(1) Existing law prohibits specified medical professionals, including nurses, not employed in that capacity by the State Department of Health Care Services, and any other person, from being employed or permitted to supervise the health and physical development of pupils unless that person holds a services credential with a specialization in health or a valid credential, as provided. Notwithstanding that provision, existing law authorizes any pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for them by a physician and surgeon or ordered for them by a physician assistant, to be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel, and to carry and self-administer, prescription auto-injectable epinephrine if the school district receives the appropriate written statements, as specified. This bill would revise and recast that latter provision by authorizing assistance with, and the carrying and self-administration of, emergency epinephrine delivery systems, instead of auto-injectors, and making its provisions also apply to county offices of education and charter schools. Notwithstanding any other law, existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide emergency epinephrine auto-injectors, to be stored in an accessible location upon need for emergency use, to school nurses or trained volunteer personnel, and authorizes school nurses and trained personnel to use epinephrine auto-injectors to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an anaphylactic reaction, as provided. This bill would revise and recast those provisions by requiring local educational agencies, defined as a school district, county office of education, or charter school, to provide emergency epinephrine delivery systems, instead of auto-injectors, as provided, to be stored at each schoolsite, including at the location of any state or federally subsidized childcare program operated by or under contract with the local educational agency, and by expanding the definition of "volunteer" or "trained personnel" to include certain employees of childcare programs, as provided. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes a pharmacy to furnish epinephrine auto-injectors to a school district, county office of education, or charter school for purposes of the requirements described in paragraph (1) above if specified requirements are met, including that the auto-injectors are furnished exclusively for use at a school district site, county office of education, or charter school. This bill would authorize a pharmacy to furnish epinephrine delivery systems, instead of auto-injectors, to those local educational agencies, subject to the same requirements, except that the delivery systems may also be furnished exclusively for use at any state or federally subsidized childcare program operated by or under contract with one of those local educational agencies. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, 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, beginning January 1, 2026, prescribes various statewide warehouse design and build standards for any proposed new or expanded logistics use developments, as specified, including, among other things, standards for building design and location, parking, truck loading bays, landscaping buffers, entry gates, and signage. Existing law defines various terms, including "21st century warehouse," and "tier 1 21st century warehouse," for purposes of those provisions as logistics uses that, among other things, comply with specified building and energy efficiency standards, including requirements related to the availability of conduits and electrical hookups to power climate control equipment at loading bays, as specified. Existing law, subject to specified exceptions, defines "logistics use" for these purposes to mean a building in which cargo, goods, or products are moved or stored for later distribution to business or retail customers, or both, that does not predominantly serve retail customers for onsite purchases, and heavy-duty trucks are primarily involved in the movement of the cargo, goods, or products. This bill would clarify that a 21st century warehouse and a tier 1 21st century warehouse are required to comply with those standards as are in effect at the time that the building permit for a development of a 21st century warehouse is issued and make other clarifying changes relating to permissibility of use of conduits and electrical hookups at loading bays at those locations. The bill would revise the definition of "logistics use" and instead define "logistics use development" for these purposes to mean a building that is primarily used as a warehouse for the movement or the storage of cargo, goods, or products that are moved to business or retail customers, or both, that does not predominantly serve retail customers for onsite purchases, and heavy-duty trucks are primarily involved in the movement of the cargo, goods, or products. The bill would make various other technical and conforming changes to the provisions governing logistics use development. Existing law requires a facility operator, before issuance of a certificate of occupancy, to establish and submit for approval by a city, county, or city and county a truck routing plan that, among other things, described the operational characteristics of the use of the facility operator. Existing law requires, by January 1, 2028, a county or city to update its circulation element, as provided, and to provide for posting of conspicuous signage to identify truck routes and additional signage for truck parking and appropriate idling facility locations, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to enforce those provisions concerning the circulation element and to impose a fine against a jurisdiction that is in violation of these provisions, as provided. This bill would, instead, require that the truck routing plan describe the operational characteristics of the logistics use development and of the logistics use development operator. The bill would require a jurisdiction, except as specified, to adopt a prescribed ordinance, on or before January 1, 2028, including that the ordinance establishes specific travel routes for the transport of goods, materials, or freight for storage, transfer, or redistribution to safely accommodate additional truck traffic and avoid residential areas and sensitive receptors, as provided. The bill would, instead, require a county or city that is located in a warehouse concentration region to update its circulation element, on or before January 1, 2026, as specified. On and after January 1, 2028, or January 1, 2030, as specified, the bill would require that all proposed development of a logistics use development be accessible via arterial roads, major thoroughfares, or roads that predominantly serve commercially oriented uses. