(1) Existing law requires that specified actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault that occurred before January 1, 2024, be commenced within 22 years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within 5 years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by the sexual assault, whichever period expires later. Existing law prohibits a plaintiff from commencing specified actions against a person or entity who did not commit the act of childhood sexual assault on or after the plaintiff's 40th birthday unless the offending person or entity knew or had reason to know of any misconduct that created a risk of childhood sexual assault by an employee, volunteer, representative, or agent, or the person or entity failed to take reasonable steps or to implement reasonable safeguards to avoid acts of childhood sexual assault. Existing law provides that there is no time limit for commencement of actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault which occurred on or after January 1, 2024. Actions subject to these time limits include actions for liability against any person or entity who owed a duty of care to the plaintiff and an action for liability against any person or entity for an intentional act that was the legal cause of the childhood sexual assault. Existing law provides that in actions against entities for violation of a duty of care, the plaintiff must establish that the entity acted wrongfully or negligently. This bill would shorten the amount of time a victim of childhood sexual assault that occurred before January 1, 2024, would have to file a specified action to 22 years from the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within 3 years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by the sexual assault, whichever period expires later. The bill would, for actions seeking damages for childhood sexual assault that occurred before January 1, 2024, and filed on or after January 1, 2026, against a public entity, or one of its employees or agents, by a plaintiff who is 40 years of age or older, require the plaintiff to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the public entity knew of misconduct that resulted in childhood sexual assault and failed to take reasonable steps or implement safeguards to avoid it, as specified, and that the public entity negligently discharged a mandatory duty. For these cases, the bill would also require the court to review specified factors when adjudicating motions for remittitur and would authorize a court to structure judgments against public entities so that they could be paid over time. (2) For actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault, existing law requires a plaintiff 40 years of age or older at the time the action is filed to file certificates of merit executed by the plaintiff's attorney and a mental health practitioner setting forth specified information. Existing law provides that the failure to file certificates in accordance with these provisions is grounds for a demurrer. This bill would instead require the certificates to be filed concurrently with the complaint and would prohibit a court clerk from accepting the filing of a complaint that lacks the certificates, except as specified. Additionally, the bill would require the certificates of merit to declare that the plaintiff's attorney is licensed to practice law in California and is in good standing with the State Bar. (3) Existing law authorizes a victim of childhood sexual assault who proves it was as the result of a cover up, as defined, to recover up to treble damages against the defendant who is found to have covered up the sexual assault, unless prohibited by another law. This bill would prohibit such treble damages from being imposed against a defendant that is a public entity. (4) Existing law prescribes the powers and duties of local legislative bodies. Under existing law, if a statute requires a local agency to take legislative action by resolution, and the local agency's charter requires it to take legislative action by ordinance, action by ordinance is compliant with the statute for all purposes. On or before December 1, 2027, this bill would require a local governmental body and a local educational agency, as those terms are defined, to each adopt codes of conduct and a sexual assault prevention plan that promote a safe environment for minors, as specified. The bill would require a local governmental body and a local educational agency to each adopt written policies, plans, or specifications regarding how grooming and sexual abuse concerns and risks will be reported. The bill would require a local governmental body to submit a copy of its adopted codes of conduct to the Attorney General on or before January 1, 2028, and would require the Attorney General to issue a report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2029, that lists, among other things, each local governmental body or local educational agency that has or has not complied with the requirements prescribed by this bill. The bill would provide that if a local governmental body or local educational agency is licensed or certified by a state agency to provide care or services to minors, the codes of conduct the agency must draft may not supersede the state laws or regulations enforced by the licensing or certifying agency. By imposing new duties on local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California (State Bar) , a public corporation governed by a board of trustees. Existing law subjects an attorney to discipline by the State Bar for violating the rules of professional conduct, among other acts, and it also subjects an attorney to civil penalties or criminal sanctions, including for unlawful solicitation, as specified. This bill would subject an attorney who brings a civil claim alleging childhood sexual assault in bad faith, as defined, to a civil penalty of $25,000 per violation. The bill would additionally authorize the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel to enforce those provisions. The bill would entitle a prevailing plaintiff in an action seeking this civil penalty to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs. (6) Existing law makes the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers confidential and not disclosable in any criminal or civil