Existing law, the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, will become operative on July 1, 2026 to provide specified employees of the Legislature the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law requires the "employer," defined as the Assembly Committee on Rules or the Senate Committee on Rules, to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations regarding matters within the scope of representation. Existing law excludes certain matters from the scope of representation, as specified. Existing law authorizes certain parties to petition for extraordinary relief from specified decisions or orders of the Public Employment Relations Board, and requires this petition to be filed in the district court of appeal in the appellate district where the unit determination or unfair practice dispute occurred. Existing law provides that if the time to petition for extraordinary relief from a board decision has expired, the board may seek enforcement of its final decision or order in a district court of appeal or a superior court in the district where the unit determination or unfair practice case occurred. This bill would exclude the design, construction, and location of legislative facilities from the scope of representation. The bill would require a petition for extraordinary relief from a decision or order of the Public Employment Relations Board, as specified, to instead be filed in the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District. The bill would provide that if the time to petition for extraordinary relief from a board decision has expired, the board may instead seek enforcement of its final decision or order in the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District or Superior Court of the County of Sacramento. The bill would require the employer to reimburse an employee for any reasonable travel expenses incurred by the employee in traveling to and from a court proceeding at the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District or Superior Court of the County of Sacramento at which the employee is required to appear.
Existing law requires a county elections official to send a voter notification by nonforwardable, first-class mail to a voter (1) who recently completed an affidavit of registration, (2) whose registration changed because of an official notice they have moved, or (3) who changed their political party preference. Existing law also requires a county elections official to notify a voter by first-class mail, including a postage-paid and preaddressed return form, between 15 and 30 days before canceling a person's voter registration for specified reasons. This bill would, in addition to voter notification mandates under existing law, require a county elections official to notify a voter by nonforwardable, first-class mail, including a postage-paid and preaddressed return form, if the registration of the voter is changed, updated, or canceled for any reason. The bill would require this notification to contain (1) the nature of the changes or updates to, or reasons for cancellation of, the voter's registration, (2) the address and toll-free number of the county elections office, and (3) a statement that if the voter believes the change, update, or cancellation is in error, the voter should notify the county elections official, 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, 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 vests the Public Utilities Commission (commission) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including water corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law exempts from the jurisdiction, control, or regulation of the commission any person or corporation, as specified, that maintains a mobilehome park or a multiple unit residential complex and provides, or will provide, water service to users through a submeter service system if each user of the submeter service system is charged at the rate which would be applicable if the user were receiving the water directly from the water corporation, or if management of the mobilehome park complies with a specified notice provision. This bill would require the commission to authorize and establish a pilot program for specified water corporations to accept the transfer of ownership and operational responsibility of water systems in master-metered mobilehome parks or manufactured housing communities, and provide that the exemption described above does not apply to the maintenance or provision of water service by a water corporation pursuant to that pilot program, as specified. The bill would authorize the owner of a master-metered mobilehome park or manufactured housing community that provides water service to residents to transfer ownership and operational responsibility to the water corporation providing service in the area in which the park or community is located, or as the park or community owner and the serving water corporation mutually agree. The bill would impose specified duties on a water corporation and on the owner of the mobilehome park or manufactured housing community in connection with the transfer. The bill would require the commission to establish procedures for initiating and completing the transfer, as provided, including by requiring the owner of the mobilehome park or manufactured housing community to provide written notice of the intent to transfer ownership and operational responsibility of a water system in a mobilehome park or manufactured housing community to the water corporation. The bill would require the commission to authorize the water corporation to recover in its revenue requirement and rates all costs to acquire, improve, upgrade, operate, and maintain transferred