Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over electrical corporations. Existing law prohibits the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except those specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California, unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified. This bill would require the PUC to conduct a feasibility study on the use of small modular reactors, as defined, for energy generation in the state, including, among other things, an evaluation of the benefits of small modular reactors in comparison with other renewable resources used, or planned for use, in the state. The bill would require the PUC to submit a report on the results of the feasibility study to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2027.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish procedures within the State Department of Education to, among other things, coordinate the identification and development of effective programs and practices with, among others, appropriate offices in the department, schools, school districts, and the Legislature. Existing law requires the department to annually disseminate to each school district, county office of education, resource agency or consortium, and other public educational entity, as appropriate, information regarding effective educational projects and programs, as specified. This bill would require the department to annually conduct a study regarding participation, performance, and outcomes of college readiness programs, as specified. The bill would require the department to complete the study by April 1 of 2028 and 2029, and to submit the completed study to the appropriate budget and policy committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance by April 30 of those years. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on April 30, 2029, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2030.
(1) Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish and award certain certificates for peace officers to foster the education and experience necessary to perform general police service duties, as specified. Existing law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a modern policing degree program, and requires the chancellor's office to submit a report on recommendations to the Legislature outlining a plan to implement that program, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt the education criteria for peace officers, based on the recommendations in the report, as specified. This bill, subject to an appropriation, would establish the Law Enforcement Officer Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission to provide grants of up to $6,000 per year to individuals enrolled in a modern policing degree program at a California community college who commit to work for 4 years as a peace officer at a law enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would require grant recipients to agree to repay the grant to the state if certain conditions for the grant are not met, except as specified. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the chancellor's office to develop, in consultation with specified entities, materials to be distributed to counselors' offices in schools serving grades 9 to 12, inclusive. The bill would require those materials to inform high school students about the existence of the modern policing degree program and the grant program described above, among other things. The bill would require the chancellor's office to particularly target the materials for students of historically underserved and disadvantaged communities with barriers to higher education access. (2) Existing law provides for the training and certification of local peace officers, including police and sheriff deputies. Existing law requires criminal justice and delinquency prevention planning districts to be established for the purpose of coordinating local criminal justice activities and planning for the use of state and federal action funds made available through any grant programs. This bill would require, commencing January 1, 2026, and subject to appropriation by the Legislature, the Board of State and Community Corrections to award grants to local law enforcement agencies that are significantly understaffed in order for the agency to provide hiring bonuses for peace officers employed by that agency. The bill would require a peace officer receiving these funds to agree to work for that agency for at least four years, except as specified. The bill would authorize the board to establish additional guidelines for the allocation of these hiring bonuses.
Existing law prescribes the duties of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics (State Registrar) and local registrars of births and deaths with respect to the registration of certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and marriage licenses. Existing law requires the State Registrar to prescribe and furnish all record forms for use in carrying out the provisions governing vital records and prohibits the use of any record form or format other than those prescribed by the State Registrar. Existing law requires every live birth, fetal death, death, and marriage that occurs in the state to be registered with the local registrar. Existing law requires certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and a marriage license to include specified information, such as the full name of the child on a certificate of live birth and the full names of the parties to be married on a marriage license. Existing law also requires the county clerk to issue a confidential marriage license, as specified, on a form prescribed by the State Registrar. Commencing January 1, 2027, this bill would require the State Registrar to require the use of a diacritical mark on an English letter within a name to be properly recorded, when applicable, on a certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, marriage license and certificate, or confidential marriage license and certificate, and would require the use of a diacritical mark to be deemed an acceptable entry by the State Registrar. The bill would provide that the absence of a diacritical mark on a certificate of live birth, fetal death, or death, or a marriage license does not render the document invalid nor affect any constructive notice imparted by proper recordation of the document. The bill would authorize, if a name is not accurately recorded because of the absence of a diacritical mark on an English letter in any certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, or marriage already registered, the person asserting the omission, or the person's conservator, or if a minor, the person's parent or guardian, to submit a written request to the State Registrar for the issuance of a corrected certificate of birth, fetal death, death, or marriage stating the changes necessary to make the name correct. The bill would require the State Registrar to review the request and, if the request is accompanied with the payment of a specified fee, to issue a corrected certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, or marriage with the accurate name identified in the request. The bill would also authorize, if a name is not accurately recorded because of the absence of a diacritical mark on an English letter on any confidential license and certificate of marriage already registered, the party asserting the omission to make an affidavit, under oath, stating the changes necessary to make the record correct and file it with the county clerk. The bill would require the county clerk to review the amendment for acceptance for filing, and if accepted, replace the original confidential marriage certificate with records that do not indicate that they were amended. By requiring the affidavit to be under oath, the bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. By increasing duties on county clerks, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law subjects a minor between 12 and 17 years of age, inclusive, who violates any federal, state, or local law or ordinance to, and a minor under 12 years of age who is alleged to have committed specified serious offenses to, the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court. Existing law authorizes the court to place a minor on probation, as specified. Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to adjudge the minor a ward of the court if the minor fails to comply with the juvenile court's conditions of probation. This bill would authorize the County of Sacramento to establish the Sacramento Youth Firearm Prevention Pilot Program to require eligible youth to participate in a gun violence prevention class as part of their probation. The bill would require the services a youth is ordered to participate in under this program to be evidence based or research supported, trauma informed, culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, and focused on public health. The bill would authorize the court to revoke a youth's probation for failure to enroll in, participate in, or complete a program under these provisions, except for good cause. The bill would require the court to determine the youth's ability to pay for the program, and would authorize the court to develop a sliding fee schedule for the program based on the youth's ability to pay. The bill would require the county to collect specified data for participants in the program and would require the county to prepare and provide an outcome assessment of the program, as specified, to the Assembly Committee on Public Safety and the Senate Committee on Public Safety by January 1, 2030. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sacramento.
Existing law authorizes the retail sale of safe and sane fireworks from June 28 to July 6, annually, pursuant to a license issued by the State Fire Marshal, unless otherwise prohibited or regulated by law or ordinance. Existing law requires any person who violates any provision of the law relating to fireworks and pyrotechnic devices to be guilty of a misdemeanor, as provided. This bill would authorize the retail sale of certified safe and sane fireworks from 9 a.m. on December 26 to midnight of January 1 of the following year pursuant to a license issued by the State Fire Marshal, if authorized by a charter city, city, county, or city and county ordinance or resolution that may also restrict the hours of use of those fireworks. Since a violation of this provision or other existing related provisions in connection with the sale of those fireworks would be a misdemeanor, 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 establishes the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program within the Board of State and Community Corrections to grant funds, upon appropriation, to local jurisdictions and Indian tribes for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for minors, as specified. This bill would repeal these provisions. The bill would reestablish the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, to be administered by the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, for the purpose of implementing a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth, as specified. The bill would create the Youth Reinvestment Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the office for the purposes of the program. The bill would require applicants for the program to be nongovernmental agencies or tribal governments, as specified. The bill would provide that an applicant under this program be awarded no less than $50,000, and no more than $2,000,000, and would specify the requirements of diversion programs to qualify for funding under these provisions.
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, establishes the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to prohibit unlicensed manufacturing, selling, and disposing of alcoholic beverages, among other things. Under existing law, it is a misdemeanor for a person under the age of 21 years to purchase or consume an alcoholic beverage, as provided. The act also subjects a holder of a license to sell alcoholic beverages to criminal prosecution and suspension or revocation of that license if the licensee sells an alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of 21 years. Existing law specifies documents, including, among others, a valid motor vehicle operator's license issued by the state, that are bona fide evidence of majority and identity of a person and makes reliance upon that evidence a defense to a criminal action against the licensee. Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a pilot program to evaluate the use of optional mobile or digital alternatives to driver's licenses and identification cards. This bill would make a mobile or digital driver's license or identification card bona fide evidence of majority and identity of a person provided the Department of Motor Vehicles authorizes the use of those licenses or identification cards without the possession of a physical driver's license or identification card.