proceeding except through discovery, as specified. This limitation does not apply to investigations or proceedings concerning the conduct of such officers that are conducted by specified entities, such as a grand jury, a district attorney, or the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Beginning January 1, 2028, this bill would also exclude an investigation or proceeding conducted by the Division of the Ombudsperson of the Office of Youth and Community Restoration from this limitation. (7) In a civil action for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death, existing law prohibits the joint liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages, as defined. Existing law requires each defendant in such an action to be liable only for the amount of noneconomic damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault. In a civil action filed on or after January 1, 2027, alleging personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death against a public entity, this bill would also prohibit the joint liability of each public entity defendant for economic damages, as defined, unless the public entity is found to be more than 15% at fault. (8) Under existing law, bonds, warrants, contracts, obligations, and evidences of indebtedness, for the purpose of validating proceedings, are deemed to be in existence upon their authorization, as specified. This bill would provide that, for purposes of determining the validity of refunding bonds to refund a tort action judgment entered against a public agency, as specified, indebtedness is deemed to be in existence on the date of adoption by the governing body of the public agency of a resolution or ordinance, as specified. (9) Existing law permits a defendant or a cross-defendant in a civil proceeding under the Government Claims Act, or in any civil action for indemnity or contribution, to seek from the court, at the time of the granting of a motion for summary judgment, directed verdict, motion for judgment in a nonjury trial, or nonsuit dismissing the moving party other than the plaintiff, petitioner, cross-complainant, or intervenor, a determination of whether the plaintiff, petitioner, cross-complainant, or intervenor brought their proceeding in good faith and with reasonable cause. If the court determines that the proceeding was not brought in good faith or with reasonable cause, existing law requires the court to decide the reasonable and necessary defense costs incurred by the party opposing the proceeding and to render judgment in favor of that party. Existing law applies these provisions only if the defendant or cross-defendant has made a motion for summary judgment, a motion for directed verdict, a motion for judgment in a nonjury trial, or nonsuit. This bill would expand the above provision to apply to a motion for judgment on the pleadings or a demurrer brought by a defendant or cross-defendant. The bill would require a motion brought by a defendant or cross-defendant to identify the specific plaintiffs for which the court's determination, as described above, is sought. The bill would also prohibit an award of defense costs under these provisions against an attorney from being passed on to a client as a litigation cost. (10) Existing law, the California School Finance Authority Act, authorizes a participating party, as defined, in connection with securing financing or refinancing of a project, or working capital, as defined, to elect to provide for funding payments of bonds issued by the California School Finance Authority and related obligations by electing to participate in a state or local intercept, or both, by an action of its governing board. Existing law requires the Controller, the county treasurer, or other appropriate county fiscal officer, as applicable, upon receipt of written notice provided by the participating party, to make an apportionment or revenue transfer from specified moneys designated for apportionment to the participating party. This bill would provide a similar authorization to a participating party, as defined, in connection with securing financing, refinancing, or refunding of a public debt obligation, as defined, to elect to provide for funding payments of the public debt obligation by electing to participate in a state or local intercept, or both, by an action of its governing board. The bill would require the Controller, the county treasurer, or other appropriate county fiscal officer, as applicable, upon receipt of written notice provided by the participating party, to make an apportionment or revenue transfer from specified moneys designated for apportionment to the participating party, as provided. The bill would authorize, and not require, a county to participate in local intercepts under these provisions. The bill would require a participating party to certify the payment schedule, as specified. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (11) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district that determines during a fiscal year that its revenues are less than the amount necessary to meet its current year expenditure obligations to request an emergency apportionment through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, subject to specified requirements. Existing law prescribes the financing conditions on emergency apportionments, including a requirement for a school district to develop a schedule to repay the emergency loan, which the county superintendent of schools is required to review, comment on, and submit to the Superintendent for approval. Existing law authorizes emergency apportionments to be provided through an interim loan from the General Fund and lease financing to be made available by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, which is authorized to issue bonds for purposes of the emergency apportionments and related costs. Existing law prohibits the term of the lease from exceeding 20 years, except as specified. Existing law authorizes, as an alternative to lease financing, emergency apportionments to be provided from the General Fund. Existing law requires the emergency apportionment to be repaid within 20 years. This bill would require the school district to consult the county superintendent of schools and the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team in developing the