Existing law generally requires certain public disclosures by state agencies, including the Grant Information Act of 2018, which requires the California State Library to create a funding opportunities internet web portal that provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find state grant opportunities, as prescribed. This bill would require a state agency that has an internet website to post, in a conspicuous place on the home page, a brief disclosure in clear, legible table form of its total personnel, both full and part time, its total authorized budget, and the source, whether General Fund, Special Fund, or federal funds, of all funds appropriated to it for the current and previous 3 fiscal years.
Existing law establishes the California School for the Deaf, Northern California, the California School for the Deaf, Southern California, known collectively as the California School for the Deaf, and the California School for the Blind, as the state special schools, under the administration of the State Department of Education. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to consider making salaries for teachers, specialists, and administrators of the state special schools competitive with the salaries of similarly qualified school teachers, specialists, and administrators who are employed by the encompassing school districts. This bill would instead require the department to establish salaries for school personnel, as defined, of the state special schools that are comparable with the salaries of similarly qualified school personnel who are employed by the encompassing school districts.
Existing law imposes renewal fee penalties for late payment of vehicle registration except in limited specified cases. Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to waive the registration penalties accrued before the purchase of a vehicle upon payment for the fees for registration due, if the transferee or purchaser was not aware that the fees were unpaid. Existing law also authorizes the department to waive the registration fees that became due before the purchase of the vehicle if the transferee or purchaser was not aware that the fees were unpaid and the license plate assigned to the vehicle displays a validating device issued by the department that contains the year number of the registration year for which the transferee or purchaser is requesting a waiver of fees. Existing law further provides that these unpaid fees and penalties are the personal debt of the transferor of the vehicle and may be collected by the department in an appropriate civil action if the department has waived the fees and penalties. This bill would instead require the department to waive delinquent registration fees and penalties when a transferee or purchaser of a vehicle applies for a transfer of registration if the department determines that the fees became due or the penalties accrued before the purchase of the vehicle. The bill would require the department to create a system to collect these delinquent fees and penalties from the seller or transferor. The bill would repeal the provision authorizing the department to collect the waived fees and penalties in a civil action. These provisions would become operative on January 1, 2028.
Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with specified services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing law defines supportive services for purposes of the IHSS program to include those necessary paramedical services that are ordered by a licensed health care professional, which persons could provide for themselves, but for their functional limitations. Existing law requires an applicant for, or recipient of, in-home supportive services, as a condition of receiving these services, to obtain a certification from a licensed health care professional declaring that the applicant or recipient is unable to perform some activities of daily living independently, and that without services to assist the applicant or recipient with activities of daily living, the applicant or recipient is at risk of placement in out-of-home care, and defines a licensed health care professional to mean an individual licensed in California by the appropriate California regulatory agency, acting within the scope of their license or certificate as defined in the Business and Professions Code. This bill would instead define "licensed health care professional" for those purposes to mean any person who engages in acts that are the subject of licensure or regulation under specified provisions of the Business and Professions Code or under any initiative act referred to in those specified provisions. The bill would also clarify that as a condition of receiving paramedical services, an applicant or recipient is required to obtain a certification from a licensed health care professional, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , on or before December 15, 2022, and quarterly thereafter, to submit to the Legislature a joint Reliability Planning Assessment that, among other things, includes prospective information on existing and expected resources, including updates on the interconnection status for renewable projects and any delays in interconnection, and expected retirements for both system and local resources. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to report in the energy almanac on California energy resources that serve load in California. This bill would require that the assessment also include the status of utility transmission upgrades and electrical grid infrastructure capacity, PUC approvals of applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity and permits to construct utility and independent projects, and applications for permits for projects from the Energy Commission and the queue of projects from the Independent System Operator, include the expected completion dates for both system and local resources, and report on the use of fossil fuel by certain facilities constructed by, purchased by, or under contract with the Department of Water Resources, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to quarterly publish on its internet website and update a tracking energy development dashboard that synthesizes and publishes the information included in the assessment and reported on California energy resources in the energy almanac. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, on a biennial basis, to adopt an integrated energy policy report containing an overview of major trends and issues facing the state. Existing law requires the report to include an assessment and forecast of system reliability and the need for resource additions, efficiency, and conservation that considers all aspects of energy industries and markets that are essential for the state economy, general welfare, public health and safety, energy diversity, and protection of the environment. This bill would require the Energy Commission to ensure that the demand forecasts in the integrated energy policy report and wind and solar energy generation profiles account for increased weather variability, interactive weather effects, and increased likelihood of heat events, including multiday events, due to climate change, and to use the demand forecasts and those energy generation profiles to inform its energy planning, as specified.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act's requirements a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law sets forth specified coverage requirements for plan contracts and insurance policies, and limits the copayment, coinsurance, deductible, and other cost sharing that may be imposed for specified health care services. This bill would require an individual or group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, to include specified coverage for the treatment of obesity, including coverage for at least one FDA-approved antiobesity medication. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, subject to exceptions, makes it a misdemeanor to openly carry an exposed and unloaded handgun in a public place. Existing law generally makes that crime punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to 6 months, or by a fine not to exceed $1,000. Existing law, if the exposed and unloaded handgun is being carried in a public place or public street in an incorporated city, makes that crime punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or by a fine not to exceed $1,000 if the handgun and unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from that handgun are in the immediate possession of that person and the person is not in lawful possession of the handgun. This bill would extend that increased punishment to also apply if the person with immediate possession of the handgun and unexpended ammunition capable of being discharged from that handgun is not listed with the Department of Justice as the owner of that firearm, as specified. By increasing the punishment of a crime, 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.