mobilehome park or manufactured housing community water systems. The bill would also require the commission to adopt a standard form contract for these transfers that would be the basis for an expedited approval of the transfer. The bill would prohibit costs related to the transfer of ownership process from being passed through to the park or community residents, but would provide that those costs would be recoverable in rates. The bill would authorize the mobilehome park or manufactured housing community owner, by written notice, to stop the transfer process at any time. The bill would authorize, at any time during the transfer of ownership process, either party to apply to the commission for informal mediation and resolution of any issue, finding, determination, or delay in the transfer process. The bill would require, if the initiation of the transfer process does not result in a transfer of the park or community owner's water system to the water corporation, all information, data, reports, studies, and proposals to be retained by the water corporation for a period of 5 years or offered to the mobilehome park or manufactured housing community owner, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the above-described prohibition would be a crime, 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 crime to leave or confine an animal in an unattended motor vehicle under conditions that endanger the health or well-being of an animal due to heat, cold, lack of adequate ventilation, lack of food or water, or other circumstances that could reasonably be expected to cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal. Existing law makes a first conviction for the crime punishable by a fine not exceeding $100, or if the animal suffers great bodily injury, by a fine not exceeding $500, imprisonment in a county jail, or both. Existing law makes a subsequent conviction punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 dollars, imprisonment in a county jail, or both. This bill would increase those fines to $500 for a first offense and $2,000 for a subsequent offense or if the animal suffers great bodily injury. Existing law requires a person who is convicted of specified crimes related to animal abuse who is granted probation to successfully complete counseling. This bill would expand that requirement to require a person convicted of leaving animal in an unattended motor vehicle to complete counseling, an education program on the dangers of leaving an animal inside of an unattended motor vehicle, or both. The bill would make failure to complete the counseling or education program a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, 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 provides for the regulation of the safety of food products, including adulterated and misbranded food, wholesale food, and food in retail food facilities. This bill, commencing January 1, 2027, would prohibit a person or entity from manufacturing, selling, delivering, distributing, holding, or offering for sale, in commerce a food product for human consumption that contains tianeptine. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation and not to exceed $10,000 for each subsequent violation, upon an action brought by the Attorney General, a city attorney, a county counsel, or a district attorney.
Existing law, until January 1, 2023, prohibited loitering in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution, as defined, and made that crime a misdemeanor. Existing law defines specified behavior as disorderly conduct and prohibits that behavior. Under existing law, disorderly conduct includes, among other things, soliciting prostitution, prowling, peeping, surreptitious photographing or filming of an identifiable person, and the distribution of certain images of another person taken under circumstances in which the person understands that the image shall remain private, the distribution of which causes serious emotional distress. This bill would make it a misdemeanor to loiter in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution, as defined, and would make other conforming changes. The bill would make a person guilty of disorderly conduct if they operate a motor vehicle in any public place and repeatedly beckon to, contact, or attempt to contact or stop pedestrians or other motorists, or impede traffic, with the intent to solicit prostitution. The bill would authorize a court to suspend, for not more than 30 days, the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for a first conviction of these offenses. The bill would, for a 2nd or subsequent conviction, require the vehicle used in the commission of the crime to be impounded for 30 days, as specified. By creating a new crime and 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 establishes the Franchise Tax Board in the Government Operations Agency to, among other things, administer state personal income taxes and corporation franchise and income taxes. Existing law, the Better for Families Act, required the Franchise Tax Board, no later than September 30, 2023, to make a one-time Better for Families Tax Refund payment to each qualified recipient, as defined, of an applicable amount, as specified, in the form and manner determined by the Franchise Tax Board, in order to provide relief to Californians. This bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, by no later than July 1, 2025, to enter into master agreements with debit card vendors to render services related to statewide financial relief payments. The bill would require each agreement to include certain terms, including definitions for key performance indicators, specified payment provisions, and options for fee-free services.