repayment schedule and would require the county superintendent of schools to submit the repayment schedule to the Department of Finance, instead of the Superintendent, for approval. The bill would extend the maximum term of a lease or for repayment of an emergency apportionment to 30 years. The bill would require the determination of the term to be made by the Department of Finance, in consultation with the school district, the county superintendent of schools, the Superintendent, and the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team and would require the determination to take into consideration specified factors. To the extent the bill imposes new duties on county superintendents of schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (12) Existing law allows the Attorney General to assign an investigator upon request of a district attorney, sheriff, or chief of police, in any crime of statewide importance. This bill would require the Attorney General to investigate claims of systemic and longstanding sexual abuse of minors in specified juvenile detention centers operated by the County of Los Angeles and reports of fraudulent claims of sexual abuse of minors in, among others, the County of Los Angeles and the City of Santa Monica. The bill would require the Attorney General, by June 30, 2029, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature summarizing their investigative findings pursuant to these provisions. The bill would make these reporting provisions inoperative on January 1, 2031. (13) Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as "mandated reporters," to report known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. Existing law strongly encourages an employer of specific types of mandated reporters, and requires an employer of other types of mandated reporters, including an adult person whose duties require direct contact with and supervision of minors in performance of the minors' duties in the workplace, as specified, to provide their employees who are mandated reporters with training about their duties as a mandated reporter. Existing law requires that training to include training in child abuse and neglect identification. This bill would expand the list of employers that are required to provide this training to include those who employ, among others, peace officers, probation officers, and social workers, and would require that training to also include grooming behavior and sexual abuse risks. The bill would define "grooming behavior" for these purposes to mean a behavior that seeks to prepare, induce, or persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity or another form of exploitation. The bill would require an employer who is required to provide their employees with this training to ensure the employees take the training at least once every 2 years. By imposing new training requirements on local employees, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (14) Existing law establishes the California Child Welfare Council to serve as an advisory body responsible for improving the collaboration and processes of the multiple agencies and the courts that serve the children and youth in the child welfare and foster care systems. Existing law requires the council to monitor and report the extent to which child welfare and foster care programs and the courts are responsive to the needs of children in their joint care and issue advisory reports, no less frequently than annually, to the Governor, the Legislature, the Judicial Council, and the public. This bill would require the council, on or before July 1, 2028, to issue an advisory report that includes recommendations for policy changes that could aid in the prevention of sexual assault of minors in the custody or temporary care of public agencies or their contracted caregivers. The bill would require the council to transmit that report to the Governor and the Legislature, and make the report publicly available on a public-facing internet website. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on December 1, 2028, and would repeal those provisions as of January 1, 2029. (15) Existing law establishes the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson within the State Department of Social Services, and prescribes certain powers for the office relating to the management of foster children, including receiving complaints made by or on the behalf of children in foster care and the dissemination of information on the rights of children and youth in foster care. Existing law requires the office to compile and make available to the Legislature all specified data collected over the course of the year, including the number, type, and source of complaints made. This bill would require the office, on or before July 1, 2028, to develop a specified plan to strengthen independent oversight, monitoring, safety, and rights protections for children and nonminor dependents in foster care who are at risk of sexual abuse, grooming, exploitation, trafficking, or retaliation. The bill would require the office to submit a report, as specified, to the Legislature, by February 1, 2029, and publish the report on its internet website. This bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2028, to issue guidance to children's residential facilities that identifies best practices for preventing sexual abuse in such facilities. The bill would require all such facilities, on or before July 1, 2029, to have program statements that address responses to reports of sexual abuse, grooming, sexual exploitation, trafficking, retaliation, or interference when sexual abuse is alleged or suspected. (16) Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services to establish regulations for periodic inspections for various facilities, including foster family homes or certified family homes. Existing law specifies that every licensed community care facility, except for foster family homes, is subject to unannounced inspections by the department. This bill would require the department to place a children's residential facility, as defined, on enhanced monitoring, as specified, for not less than 12 months if 2 or more credible allegations within a 12-month period or 1 substantiated allegation are made involving certain conduct, including sexual abuse, grooming, sexual exploitation, or retaliation. The bill would require the department to, by January 10, 2028, and each year thereafter, update the Legislature regarding sexual safety in children's residential facilities. The bill would require the department to make these annual reports available on its public internet website. (17) Existing law establishes the Office of Youth and Community Restoration within the California Health and Human Services Agency. The office's mission is to promote trauma responsive, culturally informed services for youth involved in the juvenile justice system that support the youths' successful transition into adulthood and help them become responsible, thriving, and engaged members of their communities. Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system. This bill would require the office and the board to develop a plan to establish an oversight structure that ensures protections for youth in juvenile halls, camps, secure youth treatment facilities and other juvenile justice settings that are comparable to youth placed in licensed children's residential facilities. The bill would require the office and board to submit the plan to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2028, and to implement the plan on or before July 1, 2030. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11165.7 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 2478 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2478 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice that uses generative artificial intelligence to generate written or verbal patient communications pertaining to patient clinical information, as defined, to ensure that those communications include both (1) a disclaimer that indicates to the patient that a communication was generated by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, and (2) clear instructions describing how a patient may contact a human health care provider, employee, or other appropriate person. Existing law exempts from this requirement a communication read and reviewed by a human licensed or certified health care provider. This bill would require developers and deployers, as defined, of an artificial intelligence system that produces a prediction, classification, recommendation, evaluation, or analysis that aids decisionmaking related to diagnosis or treatment, known as a clinical decision support system, to make reasonable efforts to identify clinical decision support systems developed for use by deployers that are known or have a reasonably foreseeable risk for biased impacts resulting from deployment of the system in health programs or activities. The bill would require developers to make a statement describing the intended uses and known or reasonably foreseeable risks associated with the use of the clinical decision support system and certain documentation available to deployers, as specified. The bill would require developers to make reasonable efforts to mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risk for biased impacts resulting from use of the clinical decision support system in health programs or activities. The bill would require deployers to regularly monitor clinical decision support systems and take reasonable and proportionate steps to mitigate known or reasonably foreseeable risk of biased impacts. The bill would specify that a person, partnership, state or local governmental agency, or corporation may be both a developer and a deployer.
Existing law makes the violation of a county ordinance or a city ordinance a misdemeanor unless by ordinance it is made an infraction. Existing law specifies monetary fines for any violation of local ordinances that is an infraction, not to exceed specified amounts that vary based on the circumstances of the violation, as prescribed. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, authorize the county board of supervisors to impose fines, penalties, and forfeitures for violations of ordinances and to fix the penalty by a fine or imprisonment, or both. The bill would also establish the amount of the fine that may be imposed for the violation of a city or county ordinance, where the violation pertains to a nonresidential structure with a floor area of 20,000 or more square feet and the violation poses a threat to health and safety, to not exceed $1,000 for the first violation, $2,000 for the 2nd violation within 5 years of the first violation, and $5,000 for subsequent violations within 5 years of the first violation, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.
Existing federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude those compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments to tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would ratify the 2nd amendment to the tribal-state gaming compact entered into between the State of California and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians executed on August 4, 2026. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to this amended compact are not projects for the purposes of CEQA. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the California Cancer Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2034, would allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the continuously appropriated California Spinal Cord Injury Research Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund. By establishing a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would repeal its provisions on December 1, 2034, except as specified.
Under existing law, a county elections official is required to prepare a certified statement of the results of an election and submit it to the county board of supervisors within 30 days of the election. This bill would make it a felony, punishable by imprisonment for 16 months or 2 or 3 years, to seize or cause or assist in the seizure of ballots, election records, or certified voting technology before election results are certified by the elections official. The bill would also make it a felony punishable by imprisonment for 2, 3, or 4 years for any person with authority to direct another person subject to their supervision or authority to seize ballots, election records, or certified voting technology before election results are certified. By creating new crimes, 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.
