(1) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish and implement a system of complaint processing, known as the Uniform Complaint Procedures, for specified educational programs, and requires the State Department of Education to review those regulations pertaining to uniform complaint procedures for specified types of complaints, including those that allege unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying against any protected group, as provided. Existing law requires the department to, on or before March 31, 2019, commence rulemaking proceedings to revise those regulations, as necessary, to conform to specified provisions. Beginning July 1, 2026, this bill would require, upon receipt by the department of a complaint subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures that alleges unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, the Superintendent to collect specified information, including, among other things, a description of the complaint received. The bill would require the Superintendent to create and post on the department's internet website a summary report of the data described above. (2) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, among other things, establishes the Civil Rights Department and authorizes it to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging various civil rights violations, including violations of provisions regarding individuals with disabilities. Existing law, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Disparities Reduction Act, requires the Civil Rights Department, among other specified state entities, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics/intersex status, as specified. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Existing law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement. This bill would require the Civil Rights Department to collect, for a complaint received, certain demographic information, including the ethnicity, race, and gender of the individual submitting the complaint, and certain information related to the complaint. The bill would require the department, commencing July 1, 2027, to publish a summary report no later than October 1 of each year of the compiled information for the preceding calendar year on its internet website. This bill would require, for any information or data acquired pursuant to the bill's provisions, that information or data to be confidential and protected from public disclosure, including disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act, except that the information may be disclosable pursuant to that act to the same extent as the underlying complaint. The bill would also prohibit the above-described summary reports, dashboards, and transmitted data from containing any personally identifying information about any individual. The bill would require information in the summary reports, dashboards, and transmitted data to be sufficiently deidentified to prevent the identification of the individuals involved in a complaint. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and the severity of the fire hazard. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains (1) a building or structure in the state responsibility area, or (2) an occupied dwelling or structure within a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by a local agency, to, among other defensible space requirements, maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, as specified. Under existing law, one of these defensible space requirements is the requirement to create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, to consider the elimination of materials in the ember-resistant zone that would likely be ignited by embers, as provided. A violation of these defensible space requirements is a crime. This bill would revise and recast the defensible space requirements applicable to a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by a local agency by explicitly requiring the state board to adopt regulations to implement all of the above-described defensible space requirements. The bill would authorize local agencies responsible for fire protection to designate, by ordinance, defensible space requirements based on the defensible space regulations promulgated by the state board, as provided, and would authorize the local agency to consider local variations in local fire hazards, geography, development, and other conditions and authorize alternative practices to those in the state board regulations, if the alternative practices provide for substantially similar practical effects as those stated in the state board regulations. The bill would provide that a property owner, as defined, in compliance with the applicable alternative practices adopted by the local agency shall not be deemed to have violated the defensible space requirements adopted by the state board, as provided. To the extent that this expands the duties of a local agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, known as the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law establishes procedures for the adoption of emergency regulations, including requiring that the state agency make a finding that the adoption of a regulation or order of repeal is necessary to address an emergency, as defined. Under existing law, a regulation, amendment, or order of repeal adopted as an emergency regulatory action may only remain in effect for up to 180 days, unless the adopting agency complies with specified requirements relating to notice of regulatory action and public comment. By Executive Order No. N-18-25, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the state board to complete the formal rulemaking process applicable to these ember-resistant zone requirements no later than December 31, 2025. Existing law requires the state board, on or before January 1, 2023, and in consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, to update a guidance document on fuels management to include suggestions for creating an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of a structure based on regulations promulgated by the state board, to consider the elimination of materials in the ember-resistant zone that would likely be ignited by embers. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would require the state board to adopt regulations to implement the above-described defensible space requirements for an ember-resistant zone required within 5 feet of a structure in the state responsibility area and a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by a local agency, as specified. If adopting the regulations through the regular rulemaking process of the Administrative Procedure Act would inhibit compliance with the deadline in Executive Order No. N-18-25, the bill would require the regulations to be adopted as emergency regulations and would require the Office of Administrative Law to consider the adoption of initial regulations as necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. The bill would authorize the state board to readopt any of these emergency regulations, as provided, and would make any of these adopted or readopted emergency regulations effective until revised by the state board. The bill would provide that the adoption or readoption of these regulations does not constitute a project for purposes of CEQA. The bill would revise and recast the provisions applicable to the guidance document by requiring the state board, no later than one year after adopting regulations in compliance with the deadline in Executive Order No. N-18-25, to update the guidance document to reflect the new regulations. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code proposed by SB 326 to be operative only if this bill and SB 326 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires a tax return filed with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) that reports gross receipts for sales and use tax purposes to segregate the gross receipts of the seller and the sales price of the property on a line or a separate form when the place of sale in this state or for use in this state is on or within the real property of a fair, as defined, or any real property of a fair that is leased to another party. Existing law requires, on or before November 1 of each year, the CDTFA to report to the Department of Finance the amount of the total gross receipts segregated on these tax returns for the prior fiscal year, and that 34 of 1% of the total gross receipts be included in the next annual Governor's Budget for use by the Department of Food and Agriculture for allocation to fairs and that those funds be transferred by the Controller to the Fair and Exposition Fund, which is continuously appropriated, as prescribed. This bill would increase the amount of the total gross receipts required to be included in the next annual Governor's Budget for use by the Department of Food and Agriculture and transferred to the Fair and Exposition Fund, as specified, from 34 of 1% to 2%.
