Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including telephone corporations, and to fix just and reasonable rates and charges for public utilities. Existing law establishes the state's 6 universal service funds in the State Treasury, including the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund (CHCF-A) and the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund (CHCF-B) , and provides that moneys in each of the state's universal service funds are the proceeds of rates and are held in trust for the benefit of ratepayers and to compensate telephone corporations for their costs of providing universal service. Moneys in the funds may only be expended to accomplish specified telecommunications universal service programs, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon supplemental appropriation. Existing law, the CHCF-A program, until January 1, 2028, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable program to establish a fair and equitable local rate structure aided by universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations that serve rural areas and are subject to rate-of-return regulation by the commission. Existing law, the CHCF-B program, until January 1, 2028, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission. This bill would extend the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program requirements to January 1, 2033. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program, which would be extended under the provisions of this bill, are part of the act, and a violation of a commission action implementing the programs' requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that 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 requires the State Registrar to establish a new birth certificate upon receipt of a report of adoption or a readoption order, as specified. This bill would require the State Registrar to establish a new birth certificate pursuant to the provisions above within 11 weeks upon receipt of a report of adoption or a readoption order. If the State Registrar determines that the report of adoption or readoption order is incomplete, the bill would require the State Registrar to notify the court that issued the report of adoption or readoption order, or the applicant as the State Registrar deems necessary, within 14 weeks requesting the required documentation, and would require the State Registrar to establish a new birth certificate within 11 weeks of receipt of the required documentation. If the required documentation is not received within 90 calendar days after the court or applicant is notified, the bill would authorize the State Registrar to return the incomplete report of adoption or readoption order to the applicant for resubmission.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth a schedule of benefits covered under the Medi-Cal program, including acupuncture, but only to the extent that federal matching funds are provided for acupuncture. Under this bill, acupuncture would instead be a covered Medi-Cal benefit subject to utilization controls and the availability of federal financial participation. The bill would, if federal financial participation is not available for coverage of acupuncture services, make acupuncture a covered benefit subject to an appropriation and utilization controls. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 1949 and AB 350 to be operative only if this bill and either or both AB 1949 and AB 350 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires a prosecuting attorney to disclose to the defendant or their attorney all relevant real evidence seized or obtained as a part of the investigation of the offenses charged that is in the possession of the prosecuting attorney or known to be in the possession of the investigating agencies. Existing law requires the disclosures to be made at least 30 days prior to the trial, unless good cause is shown why a disclosure should be denied, restricted, or deferred. Existing law prohibits an attorney from disclosing or permitting to be disclosed to a defendant, members of the defendant's family, or anyone else copies of child pornography evidence, unless specifically permitted to do so by the court after a hearing and a showing of good cause. Existing law authorizes an attorney to disclose or permit to be disclosed copies of child pornography evidence to persons employed by the attorney or to persons appointed by the court to assist in the preparation of a defendant's case if that disclosure is required for that preparation. This bill would require the court, in specified criminal cases involving sexually explicit material depicting an adult victim, to issue a protective order governing the disclosure of that material, with conditions sufficient to safeguard the victim's privacy, prevent unnecessary copying, transmission, or dissemination of the material, and ensure the defendant's right to a fair trial and a meaningful opportunity to participate in their own defense. This bill would, if the court issues that protective order, prohibit the parties from disclosing to any person copies of sexually explicit material depicting an adult victim, unless specifically permitted to do so by the protective order. The bill would authorize an attorney for any party to disclose or permit to be disclosed copies of sexually explicit material depicting an adult victim subject to the protective order, to a person necessary for the preparation of the case, including the defendant. The bill would, if a party receives any other sexually explicit material of the adult victim, require the party to notify the court for inclusion of the material in any existing protective order, or inclusion in a new or separate protective order. By increasing duties on local prosecutors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would clarify that these provisions do not relieve the prosecution from the duty to disclose the existence of any relevant or exculpatory evidence nor affect the admissibility of any relevant evidence in court. 