(1) Existing law permits a defendant in a debt enforcement action, brought by a buyer of consumer debt who has obtained a default or default judgment against the defendant, to file a motion to set aside the default or default judgment and for leave to defend the action if the defendant did not receive actual notice of the action in time to defend against it. Existing law requires such a motion to be filed within 6 years after entry of the default or default judgment or 180 days after the first actual notice of the action, or, in the case of identity theft or mistaken identity, within a reasonable amount of time but in no case later than 180 days after the first actual notice of the action. This bill would clarify that a defendant who did not receive actual notice may file a motion to set aside and for leave to defend even if the service of the summons of the action was lawfully effected. (2) Existing law provides that if a copy of the summons and complaint cannot with reasonable diligence be personally delivered to the person to be served, the summons may be served by leaving a copy at the person's dwelling house, usual place of abode, usual place of business, or usual mailing address, in the presence of a person who is at least 18 years of age, and by thereafter mailing a copy of the summons and complaint as specified. Existing law also authorizes a summons in an action for unlawful detainer to be served by posting if the court is satisfied that the party to be served cannot with reasonable diligence be served in any authorized manner other than publication, and that other specified conditions are met. Existing law requires the proof of service of a summons to contain specified information and documentation. Beginning on January 1, 2027, existing law will define reasonable "diligence," for purposes of service of process in specified civil cases, to mean attempting personal delivery of the summons and complaint, in good faith, on at least three occasions on three different days at three different times. Beginning on January 1, 2027, existing law will require the proof of service of a summons and complaint, if served personally, by substituted service, or by posting, if the summons is for an action for unlawful detainer of real property, to include at least one photograph, if such can be obtained without compromising the safety of the process server, of the site of the effectuated or attempted service and contain a readable stamp and global positioning system (GPS) coordinates indicating the date, time, and location of service. Beginning on January 1, 2027, existing law will also require a process server to provide a detailed statement on the proof of service, as specified, if there is no GPS or cellular signal available at the time and place of the effected or attempted service. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision. (3) Existing law prescribes methods for the service of a summons in a civil action. Under existing law, a party that was not served in accordance with those methods may file a motion to set aside or vacate a default or default judgment and for leave to defend the action or move for dismissal. The party making such a motion is required to proffer evidence that service was not lawfully effected. This proffer rebuts the presumption of facts stated in the process server's return and place the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that service of the summons and complaint was lawful on the party seeking the default or default judgment. Existing law makes these provisions operative on January 1, 2027. This bill would clarify that the provisions described above apply to service attempted or completed on or after January 1, 2027, and that those provisions do not alter a court's existing authority to determine a motion for relief from a judgment that involves a proof of service filed before January 1, 2027. The bill would also clarify that a party who is not served may move for dismissal as permitted by existing law.
Existing law creates the California Rice Commission with a prescribed membership and authorizes the commission, among other things, to promote the sale of rice, educate and instruct the wholesale and retail trade with respect to proper methods of handling and selling rice, and conduct scientific research. Existing law declares the California Rice Commission to be necessary for, among other things, carrying out the California rice industry's commitment to responsible stewardship and increasingly efficient cultural practices. This bill would additionally declare the commission to be necessary for maintaining a sufficient footprint of annual rice acreage to support the wildlife habitat objectives of the state.