The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act requires a beverage distributor to pay to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a redemption payment for each beverage container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in the state. The act requires the department to deposit the redemption payment into the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. Moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including to pay refund values, processing payments, administrative fees, and handling fees to certain types of recyclers to provide incentives for the redemption of empty beverage containers in the state. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would, until January 1, 2034, authorize up to 3 recycling machine pilot projects, as specified. The bill would define "recycling machine" as a mechanical device that accepts empty machine acceptable beverage containers for redemption, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to select a jurisdiction for a pilot project based on certain criteria, and would specify the requirements for the operation of a pilot project. The bill would authorize the department to issue probationary certificates of operation to operators of recycling machine pilot projects, as specified. The bill would make an operator of a recycling machine pilot project operator eligible for processing payments and handling fees. By authorizing these additional expenditures from a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. By creating new requirements under the act, a violation of which would be a crime, 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 establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of several departments including the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) . Existing law, the Administrative Procedures Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the OAL. Existing law requires the OAL to provide for the publication of the California Regulatory Notice Register and to include specified information in the register, including notices of proposed action prepared by regulatory agencies, a summary of regulations filed with the Secretary of State, and a summary of regulation decisions issued, as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2035, would establish the Office of Regulatory Counsel in state government within the Governor's office, under the direction and control of a director. The bill would require the director to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation of the Senate and for the director's term to be coterminous with that of the appointing power, except as provided. This bill would require the office to draft and assist in the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations for a state agency, before the state agency submits a proposed action regarding that regulation to the OAL for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register.
(1) Existing law, as enacted by the Safety for All Act of 2016, an initiative statute approved by voters as Proposition 63 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, requires a person to report the loss or theft of a firearm that the person owns or possesses to a local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the theft or loss occurred within 5 days of the time that the owner or possessor knew or should have known that the firearm had been stolen or lost, as specified. Proposition 63 allows its provisions to be amended by a vote of 55% of the Legislature so long as the amendments are consistent with, and further the intent of, the act. This bill would amend Proposition 63 by requiring a person to report the loss or theft within 48 hours of the time that the owner or possessor knew or should have known that the firearm had been stolen or lost. (2) Existing law directs law enforcement agencies to submit the description of a firearm that has been reported stolen, lost, found, recovered, or under observation directly to an automated Department of Justice system. Existing law requires these law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice any information in their possession necessary to identify and trace the history of a recovered firearm that is illegally possessed, has been used in a crime, or is suspected of having been used in a crime. Existing law requires the department to analyze this data and to submit an annual report to the Legislature summarizing this analysis, as specified. This bill would require the department to inspect the 25 firearm dealer locations in the annual report that are the source or origin of the highest gross number of firearms that were illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime, as specified. (3) Existing law generally regulates the sale and transfer of firearms, including, among other requirements, that every dealer keep a record of electronic or telephonic transfers of firearms. This bill would require a firearm dealer to annually certify their inventory to the Department of Justice, as specified. Upon request by a local law enforcement agency, the bill would require the Department of Justice to send a copy of the annual certifications to the agency. The bill would authorize the Attorney General, a city attorney, or county counsel to impose a civil penalty on a person who violates this provision in the amount of $3,000 per day for the first violation, $5,000 per day for a 2nd violation, and $10,000 per day for a 3rd and subsequent violation, as specified. (4) Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, a firearm dealer to report an acquisition of a firearm to the Department of Justice, as specified. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2027, remove specified exceptions to those provisions.
Existing law requires each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available a nutritionally adequate breakfast, as defined, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, free of charge during each schoolday, as defined, to any pupil who requests a meal, without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as provided. This bill, commencing with the 2025–26 school year, if 5% or more of pupils at a schoolsite of a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school prefer a halal or kosher food option for a nutritionally adequate breakfast and a nutritionally adequate lunch, would require the schoolsite to offer a halal or kosher food option, respectively. The bill would authorize a schoolsite to collect information from pupils to determine if this condition is met. The bill would authorize a schoolsite to offer halal and kosher food options even if this condition is not met. By imposing new duties on a schoolsite of a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school, the bill would constitute 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 federal law, the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE Act) , encourages and assists individuals and families to save private funds for the purpose of supporting eligible individuals with disabilities to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life by excluding from gross income distributions used for qualified disability expenses by a beneficiary of a qualified ABLE program established and maintained by a state, as specified. Existing law establishes the Qualified ABLE Program for purposes of implementing the federal ABLE Act in this state, and creates the California ABLE Program Trust with the purposes, powers, and duties of the trust to be vested in and exercised by the California ABLE Act Board. Existing law requires the board to segregate the moneys coming into the ABLE program trust into 2 funds: the program fund, which is continuously appropriated, for specified purposes of the act, and the administrative fund, which is available upon appropriation by the Legislature for administration of the act. Existing law requires all moneys paid by designated beneficiaries or eligible individuals in connection with ABLE accounts to be deposited, as received, into the program fund, promptly invested, and accounted for separately. This bill would require the CalABLE program to make a one-time deposit of at least $250 into each new CalABLE account that meets specified requirements, including that the account was opened on or after a date to be determined by the board, but no earlier than January 1, 2025, and the designated beneficiary of the account is a California resident. The bill would also authorize the board to provide additional financial incentives designated to increase moneys paid by designated beneficiaries or eligible individuals in connection with their CalABLE accounts. The bill would make those provisions subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.
