This bill creates a new legal definition for the term "industrial city" within state and local government classifications. By establishing this specific category, the legislation clarifies how certain municipalities are identified for administrative purposes. The change updates existing laws that currently outline how governmental entities are defined, ensuring the terminology accurately reflects the nature of these specific cities.
Existing law, the Local Agency Public Construction Act, governs public works contracts awarded by counties and requires the work of construction or repair of specified public buildings to be done by contract, if the estimated cost exceeds $4,000, as prescribed. Existing law, in counties containing a population of 500,000 or more, exempts that work from the above-described requirement if the estimated cost of the work is less than $6,500. This bill would, until January 1, 2035, authorize the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency, upon approval of its governing body, to use specified alternative project delivery methods, in addition to other contracting methods allowable by law, and require a contract awarded pursuant to these provisions to be awarded on a best value basis or to the lowest responsible bidder. Because the bill would expand the crime of perjury, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the agency to follow specified procedures if its governing body approves the use of Job Order contracting, as defined, and limit the maximum total dollar amount that may be awarded under a single Job Order contract and the term of a Job Order contract. The bill would require the agency to prepare an independent cost estimate for each individual job order developed under a Job Order contract. The bill would prohibit an agency from using job order contracting unless it enters into a project labor agreement, as specified. The bill would also require an agency that uses job order contracting to submit a report to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency. 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 provides for the prosecution of crimes by the district attorney of each county. Existing law establishes procedures for litigating claims of factual innocence based on newly discovered evidence, including a motion for a new trial or a writ of habeas corpus. This bill would, if the district attorney accepts a case for postconviction review, as defined, authorize the district attorney to file a notice with the court notifying the court of the intent to investigate a claim of factual innocence. The bill would, upon the filing of the above-described notice, deem the case to be treated as if it were an open case for the purposes of investigating a claim of factual innocence. The bill would provide the district attorney with the power to issue subpoenas, compel the production of document and testimony, and file necessary motions to investigate claims, as specified. The bill would also require all materials obtained by the district attorney to be subject to a protective order, as specified, and to be disclosed to the petitioner or the petitioner's counsel within 60 days of the termination of the investigation.
Existing law requires a public agency to accept specified methods of payment for designated obligations. This bill would authorize a local agency to round the amount of any payment made wholly or partly in cash to the local agency, or any refund or other amount tendered wholly or partly in cash by the local agency, to the nearest $0.05. The bill would apply to a local agency only if the governing body of the local agency adopts, by majority vote, a resolution to make its provisions applicable to the local agency. The bill would define terms for its purposes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and generally regulates classes of insurance, including fire and residential property insurance. Existing regulations prescribe specified deadlines by which an insurer is required to, among other things, respond to a notice of claim, accept or deny a claim, in whole or in part, and, upon acceptance of a claim in whole or in part, tender payment or otherwise take action to perform its obligation, as specified. This bill, with respect to a claim under a policy of residential property insurance, would codify specified provisions of the regulations prescribing the deadlines above. Existing law specifies the measure of indemnity under an open fire insurance policy that requires payment of actual cash value or replacement cost. Under existing law, the measure of the actual cash value recovery is the amount it would cost the insured to repair, rebuild, or replace the thing lost or injured less a fair and reasonable deduction for physical depreciation based upon its condition at the time of the injury or the policy limit, whichever is less. If an open policy requires the insured to repair, rebuild, or replace the damaged property to collect the full replacement cost, under existing law the insurer is required to pay the actual cash value of the damaged property until the damaged property is repaired, rebuilt, or replaced, at which time the insurer is required to pay the difference between the actual cash value payment made and the full replacement cost reasonably paid to replace the damaged property. If there is a total loss to the insured structure, this bill would require, except under specified circumstances, an insurer to pay the actual cash value associated with the primary structure and other insured structures within 30 calendar days from the date the property is determined to be a total loss. After this payment is made, and after the insurer has received adequate proof of loss and documentation reasonably sufficient to determine the amount payable, the bill would require an insurer to pay the undisputed amount of replacement cost associated with the primary structure and other insured structures, up to the limits in the policy, within 30 calendar days from the occurrence of a specified event. This bill would require interest to accrue if payments are not made within 30 calendar days, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2051.5 of the Insurance Code proposed by SB 876 to be operative only if this bill and SB 876 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law generally requires county elections officials to divide the county into precincts and designate a polling place for each precinct. As an alternative, a county elections official may conduct any election using vote centers instead of polling places. Existing law requires counties to provide ballot dropoff locations that are open beginning at least 28 days before the election. Under existing law, a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is postmarked on or before election day and received in the mail by the voter's elections official no later than 7 days after election day. Existing law prohibits and makes it a misdemeanor to engage in specified electioneering activities within 100 feet of a polling place, elections official's office, satellite location, or an outdoor site at which a voter may cast or drop off a ballot. This bill, for any regular or special election, beginning with the November 3, 2026, statewide general election, held in 2026 through 2029, inclusive, or proclaimed in 2029, would do the following: (1) require all ballot dropoff