Existing law establishes an accidental release prevention program for the state. Under that law, stationary sources subject to the accidental release prevention program may be required to prepare and submit a risk management plan (RMP) to prevent accidental releases of certain substances. Existing law imposes criminal penalties upon a stationary source that knowingly violates the requirements of the accidental release prevention program. This bill would state findings and declarations concerning refinery closures in California. The bill would establish the Refinery Safe Staffing Task Force to develop potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention at refineries and addressing employment dislocations associated with oil, gas, and related industries, with membership, as specified, appointed and commencing service no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would require the task force, no later than June 1, 2029, to present to the Legislature and make available online to the public a report documenting a wide range of potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention in the time period preceding refinery closure or long-term idling of a refinery, for ensuring safe operation in the event of understaffing, and for transitioning oil and gas workers into sectors that match their skills and experience. The bill would repeal the task force provisions on January 1, 2030.
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, for lien dates commencing on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2030, 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 the value of the units serving low- and moderate-income households, as defined. The bill would require an owner to make specified certifications relating to the use of the property. The bill would apply the exemption described above for a period of 15 years from the date of the initial filing of the exemption, as specified. 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 the above provisions are severable. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature to apply those requirements to the above-described exemption and would set forth specified information relating to those requirements. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Alameda and Sacramento and the City and County of San Francisco. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code proposed by AB 2089 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2089 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Existing law establishes the Department of Technology within the Government Operations Agency. Existing law requires the department to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency. Existing law generally regulates artificial intelligence, including the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, which, among other things related to the safety of certain artificial intelligence models, requires a large frontier developer to write, implement, comply with, and clearly and conspicuously publish on its internet website a frontier AI framework that applies to the large frontier developer's frontier models and describes how the large frontier developer approaches certain safety-related items. Existing law defines "artificial intelligence" as an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments. This bill would require the Government Operations Agency to, no later than January 1, 2029, establish an AI Auditor Registry on the agency's internet website allowing AI auditors to register with the agency and allowing natural persons to report misconduct by a registered AI auditor, and require the agency to fix annual registration fees, as specified. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2029, prohibit an unregistered person from offering, selling, or conducting a covered AI audit, as defined, and would require the agency to, among other things, issue a unique registration number to each registered AI auditor and publish information provided by a registered AI auditor on the agency's internet website. The bill would require the registration number of a registered AI auditor to be clearly and conspicuously displayed on all advertising materials offering or soliciting covered AI audit services. The bill would authorize the agency to adopt regulations that are reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill. This bill would require an AI auditor that registers with the agency to provide specified information to the agency and would impose various requirements on a registered AI auditor that conducts a covered AI audit, including, among other things, providing the auditee with a report that includes a signed and dated statement indicating that the audit was conducted according to the provisions of this bill. This bill would require a registered AI auditor to adhere to various standards of independence, objectivity, and integrity, including not seeking, soliciting, negotiating for, or accepting employment with an auditee while participating in the audit and not conducting a covered AI audit if the auditor has a financial, business, employment, or other interest or relationship that would reasonably be expected to impair the auditor's independence or objectivity. The bill would prohibit a registered AI auditor from preventing an employee from engaging in, or from retaliating against an employee who has engaged in, specified whistleblower activity. The bill would authorize the agency to investigate alleged violations of the bill, as specified, and provide that a violation constitutes grounds for removal from the registry and referral to the Attorney General or other appropriate enforcement authority. This bill would create the AI Auditors' Registration Fund within the State Treasury, to be administered by the agency, and would require that all moneys collected or received by the agency pursuant to the above-described provisions be deposited into the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to administer the above-described provisions. Existing law establishes the California Board of Accountancy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to license and regulate accountants in this state. This bill would exempt a registered AI auditor licensed or authorized to practice public accountancy and a firm holding a permit to practice public accountancy issued by the California Board of Accountancy, as specified, from complying with certain requirements related to reporting information to the agency and standards of independence, objectivity, and integrity under the bill if certain requirements are met. The bill would require the Government Operations Agency to, if the agency determines that a certified public accountant, public accountant, or accounting firm in good standing has violated this bill, notify the accountant or firm and the California Board of Accountancy in writing, and would require the board to investigate the complaint and provide the agency with a report of its findings and any resulting action.
