Existing law provides for the establishment of an Independent System Operator (ISO) as a nonprofit public benefit corporation and requires the ISO to ensure efficient use and reliable operation of the electrical transmission grid consistent with achieving planning and operating reserve criteria no less stringent than those established by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the North American Electric Reliability Council. The Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 provides for the transformation of the ISO into a regional organization, with the approval of the Legislature, pursuant to a specified process. That process provides that modifications to the ISO's governance structure, through changes to its bylaws or other corporate governance documents, will not become effective until the ISO, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , the State Air Resources Board (state board) , the Governor, and the Legislature take specified actions on or before January 1, 2019. This bill would prohibit a California electrical transmission facility owner, a retail seller of electricity, or a local publicly owned electric utility from joining a multistate regional transmission system organization, as defined, unless the bylaws or other organizational documents that govern the organization, and the organization's operations, meet Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirements and other specified requirements. The bill would require a California transmission owner, retail seller, or local publicly owned electric utility, before joining a multistate regional transmission system organization, to submit the bylaws and other organizational documents that govern the multistate regional transmission system organization to the Energy Commission for review. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the PUC and the state board, to review those materials for compliance with the bill's requirements. The bill would prohibit a California transmission owner, retail seller, or local publicly owned electric utility from joining the multistate regional transmission system organization unless the Energy Commission has determined that the organization's bylaws and organizational documents meet those requirements. If a California transmission owner, retail seller, or local publicly owned electric utility has joined an independent system operator that becomes a multistate regional transmission system organization and the Energy Commission determines that the organization's bylaws and organizational documents do not meet those requirements, the bill would require that the California transmission owner, retail seller, or local publicly owned electric utility not remain in the organization. The bill would authorize the ISO to develop and submit to the Energy Commission a governance proposal that complies with those requirements and to provide notice and a copy of this submission to the Legislature and the Governor at the same time as it is submitted to the Energy Commission. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the PUC and state board, to review the proposal for compliance with the bill's requirements, and, if the Energy Commission determines that the proposal meets those requirements, to submit the governance proposal to the Governor and to the Legislature with a declaration that the Energy Commission has so found. If notice is delivered by the Energy Commission, and if a transmission owner from outside California that is not a participating transmission owner as of January 1, 2024, has entered into an agreement with the ISO indicating its intent to become a participating transmission owner, the bill would authorize the ISO to proceed to implement the proposal, as provided. Existing law, the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, requires the PUC to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, defined as electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, at specified percentages of the total kilowatthours sold to their retail end-use customers during specified compliance periods. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the targets established by the program. The program, consistent with the goals of procuring the least-cost and best-fit electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources that meet project viability principles, requires that all retail sellers procure a balanced portfolio of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, in 3 specified categories referred to as the portfolio content requirements. Existing law requires retailer sellers to meet renewable energy procurement obligations by at least 75% of the electricity product that is from a renewable energy resource that meets various requirements, including the requirement on the first point of interconnection of the resource with the state or an agreement to dynamically transfer electricity to a California balancing authority, for compliance periods after December 31, 2016. This bill would define "point of interconnection" to mean a point connecting with a California balancing authority as the California balancing authority area was on June 30, 2023.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, business, residences, and open space, as specified. Existing law requires those zoning ordinances to be consistent with the general plan of the county or city and authorizes any resident or property owner within a city or a county to bring an action or proceeding in the superior court to enforce this requirement, as specified. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Existing law sets forth the general responsibilities and roles of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California Housing Finance Agency in carrying out state housing policies and programs. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Existing law establishes various energy and environmental goals for the state, including to (1) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 40% below 1990 levels by no later than December 31, 2030, (2) achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by a specified percentage by no later than 2045, (3) procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to retail end-use customers in California achieves 44% of retail sales by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030, (4) supply certain percentages of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers by certain dates and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2035, with eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, (5) employ statewide energy efficiency savings and demand reduction that will achieve a cumulative doubling of statewide energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas final end uses of retail customers by January 1, 2030, compared to those achieved by January 1, 2016, (6) reduce statewide emissions of methane by 40%, hydrofluorocarbon gases by 40%, and anthropogenic black carbon by 50% below 2013 levels by 2030, and (7) reduce the statewide level of disposal of organic waste by 75% below the 2014 level by 2025. This bill would create the Energy, Environment, and Economy Council with 16 members, as specified. The bill would require the council to engage with stakeholders, subject matter experts, and state and local agencies with jurisdiction relevant to environmental protection and economic vitality in order to determine the policies that can be implemented to meet the state's environmental goals, while avoiding harm to the state's economy and maintaining specified protections. The bill would require the council, by July 1, 2024, to submit a report to the Legislature that makes recommendations on appropriate policies to achieve the above-stated environmental goals and policies, while maintaining specified protections, ensuring consumer choice is not compromised, and avoiding harm to the state's economy.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, among other things, creates the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services, as specified. Existing law requires the Governor to coordinate the State Emergency Plan and the preparation of plans and programs for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency by the political subdivisions of this state. Existing law defines the terms "political subdivision" and "emergency plans" for purposes of emergency services provided by local governments. Existing law requires the governing body of each political subdivision of the state to carry out the provisions of the State Emergency Plan. Existing law requires the office to establish best practices for counties developing and updating a county emergency plan and a process for a county to request that the office review a county's emergency plan by January 1, 2022. This bill would require each county to review and update its emergency plan at least every 2 years. Because the bill would require local officials to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would remove the date by which the office is required to update the best practices referenced above. 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.
The Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act requires a state agency that serves a substantial number of non-English-speaking people, as defined, and that finds other specific factors to exist, to distribute specified written materials in the appropriate non-English language through its statewide and local offices or facilities to those non-English-speaking persons. As an alternative, the act requires the state agency to furnish translation aids or guides, or to provide assistance, through use of a qualified bilingual person, in completing English forms or questionnaires and in understanding English forms, letters, or notices. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, to establish and administer the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program to distribute funding to nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide social services that ensure equity in access to specified public social services. Grants awarded pursuant to the bill would be used to provide a pay differential to direct service professionals who can communicate in a language or medium other than English, as defined, as a primary part of their regular job duties. The bill would require 40% of funds appropriated for its purposes to be awarded as Multilingual Success Grants, to community-based organizations serving those non-English-speaking populations in the community that meet the threshold of "substantial number of non-English-speaking people pursuant to the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act. The bill would require 60% of the appropriated funds to be awarded as Multilingual Access Grants, to community-based organizations serving those non-English-speaking populations in the community that do not meet that threshold. The bill would establish the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program Fund, which would consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of providing the grants described in the bill.