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 the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, on or before January 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, to submit an assessment to the Legislature that, among other things, identifies methods to ensure a reliable supply of affordable and safe transportation fuels in California and evaluates the price of transportation fuels, including branded and unbranded retail prices, alternate formulations of gasoline with lower carbon impact, and other products suitable for production from refineries in California, as provided. Existing law establishes the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight within the commission to, among other things, provide independent oversight and analysis of the transportation fuels market for the protection of consumers by identifying market design flaws, market power abuses, and any other manner by which market participants act to harm competition or act contrary to the best interests of the consumers in the state. Existing law requires the director of the division, when requested, to appear before the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature to provide an update on the division's performance as compared to its objectives, the status of competition in the transportation fuels markets, and other information the committees request. This bill would require the commission, on or before January 31, 2029, to seek to enter into memoranda of understanding with relevant air districts and local governments with transportation fuels refining facilities within their jurisdictions, as identified by the commission, to enable the further coordination that is needed to support management of the transportation fuels sector and to ensure the transportation fuels sector is successfully managed and maintains environmental, public health, labor, economic, and consumer protections.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, exists for the purpose of assuring safe and healthful working conditions for all California workers by authorizing the enforcement of effective standards, assisting and encouraging employers to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, and providing for research, information, education, training, and enforcement in the field of occupational safety and health. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations for the adoption of occupational safety and health standards and establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in that department for the enforcement of those occupational safety and health standards, as prescribed. This bill would require the division, on or before January 1, 2030, to propose to the standards board, for its consideration and possible adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who risk high or prolonged exposure to transboundary pollution, as defined, in outdoor occupational environments, as specified. The bill would require the division to consider identifying an exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide at which acute or chronic health effects occur to reference in the standards and may consider exposure thresholds for other relevant pollutants. The bill would authorize the division to develop the standard in consultation with other specified groups. The bill would authorize the standards board to adopt emergency regulations to implement these provisions.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, when adopting instructional materials for use in school, to include relevant technology-based materials, defined for these purposes to mean basic or supplemental instructional materials that are designed for use by pupils and teachers as learning resources and that require the availability of electronic equipment in order to be used as a learning resource, and including the electronic equipment required to make use of those materials used by pupils and teachers as a learning resource, including, but not limited to, laptop computers and devices that provide internet access. Existing law prohibits a school official from requiring a pupil to purchase any instructional materials for the pupil's use in the school, except as provided. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, this bill would prohibit, unless necessary under a specified circumstance, a school district, county office of education, or charter school from requiring a pupil in kindergarten, including a pupil in transitional kindergarten, to take home a school-issued electronic device, as defined, except that a local educational agency may authorize those pupils to take home a school-issued electronic device. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to regularly review and update their policies related to pupils' screen time and, in conducting that review, to solicit input from, among others, currently employed teachers and school administrators. This bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2027, to (1) curate and maintain on its internet website resources for age-appropriate screen time and electronic device use in schools and guidance on how to transition take-home school-issued electronic devices into dedicated classroom-based electronic devices and how to participate in e-waste recycling or buy-back programs, and (2) take into consideration when curating the resources and guidance, among other things, developmentally appropriate screen exposure time at each grade level.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to conduct a program of epidemiological assessments of the incidence of cancer. Existing law requires specified entities providing specified services to cancer patients, including hospitals, practitioners, and laboratories, to report each case of cancer to the department, as specified. This bill would require a hospital or other facility that provides therapy to a cancer patient within an area designated as a cancer reporting area to post a sign, developed by the department, in a conspicuous location that contains an advisement about cancer data reporting and a quick response code that links to the California Cancer Registry internet website.
Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act (act) , requires the State Department of Social Services to license, inspect, and regulate residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined, and imposes criminal penalties on a person who violates the act or who willfully or repeatedly violates any rule or regulation adopted under the act. Existing law authorizes the department to also impose civil penalties for violations of the act. Existing law gives residents of those facilities specified rights, including, but not limited to, the right to be free from neglect, financial exploitation, involuntary seclusion, and verbal, mental, or physical abuse. Beginning July 1, 2029, this bill would require the department, when a licensee is cited for a deficiency that constitutes abuse in violation of a resident's rights, to categorize the type of abuse. The bill would describe the categories of abuse, including physical abuse and abandonment, among others and would require that the category of abuse be listed on a public-facing database maintained by the department.