Existing law authorizes a state agency administering a grant program or contract to advance a payment to a recipient entity, subject to specified requirements. Existing law defines "recipient entity" for these purposes to mean a private, nonprofit organization qualified under federal law, or a federally recognized Indian tribe whose territorial boundaries lie wholly or partially within the State of California, as specified. Existing law requires the administering state agency, among other things, to prioritize recipient entities and projects serving disadvantaged, low-income, and underresourced communities, to stipulate an advance payment structure and request process within the grant agreement or contract, and to ensure an advance payment to the recipient entity does not exceed 25% of the total grant or contract amount, except as specified. Existing law requires recipient entities to satisfy specified minimum requirements, including submitting prescribed documentation, providing progress reports on the expenditure of advanced funds no less than on a quarterly basis, and depositing any funds received as an advance payment into a federally insured account, as specified. This bill would expand the definition of "recipient entity" to include a private, nonprofit organization qualified under state law and would limit the requirement to prioritize recipient entities and projects to grants and contracts advertised before January 1, 2026. The bill would eliminate the requirement to stipulate an advance payment structure and request process. The bill would limit the above-described documentation and federally insured account requirements to apply only to grants and contracts in excess of $10,000 and, for grants or contracts less than $10,000, would instead require recipient entities to provide the above-described progress reports no less than annually. The bill would revise and recast the above-described authorization for an administering state agency to instead require the agency to advance a payment to an eligible recipient entity in accordance with the above requirements for any grants and contracts advertised on or after January 1, 2027, with a total award value of $150,000 or less, receiving an initial disbursement of 25 percent of the total award that meets one or more of specified criteria. The bill would authorize an administering state agency to distribute advance payments in multiple installments over the course of the grant or contract term and would authorize a recipient entity to request subsequent advance payment installments, as provided. This bill would authorize an administering state agency to opt out of the default advance payment requirement for a specific funding opportunity if the agency determines it would create an irreconcilable conflict with federal law, bond requirements, or a documented high-risk profile of the specific program. To exercise the opt-out, the bill would require the agency to follow prescribed procedures, including clearly stating in the grant solicitation or request for proposal that advance payment is not available for that specific opportunity. Existing law requires each state agency to register every grant the state agency administers with the California State Library prior to commencing a solicitation or award process for distribution of the grant, and to provide specified information that assists the California State Library with cataloging the distribution of grants and provides potential applicants with understandable and consistent information about available funding opportunities. This bill would require a state agency to include within the information submitted to the California State Library, the percentage of the grant funds that may be distributed as an advance payment. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the Strategic Growth Council, in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Department of General Services, to develop a Statewide Advance Funds and Reconciliation Guide (Master Guide) , as specified. The bill would require the Department of General Services to actively promote the Master Guide across state agencies and would require every state agency to adopt the Master Guide as its standard operating procedure for the disbursement, tracking, and reconciliation of advance payments, as provided.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including imposing reporting requirements on elected officials and campaign committees. The act defines a behested payment as a payment that is made at the behest of a committee, an elected officer, a member of the Public Utilities Commission, or an agent thereof, under specified circumstances, including a payment that is made principally for personal, charitable, legislative, or governmental purposes. Under the act, elected officials and members of the Public Utilities Commission are required to report behested payments within 30 days of the payment or payments exceeding $5,000 in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made. All subsequent behested payments for the calendar year made by that source must be disclosed within 30 days after the date the threshold was reached or the payment was made, whichever occurs later. The act exempts a behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission from these reporting obligations if they make a public appeal for payment by television, radio, billboard, public message on an online platform, or a public speech, except as specified. This bill would instead require elected officials and members of the Public Utilities Commission to report behested payments within 30 days of the end of the calendar quarter, if the payment or payments exceed $5,000 in the aggregate from the same source in the same calendar year in which they are made. After the initial behested payment report has been filed, the bill would require that subsequent behested payments for the calendar year made by that source be reported within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter each time those payments equal or exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) in the aggregate. This bill would