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring an action against a city, county, or city and county that is in violation of these provisions. The bill would make a city, county, or city and county that has been found by a court to be in violation of these provisions subject to a civil penalty of up to $50,000 every 6 months, accrued from the date of the violation until the violation is cured, specified costs, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. The bill would require a city or county to provide for posting of conspicuous signage to identify truck routes and additional signage for truck parking and appropriate locations for idling and parking, among other things. Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county to condition approval of a logistics use development on (1) 2-to-1 replacement of any demolished housing unit that was occupied within the last 10 years, unless the housing unit was declared substandard by a building official, prior to purchase by the developer, and (2) the provision to any displaced tenant with a specified amount if residential dwellings are affected through purchase, as provided. This bill would establish that nothing in the provisions described above regarding conditions placed upon approval of a logistics use development shall be construed to preclude the applicability of or compliance with other provisions that, among other things, prohibit an affected city or an affected county, as defined, from approving a development project that will require the demolition of occupied or vacant protected units, as defined, or that is located on a site where protected units were demolished in the previous 5 years, unless specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law provides for the creation of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in those portions of the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino included within the area of the South Coast Air Basin, as specified. Existing law requires the district, subject to an appropriation for the express purpose, to deploy mobile air monitoring systems to collect air pollution measurements in communities that are near operational logistics use developments, use the data collected to conduct an air modeling analysis and submit its findings to the Legislature, and establish a process for receiving community input on how specified penalties assessed and collected are spent. This bill would delete the requirement that the district use the data collected, as described above, to conduct an air modeling analysis and, instead, based upon the amount of appropriated funds, authorize the district to use a combination of new air monitoring data or other measurement data to evaluate pollutant concentrations, as provided. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to references to the South Coast Air Quality Management District contained in those provisions. Existing law creates in the Transportation Agency, the Department of the California Highway Patrol under the control of a civil executive officer known as the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. Existing law requires the commissioner to establish a school for the training and education of the members of the California Highway Patrol, and for other employees of the department deemed necessary, in traffic regulation, in the performance of their duties, and in the proper enforcement of codes and laws respecting use of the highways. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, to make specified training on enforcement of laws relating to commercial vehicles, including, but not limited to, truck route enforcement, available to city and county law enforcement agencies, as specified. 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.
(1) Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2026, and until January 1, 2030, require an eligible legislative body, as defined, to comply with additional meeting requirements, including that, except as specified, all open and public meetings include an opportunity for members of the public to attend via a 2-way telephonic service or a 2-way audiovisual platform, as defined, and that the eligible legislative body take specified actions to encourage residents to participate in public meetings, as specified. The bill would require an eligible legislative body, on or before July 1, 2026, to approve at a noticed public meeting in open session a policy regarding disruption of telephonic or internet services occurring during meetings subject to these provisions, as specified, and would require the eligible legislative body to comply with certain requirements relating to disruption, including for certain disruptions, recessing the open session for at least one hour and making a good faith attempt to restore the service, as specified. (2) Existing law prohibits a majority of the members of a legislative body, outside a meeting authorized by the act, from using a series of communications of any kind to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. Existing law defines "meetings" for these purposes to mean any congregation of a majority of the members of a legislative body at the same time and location, as specified, to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. Until January 1, 2026, existing law excepts from the prohibition a member engaging in separate conversations or communications outside of a meeting with any other person using an internet-based social media platform for specified purposes, provided, among other things, that a majority of the members do not use the internet-based social media platform to discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. This bill would make the above-described exception related to communications on an internet-based social media platform applicable indefinitely. (3) Existing law requires a legislative body, prior to taking final action, to orally report a summary of a recommendation for a final action on specified forms of compensation for