(1) Existing law generally regulates the business of insurance in the state, including the issuance of securities. Existing law defines an agent to mean every person employed or appointed by an insurer or broker who sells a security in this state for compensation. This bill would update the term "agent" to "stock agent" and would make conforming changes. (2) Existing law requires the Insurance Commissioner to submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information, as specified by statute, for specified applicants applying for a license, including a surplus line broker, a life and disability analyst, and a variable life and variable annuity agent. This bill would delete the provisions requiring the commissioner to submit fingerprint images and related information for the above-listed individuals. (3) Existing law establishes the powers and duties of the Department of Insurance and the Insurance Commissioner. Existing law requires an application for specified licenses, including a production agency license, to be automatically denied without prejudice to the filing of a new application for the license, except in specified circumstances, if the applicant does not fully qualify for and receives the license on a permanent basis or is denied the issuance of the license, as specified. This bill would additionally include applications for bail, insurance adjuster, or public insurance adjuster licenses. (4) Existing law requires an insurance licensee or applicant for a license to notify the commissioner when any of their background information changes after the application has been submitted or the license has been issued. For this purpose, existing law defines "background information" to include an administrative action regarding a professional or occupational license, among other things. This bill would expand the definition for "background information" to also include an administrative action regarding conduct or activity for which a professional or occupational license was required, but not possessed, and an administrative or civil action filed by, or on behalf of, a government or regulatory agency alleging any unlawful conduct, activity, or omission. (5) Existing law authorizes a limited license to be issued to a natural person or to an organization that acts as an agent on behalf of cargo owners or shippers, or both. This bill would update these provisions to clarify a limited license may be issued to an agent acting on behalf of the cargo owner, cargo shipper, or both. The bill would make conforming changes. (6) Existing law permits blanket insurance to be issued to a college, school, or other institution of learning, or a sports team, camp, sponsor, or proprietor of a sports team, providing benefits to students, teachers, or employees, or sports team participants, campers, employees, officials, supervisors, or persons responsible for their support, for death or dismemberment resulting from accident, or for hospital, medical, surgical, or nursing expenses resulting from accident or sickness, as specified. Existing law defines "blanket insurance" for purposes of these provisions. This bill would expand the groups for which blanket insurance may be issued to include coverage of volunteers for the entities described above. (7) Existing law prohibits knowingly employing runners, cappers, steerers, or other persons to procure clients or patients to perform or obtain services or benefits under workers' compensation coverage or a contract of insurance or that will be the basis for a claim against an insured individual or their insurer. Existing law authorizes a district attorney, the Insurance Commissioner, or an interested person to bring a civil action for a violation of that provision. Existing law requires the district attorney or commissioner, for actions brought by an interested person, to either proceed with the action, in which case the action would be conducted by the district attorney or commissioner, or to notify the court that it declines to take over the action, in which case the person bringing the action has the right to conduct the action. Existing law prohibits a court from having jurisdiction over an action under these provisions based upon the public disclosure of allegations or transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing in a legislative or administrative report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, unless the action is brought by the Attorney General or the person bringing the action is an original source of the information. This bill would instead prohibit a court from having jurisdiction, unless the action is brought by the district attorney or commissioner, the district attorney or commissioner proceeds with an action brought by an interested person, or the person bringing the action is an original source of the information. (8) Existing law exempts agents of a fraternal benefit society from specified examination requirements if they meet specified conditions, including that the agent was in the service of the society on March 1, 1945, and was licensed to represent the society on January 1, 1952, and continuously thereafter, or the agent does not devote substantially full time to the sale of life or disability insurance. Existing law requires the society to notify the commissioner if a licensed part-time agent later devotes substantially full time to the sale of that insurance. Existing law establishes examination and fee parameters and requires that licensees pass the examination before a specified deadline. If the person fails to pass the exam within the specified timeline, existing law authorizes the person to be licensed as a fraternal benefit agent only if they file a new application and meet specified conditions, including that they take and pass the qualifying exam. This bill would replace the term "agent" with the term "individual insurance licensee" and clarify that this section applies to individual part-time fraternal insurance licensees. The bill would additionally allow the part-time fraternal insurance licensee to remain part time until they file for a new application and either take and pass the examination, or demonstrate to the commissioner that they will only remain part time. (9) Existing law establishes the State Compensation Insurance Fund to be administered by a board of directors for the purpose of transacting workers' compensation insurance and other public employment-related insurances. Existing law requires the board to invest and reinvest all moneys in the State Compensation Insurance Fund in excess of current requirements in the same manner as is authorized in certain provisions applicable to private insurance carriers. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes the board to make discretionary investments in properties and securities, to invest in money market mutual funds, and to invest or reinvest an aggregated maximum of 20% of the moneys that are in excess of the admitted assets over the liabilities and required reserves in specified investments. This bill would extend those investment authorizations indefinitely. (10) This bill would make additional technical changes to eliminate outdated references and correct other errors.