additionally require the behested payment report to include (1) if the payee is a nonprofit organization, a brief description of any relationship, as specified, of the nonprofit organization to the behesting officer, or a member of their immediate family, or member of their campaign or officeholder staff and (2) a brief description of any proceeding before the behesting officer at the time of a reported payment or within the 12 months before the reported payment in which the payer is the named party or subject of the decision, as specified. This bill would authorize a behesting officer to satisfy these reporting obligations by providing a good faith estimate of a behested payment amount, payment date, or both, if certain conditions are met, including that the elected officer or Public Utilities Commission member practiced reasonable efforts to obtain the required information and is unable to ascertain the exact amount or date of the behested payment from the payee before the reporting deadline. Existing law requires these behested payment reports to be filed by the behesting officer or member of the Public Utilities Commission with the officer's or member's agency. This bill would require these reports to be filed using the commission's electronic filing system for behested payment reports, and would require the filing system to issue an electronic confirmation to the filer immediately upon receipt of the report. The bill would permit an elected officer of a local government to file directly with their local filing officer if all behested payment reports filed by elected officers are posted publicly on the internet website of the local government within 10 days of receipt, as specified. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. By expanding the information required in a behested payment report, the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime and 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, the Mobilehome Residency Law, prescribes various terms and conditions of tenancies in mobilehome parks. The law deems the substantial failure of the management of a mobilehome park, as defined, to provide and maintain physical improvements in the common facilities in good working order and condition, and the substantial violation of a mobilehome park rule, to be a public nuisance that may be remedied only by a civil action or abatement, as specified. The law authorizes a civil action for purposes of that provision to be brought by, among others, the Attorney General. Existing law establishes within the Department of Housing and Community Development the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program, which authorizes additional enforcement measures for violations of the Mobilehome Residency Law. Existing law requires the department to refer any alleged violations of law or regulations within the department's jurisdiction to the Division of Codes and Standards within the department, and to refer any alleged violations of law or regulations that are not within the jurisdiction of the department, as specified, to the appropriate enforcement agency. This bill would require the department to additionally refer alleged violations of the Mobilehome Residency Law, certain laws relating to the conversion or closure of a mobilehome park, and related local government ordinances to a nonprofit legal services provider within 5 days of receipt. Existing law authorizes the department to refer alleged violations of law or regulations that are not within the jurisdiction of the department, including, but not limited to, rent disputes, criminal activity, or alleged discrimination, to the appropriate enforcement agency. This bill would authorize the department to also refer alleged violations of a local ordinance to the appropriate enforcement agency. Existing law requires the department to contract with one or more qualified and experienced nonprofit legal services providers for purposes of the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program and to refer complaints to those providers for possible enforcement action. Existing law establishes minimum requirements for nonprofit legal services providers that may contract with the department for these purposes. This bill would instead require the department to develop a grant process to distribute funds to those nonprofit legal services providers and to refer program complaints to those providers for possible enforcement action. The bill would require that grant process to be fully developed and operational for program complaints by July 1, 2029. The bill would require nonprofit legal services providers, in order to receive a grant, to meet the same requirements applicable to a provider contracting with the department under existing law. The bill would specify that these provisions do not interfere with or replace any existing contracts or commitments between the department and any legal services provider entered into before the grant program is operational. Existing law creates the Mobilehome Dispute Resolution Fund, as specified, and requires moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of implementing the program. This bill would require moneys in the fund to be made available to the department or to the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of implementing the program. The bill would require the Attorney General to use funds appropriated to it as necessary to perform duties related to enforcing the alleged violations described above. Existing law requires the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature outlining, among other things, the amount of registration fees collected and the amount expended on the program. This bill would additionally require the department to include the amount expended by the Attorney General, as specified, and the number of complaint allegations referred to the Attorney General, as specified, in the annual report. Existing law repeals the above-described provisions relating to the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program on January 1, 2027. This bill would extend that repeal date to June 30, 2033.