a local agency executive, as defined, during the open meeting in which the final action is to be taken. This bill would also require the legislative body to make that oral report, as provided above, prior to taking final action on those specified forms of compensation for a department head or other similar administrative officer of the local agency. (4) Existing law requires a legislative body of a local agency or its designee, at least 72 hours before a regular meeting, to post an agenda that meets specified requirements, including that the agenda contain a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2026, and until July 1, 2030, require the agenda for each meeting of an eligible legislative body, as defined, to be translated into all applicable languages. The bill would define "applicable languages" to mean languages, according to data from the most recent American Community Survey, spoken jointly by 20% or more of the applicable population, as specified, provided that 20% or more of the population that speaks that language that in that city or county speaks English less than "very well," as specified, and except as provided. Existing law requires every agenda for regular meetings to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest of the public, as specified. Existing law specifies that the agenda is not required to provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the legislative body on any item that has already been considered by a committee, as specified, except if the item has been substantially changed since the committee heard the item, as determined by the legislative body. This bill would add certain exceptions to the provision related to an item that has already been considered by a committee, including excepting committees whose primary subject matter jurisdiction focuses on elections, budgets, police oversight, privacy, removing from, or restricting access to, materials available in public libraries, or taxes or related spending proposals, except as specified. (5) Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a local agency to require a copy of the act to be given to each member of the legislative body and specified persons elected to serve as a member of the legislative body, and authorizes an elected legislative body member to require a copy to be given to each member of each legislative body all or a majority of whose members are appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body. This bill would instead require a local agency to provide a copy of the act to any person elected or appointed to serve as a member of a legislative body of the local agency. Existing law authorizes legislative bodies of local agencies to impose requirements upon themselves which allow greater access to their meetings than prescribed by the minimal standards set forth in the act, and authorizes an elected legislative body of a local agency to also impose those requirements on those appointed legislative bodies of the local agency of which all or a majority of the members are appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body. This bill would remove the above-described requirement that members of an appointed legislative body of a local agency must be appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body of a local agency in order for the elected legislative body to impose the above-described requirements on the appointed legislative body. (6) Existing law provides any person attending an open and public meeting of a legislative body of a local agency with the right to record the proceedings with an audio or visual recorder or a still or motion picture camera, as specified. This bill would remove the reference to an audio or visual recorder or a still or motion picture camera for purposes of recording the proceedings, as described above. (7) Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing, as specified, and requires a legislative body of a local agency that elects to use teleconferencing to comply with specified general requirements, including that the local agency post agendas at all teleconference locations, identify each teleconference location in the notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, and have each teleconference location be accessible to the public. Existing law also requires that, during the teleconference, at least a quorum of the members of the legislative body participate from locations within the boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction, except as specified. Existing law authorizes members who are outside the jurisdiction of a health authority, as defined, that conducts a teleconferencing meeting to, notwithstanding the above-described general teleconference provisions, count towards the establishment of a quorum when participating in the teleconference if, among other things, at least 50% of the number of members that would establish a quorum are present within the boundaries of the territory over which the authority exercises jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes, in certain circumstances, the legislative body of a local agency to use specified alternative teleconferencing which include provisions related to, among others, notice of the means by which members of the public may access the meeting and offer public comment and identifying and including an opportunity for all persons to attend via a call-in option or an internet-based service option. Those circumstances in which the legislative body of a local agency is authorized to use the alternative teleconferencing provisions include specified circumstances relating to a state of emergency, as defined, and, until January 1, 2026, subject to specified limitations, a member's need to participate remotely due to just cause, defined to include, among other things, a need related to a physical or mental disability, or emergency circumstances, as defined, if certain quorum and disclosure requirements are met. Existing law also authorizes certain eligible legislative bodies, including neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community college organizations to, until January 1, 2026, use alternate teleconferencing if, among other requirements, the city council or board of trustees, as applicable, has adopted an authorizing resolution and 23 of the neighborhood city council or specified student organization, as applicable, votes to use alternate teleconference