(1) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2027, a credit for qualified taxpayers in an amount equal to 15% of the qualified value of fresh fruits or vegetables and specified raw agricultural products or processed foods donated to a food bank. This bill would extend the authorization for those tax credits for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2032. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. For purposes of complying with these requirements, existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the utilization of the above-described credit on or before December 1 of each year until January 1, 2026. This bill would extend that reporting requirement to January 1, 2031. The bill would make related findings and declarations. (2) Existing law authorizes individuals to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds, including the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. Under existing law, the provisions governing that voluntary contribution fund are in effect until January 1, 2026, and are repealed as of December 1 of that year. This bill would extend the provisions that apply to the Emergency Food for Families Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund until January 1, 2033, as provided. The bill would additionally make a nonsubstantive change reflective of existing law. By extending the term of a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 authorizes counties to establish retirement systems for county employees, authorizes counties to establish a board of retirement, and authorizes the board of retirement to provide cost-of-living adjustments and certain supplemental cost-of-living allowances. Existing law, applicable to Sonoma County and Imperial County, authorizes the board of retirement, with approval of the county board of supervisors, to grant a cost-of-living adjustment on a prefunded basis to the retirement allowances, optional death allowances, or annual death allowances payable to or on account of eligible members. This bill would permit the board of supervisors for Sonoma County, on an annual basis, to authorize a cost-of-living adjustment to the retirement allowances, optional death allowances, or annual death allowances payable by the retirement system. Before authorizing a cost-of-living adjustment, the bill would require the county board of supervisors to take various actions, including collaborating with the retirement board to identify the eligible retired members, survivors, beneficiaries, or successors in interest designated, or a subset of those benefit recipients, to receive the cost-of-living adjustment, the amount thereof, and the funding source. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Sonoma County.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine. A violation of the act is a crime, unless otherwise specified. Existing law makes it unprofessional conduct for a failure of a physician and surgeon to maintain adequate and accurate records relating to the provision of services to their patients for at least 7 years after the last date of service to a patient. This bill would state that a physician and surgeon's patient notes, as defined, shall be the responsibility of that physician and surgeon. The bill would prohibit a physician and surgeon's patient notes from being altered, modified, or edited in any fashion by anyone other than the authoring physician and surgeon, except as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime under the act, 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 makes it a misdemeanor to commit the crime of trespass, which includes refusing or failing to leave land, real property, or structures belonging to, or lawfully occupied by, another and not open to the general public upon being requested to leave by a peace officer at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession and upon being informed by the peace officer that they are acting at the request of the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession. Existing law requires the owner, the owner's agent, or the person in lawful possession to make a separate request to the peace officer on each occasion when the peace officer's assistance in dealing with a trespass is requested, except that a single request for peace officer assistance may be made for a period not to exceed 12 months when there is a fire hazard to the premises or property, the owner is absent from the premises or property, or the premises or property is closed to the public and posted as being closed. Existing law authorizes a single request for assistance to be made and submitted electronically, in a notarized form provided by the law enforcement agency, to a peace officer, and authorizes local governments to accept electronic submissions of requests for peace officer assistance. This bill would remove the requirement that the submitted form described above be notarized, and would instead require the request to include a written declaration, signed under penalty of perjury, that the requestor is the owner of the property and has legal authority to request the assistance, that the information provided in the request is true and correct, that the requestor acknowledges that law enforcement may rely on the declaration in taking enforcement action, and that the requestor is required to notify law enforcement if they no longer have legal authority over the property or if the request is withdrawn. The bill would authorize law enforcement to reasonably rely on the above-described declaration unless it has actual knowledge that the declaration is false. By expanding the crime of perjury, 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 requires an action to be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest, except as otherwise provided by statute. This bill would require an assignee to identify the assignor who is the original real party in interest in the title of the case on the first document the assignee files in a proceeding.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, and until January 1, 2028, prohibits the sale prices of the articles offered for sale in a canteen from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. Existing law, commencing on January 1, 2028, requires the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting. This bill would prohibit the sale price of an article offered for sale in a commissary, as defined, at a private detention facility, defined as a detention facility that is operated by a private, nongovernmental, for-profit entity, and operating pursuant to a contract or agreement with a governmental entity, from exceeding a 35% markup above the amount paid to a vendor for that article.
