to applicants, as defined, for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed. The bill would require the department to establish a process, in collaboration with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and with counties in which recipients are operating, for referral of participants, in accordance with certain guidelines and procedures. The bill would require the department to score applicants to the program competitively according to specified criteria. The bill would require recipients of funds from the program to use those funds for, among other things, long-term rental assistance in permanent housing, incentives to landlords, and innovative or evidence-based services to assist participants in accessing permanent supportive housing. The bill would require the department to distribute funds allocated by executing contracts with awarded entities for a term of 5 years, subject to automatic renewal. The bill would require a recipient of the program to submit an annual report to the department. The bill would require the department to hire an independent evaluator to assess outcomes from the program and would require the department to submit that analysis to specified committees of the Legislature.
Existing law governs the licensing and regulation of tow truck drivers, authorizes the removal and storage of vehicles from public and private places, and regulates the storage of towed vehicles. A violation of the Vehicle Code is a crime. This bill would establish the Vehicle Towing and Storage Board in the Department of Consumer Affairs and would empower the board to, among other things, regulate and resolve disputes involving vehicle towing businesses. The bill would require the board to maintain a public database on its internet website on vehicle towing businesses. The bill would require a business to obtain a Vehicle Tow and Storage Permit and pay an annual fee before operating a tow truck or tow vehicle in California. The bill would establish various penalties for violations of these provisions. The bill also would require a permit applicant or permitholder to submit specified information to the board under penalty of perjury. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes an insurer that is responsible for reasonable towing and storage charges, as defined, liable to the person providing those services and requires that fees charged for towing and storage be reasonable. Under existing law, a towing and storage charge is deemed reasonable if it does not exceed those fees and rates charged for similar services provided in response to requests initiated by a public agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of the California Highway Patrol or a local police department. Existing law also provides that a storage fee is deemed reasonable if it is comparable to storage-related rates and fees charged by other facilities in the same locale. This bill would instead provide that a towing and storage charge is deemed reasonable if it does not exceed those fees and rates charged for similar services provided in the same geographical organization area established by the Department of the California Highway Patrol. Existing law prescribes certain consumer protection requirements for facilities that store towed and impounded vehicles, including, among others, a requirement that those facilities provide a specified notice to a vehicle owner. This bill would add to that notice information related to the Vehicle Tow and Storage Board. Existing law requires every motor carrier of property to comply with specified safety, permit, and liability insurance regulations and to pay the fees required by these provisions. Existing law also prohibits a motor carrier of property from releasing a vehicle to another motor carrier of property utilizing a tow truck until the releasing motor carrier obtains a copy of the motor carrier permit from the retrieving motor carrier. This bill would further restrict the releasing motor carrier from releasing the vehicle until the releasing motor carrier obtains a copy of the other motor carrier's Vehicle Tow and Storage Permit. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, generally prohibits housing discrimination with respect to the personal characteristics of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, veteran or military status, or genetic information. This bill would make it an unlawful housing practice for the owner of a rental housing accommodation to inquire about, or require an applicant for a rental housing accommodation to disclose, a criminal record during the initial application assessment phase, as defined, unless otherwise required by state or federal law. After the successful completion of the initial application assessment phase, the bill would permit an owner to request a criminal background check of the applicant and consider an applicant's criminal record in deciding whether to rent or lease to the applicant. The bill would require an owner who is considering denying an application on the basis of the applicant's criminal record to, within 5 days of receiving the information that is the basis of the possible denial, provide the applicant with a written statement listing the reasons for the possible denial before making a final decision. If, within 3 days of receipt of the written statement of the possible denial, the applicant provides the owner notice of evidence demonstrating the inaccuracy of the item or items within the applicant's criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors, as specified, the bill would require the owner to reconsider their decision for a specified time, and would require the owner to provide written notification to the applicant of the owner's final decision to deny the application. The bill would prohibit the owner, in a rental application or as otherwise part of the application process, from seeking, considering, using, or taking an adverse action based in whole or in part on specified information or occurrences, including, among others, arrests that did not result in conviction, convictions that have been voided, and juvenile justice determinations. The bill would also require an owner to provide an applicant notice, as specified, in the application itself and before requesting a criminal background check. The bill would provide that its provisions do not apply under specified circumstances, including if the rental housing accommodation is a single-family home, duplex, triplex, or accessory dwelling unit in which the owner occupies a unit or bedroom as a principal residence. The act provides that, in connection with specified unlawful practices related to housing discrimination, proof of a violation causing a discriminatory effect is shown if an act or failure to act has the effect, regardless of intent, of unlawfully discriminating on the basis of any of the personal characteristics described above. The act provides that a business establishment whose action or inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect shall not be considered to have committed an unlawful housing practice in violation of the act if the business establishment can establish that the action or inaction is necessary to the operation of the business and effectively carries out the significant business need it is alleged to serve. This bill would instead provide that a business establishment whose action or inaction has an unintended discriminatory effect shall not be considered to have committed an unlawful housing practice in violation of the act if the business establishment can establish that the action or inaction is necessary to achieve one or more substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory business interests and effectively carries out the significant business interest it is alleged to serve. The act establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, under the direction of an executive officer to, among other things, receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging practices made unlawful under the act. The act establishes procedures for the prevention and elimination of discrimination in housing made unlawful under its provisions, including authorizing any person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged violation of specified provisions to file a verified complaint in writing with the department. The act requires the department to investigate an alleged violation and, in the case of failure to eliminate a violation that has occurred, or is about to occur, through conference, conciliation, mediation, or persuasion, requires the director to file a civil action in the name of the department on behalf of that person. This bill would extend the application of those enforcement procedures to the above-described unlawful housing practices.
