Existing law declares that it is in the interest of the people and of the state to ensure that all people have free and convenient access to all library resources and services that might enrich their lives regardless of where they live or of the tax base of their local government. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, prohibit a public library from requiring the presence of a parent or guardian for the issuance of a library card to a California resident who is 16 or 17 years of age. The bill would authorize a public library to require a parent's or guardian's consent or signature for the issuance of a library card to a California resident who is 16 or 17 years of age unless the minor is emancipated. To the extent this bill would add to the duties of public libraries, 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, 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 every city, county, or city and county, whether general law or chartered, that requires the issuance of a permit as a condition precedent to the construction, alteration, improvement, demolition, or repair of any building or structure, to require the execution of a permit application, as specified. Existing law permits a local agency, defined as a city, county, or city and county, to authorize its enforcement agency to contract with or employ a private entity or persons on a temporary basis to perform plan-checking functions for a nonresidential building, but the local agency is not required to do so if it determines that no entities or persons are available or qualified to perform plan-checking services. Under existing law, when there is an excessive delay, as defined, in checking plans submitted as part of an application for specified nonresidential projects, a local agency is required to, upon request of the applicant, contract with or employ a private entity or persons on a temporary basis to perform the plan-checking function. Existing law defines "excessive delay" to mean, among other things, the local agency has taken more than 50 days to check plans and specifications, as provided. This bill would, until January 1, 2032, revise and recast the above-described provisions related to private plan checking. The bill would, upon receipt of a complete application for a nonresidential building permit, require the city or county to provide the applicant with an estimated timeframe in which it will determine if the completed application is compliant with permit standards. This bill would require the local agency to, upon an applicant's request, contract with or employ a private plan-checking entity if the estimated timeframe would result in an excessive delay or if there is excessive delay by the local agency. The bill would prohibit a local agency from reducing, eliminating, or failing to fill budgeted civil service positions within the building department as a result of the use of private professional providers, as provided. If the local agency determines no private entities or persons are available or qualified to perform plan-checking services, the bill would authorize the applicant to retain, at their sole expense, a private professional provider, as specified. The bill would shorten the timeframe constituting an "excessive delay" from 50 days to 30 business days. This bill would require an applicant who retains a private professional provider to notify the city or county of their intent to retain the private professional provider within a prescribed timeframe. If a private professional provider performs the plan-checking function, the bill would impose additional requirements, including, among other things, requiring the private professional provider to prepare a specified affidavit, under penalty of perjury, and the applicant to submit to the city or county a specified report of the plan check. This bill would require the city or county, within 10 business days of receiving the report, to consider the report and, based on the report, either issue the residential building permit, as provided, or notify the applicant that, according to the report prepared by the private professional provider, the plans and specifications do not comply, as specified. If the city or county notifies the applicant that the plans and specifications do not comply, the bill would authorize the applicant to resubmit corrected plans and specifications to the city or county, as specified. The bill would authorize a city or county to adopt requirements that limit the size of an eligible nonresidential building, as provided, or specify the eligible types of businesses or occupancy, provided that the requirements do not prohibit or effectively prohibit the use of a private professional provider as authorized by the bill. Existing law, the Government Claims Act, establishes the liability and immunity of a public entity for its acts or omissions that cause harm to persons. Where a public entity is under a mandatory duty imposed by an enactment that is designed to protect against the risk of a particular kind of injury, existing law imposes liability upon the public entity for an injury of that kind proximately caused by its failure to discharge the duty unless the public entity establishes that it exercised reasonable diligence to discharge the duty. This bill would, notwithstanding existing public entity liability provisions, grant a public entity immunity from liability for an injury caused by their discretionary or ministerial acts or omissions relating to the issuance or denial of any nonresidential building permit pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill would require the applicant to enter into an agreement to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the local agency and its agents, officers, and employees from any claim, action, or proceeding brought against the local agency or its agents, officers, or employees relating to any property damage or personal injury arising from construction in accordance with the plans checked by a private professional provider under the bill's provisions. Existing law permits the governing body of any county or city, including a charter city, to adopt an ordinance prescribing fees for filing applications for specified building permits, as provided. This bill would broaden the above-described permission and require a county or city that prescribes fees for a nonresidential building permit to prepare a nonresidential building permit fee schedule and post the schedule on the county's or city's internet website. This bill would additionally require a local building department to conduct an inspection of the permitted work for specified new nonresidential buildings or structures within 10 business days of receiving a notice of the completion of the permitted work authorized by a building permit issued for those projects. By expanding the crime of perjury, and by imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include related findings and declarations. 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. 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 specified reasons.