provisions, as specified. This bill would revise and recast the above-specified teleconferencing and alternative teleconferencing provisions to uniformly apply certain noticing, disclosure, accessibility, and public commenting provisions. The bill would require a legislative body of a local agency that elects to use teleconferencing pursuant to these alternative teleconferencing provisions to comply with, in addition to any other applicable requirements under the act, specified requirements, including that the legislative body provides at least either 2-way audiovisual platform or 2-way telephonic service and a live webcasting of the meeting as a means by which the public may, among other things, remotely hear and visually observe the meeting, and that a member of the legislative body who participates in a teleconference meeting from a remote location pursuant to these alternative teleconferencing provisions and the specific provision of law that the member relied upon to permit their participation by teleconferencing are listed in the minutes of the meeting. The bill would require a local agency to identify and make available to legislative bodies a list of one or more meeting locations that may be available for use by the legislative bodies to conduct their meetings. The bill would specify that nothing in the bill's provisions is to be construed to prohibit a member of a legislative body with a disability, as defined, from participating in any meeting of the legislative body by remote participation as a reasonable accommodation pursuant to any applicable law. The bill would apply certain provisions relative to, among other things, quorum establishment to that circumstance. The bill would instead authorize a health authority, as defined, to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the above-described alternative teleconferencing provisions. The bill would revise and recast the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable in a state of emergency, as defined. The bill would also include a local emergency, as defined, as a circumstance in which a legislative body of a local agency is authorized to use the alternative teleconferencing provisions. The bill would revise and recast the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable in cases of a member's need to participate remotely due to just cause or emergency circumstances, as defined, to remove the provision applicable to emergency circumstances, to revise related definitions, including broadening the definition of just cause to include, among other things, a physical or family medical emergency that prevents a member from attending in person, and to require the minutes for a meeting to identify the specific provision of law that each member relied upon to participate remotely, as specified. The bill would extend the authorization to use the alternative teleconferencing provision until January 1, 2030. The bill would revise and recast the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable to neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community college organizations. In regards to the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable to student body associations and student-run community college organizations, the bill would exempt the California Online Community College from specified requirements for an in-person quorum, a physical location for public participation, and certain accommodations under the authorization, and remove the ability for a person with a disability that requires certain accommodations to count towards the in-person quorum requirement. The bill would specify that the student body associations and student-run community college organizations described above are those in any community college recognized within the California Community Colleges system, and would extend the authorization to the Student Senate for California Community Colleges. The bill would extend the authorization to use the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable to neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community college organizations until January 1, 2030. The bill would, until January 1, 2030, also authorize a specified subsidiary body of local agencies to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the above-described alternative teleconferencing provisions, provided that it complies with the requirements for alternative teleconferencing described above and additional requirements, including that the subsidiary body designates one physical meeting location within the boundaries of the legislative body that created the subsidiary body where members of the subsidiary body who are not participating remotely shall be present and members of the public may physically attend, observe, hear, and participate in the meeting, as specified. The bill would, until January 1, 2030, also authorize specified multijurisdictional bodies of local agencies to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the above-described alternative teleconferencing provisions, provided that it complies with the requirements for alternative teleconferencing described above and additional requirements, including that the eligible multijurisdictional body has adopted a resolution that authorizes the multijurisdictional body to use teleconferencing at a regular meeting in open session. The bill would specify that these teleconferencing provisions are cumulative, and would authorize a legislative body to elect to use any teleconferencing provisions that are applicable to a meeting, regardless of whether any other teleconferencing provisions would also be applicable to that meeting. Existing law defines "teleconference" for purposes of the authorization for a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing to mean a meeting of a legislative body, the members of which are in different locations, connected by electronic means, through either audio or video, or both. This bill would specify that "teleconference" does not include the attendance of one or more members of a legislative body in a meeting of the body solely by watching or listening via webcasting or any other similar electronic medium that does not permit members to interactively speak, discuss, or deliberate on matters. (8) Existing law authorizes a special meeting to be called any time by, among other persons, the presiding officer of the legislative body of a local agency, by