Existing law makes it a crime to engage in money laundering, defined as conducting a transaction involving a monetary instrument of specified value through a financial institution with the specific intent to promote or facilitate criminal activity or knowing that the monetary instrument represents the proceeds of or is derived from the proceeds of criminal activity. Existing law establishes the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund in the State Treasury, to provide funding to compensate victims of crime. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, expand the crime of money laundering to include conducting a transaction involving a monetary instrument of specified value using digital assets, as defined. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the California Control of Profits of Organized Crime Act, establishes a procedure for the forfeiture of property and proceeds acquired through a pattern of criminal profiteering activity, as defined, upon the conviction of the underlying criminal offense, including money laundering, and requires the prosecuting agency to file a petition of forfeiture in conjunction with certain criminal proceedings. Existing law authorizes any person claiming an interest in property or proceeds subject to forfeiture to file with the superior court in which the forfeiture action is pending a verified claim stating their interest in the property or proceeds, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, authorize a law enforcement officer or prosecuting agency, as defined, to obtain a search warrant to seize digital assets or wallets, accounts, or similar things containing digital assets (collectively "digital assets") upon a showing of probable cause that the digital assets contain proceeds of a crime or proceeds traceable to a crime or have been used to facilitate a crime. The bill would require the search warrant to specify any centralized exchanges, custodians of digital assets, addresses, or other locations from which the digital assets will be seized, to describe how the warrant will be served, and to specify the amount of digital assets to be seized, as specified. The bill would authorize, within 180 days of any seizure, a prosecuting agency to initiate a special proceeding to forfeit the seized digital assets, including providing notice to all readily ascertainable potential owners of the digital assets and anyone with a known security interest. The bill would require any person with a claim to the seized digital assets to file a verified claim under penalty of perjury and supported by admissible evidence within 30 days of the date of service of the notice from the prosecuting agency, as specified. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide a process for a court to adjudicate and resolve these verified claims, as specified. The bill would require the court, after all the claims are resolved, to issue a final judgment forfeiting the remaining digital assets and would provide a process for a prosecuting agency to distribute the remaining digital assets to victims, as specified. The bill would require any digital assets not distributed to victims to be kept in the custody of law enforcement or prosecuting agency for a maximum of 3 years, after which the forfeited assets would be deposited into the Restitution Fund for the purpose of providing victim services. By expanding the revenue sources of a continuously appropriated fund, and by expanding the purposes for which moneys in a continuously appropriated fund may be used, the bill would make an appropriation. 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 federal law provides for the allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law requires an unrelated adult male who resides with a family who is applying for or receiving aid from the CalWORKs program to make a financial contribution to the family, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2027, or a later date, as specified, repeal the above-described provisions requiring an unrelated adult male who resides with a family applying for or receiving aid from the CalWORKs program to make a financial contribution to the family. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific, this change by means of all-county letters, or similar written instructions, until regulations are adopted. By expanding eligibility for the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to conduct examinations of insurers whenever they deem it appropriate, or for admitted insurers, at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the examiner in charge to file a verified written report of the examination with the department. Existing law requires the department to transmit that report to the company examined with a notice that the company has 30 days to make a written submission or rebuttal to any matters contained in the report. Existing law requires the commissioner, within 30 days of the end of the period allowed for the company to reply, to fully consider the report and any submissions and either adopt the report as filed, with modifications, or reject the report with an order to reopen the examination. This bill would require an examined company to take corrective actions to remediate violations of specified laws and regulations identified in the report. The bill would require a company that fails to adopt the necessary corrective actions to be subject to a penalty. The bill would authorize the company to request an additional extension to comply in specified circumstances. The bill would require the commissioner, if the commissioner has reason to believe that a company has not complied with a recommendation in the report, to issue and serve an order to show cause on the company with a statement of the charges, its potential liability, and a notice of hearing. If the charges are found to be justified, the bill would require the commissioner to issue an order requiring the company to pay a specified penalty and to comply with and implement the recommendations contained in the report. The bill would require the hearing be held in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act and would state that these powers would be additional to any other powers currently vested in the commissioner to enforce the provisions of this code.