The California Children and Families Act of 1998, an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 10 at the November 3, 1998, statewide general election, requires that the California Children and Families Program, established by the act, be funded by certain surtaxes imposed on the sale and distribution of cigarettes and tobacco products and deposited into the California Children and Families Trust Fund, and that the fund be used for the implementation of comprehensive early childhood development and smoking prevention programs. Existing law establishes a state commission, the California Children and Families Commission, also known as First 5 California, with specified powers and duties relating to the administration of the act on a state level. Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. Existing law establishes the Early Childhood Policy Council to advise on statewide early learning and care policy. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to establish, by March 1, 2025, a workgroup with specified membership, including members from First 5 county commissions, to create recommendations for a statewide comprehensive, equity-focused prenatal-to-3 system agenda, as specified. The bill would require the workgroup to submit its recommendations to the administration and to the Legislature by January 31, 2026, and to provide updates to the Early Childhood Policy Council before that date.
Existing law gives a judge discretion when deciding various matters in a criminal proceeding, including, among other things, issuing bail or releasing a defendant on their own recognizance, accepting a diversion or deferred entry of judgment agreement, and imposing sentences and granting probation. This bill would, when a court is exercising its discretion with regard to these matters, make a rebuttable presumption against detention and incarceration of a pregnant or postpartum defendant, as defined, if the defendant provides the court and district attorney with notice of the defendant's status as a pregnant or postpartum defendant at each applicable stage of the proceedings. The bill would require a court that decides to detain or incarcerate a defendant after this consideration to make specific findings on the record that the risk to public safety or any other factor the court is required to consider is substantial enough to outweigh the risk of incarceration, as specified. The bill would authorize any pregnant or postpartum defendant to request a stay of execution of their sentence by filing a written request to the court if the pregnant or postpartum defendant is detained or incarcerated in a county jail or state prison for any period of time through the end of the pregnancy or the postpartum period, except as specified. The bill would require the court to apply the rebuttable presumption above when considering whether to grant that stay of execution. The bill would authorize a court to order a stay of execution of the sentence for any period of time through the end of the pregnancy or the postpartum period. The bill would authorize a person who may be pregnant or postpartum and who is arrested or in custody in a county jail or state prison to request a pregnancy test upon or following admission to the county jail or state prison, and would require the county jail or state prison to provide a pregnancy test upon request and allow the person to take the pregnancy test within 24 hours after the request. By imposing additional duties on county jails, 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, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, establishes the Enhanced Services for Asylees and Vulnerable Noncitizens (ESAVN) program to provide resettlement services for persons granted asylum by the United States Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security or who are eligible to receive refugee cash assistance and services as victims of crime. Existing law requires the program, under the administration of the State Department of Social Services, to provide specified services for up to 90 days within the first year following a person's grant of asylum or eligibility for services as a victim of a crime, respectively. Existing law requires that grants or contracts awarded pursuant to the program be executed only with nonprofit organizations that meet specified requirements, including that an organization have as least 3 years of experience providing both case management services and culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This bill would instead require that a nonprofit organization have at least one year of providing the above-described services. Existing law requires the department, in collaboration with service providers, to determine outcome metrics to define program success. This bill would require the department to collect data related to those outcome metrics from grantees and post the findings on the department's internet website.
Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency within the Department of Housing and Community Development, and authorizes the agency to, among other things, make loans to finance affordable housing, including residential structures, housing developments, multifamily rental housing, special needs housing, and other forms of housing, as specified. This bill would establish, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Mixed Income Revolving Loan Program within the agency to provide zero-interest construction loans to qualifying residential, infill housing developers for purposes of constructing deed-restricted affordable housing. The bill would require the agency to administer the program pursuant to specified requirements, including that any loans provided under the program be for the development of multifamily housing projects where a portion of the housing units in the project are set aside to ensure affordability, as specified. The bill would require the agency to be the administrator of the program and to promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary for the administration and implementation of its provisions.