Existing law imposes various fees, contingent upon a criminal arrest, prosecution, or conviction, for the cost of administering the criminal justice system, including traffic violator school fees, costs for when a minor is adjudged a ward of the court, as specified, or costs incurred by a state or local agency for the disposal of various substances if the person is convicted of the sale, possession, or transportation of a controlled substance, as specified. This bill would repeal the authority to collect many of those fees, among others. The bill would make the unpaid balance of most court-imposed costs unenforceable and uncollectible and would require any portion of a judgment imposed by those costs to be vacated. The bill would relieve a person who is sentenced to state prison or confined in a county jail from being required to pay any trial court filing fees or costs related to the person's underlying criminal conviction. The bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would also make various conforming changes.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate various health facilities, including general acute care hospitals. Existing law requires the department to issue a special permit, in addition to a license, to a health facility to offer one or more special services, such as an emergency center, if specified requirements are met, including that the department finds that the standards of care and services are adequate and appropriate. Existing law requires the department to issue a special permit to allow a general acute care hospital to offer emergency stabilization services at a location that is neither inside nor contiguous to the applicant hospital if the hospital provides satisfactory evidence to the department that, among other things, the hospital has a written transfer agreement with the hospital closest to the location where emergency stabilization services will be provided and satisfactory evidence to the department that this location meets certain requirements, including that the location is in the town of Paradise within the County of Butte and serves the same area previously served by Feather River Hospital. This bill would require the department to issue a waiver, as specified, to a publicly owned and operated general acute care hospital, in collaboration with Del Puerto Health Care District, to operate one rural emergency stabilization care unit and waive designated general acute care hospital licensure requirements if specified conditions are met. The bill would limit the term of the waiver based on prescribed factors, including the completion of a hospital build within a 5-mile radius of the emergency stabilization care unit or within 10 years from the initial issuance of the waiver, except as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Del Puerto Health Care District.
Existing law, as amended by the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes the district attorney to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction in a case in which a minor is alleged to have committed a felony when the minor was 16 years of age or older, or in a case in which a specified serious offense is alleged to have been committed by a minor when the minor was 14 or 15 years of age, but the minor was not apprehended prior to the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. This bill would, consistent with the intent of Proposition 57, authorize the district attorney to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction when the minor is alleged to have committed certain specified offenses when the minor was 14 or 15 years of age and was previously convicted in a court of criminal jurisdiction and is now subject to resentencing in juvenile court pursuant to specified provisions.
(1) Existing law prohibits a for-hire vessel from operating or navigating on the waters of this state, except as provided. A violation of this prohibition is a crime. Existing law defines "for-hire vessel" to include any vessel propelled by machinery carrying more than 3 passengers for hire, except as provided. This bill would instead define "for-hire vessel" to include any vessel propelled by machinery carrying one or more passengers for hire, except as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Under existing law, failure of an operator of a vessel involved in towing a skier to display or cause to be displayed a ski flag, as provided, is an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding $15. This bill would additionally make a failure of an operator of a vessel to display or cause to be displayed a ski flag to indicate a swimmer in the vicinity of the vessel an infraction punishable by a fine not exceeding $15, as specified. By expanding the scope of an infraction, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires a vessel that is not required to have and does not have a valid marine document issued by a federal agency and that uses the waters or is on the waters of this state to be numbered in accordance with applicable state or federal law. A violation of this requirement is an infraction. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to provide a number for a vessel upon registration. This bill would, from January 1, 2028, until January 1, 2034, and to the extent permissible under federal law, require every recreational vessel, as defined, using the waters or on the waters of this state to be registered with the department. The bill would require the owner of a vessel that is required to or that has a valid marine document issued by a federal agency to obtain a decal from the department if the vessel remains in California waters for more than 60 days, and to display it on the vessel if the vessel remains in California waters for more than 90 days, as specified. By expanding the scope of an infraction, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) In a case in which a person is charged with driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, existing law prohibits a court from either staying or suspending the proceedings for the purpose of allowing the accused person to attend or participate in, or entertaining dismissal of the proceedings because the accused person attends or participates in, education, training, or treatment programs, as provided. This bill would similarly prohibit a court from staying, suspending, or entertaining dismissal of the proceedings of a case in which a person is charged with operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as specified. (5) Existing law authorizes a peace officer to prepare a written notice to appear when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that a person involved in a traffic accident has violated a traffic law and that the violation was a factor in the occurrence of the traffic accident, as provided. This bill would similarly authorize a peace officer to prepare a written notice to appear when the officer has reasonable cause to believe that a person involved in a vessel accident has violated a boating law and that the violation was a factor in the occurrence of the vessel accident, as provided. (6) 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 Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend by majority vote certain provisions of the act to implement specified substantive provisions, provided that the amendments are consistent with and further the purposes and intent of AUMA. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cannabis Control, including retail commercial cannabis activity. MAUCRSA prohibits a person engaged in commercial cannabis activity, whether licensed or unlicensed, from engaging in specified advertising or marketing activities, including publishing or disseminating advertising or marketing that is attractive to children. MAUCRSA also places specified requirements on the packaging and labeling of cannabis and cannabis products, including prohibiting packages and labels from being made to be attractive to children. This bill, commencing January 1, 2028, would define "attractive to children" to mean designed or likely to appeal to individuals under 21 years of age, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations to address additional packaging and labeling design elements or product characteristics that pose heightened risk to children. The bill would require the department to develop compliance assessment resources to assist licensees in self-evaluating whether packaging or labeling is attractive to children.
Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to establish reasonable fees for the registration of any person advertising, soliciting, or operating as a pest control business and limits the registration fee of certain pest control businesses to the amount necessary to cover the costs of registration, not to exceed $25. This bill would raise the maximum total registration fee amount from $25 to $75 for a pest control business to register in its home county and to $50 to register in an additional county, as provided. Existing law authorizes county boards of supervisors to set fees for registration to cover the cost of registering pest control aircraft pilots and pest control advisers, and limits those fees to no more than $10 per year for a pilot who registers in person in the county in which they intend to work and for an adviser who registers in person in the county listed in the adviser's address on a specified license or the county of occupational choice, and no more than $5 per year for a pilot or adviser already registered in a county to register in an additional county, as provided. This bill would raise the maximum total registration fee amount for a pest control aircraft pilot and pest control adviser to register in their home county and in an additional county, as specified. Existing law requires certain licensed structural pest control operator qualifying managers and Structural Pest Control Board registered companies to register with the county agricultural commissioner before operating a structural pest control business in the county. Existing law authorizes county boards of supervisors to require a registration fee not to exceed the actual cost of processing the registration or $10, whichever is less. This bill would raise the maximum total registration fee amount for a Structural Pest Control Board registered company to register in its home county and in an additional county, as specified. Existing law prohibits certain licensed structural pest controller licensees, as provided, from conducting fumigations in any county unless that person has also registered for the current calendar year with the county agricultural commissioner in that county, as provided. Existing law requires the county boards of supervisors to set that registration fee and for that fee not to exceed the cost of processing the registration or $25, whichever is less. Existing law authorizes structural pest control operators and field representatives to be added during the year and limits the fee for adding those operators and field representatives to the actual cost of processing the registration or $10, whichever is less. This bill would raise the maximum total registration fee amount for a Structural Pest Control Board registered company to register in its home county and in an additional county, as specified.