Existing law authorizes a court to issue an ex parte restraining order to prevent abuse based on reasonable proof of a past act or acts of abuse. Existing law authorizes the order to be issued solely on the affidavit or testimony of the person requesting the ex parte restraining order. Existing law requires the ex parte order to be issued or denied on the same day the application is submitted to the court, except as specified. Existing law prohibits an ex parte restraining order from being denied solely because the other party was not provided with notice. This bill would instead prohibit a court from requiring that notice be provided to the party to be restrained in advance of accepting a filing for, or deciding, an application for an ex parte restraining order. The bill would also prohibit a court from requiring an explanation or declaration for not providing notice in advance of accepting a filing for, or deciding, an application for an ex parte restraining order. The bill would prohibit a court from adopting or maintaining any rule, form, or practice that is inconsistent with these provisions.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state and authorizes them to provide instruction at the campuses they operate. Existing law authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the California State University and the University of California, to authorize the establishment of community college district baccalaureate degree programs, as provided. This bill would authorize the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to authorize the Southwestern Community College District to offer no more than 4 workforce-aligned baccalaureate degree programs, one each in forensic studies, allied health education and leadership, interaction design, and teaching English to speakers of other languages, as provided. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to, on or before July 1, 2031, conduct and present to the Legislature and the Governor an interim evaluation of any of the baccalaureate degree programs that are offered pursuant to that authorization and, on or before July 1, 2035, a final evaluation of those degree programs, as provided. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Southwestern Community College District. This bill would not become operative if either AB 2694 or SB 960 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, or both of those bills, are enacted and take effect on or before January 1, 2027.
Under the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, the Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible forest management of nonindustrial timberlands by approving working forest management plans in advance. Existing law regulates nonindustrial tree farmers and working forest landowners for timberland management purposes, including by setting a maximum acreage each may own, and authorizes a person who intends to become a nonindustrial tree farmer or a working forest landowner to submit to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection a nonindustrial timber management plan or a working forest harvest plan, respectively, regarding that acreage. Existing law provides a maximum of 2,500 acres owned for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial timber management plans and a maximum of 10,000 acres owned for working forest landowners and working forest management plans. This bill would increase the maximum acreage for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial management plans to 4,000 acres and for working forest landowners and working forest management plans to 15,000 acres. Existing law requires the harvest area of a working forest management plan to be contained within a single hydrological area, as defined. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the harvest area of a working forest management plan be contained within a single hydrological area. Existing law requires the working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a given year, to file a working forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing. Existing law exempts the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as described in regulations, from these provisions regarding working forest management plans. This bill would eliminate this exemption.
Existing law authorizes the establishment of the South Bay Regional Housing Trust, a joint powers authority, by the County of Los Angeles and any or all of the cities within the jurisdiction of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, with the stated purpose of funding housing to assist the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income within the South Bay Cities region. Existing law authorizes the South Bay Regional Housing Trust to, among other things, fund planning and construction of housing of all types and tenures for the homeless population and persons and families of extremely low, very low, and low income. This bill would expand the authority of the trust to also include funding the preservation of housing for these purposes. The bill would also expand the authority of the trust to include funding planning, construction, and preservation of housing for persons and families of moderate income, as defined, using any private resources and specified public resources. Existing law requires that the South Bay Regional Housing Trust be governed by a board of directors consisting of an appropriate number of directors, to be determined by the governing board of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. Existing law requires the board of directors to include mayors, council members, or County of Los Angeles supervisors, as described. Existing law requires that the board of directors to elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson from among its members at the first meeting held in each calendar year. Existing law requires the governing board of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to appoint the board of directors and, in the case of a vacancy on the board of directors, qualified individuals to fill the vacancy, as specified. This bill would instead require the joint powers agreement to establish the number of directors of the trust and the process for appointing directors and filling vacancies. The bill would additionally authorize the board of directors to include persons appointed and designated as alternate members of the board of directors, as specified. The bill would require all directors and alternates to be subject to the board of directors' adopted conflict of interest code. The bill would prohibit each alternate that is currently not an elected official from participating as a voting member in more than 75% of all meetings in a calendar year. The bill would instead require the board of directors to elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson from among its members at the first meeting held in either the calendar or fiscal year. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for South Bay Cities region of the County of Los Angeles.