(1) The Outdoor Advertising Act, a violation of which is a crime, provides for the regulation by the Department of Transportation of advertising displays, as defined, within view of public highways. Existing law exempts from certain provisions of the act advertising displays located in specific geographic areas in the City of Los Angeles if those displays meet prescribed conditions and requirements, including the condition that the advertising display is authorized by, or in accordance with, an ordinance adopted by the City of Los Angeles that regulates advertising displays by identifying the specific displays or establishing regulations that include, at a minimum, specified restrictions, as provided. This bill would authorize the ordinance adopted by the City of Los Angeles to authorize a framework of allowable signage that preserves flexibility in the ultimate placement, sizing, and scope of advertising displays, and define a range or maximum signage capacity, as specified. The bill would also authorize the City of Los Angeles to adopt implementing ordinances that sequence or phase the authorization of advertising displays over time. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law declares every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind to be void, except as expressly provided. Existing law provides for a system of labor standards enforcement administered by the Labor Commissioner. This bill would, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, make it unlawful to include in any employment contract, or to require a worker to execute as a condition of employment or a work relationship a contract that includes, specified contract terms, including a term that requires the worker to pay an employer, training provider, or debt collector for a debt if the worker's employment or work relationship with a specific employer terminates. The bill would declare these contracts as contracts that restrain a person from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business, and as void and contrary to public policy, except as provided. This bill would authorize a worker who has been subjected to the above-described prohibited conduct regarding a contract or its terms or a work representative to bring an action on behalf of that worker, other persons similarly situated, or both, in any court of competent jurisdiction. The bill would make a person who violates these provisions liable for specified civil penalties and relief.
Existing law revives certain claims seeking to recover damages suffered as a result of a sexual assault that occurred on or after the plaintiff's 18th birthday when one or more entities are legally responsible for damages and the entity or their agents engaged in a cover up, as defined, that would otherwise be barred prior to January 1, 2023, solely because the applicable statute of limitations has or had expired. Existing law authorizes a cause of action for any such claim to proceed if already pending in court on January 1, 2023, or, if not filed by that date, to be commenced between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Existing law revives such claims brought by a plaintiff who alleges all of the following: (1) the plaintiff was sexually assaulted, (2) one or more entities are legally responsible for damages arising out of the assault, and (3) the entity or entities engaged in a cover up or attempted cover up, as defined, of a previous instance or allegations of sexual assault. This bill would extend the eligibility period for revival of claims of the type described above to include claims that would otherwise be barred prior to January 1, 2026, because the applicable statute of limitations has or had expired. The bill would instead require a revived claim against an entity, as defined, to allege that the plaintiff was sexually assaulted and that (1) one or more entities or persons are legally responsible for damages arising out of sexual assault by an alleged perpetrator against the plaintiff, and (2) an entity or entities, including their specified representatives, engaged in a cover up or attempted a cover up of a previous instance or allegations of sexual assault by an alleged perpetrator. The bill would additionally revive a claim against the person who committed the sexual assault brought by a plaintiff who alleges, among other things, that one or more entities or persons are legally responsible for damages arising out of the sexual assault. The bill would specify that failure to allege a cover up as to one entity does not affect revival of a claim or claims against any other entity or person, including the perpetrator. The bill would permit a cause of action for any such claim to proceed if already pending in court on the effective date of the bill or, if not filed by that date, to be commenced between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027. The bill would exempt public entities from these provisions and would provide that public entities are not required to indemnify perpetrators of sexual assault, as specified. The bill would make conforming changes.