delivering specified written notices and posting a notice on the local agency's internet website, if the local agency has one. Existing law requires specified legislative bodies to comply with the internet website posting requirement. The bill would remove the requirement that only specified legislative bodies comply with the internet website posting requirement, thereby imposing that requirement on all legislative bodies. (9) Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a local agency to hold an emergency meeting without complying with specified notice and posting requirements in the case of emergency circumstances, as specified, and imposes various requirements under these provisions applicable to either legislative bodies generally or legislative bodies which are a school board. This bill would remove the school board distinction from the above-described provisions, thereby imposing the same requirements to hold an emergency meeting on all legislative bodies of local agencies. By imposing additional duties on legislative bodies of local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (10) Existing law authorizes, in addition to other related specified authorizations, the presiding member of the legislative body conducting a meeting or their designee to remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting the meeting. Existing law defines "disrupting" for these purposes to mean engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting, as specified. This bill would specify that a meeting for purposes of that provision includes any teleconferenced meeting. The bill would specify that the existing authority of a legislative body or its presiding officer to remove or limit participation by persons who engage in behavior that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting, as specified, applies to members of the public participating in a meeting via a 2-way telephonic service or a 2-way audiovisual platform, as those terms are defined. (11) The bill would make other updates to references in the act. (12) 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. (13) The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (14) 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. (15) 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 State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, with various responsibilities with respect to developing and implementing the state's energy policies. Existing law requires, as part of the 2027 edition of the integrated energy policy report, the commission to include an assessment of the potential for fusion energy to contribute to California's power supply. Existing law requires the commission to carry out technical assessment studies on all forms of energy, including, among others, advanced nuclear powerplant concepts, fusion, and fuel cells. This bill would establish the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Initiative within the commission to accelerate the development and growth of fusion energy by advancing fusion science and technology. The bill would require the commission to administer the initiative and provide financial incentives for projects that, among other things, advance research and development into fusion energy, accelerate the deployment of new research and technology capabilities that support the commercialization of fusion energy, or achieve the initiative's goal of delivering the world's first fusion energy pilot project in the state by the 2040s, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative, and implementation of its provisions contingent, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for the initiative. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2028.
The Roberti-Z'berg-Harris Urban Open-Space and Recreation Program Act provides grants to cities, counties, and certain districts for recreational purposes, open-space purposes, or both, on the basis of population and need. The act requires property acquired or developed with the grant money to be used by the grant recipient only for the purpose for which the grant moneys were requested and prohibits any other use of the area except by a specific act of the Legislature. This bill would authorize the County of San Bernardino to dispose of up to 4.2 acres of property at Glen Helen Regional Park, including property acquired or improved with grant moneys from the above act, subject to the acquisition of replacement park property of equal or greater recreational value approved by the Department of Parks and Recreation, to be used for park purposes and at no cost to the state or the county, as provided. To exercise the authorization to dispose of the above-described property, the bill would require the county to, among other things, submit to the department an independent appraisal of the fair market value of the Glen Helen Regional Park property and the proposed replacement property, provide the department with preliminary title reports of the Glen Helen Regional Park property and the proposed replacement property, and, before the county disposes of the Glen Helen Regional Park property, enter into a final written agreement with the department to transfer all of the county's responsibilities and obligations to any grant contract applicable to the Glen Helen Regional Park property to the proposed replacement park property in perpetuity, as provided. The bill would require that these provisions become inoperative on January 1, 2029, if the County of San Bernardino has not acquired replacement park property on or before January 1, 2029.