Existing law provides that parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right, and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified to include, among other things, having access to the school records of their child. Existing law authorizes a minor who is 12 years of age or older to consent to mental health treatment or counseling services, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if, in the opinion of the attending professional person, the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in those services, or to outpatient mental health treatment or counseling services if the foregoing is true and the minor would present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to self or to others without the mental health treatment or counseling or residential shelter services, or is the alleged victim of incest or child abuse. Existing law requires the mental health treatment or counseling of a minor authorized by these provisions to include involvement of the minor's parent or guardian unless, in the opinion of the professional person who is treating or counseling the minor, the involvement would be inappropriate. This bill would, notwithstanding the consent provisions described above, provide that a parent or guardian has the right to be notified in writing within 3 days from the date any teacher, counselor, or employee of the school becomes aware that a pupil is identifying at school as a gender that does not align with the child's sex on their birth certificate, other official records, or sex assigned at birth, using sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, or using facilities that do not align with the child's sex on their birth certificate, other official records, or sex assigned at birth. The bill would state legislative intent related to these provisions. By imposing additional duties on public school officials, 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, 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 authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law authorizes an electrical corporation to file an application requesting the commission to issue a financing order to authorize the recovery of costs and expenses related to a catastrophic wildfire, including fire risk mitigation capital expenditures, through the issuance of bonds by the electrical corporation that are secured by a rate component, as provided. This bill would, in addition to capital expenditures related to wildfires, authorize the use of bonds secured by a rate component for recovery of wildfire mitigation efforts, operational and maintenance expenses related to an electrical corporation's wildfire mitigation plan, wildfire risk mitigation costs, and vegetation management costs and expenses. Existing law requires the commission, upon application, to issue the financing order if: (1) the recovery costs to be reimbursed have been found to be just and reasonable, or are allocated to ratepayers as specified; (2) the issuance of the recovery bonds, including all material terms and conditions, is just and reasonable; (3) the issuance of the recovery bonds is consistent with the public interest; and (4) the recovery of the recovery costs through a fixed recovery charge that is assessed as a rate component, to the maximum extent possible, reduces the rate on a present value basis that consumers within the electrical corporation's service territory would pay as compared to the use of traditional utility financing mechanisms, as specified. This bill would, in regards to the determination that the issuance of the recovery bonds is consistent with the public interest in (3) above, require the commission, when considering whether a proposed financing order provides both short-term and long-term economic benefits in the public interest, to presume that the financing order provides short-term economic benefits if the commission has authorized an amortization period in excess of 12 months, as specified.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of all state highways. Existing law requires the department to improve and maintain the state highways. This bill would require the department, beginning in 2025 and ending in 2032, to use cold in-place recycling or partial depth recycling, as defined, on at least 12 projects each year. The bill would require the department, beginning in 2027 and ending in 2032, to use full depth recycling, as defined, on at least 5 projects each year. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report to the Legislature regarding these projects. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2034.
Under existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act annually requires, on or before March 1, a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container subject to the California Redemption Value to report to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery the amount of virgin plastic and postconsumer recycled plastic used by the manufacturer for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year. Existing law requires the department to post this information on its internet website within 45 days. This bill would instead require the department to post this information on its internet website within 30 days.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing federal law establishes the Medicare Program, which is a public health insurance program for persons who are 65 years of age or older and specified persons with disabilities who are under 65 years of age. Existing law sets forth various provisions, including within the Coordinated Care Initiative (CCI) and the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, relating to beneficiaries who are dually eligible for the Medicare Program and the Medi-Cal program, for purposes of promoting more integrated care through those beneficiaries' aligned enrollment in a Medicare Advantage Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) , as defined. This bill would require the department, commencing no later than January 1, 2025, to offer contracts to health care service plans for Highly Integrated Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (HIDE-SNPs) and Fully Integrated Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (FIDE-SNPs) , as defined, to provide care to dual eligible beneficiaries. The bill would require that a HIDE-SNP or FIDE-SNP contract authorize a beneficiary to select from a number of available options and to maintain their established or selected health care providers. The bill would also require a contracting plan to perform all applicable required care coordination and data-sharing functions, and to provide documentation demonstrating the care integration that dual eligible beneficiaries receive through a HIDE-SNP or FIDE-SNP contract.
Existing law authorizes a peace officer to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance of an individual. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a policy on the use of force. Existing law prohibits the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, or demonstration, except in compliance with specified standards. This bill would prohibit the use of an unleashed police canine by law enforcement to apprehend a person unless the person is being pursued for a felony that threatened or resulted in the death of or serious bodily injury to another person and the person poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or to another person and any use of a police canine for crowd control. The bill would prohibit a police canine from being used to bite unless there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person by the person against whom the canine is used. The bill would attribute the death of or serious bodily injury to a person caused by a police canine to the canine's handler as constituting deadly force. The bill would prohibit law enforcement agencies from authorizing any use or training of a police canine that is inconsistent with this bill.