Existing law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for an eligible agricultural employee housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as specified, and is not subject to a conditional use permit if certain requirements are met, including that the development is located on specified land in the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz and is within 15 miles of an area designated as farmland or grazing by the Department of Conservation and is not a site or adjoined to a site where more than 13 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, as specified. The act defines an eligible agricultural housing development as an agricultural employee housing development that meets certain requirements, including that the development does not contain more than 36 units or spaces, or 150 units or spaces for developments located in the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz, designed for use by a single family or household. This bill would expand eligibility for the approval process under these provisions to include a development located in the Counties of Fresno, Madera, or Merced that meets the above-described requirements that it be located within 15 miles of an area designated as farmland or grazing and not on a site or adjoined to a site where more than 13 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, as specified. The bill would also increase the maximum number of units in an eligible agricultural employee housing development from 36 units to 150 units if the development is located in the Counties of Fresno, Madera, or Merced. By expanding the scope of developments eligible for approval, thereby increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Fresno, Madera, and Merced. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law contains various provisions relating to contracts for the performance of private works of improvement, including provisions applicable to a retention withholding by an owner from a direct contractor or by a direct contractor from a subcontractor. This bill would establish, until January 1, 2030, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, a claim resolution process, as specified, applicable to any claim by a contractor or subcontractor, as described, in connection to a work of improvement or site improvement, except as specified. The bill would define a claim for these purposes as a separate demand by the contractor or subcontractor, as described, sent by registered mail or certified mail with return receipt requested, for, among other things, a time extension for relief from damages or penalties for delay assessed by an owner under contract for a work of improvement or site of improvement. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, provides for the creation by ordinance, or by ministerial approval if the local agency has not adopted an ordinance, of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) in accordance with specified standards and conditions. Existing law defines the term "junior accessory dwelling unit" for these purposes to mean a unit that is no more than 500 square feet in size and contained entirely within a single-family structure. This bill would revise the definition of a "junior accessory dwelling unit" to require the size of a JADU to be no more than 500 square feet of interior livable space. Existing law makes certain declarations of the Legislature's intent regarding the effect of an ADU ordinance. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to review, adopt, amend, or repeal guidelines to implement uniform standards or criteria that supplement or clarify the terms, references, and standards for an ADU. This bill would revise the above-described declaration of legislative intent to additionally apply with respect to a JADU ordinance. The bill would also expand the department's authority to review, adopt, amend, or repeal guidelines to additionally grant that authority with respect to terms, references, and standards for JADUs. Existing law requires a local agency to submit an ADU ordinance to the Department of Housing and Community Development within 60 days after the adoption for department review, as specified. Under existing law, the standards applicable to an ADU under these provisions supersede a conflicting local ordinance, except as specified. This bill would similarly require a local agency to submit a JADU ordinance to the department within 60 days after adoption for department review and would require the department to notify the local agency if the ordinance is noncompliant with JADU ordinance requirements, as specified. The bill would nullify and void that ordinance if the local agency fails to submit a copy of that ordinance or respond to the department's findings that the ordinance is noncompliant, as specified. The bill would also specify that the standards applicable to a JADU supersede any conflicting local ordinance, except as specified. Existing law requires a local agency to consider ministerially a permit application for an ADU or a JADU within 60 days, as specified. If a local agency has not adopted an ADU ordinance, existing law requires a permit application for an ADU to be considered pursuant to this ministerial approval provision. Existing law prohibits a local ordinance, policy, or regulation, other than an ADU ordinance consistent with the laws governing approvals of ADUs, from being the basis for the delay or denial of a building permit