Existing law establishes that any costs or damage incurred by the Department of Toxic Substances Control and regional water quality control boards in carrying out or overseeing a response or corrective action for a release of hazardous materials on a real property constitute a claim and lien upon the real property owned by a responsible party that is subject to, or affected by, that action. Existing law specifies that the lien is subject to the notice and hearing procedures required by due process of the law. Existing law establishes that the lien has the force and effect of, and a priority of, a judgment lien. This bill would specify the notice and hearing procedures to be provided to the affected property owner. This bill would require the department, upon a determination of the scope of a necessary response or corrective action, to provide to the responsible parties an estimate of the costs to complete the response or corrective action. The bill would, except as provided, establish that the estimated costs constitute a claim and a lien upon the real property owned by a responsible party that is subject to, or affected by, the response or corrective action. The bill would require the department to provide the affected property owner with a notice and an opportunity for a hearing before the recordation of the lien upon the affected property. The bill would establish that the lien takes priority over all other liens and encumbrances that are recorded on the real property on or after January 1, 2023, upon its recordation. The bill would establish that the lien provision does not apply if the responsible parties establish and demonstrate to the department sufficient financial assurance to cover the estimated costs. The bill would authorize the department to impose an additional lien on the real property if the actual costs incurred by the department exceed the amount of the lien recorded based on the estimated costs to complete the response or corrective action.
Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to, among other things, administer various programs intended to fund the acquisition of property to develop or preserve affordable housing. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to administer a program to provide incentives in the form of grants to local agencies that enter into a development agreement to convert a golf course owned by the local agency into housing and publicly accessible open space, as specified.
(1) Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and designates successor agencies to, among other things, continue to make payments due for enforceable obligations and expeditiously wind down the affairs of dissolved redevelopment agencies. Existing law also provides for the designation of a housing successor to assume the housing function of a former redevelopment agency and generally requires that funds transferred to the housing successor, together with any funds generated from housing assets, be maintained in a separate Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund and used subject to the provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law relating to the Low and Moderate Income Fund of the former redevelopment agency, except as provided. Existing law requires the county auditor-controller to create within the county treasury a Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, to determine and deposit that fund the amount of property taxes that would have been allocated to each redevelopment agency within the county, and to allocate moneys in that fund for passthrough payments to local agencies and school entities and payments listed on the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for each successor agency, as provided. Under existing law, on June 1, 2012, and each January 2 and June 1 thereafter, any moneys remaining in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund after all other authorized payments and transfers are made, other than moneys attributable to certain property tax rates approved by the voters for specified purposes, are distributed to local agencies and school entities, in accordance with specified requirements, including a requirement that property tax shares of local agencies be determined based on the property tax allocation laws in effect on the date of distribution, as provided. This bill would modify the requirement to distribute remaining moneys in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, as described above, by requiring, for the period commencing on January 2, 2025, until the successor is dissolved as provided, that 20% of the amount that would otherwise be allocated to local agencies and school entities that exceeds the amount transferred between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, inclusive, be deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund if specified conditions are met. Among other things, the bill would require that the successor agency have received a finding of completion from the Department of Finance, and that the housing successor or sponsoring entity comply with specified reporting requirements. The bill, on and after January 2, 2025, and until the successor agency is dissolved as provided, would require the county auditor to allocate a corresponding amount of revenues, designated as the affordable housing and community development investment amount, to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund in each fiscal year and to commensurately decrease the amount of ad valorem property tax revenue that is otherwise required to be allocated among all other local agencies in the county, as provided. This bill would require the housing successor to designate the use of any proceeds deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund under the bill's provisions in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would limit the eligible uses of those funds to the predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable housing, as defined. (2) Existing law requires the housing successor of a former redevelopment agency to annually conduct, and provide to its governing body, an independent financial audit of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, which is required to be posted on the internet website of the housing successor, as specified. Existing law requires that the independent financial audit include, among other information, the amount deposited to the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, distinguishing between amounts deposited pursuant to specified law, amounts deposited for other items listed on the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule, and other amounts deposited. This bill would require that the independent financial audit also distinguish amounts deposited in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund as provided in this bill. The bill would also require that the independent