(1) The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless, among other things, a permit is obtained from, a specified reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation of the surface mining operation. Existing law authorizes the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) to prepare a master reclamation plan, as provided, that identifies each individual surface mining operation in specified counties and satisfies all reclamation plan requirements for each individual surface mining site. Existing law requires the State Mining and Geology Board to act as the lead agency for surface mining operations conducted by the MWD and authorizes the board to conduct an inspection of an individual surface mining operation once every 2 calendar years during a period when that individual surface mining operation is idle or the site has no mineral production. Existing law requires the MWD to be the lead agency for any environmental review of the master reclamation plan. Existing law repeals the provisions authorizing the preparation and approval of the master reclamation plan for the MWD on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions until January 1, 2041. To the extent this bill would require a local government acting as a lead agency for environmental review of the master reclamation plan to perform those additional duties for a longer period of time, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law specifies the format of language printed on ballots for various ballot measures relating to local governments, including cities, counties, school districts, and other special districts. This bill would revise these ballot language requirements. The bill would generally require the words "Yes" and "No" to be printed on separate lines of the ballot, with voting targets, to the right of or below the description of the proposal to be voted on.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act establishes the segments of postsecondary education in the state, including the University of California and independent institutions of higher education, and sets forth the missions and functions of those segments. Existing law states that the University of California has exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education over, among others, instruction in the profession of law, and that the independent institutions of higher education provide undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in accordance with their respective missions. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act, by appropriate resolution, to make them applicable. This bill would require, beginning August 1, 2026, each law school, defined to include American Bar Association-accredited or California-accredited law schools at the University of California or an independent institution of higher education, to allow law students to receive compensation from an externship site, as defined, while concurrently earning academic course credit. For purposes of the bill, a requirement on a law school at the University of California would be considered a request on the regents.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law requires the board, with the approval of the Director of Consumer Affairs, to appoint a registrar of contractors to serve as the executive officer and secretary of the board. Existing law requires a licensee who is subject to a bonding provision under the law to maintain a bond as executed by an admitted surety insurer or as deposited with the registrar, as specified. Prior existing law authorized certain deposits to be given instead of the bond, as specified. Existing law requires all alternatives in lieu of a bond that had been filed with the registrar to be replaced for a surety bond or the deposit of lawful money or a cashier's check, as specified, by January 1, 2020. Existing law prohibits the board from charging legal fees against those deposits, as specified. This bill would exempt the board from liability for legal fees or costs in an action against any deposit described above, regardless of when it was filed with the registrar.
Existing law establishes the California Board of Accountancy in the Department of Consumer Affairs to license and regulate certified public accountants and the practice of public accountancy. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to engage in the practice of public accountancy without a valid permit issued by the board or pursuant to a practice privilege. Existing law establishes education, experiential, examination, and other qualifications for licensure as a certified public accountant and requires an applicant to provide documentation that the applicant completed specified units in prescribed courses. Existing law requires the board to admit an applicant to the certified public accountant examination before the applicant completes the education requirements if the applicant is enrolled in a degree-granting university, college, or other institution of learning and is within 180 days of completing prescribed education requirements. Existing law requires the board to adopt guidelines for accounting study to be included as part of the educational requirements for licensure. This bill would, operative on January 1, 2027, enact an alternative set of qualifications and requirements for a license, including a requirement to have completed an accounting concentration of courses from a board-recognized United States institution of higher education, instead of evidence of completion of specified units in prescribed courses for the education qualifications, as described above. The bill would make those revised qualifications and requirements an alternative to the above-described existing law provisions until January 1, 2029, at which time the bill would repeal those existing law provisions. Existing law authorizes the board to issue a certified public accountant license to an applicant who is the holder of a certified public accountant license issued under the laws of any state if the board determines the standards are substantially equivalent to the standards established in this state. This bill would instead authorize the board to issue a certified public accountant license to an applicant who holds a license from another state with comparable licensure requirements, as defined. Existing law authorizes an individual whose principal place of business is not in this state and who has a license to practice public accountancy from another state to practice in this state under a practice privilege without obtaining a license from the board if the individual, among other things, satisfies one of specified requirements, including that the individual has continually practiced public accountancy as a certified public accountant under a licensed issued by another state for at least 4 of the last 10 years. This bill would delete the provision requiring the individual to satisfy one of those specified requirements to practice under a practice privilege. Existing law requires individuals licensed in another state as a certified public accountant to file a specified notification form with the board and pay a fee as a condition of exercising a practice privilege if the board determines that allowing the individual