Existing law, the Corporation Tax Law, exempts organizations that are organized and operated for nonprofit purposes, as specified, from taxes imposed by that law if the Franchise Tax Board issues a determination exempting the organization from tax, except as provided. To receive a determination of exemption from the board, existing law requires the organization to either submit an application for exemption or to submit documentation of exemption from federal income tax law, as provided. For organizations that submit documentation of their federal exemption, existing law requires the board to suspend or revoke, as applicable, an organization's state exemption upon notification that the organization's federal exemption is suspended or revoked. This bill would instead authorize the board, in its discretion, to retain the organization's tax-exempt status for state income tax purposes if it determines this suspension or revocation occurred for reasons other than fraud, intentional misrepresentation, misuse or diversion of organizational funds, failure to file necessary returns or reports, or other breaches of organizational reporting or governance requirements. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or a corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, except as provided. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions that results in economic loss or personal injury punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law deems a business that offers a mental health digital service or reproductive or sexual health digital service to a consumer for the purpose of allowing the individual to manage the individual's information, or for the diagnosis, treatment, or management of a medical condition of the individual, to be a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA. The bill would additionally deem a business that offers a health care chatbot, as defined, to a consumer for the above-described purposes to be a provider of health care subject to the requirements of the CMIA. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 a disclaimer that indicates to the patient that a communication was generated by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, and clear instructions describing how a patient may contact a human health care provider, employee, or other appropriate person, except as specified. This bill would require a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice to take reasonable steps to ensure that a licensed health care professional, acting within their scope of practice, retains the ability to exercise independent professional judgment in their care of a patient whenever that care is informed by the output of a clinical decision support system, as defined. The bill would prohibit a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice from using or deploying a tool, system, or device that includes artificial intelligence to independently perform any clinical function that is required by law to be performed by a person with a professional license. The bill would make a violation of these provisions by a physician subject to the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. The bill would also authorize the appropriate professional licensing board to pursue an injunction or restraining order to enforce these provisions to the extent that a violation constitutes the practice of a health care profession without a license. The bill would specify that these provisions do not apply to the use of automated decision systems for documentation and communication that does not involve the application of professional judgment, including automated messages to inform patients of updates to their health records. (3) 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.
Under existing law, various election materials, including ballots, voter rosters, and related documents, must be maintained for a certain amount of time following an election. If an election contest or criminal prosecution has been commenced before the date voted ballots will be destroyed, the ballots may not be destroyed until after final determination of the contest or prosecution. This bill would expand that provision to prohibit the destruction of any document or record that must be preserved after an election and any certified voting technology or electronic data, as defined, used for the election until after final determination of any contest or criminal prosecution. Existing law requires, for an election for the office of the President, Vice president, United States Senator, and United States Representative, specified data to be kept by an elections official, on electronic media, stored and unaltered, for 22 months from the date of the election. For all state and local elections, existing law requires the electronic data to be kept on electronic media for 6 months from the date of the election. This bill would clarify the types of electronic media holding the specified data to include, but not be limited to, a hard drive, solid-state drive, flash drive, memory card, or other digital storage device. The bill would require the electronic media holding the data to be stored in a sealed container. Existing law makes it a crime to knowingly take a package containing ballots from the custody of an elections official. Existing law also authorizes the Secretary of State, Attorney General, and appropriate local elections officials to bring a civil action against a person, business, or entity that takes a package containing ballots from the custody of an elections official. This bill would apply the crime and the authorization to bring a civil action to taking any document, record, certified voting technology, or electronic data, as defined, or portions thereof including source code, or any other election-related material or equipment necessary to the conduct of an election, from the custody of the elections official. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would create 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 Department of Public Health to establish an advisory committee to advise the Legislature and the Governor on human cloning and other issues relating to human biotechnology. Existing law requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to develop systemwide guidance for purchasing gene synthesis equipment or gene synthesis products from gene synthesis providers who prevent the misuse of synthetic genes and safeguard the benefits of gene synthesis technology while minimizing risk, as specified. This bill would prohibit a manufacturer of benchtop nucleic acid synthesis equipment, as defined, from producing equipment in this state or selling or delivering that equipment to a customer in this state unless the manufacturer adheres to the Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening issued by the Fast Track Action Committee on Synthetic Nucleic Acid Procurement Screening of the National Science and Technology Council, as revised in September 2024, with respect to that equipment, attests that they comply with the framework with respect to that equipment, and posts that attestation on a public internet website, and would prohibit a provider of specified synthetic nucleic acids from producing those nucleic acids in this state or selling or delivering those nucleic acids to a customer in this state unless the provider adheres to the framework described above with respect to those nucleic acids, attests to complying with the framework with respect to those nucleic acids, and posts that attestation on a public internet website. The bill would make a violation of the prohibitions described above subject to a civil penalty in an amount dependent on the severity of the violation that does not exceed $5,000 per day that the violation continues. The bill would make related findings and declarations. This bill would provide that the provisions of this bill are severable.