financial audit include a description of how the amounts deposited as provided in this bill have been used to meet the housing successor's share of regional housing need, determined as provided. (3) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element include, among other things, an analysis of existing housing developments that are eligible to change from low-income housing uses during the next 10 years due to termination of subsidy contracts, mortgage prepayment, or expiration of restrictions on use. Existing law requires that the analysis identify and consider the use of all federal, state, and local financing and subsidy programs that can be used to preserve, for lower income households, the assisted housing developments, including tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the community. This bill would delete the requirement that this analysis identify tax increment funds received by a redevelopment agency of the community and, instead, require that the analysis identify Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund funds received by a housing successor, as provided in the bill. (4) The bill would make legislative findings with regard to its provisions. (5) By adding to the duties of local officials with respect to the wind down of former redevelopment agencies and the use of moneys in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund, 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, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, requires employers to provide an employee, who works in California for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment, with paid sick days for prescribed purposes, to be accrued at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked. Existing law authorizes an employer to limit an employee's use of paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner, who is the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, with enforcement of various labor laws. This bill, the Health Care Workers Recognition and Retention Act, would require a covered employer, as defined, to pay hazard pay retention bonuses in the prescribed amounts on January 1, 2022, April 1, 2022, July 1, 2022, and October 1, 2022, to each covered health care worker, as defined, that it employs. The bill would provide that hazard pay retention bonuses are in addition to all other compensation due and are not part of the health care worker's regular rate of pay or compensation. The bill would make it a violation of these provisions for a covered employer to discharge, layoff, or reduce a covered health care worker's compensation or hours so as to prevent that worker from receiving hazard pay retention bonuses, as specified. The bill would authorize a covered employer to reduce the total sum of the hazard pay retention bonuses by an amount equal to qualifying hazard pay and qualifying monetary bonuses already paid to a covered health care worker during the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as provided. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the provisions regarding the discharge, layoff, or reduction in a covered health care worker's compensation or hours in order to avoid paying the bonuses as being a violation of these provisions be retroactively applied to March 1, 2021. The bill would make a covered employer who violates these provisions liable for wages, civil penalties, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs, as specified. The bill would also authorize the commissioner to issue a citation against a covered employer or other person acting on behalf of the health care provider who violates this part, in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would authorize a covered employer to seek a complete or partial exemption from the hazard pay retention bonus requirements based on an inability to pay. The bill would require the commissioner, for a private employer, to make a determination of whether to grant the exemption based on an affidavit from the covered private employer, submitted under penalty of perjury, in which the covered private employer would be required to declare that specified conditions are true and accurate. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the commissioner to require the covered employer to pay an amount, not to exceed the reasonable administrative costs, of determining whether the employer is entitled to the exemption. The bill would provide that a covered health care provider that obtains an exemption from the commissioner pursuant to this provision may be eligible to receive grant moneys from a Health Care Worker Recognition and Retention Fund or other fund created by the Legislature for the purpose of providing hazard pay or bonuses to health care workers, upon meeting the requirements for disbursements from that fund. The bill would include related legislative findings. The bill would make the act inoperative on December 31, 2023. 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 provides that a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord in specified circumstances, including when the tenant has violated the lease or rental agreement by defaulting on rent, and requires the tenant be served a 3 days' notice in writing to cure the default, as specified. Existing law provides that an unlawful detainer action is subject to the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020, which provides tenants with specified temporary protections from eviction, if the default in the payment of rent is based upon COVID-19 rental debt, as defined. This bill, the COVID-19 Emergency Small Business Eviction Relief Act, would, until July 1, 2025, require a landlord, who receives a statement signed by a commercial tenant, as defined, and supported by documentary evidence that evidences that the tenant requests emergency rent relief because the business of the commercial tenant has experienced a decrease in average monthly gross revenue of at least 50%, which is reasonably attributable to public health regulations adopted to address the COVID-19 pandemic, during the qualifying time period, as defined, as compared with the 12 months immediately preceding the qualifying time period, to conduct a good faith negotiation to form a plan to allow the commercial tenant a reasonable opportunity to repay COVID-19 lease debt while minimizing the hardship to the landlord. The act would provide that failure by a landlord to comply with that requirement constitutes an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer action.
Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Act, would, commencing July 1, 2023, and subject to an appropriation as specified, impose an excise tax in the amount of 10% of the sales price of a handgun and 11% of the sales price of a long gun, rifle, firearm precursor part, and ammunition, as specified. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