or a use permit under this ministerial approval provision. If a local agency has not adopted a JADU ordinance, this bill would additionally require a permit application for a JADU to be considered pursuant to this ministerial approval provision, and would prohibit a local ordinance, policy, or regulation, other than a JADU ordinance consistent with the laws governing approvals of JADUs, from being the basis for the delay or denial of a building permit or a use permit under this ministerial approval provision. This bill would additionally require a permitting agency to determine whether an application for ADU or JADU is complete and provide written notice of the determination not later than 15 business days after the permitting agency received the application. If the permitting agency determines that an application is incomplete, the bill would require the permitting agency to provide the applicant with a list of incomplete items and a description of how the application can be made complete in the written notice and authorize the applicant to cure and address the application, as specified. The bill would require the permitting agency, if a permit application is determined to be incomplete or is denied, to provide a process for the applicant to appeal that decision, as provided, and would require the permitting agency to provide a final written determination by not later than 60 business days after receipt of the written appeal. Existing law imposes limits on construction, connection, and impact fees and capacity charges imposed on an ADU, including prohibiting impact fees upon the development of an ADU based on if the ADU is 750 square feet and requiring that any impact fee on an ADU of 750 square feet or more be charged proportionately in relation to the square footage of the primary dwelling unit. Existing law prohibits a local agency, special district, or water corporation from requiring the applicant to install a new or separate utility connection between an ADU and the utility or imposing a related connection fee or capacity charge for specified ADUs, except as specified. This bill would revise these provisions to additionally apply to construction, connection, and impact fees and capacity charges imposed on a JADU. The bill would revise the above-described limitation on impact fees to, instead, prohibit impact fees upon the development of an ADU that has 750 square feet of interior livable space or less or JADU that has 500 square feet of interior livable space or less, and to require that any impact fee on an ADU that has more than 750 square feet of interior livable space be charged proportionately in relation to the square footage of the primary dwelling unit. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to levy a fee, charge, dedication, or other requirement against construction within the boundaries of the school district for the purpose of funding the construction or reconstruction of a school facility, subject to specified limitations. Under existing law, the fee, charge, dedication, or other requirement may only apply to specified constructions, including residential construction if the resulting assessable space exceeds 500 square feet. This bill would specify that an ADU or a JADU that contains less than 500 square feet of interior livable space does not increase assessable space by 500 square feet under these provisions. Existing law prohibits a local agency from establishing by ordinance a maximum square footage for an attached or detached ADU that is either less than 850 square feet or 1,000 square feet for an ADU that provides more than one bedroom. Existing law also prohibits a local agency from establishing by ordinance any requirement for a zoning clearance or separate zoning review or any other minimum or maximum size for an ADU, size based upon a percentage of the proposed or existing primary dwelling, or limits on lot coverage, floor area ratio, open space, front setbacks, and minimum lot size, for attached or detached dwellings that does not permit at least an 800-square foot ADU with four-foot side and rear yard setbacks. This bill would revise these size limitations to be based on the square feet of interior living space of the ADU. Existing law requires a local agency to ministerially approve a building permit application within a residential or mixed-use zone for specified ADUs or JADUs, including one detached, new construction, ADU that does not exceed 4-foot side and rear yard setbacks for a lot with a proposed or existing single-family dwelling. For these ADUs and JADUs, existing law authorizes a local agency to impose specified height limitations and total floor area limitations of no more than 800 square feet. Existing law prohibits a local agency from imposing a requirement that an ADU install a fire sprinkler if a sprinkler is not required for the primary residence. This bill would require a local agency to ministerially approve a building permit application for a combination of the specified ADUs or JADUs and revise the total area limitation to be based on the square feet of interior livable space. The bill would revise the prohibition on requiring fire sprinkler installation, as described above, to additionally apply to a JADU. This bill would make other technical and conforming changes to the provisions governing the review and approval of ADUs and JADUs. By imposing additional duties on local planning officials, 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.