locations to be open beginning at least 30 days before the election; (2) prohibit law enforcement officers from making arrests within 200 feet of a polling place on election day, except for a crime related to disrupting the operation of the polling place or a crime against a person or property; (3) authorize a county board of supervisors to extend the prohibition on electioneering activities to up to 200 feet of the specified voting locations; (4) require law enforcement officers to notify the Secretary of State and Attorney General of a suspected, planned, or actual violation of the prohibitions on arrests or electioneering activities near polling places; (5) authorize the state and local governments to place reasonable restrictions on polling places located on their property; and (6) authorize a county elections official to extend the time for closing the polls at any polling place if the county elections official determines that voting at the polling place was disrupted as a result of a violation of the prohibitions on arrests or electioneering activities near polling places. By increasing the duties of county elections officials, and by expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, which includes various programs and services, including, among others, general childcare and development programs and migrant childcare and development programs. Existing law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) , provides that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. This bill would specify that a signature required by the Child Care and Development Services Act may be satisfied by use of an electronic signature in compliance with the UETA. The bill would authorize documents with an electronic signature to be created and stored in an electronic format in compliance with the UETA, and would authorize the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions. Existing law, the Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. The Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act authorize contractors operating or providing services under the acts to use digital signatures that comply with state and federal standards, including specified state regulations. This bill would instead condition the authority of contractors operating under the Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act to use an electronic signature on compliance with the UETA.
Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities, which are primarily enforced by local public health agencies. Violation of the California Retail Food Code is a misdemeanor, except as otherwise provided. Existing law limits the size of a passthrough window service opening to 216 square inches, and requires the opening to be provided with a solid or screened window, equipped with a self-closing device. Existing law authorizes a passthrough window of up to 432 square inches if equipped with an air curtain device. This bill would remove the requirement that the 216 square inch solid or screened window has to be equipped with a self-closing device. The bill would require a passthrough window service opening of up to 432 square inches to be equipped with an air curtain device or a self-closing device. The bill would require a passthrough window service opening that is larger than 432 square inches to be equipped with both a self-closing device and an air curtain device. The bill would require a passthrough window or other service opening to be used specifically for food delivery operations and not as a general entrance or exit for employees or customers. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) , imposes various obligations on businesses with respect to personal information, as defined. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. The CCPA requires a business to inform consumers of the categories of personal information to be collected and the purposes for which the categories of personal information are collected or used and whether that information is sold or shared. Existing law, the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act, prohibits an operator, as defined, from, among other things, disclosing a K–12 student's personal information, except as specified. Existing law, the Student Test Taker Privacy Protection Act, prohibits a business providing proctoring services in an educational setting from collecting, retaining, using, or disclosing personal information except to the extent necessary to provide those proctoring services and in other specified circumstances. This bill, beginning July 1, 2027, would require a business providing those proctoring services to a school district, county office of education, or charter school for classroom- or course-based exams to use end-to-end encryption, as defined, for those purposes. The bill would define "end-to-end encryption" for these purposes to mean a security method where data is encrypted on the sender's device and remains encrypted until it reaches the intended recipient's device and is unreadable by any other party, including the business providing proctoring services. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.
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 the state. Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt criteria and standards for periodic assessment of the fiscal condition of community college districts. In so doing, existing law requires the board of governors to develop, by regulation, appropriate procedures and actions for community college districts that fail to achieve fiscal stability or that fail to comply with the board of governors' recommendations, and to report to the chairs of the educational policy and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Governor, related corrective actions taken by the community college district and related actions taken against the community college district. This bill would instead require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to report the above-described information, as needed, and to additionally report the information to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Beginning in the 2027–28 fiscal year, the bill would also require any information reported to be included with the below-described report related to community college district audits. Existing law requires the board of governors to annually submit a report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on the number and nature of audit exceptions and estimated amount of funds involved in the exceptions, a list of community college districts that failed to file their audits under existing law, and the actions taken by the State Department of Education to eliminate audit exceptions and comply with management improvement recommendations. This bill would revise the contents of the report to instead include actions taken by the chancellor's office to eliminate audit exceptions and comply with management improvement recommendations. The bill would instead require the chancellor's office to report that information, and to additionally report that information to the educational policy and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Governor. Beginning in the 2027–28 fiscal year, the bill would also require the report to include any of the above-described information related to corrective actions taken by, and actions taken against, a community college district.
Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act requires an attorney to strictly maintain client confidences and to preserve client secrets at their own peril. This bill would prohibit an attorney from delegating the practice of law to generative artificial intelligence. The bill would require an attorney who uses generative artificial intelligence to assist in the practice of law to, among other things, not enter confidential, personal identifying, and other nonpublic information into a generative artificial intelligence system, as specified. The bill would also require an attorney to take reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of generative artificial intelligence outputs and to correct any erroneous or hallucinated output in any material used by the attorney. Existing law requires every pleading, petition, written notice of motion, or other similar paper to be signed by the attorney of record, or if a party is unrepresented, by the party, thereby certifying to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief that it is not being presented primarily for an improper purpose and that the claims, defenses, and legal and factual contentions are warranted, as specified. This bill would prohibit a brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court from containing any citations that an attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally verified, including any citation provided by generative artificial intelligence. Existing law, the California Arbitration Act, provides a statutory framework for the enforcement of contractual arbitration under California law. The act establishes that a written agreement to submit a present or future controversy to arbitration is valid, enforceable, and irrevocable, except as specified. The act defines a neutral arbitrator as one who is selected jointly by the parties or by the parties' arbitrators, or is appointed by the court if the parties or their arbitrators cannot jointly select an arbitrator. The act requires a person selected to serve as a neutral arbitrator to disclose all matters that could cause a person aware of the facts to reasonably entertain a doubt as to the proposed neutral arbitrator's impartiality. This bill would prohibit an arbitrator from delegating any part of their decisionmaking process to any generative artificial intelligence tool, and would prohibit an arbitrator from relying on information generated by generative artificial intelligence outside the record without making appropriate disclosures to the parties beforehand, as specified. The California Constitution establishes the Judicial Council, and requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules for court administration, practice, and procedure, and to undertake certain responsibilities with regard to court facilities. This bill would require the Judicial Council to publicly revisit a specified standard of judicial administration to incorporate any necessary changes reflecting the further development of generative artificial intelligence. Existing law requires the State Bar to create a program to certify alternative resolution firms, providers, or practitioners. Existing law requires the program to include procedures to verify, among other things, that a firm, provider, or practitioner has procedures in place for persons to make complaints regarding the failure of an arbitrator or mediator of the firm, provider, or practitioner to comply with ethical standards, as applicable, and procedures to remedy failures of arbitrators or mediators to comply with those standards. This bill would instead require the State Bar to adopt procedures for the State Bar or a professional organization to receive, investigate, and resolve any complaints that a certified firm, provider, or practitioner failed to comply with the applicable ethical standards of conduct, as specified. The bill would require complaint proceedings to occur in private and be confidential. After a decision on a complaint, the bill would authorize the State Bar to publicly disclose information or records concerning complaint proceedings that do not reveal confidential or privileged communications. The bill would exempt information, records, or communications provided under these provisions from disclosure under the Public Records Act. 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.
Existing law establishes the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and prescribes the membership, functions, and duties of the conservancy regarding the acquisition, preservation, and improvement of real property within the Santa Monica Mountains Zone, as defined. Existing law establishes within the conservancy the Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Working Group with designated membership of no more than 23 appointed representatives. Existing law requires the working group to develop, through watershed-based planning methods and community engagement, a revitalization plan for the Upper Los Angeles River, the tributaries of the Pacoima Wash, Tujunga Wash, and Verdugo Wash, the Arroyo Seco, and any additional tributary waterway that the working group determines to be necessary. Existing law requires the working group to submit the revitalization plan to the conservancy for adoption, and requires the conservancy to submit a copy of the revitalization plan to the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, as specified. This bill would add an additional member to the working group, for a total of no more than 25 appointed representatives. The bill would require one of the representatives appointed to the working group to represent the city council district within the City of Los Angeles with the greatest number of Upper Los Angeles River miles. The bill would require the working group to meet at least once each year to evaluate and report on implementation of the revitalization plan to the conservancy, and propose amendments to the revitalization plan to the conservancy for adoption. The bill would require the working group to submit proposed amendments to the revitalization plan to the conservancy, and would require that the conservancy take action to adopt the proposed amendments, as specified.