to practice would violate the board's duty to protect the public, and specifies factors the board is required to consider in making that determination. This bill would require the board, in making that determination, to also consider whether the other state has comparable licensure requirements. The bill would require an individual who has their principal place of business in a state that the board determines does not have comparable licensure requirements, to indicate on the notification form whether they have met one of 2 alternative sets of requirements. The first would be having continually practiced public accountancy as a certified public accountant under a license issued by any state for at last 4 of the last 10 years. The other set of requirements would be having passed the Uniform CPA Examination and completed education that included a baccalaureate degree or higher with an accounting concentration and at least one year of general accounting experience. Existing law authorizes a licensee to sign reports on attest engagements if, among other requirements, the licensee completes 500 hours of experience satisfactory to the board in attest services. This bill, among other changes to those requirements, would authorize the board, by regulation, to require the completion of specified job tasks associated with performing attest services. The bill would make other conforming, technical, and nonsubstantive changes.
(1) Existing law requires that each death be registered with the local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the death was officially pronounced or the body was found. Existing law establishes the required contents of the death certificate, including, but not limited to, the decedent's name, sex, race, and other relevant identifying and medical information. Existing law requires that the medical and health section data and the time of death be completed and attested to by the physician and surgeon last in attendance or, in the case of a patient in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility, by the physician and surgeon last in attendance or by a licensed physician assistant meeting certain qualifications. Existing law also requires the individuals responsible for completing a death certificate to specify certain information on the certificate, including the time they last saw the deceased person alive. Existing law requires a physician and surgeon, physician assistant, or other specified individuals to immediately notify the coroner when they have knowledge of a death occurring under specified circumstances, including where suicide is suspected. A violation of that requirement is a crime. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, additionally authorize the medical and health section data and the time of death on a death certificate to be completed and attested to by a nurse practitioner last in attendance. The bill would make conforming changes. Commencing July 1, 2026, the bill would also include a nurse practitioner to the group of individuals required to notify the coroner when they have knowledge of a death under certain specified circumstances. Because this bill would expand the application of an existing crime to nurse practitioners, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires a funeral director, or a person acting in lieu of a funeral director if there is no funeral director, to prepare a certificate of fetal death and register it with the local registrar. Existing law requires the attending physician, if any, to state on the certificate of fetal death specific information, including the time and causes of fetal death. Existing law requires the physician, within 15 hours after the fetal death, to deposit the fetal death certificate at the place of death or deliver it to the attending funeral director or the office of the physician, as specified. Commencing July 1, 2026, this bill would add a nurse practitioner in those provisions for purposes of preparing and depositing or delivering a certificate of fetal death. (3) Existing law provides a procedure to, and authorizes a certifying physician or coroner to, amend a record of death, fetal death, or live birth with supplemental information by filing a declaration under penalty of perjury. Commencing July 1, 2026, this bill would also authorize a nurse practitioner to use that procedure to file a declaration to amend a record of death, fetal death, or live birth. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, 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, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to provide for the sustainable management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem, to provide for a more reliable water supply for the state, to protect and enhance the quality of water supply from the Delta, as defined, and to establish a governance structure that will direct efforts across state agencies to develop a legally enforceable Delta Plan. This bill would make the provisions of the Delta Plan severable. Existing law establishes the Delta Stewardship Council as an independent agency of the state to establish and oversee a committee of agencies responsible for implementing the Delta Plan. Existing law requires council members to possess diverse expertise and reflect a statewide perspective. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the council appointees have knowledge about the Delta. Existing law authorizes persons and certain entities, claiming that a proposed covered action is inconsistent with the Delta Plan and that, as a result of that inconsistency, the action will have a significant adverse impact on the achievement of certain goals or implementation of government-sponsored flood control programs to reduce risks to people and property in the Delta, to file an appeal with regard to a certification of consistency submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council. Existing law requires the appeal to be heard by the council within 60 days of the date of the filing of the appeal, as specified, and requires the council to make its decision on the appeal within 60 days of hearing the appeal. This bill would provide certain deadlines for legal actions arising out of specified actions of the council and would make related changes. The bill would add state and local public agencies to those entities authorized to appeal regarding a certification of consistency.