Existing law, commonly referred to as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development, as defined, within the city or county with a density bonus, other incentives or concessions, and waivers or reductions of development standards, as specified, if the developer agrees to construct, among other options, specified units and meets other requirements. This bill would specify that certain provisions of the Density Bonus Law do not require a city, county, or city and county to approve, grant a concession or incentive requiring approval of, or waive or reduce development standards otherwise applicable to, transient lodging as part of a housing development, except as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65915 of the Government Code proposed by SB 92 to be operative only if this bill and SB 92 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
The Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, provides for the creation of junior accessory dwelling units by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards and conditions. Existing law requires an ordinance that provides for the creation of a junior accessory dwelling unit to, among other things, require owner-occupancy in the single-family residence in which the junior accessory dwelling unit is permitted. Under this bill, that owner-occupancy requirement would apply only if the junior accessory dwelling unit has shared sanitation facilities with the existing structure. The bill would require an ordinance that provides for the creation of a junior accessory dwelling unit to require that a rental of a junior accessory dwelling unit be for a term longer than 30 days. By imposing new duties on local governments with respect to the approval of junior accessory dwelling units, 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.
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages and the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. Existing law limits the amount of on-sale general licenses that may be issued by the department based on the population of the county in which the licensed premises are located. This bill would provide an exception to the limitation described above by authorizing the issuance of up to 10 additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places in the County of San Luis Obispo. The bill would prohibit the department from issuing more than 5 of these licenses per year. The bill would specify that a person holding a valid on-sale general license for seasonal business is not prohibited from applying for licenses to be issued pursuant to this authorization. The bill would prohibit transferring the new licenses out of the county or to premises that do not qualify under these provisions. The bill would also prohibit selling or transferring the new licenses for a price greater than the original fee paid by the seller or transferor. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of San Luis Obispo.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each city, county, or city and county to prepare and adopt a general plan for its jurisdiction that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. Under existing law, a part of the housing element is an assessment of housing needs, which includes the locality's share of the regional housing need. Under existing law, the appropriate council of governments, or for cities and counties without a council of governments, the Department of Housing and Community Development, adopts a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each locality in the region. Existing law authorizes a local government to conduct a review or appeal regarding allocation data provided by the department or the council of governments regarding, among other things, the locality's share of the regional housing need. This bill would authorize a local government within the same county as a tribe to enter into a voluntary agreement with a tribe to allow new tribal housing development projects to count toward the locality's share of the regional housing needs allocation, as specified. The bill would prohibit a local government from requiring a tribe to waive sovereign immunity in order to enter into a voluntary agreement pursuant to these provisions. The bill would define various terms for these provisions. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Housing and Community Development be encouraged to approve units in a tribal housing development as counting toward the locality's regional housing needs allocation, as specified. 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 Planning and Zoning Law provides for the creation of an accessory dwelling unit by local ordinance, or, if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, by ministerial approval, in accordance with specified standards. The law requires a local agency to submit an accessory dwelling unit ordinance to the Department of Housing and Community Development within 60 days after adoption. The law authorizes the department to submit written findings to a local agency as to whether the ordinance complies with the standards. If the department finds that the ordinance does not comply with the standards, the law requires the department to provide a local agency reasonable time, no longer than 30 days, to respond to its findings. If the local agency does not amend its ordinance in response to those findings or does not adopt a resolution with findings explaining the reason the ordinance complies with the standards and addressing the department's findings, the law requires the department to notify the local agency and authorizes the department to notify the Attorney General that the local agency is in violation of state law. This bill would invalidate the ordinance if the local agency fails to submit a copy of the ordinance to the department within 60 days of adoption or fails to respond to the department's findings that the ordinance does not comply with the standards within 30 days, as described above.