Existing law prohibits the state from seeking, obtaining, or imposing a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin. Under existing law, a defendant may pursue relief for a violation of this prohibition by filing a motion pursuant to the provisions that prohibit this conduct, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, or a motion to vacate a conviction or sentence. This bill would authorize the defendant in these proceedings to file a motion for disclosure of all relevant evidence related to a potential violation of the prohibition on the state seeking, obtaining, or imposing a criminal conviction or sentence on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified. The bill would also authorize the court to remedy a violation of these provisions with any other remedy not prohibited by another law. The bill would make other technical changes. This bill makes legislative findings and declarations in support of its provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 745, 1473, and 1473.7 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 734 to be operative only if this bill and SB 734 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a statewide hotline as the entry point for the Family Urgent Response System, as defined, to respond to calls from caregivers or current or former foster children or youth during moments of instability, as specified. Existing law requires the hotline to include, among other things, referrals to a county-based mobile response system, as specified, for further support and in-person response. Existing law requires the department to collect deidentified, aggregated data, including the number of current and former foster children or youth served through the statewide hotline and the disposition of each call, and requires the department to publish a report on its internet website, as specified. This bill would instead specify that the statewide hotline shall be the primary entry point for the Family Urgent Response System. The bill would also require the department to collect data on the number of calls received by a county mobile response system, which includes calls received through the statewide hotline and portal. Existing law also requires county child welfare, probation, and behavioral health agencies, in each county or region of counties, as specified, to establish a joint county-based mobile response system that includes a mobile response and stabilization team for the purpose of providing supportive services to, among other things, address situations of instability, preserve the relationship of the caregiver and the child or youth, and stabilize the situation. Existing law requires county child welfare, probation, and behavioral health agencies, in consultation with other relevant specified entities, to submit a single coordinated plan to the department describing how the county-based mobile response system meets the requirements described above. This bill would require the plan to also describe and include the date of plan submission and a point of contact for the plan. The bill would require the plan to be updated and submitted on a biennial basis. The bill would also authorize a county-based mobile response system that is not otherwise responding to calls placed through the statewide hotline to utilize mobile response team staff based on local needs, including, among other things, by providing ongoing support to a child, youth, or caregiver who has received mobile response services. The bill would also require a county-based mobile response system that is not otherwise responding to calls placed through the statewide hotline but that chooses to utilize mobile response team staff to prioritize calls placed through the statewide hotline for urgent responses and continue to maintain sufficient staffing to ensure county-based mobile response teams maintain compliance. By increasing the duties of county agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 generally regulates solid waste disposal, management, and recycling. The act requires each city, county, and regional agency to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan. The act requires that element to include a 50% solid waste diversion requirement, as specified, and provides that up to 10% may be achieved through biomass conversion under certain conditions, with biomass conversion defined as the production of heat, fuels, or electricity by certain means from specified materials. One of the conditions for using biomass conversion to satisfy a portion of the solid waste diversion requirement is that pyrolysis not be included in the source reduction and recycling element. Pyrolysis is not defined for that purpose or for other purposes in the act. This bill would define pyrolysis for purposes of the act as the thermal decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to adopt regulations, as specified, to achieve specified reductions in the organic waste disposed of in landfills. The department's regulations provide for, among other things, the calculation by the department of recovered organic waste product procurement targets for each local jurisdiction and a list of eligible recovered organic waste products for purposes of the procurement targets. This bill would require the department, no later than January 1, 2027, to amend those regulations to include, as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a local jurisdiction's procurement target, pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 42652.5 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 786 to be operative only if this bill and AB 786 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain policies on specified subjects, including, among others, the use of force, gun violence restraining orders, and responding to domestic violence calls. This bill would require each municipal police department and county sheriff's department, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and the University of California and California State University Police Departments to, on or before January 1, 2027, develop, adopt, and implement written policies and standards to promote safe, consistent, and effective service, implementation, and enforcement of court protection and restraining orders that include firearm access restrictions. The bill would require these policies and standards to, among other things, provide a standard agency process for law enforcement to serve an order against a restrained person in a timely manner and ensure the agency consistently complies with specified requirements under California law governing service of protection and restraining orders. By expanding the duties of local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law prescribes the duties and rights of employers and employees relating to specified labor laws, including, among other things, workers' compensation and notice requirements related to inspections conducted by an immigration agency. This bill would establish the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The bill would require an employer, on or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to provide a stand-alone written notice to each current employee of specified workers' rights, including, among other things, the categories described above, as well as constitutional rights of an employee when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, as specified. The bill would also require the employer to provide the written notice to each new employee upon hire and to provide the written notice annually to an employee's authorized representative, if any. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to develop a template notice that an employer may use to comply with the notice requirement described above. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to post the template notice on its internet website on or before January 1, 2026, and to post an updated template notice annually thereafter. The bill would also require the Labor Commissioner, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop a video for employees advising them of their rights under the areas described above and to develop a video for employers advising them of their rights and requirements under those areas, as provided. The bill would require the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the Public Employment Relations Board, and the Attorney General's office to provide specified input for the template notice and the videos. This bill would require an employer, if an employee has designated an emergency contact for this purpose, to notify the designated emergency contact if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite. If the arrest or detention occurs during work hours, or during the performance of the employee's job duties, but not on the worksite, the bill would require the employer to notify the employee's designated emergency contact only if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention of the employee. The bill would require an employer to provide an employee the opportunity to name an emergency contact on or before March 30, 2026, for an existing employee, and at the time of hiring for a new employee hired after March 30, 2026. This bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise their rights under the bill, as provided. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill, as specified, and would also alternatively authorize enforcement by a public prosecutor. The bill would provide that an employer who violates the bill may be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per employee for each violation, except that the penalty for a violation of the provisions relating to emergency contacts would be an amount up to $500 per employee for each day the violation occurs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per employee.
Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty. This bill would require the court to give the above-described advisement verbatim and would clarify the advisement to state that if the defendant is not a citizen of the United States, conviction may result in the specified immigration consequences. The bill would state that for a plea accepted prior to January 1, 2026, it is not the intent of the Legislature that a court's failure to provide the advisement verbatim requires vacation of judgment and withdrawal of the plea or constitutes grounds for finding a prior conviction invalid, as specified.