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or a county to designate a proposed enhanced infrastructure financing district to finance public capital facilities or other specified projects, with a governing body referred to as the public financing authority, by adopting a resolution of intention to establish the proposed district. Existing law authorizes a city, county, city and county, special district, or a combination of any of those entities to form a climate resilience district, as described, for the purposes of raising and allocating funding for eligible projects and the operating expenses of eligible projects. Existing law deems each district to be an enhanced infrastructure financing district and requires each district to comply with existing law concerning enhanced infrastructure financing districts, except as specified. Existing law requires a district to finance only specified projects that meet the definition of an eligible project, including projects that address sea level rise, extreme heat, extreme cold, the risk of wildfire, drought, and the risk of flooding, as specified. This bill would authorize a city or county to adopt a resolution providing for the division of taxes of any participating entity without following specified procedures for the preparation and adoption of an infrastructure financing plan, if certain conditions are met. The bill would require the city or county entity proposing formation of the district to hold a public meeting to consider the resolution of intention to establish the district and the governing board of the district to hold a public meeting to consider the adoption of the infrastructure financing plan. The bill would require the city and county entity and the governing board of the district to post specified notices prior to the respective meetings, as specified. The bill would require the resolution to include specified information, including that incremental property tax revenue from the city or county and all affected taxing entities within the district may be used to finance the district's activities. The bill would require the infrastructure financing plan to be made available for public inspection at least 30 days before the governing board of the district's meeting, and would require the designated official of the district to consult with each affected taxing entity prior to development of the infrastructure financing plan. The bill would require public members appointed to the governing board of a district established pursuant to these provisions, as specified, to be residents of, own property in, or represent a business within the boundaries of the district and to serve terms of not fewer than 4 years, subject to specified term limits. The bill would limit the use of the district's revenue to repairing or replacing buildings, low- and moderate-income housing, facilities, structures, or other improvements within the district that have been damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as defined, mitigating the risk of a future disaster, or supporting economic recovery from a disaster, as specified. The bill would define disaster for these purposes to mean a disaster for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act prohibits an attorney from accepting a client from a referral service, unless it is a certified lawyer referral service or specified conditions are met, and makes a violation of that prohibition subject to a civil penalty. The act additionally imposes various restrictions on contracts for legal services and specified fee agreements, including that the contract or agreement be in writing and that the basis of compensation is expressly included. This bill, for purposes of the State Bar Act, would define consumer legal funding to mean a transaction in which a consumer legal funding company, as defined, purchases and a consumer assigns to the company a contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award, or verdict obtained in the consumer's legal claim. The bill would require a consumer legal funding transaction to be in writing and contain specified provisions, including that the contract contain the amount to be paid to the consumer by the consumer legal funding company upon the completion of litigation and an itemization of any one-time charges. The bill would require, for a consumer legal funding contract negotiated in a language other than English, that the consumer receive a copy of the contract in both English and that language. The bill would prohibit those charges from exceeding 36 months from the funding date. The bill would prohibit a consumer legal funding company from paying commissions, referral fees, or other forms of consideration to an attorney or law firm, or their employees, for referring a consumer to the company, among other things, and would impose various penalties, including statutory damages, set as prescribed, for violation of those prohibitions. The bill would additionally state that the contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a legal claim is assignable by a consumer. This bill would prohibit an attorney from, among other things, promising or giving anything of value to a person for the purpose of recommending or securing the services of the attorney or the attorney's law firm, except as provided. The bill would additionally, until January 1, 2030, prohibit an attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice in the state from sharing legal fees directly or indirectly with an out-of-state entity that provides legal services while allowing nonlawyer ownership or decisionmaking authority, except as specified. The bill would specify that the above-described prohibition of the sharing of legal fees only applies to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would make a violation of that prohibition of the sharing of legal fees cause for the imposition of discipline by the State Bar of California and would subject a violator to specified penalties.
Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) provides procedures and requirements for the allocation, in modified conformity with federal law, of state insurance, personal income, and corporation tax credit amounts to qualified low-income housing projects that have been allocated, or qualify for, a federal low-income housing tax credit, and farmworker housing. Existing law limits the total annual amount of the state low-income housing credit for which a federal low-income housing credit is required, as specified. That law authorizes a taxpayer to make an election in its application to the CTCAC to sell all or any portion of any credit allowed. This bill would instead authorize a taxpayer to make that election in the manner prescribed by the CTCAC, as provided.