Under the Elder California Pipeline Safety Act of 1981, the State Fire Marshal exercises safety regulatory jurisdiction over intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of hazardous or highly volatile liquid substances. The act imposes various requirements in relation to the regulation of these intrastate pipelines. A person who willfully and knowingly violates the act or a regulation adopted pursuant to the act is, upon conviction, subject to a fine, imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment, as provided. This bill would expand the regulation of intrastate pipelines under the act to intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide, by revising the definition of "pipeline" for purposes of the act to also include intrastate pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide. The bill would require carbon dioxide transported in intrastate pipelines to be at a certain state and certain concentration and would prohibit the pipeline transportation of carbon dioxide that is not in that state or concentration. The bill would also require pipelines used for the transportation of carbon dioxide to be those specifically built for that purpose and would prohibit the use of pipelines for the transportation of carbon dioxide built to transport substances other than carbon dioxide. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to adopt safety-related regulations governing intrastate pipelines transporting carbon dioxide, as provided. The bill would authorize the State Fire Marshal to require an operator of a pipeline transporting carbon dioxide to cease operation of the pipeline if the operator is found to be in violation of the above requirements and prohibitions or the safety-related regulations. Because a violation of the above requirements and prohibitions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for a unified permit application for the construction and operation of carbon dioxide capture, removal, or sequestration project to expedite the issuance of permits or other authorizations for the construction and operation of those projects. This bill would require the unified permit application to ensure that carbon dioxide transported to or from an injection or sequestration site, or captured carbon dioxide transported to the point of use, be transported by specified methods. 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 governs motor vehicle conditional sale contracts, as defined, and requires sellers of motor vehicles to make certain disclosures to buyers. Existing law governs the offer, sale, provision, or administration, in connection with a conditional sale contract, of a guaranteed asset protection waiver, defined to mean an optional contractual obligation under which a seller agrees, for additional consideration, to cancel or waive all or part of amounts due on the buyer's conditional sale contract subject to existing law in the event of a total loss or unrecovered theft of the motor vehicle specified in the conditional sale contract. Existing law requires the terms and conditions of the guaranteed asset protection waiver, as specified, to appear on a document separate from the conditional sale contract. If the conditional sale contract is assigned, existing law requires the above-described separate document to provide written notice of the assignment of both the conditional sale contract and guaranteed asset protection waiver, as specified, to the buyer in person, by mail, or by a means of notice that the buyer previously agreed to with the seller or holder in connection with the conditional sale contract within 30 days of the assignment. This bill would require, if a conditional sale contract is assigned specific to securitization, as specified, and the seller of the conditional sale contract and guaranteed asset protection waiver remains the point of contact with the buyer, as specified, the entity who received the assignment from the seller to notify the consumer in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the seller to assume the legal liability of the holder for violations of these provisions, as described, if the holder does not comply with the specified notice requirements.
Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would require all students attending the California State University or the California Community Colleges, regardless of immigration status, to be eligible to apply for and accept paid opportunities at the California State University or the California Community Colleges, including, but not limited to, employment, fellowships, residencies, apprenticeships, and contract work. The bill would require the trustees and the board of governors to adopt policies consistent with that requirement.
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including life insurance and annuities. Existing law prohibits the transaction of life or disability insurance by anyone other than a corporation, unless the person has a valid and unrevoked certificate of exemption issued by the Insurance Commissioner. Existing law authorizes a certificate to be procured from the commissioner by filing specified documents, including articles of incorporation, bylaws, and a statement of financial condition and income, as the commissioner finds necessary to make their determination. Existing law requires the commissioner to issue a certificate of exemption to an applicant if the commissioner finds that the applicant has met applicable requirements, and that the applicant is not formed, conducted, or operated for profit or as a commercial insurance enterprise for the benefit of any group or person rather than the relatively equal benefit of its members. Existing law authorizes the commissioner, at any time, to notify a person possessing a certificate of exemption that the commissioner has grounds to believe the person has violated the Insurance Code or is not operating in strict conformity with the documents filed with the commissioner as a basis of its application for the certificate of exemption. Existing law requires the notice to fix the time of the hearing at no less than 15 days and no more than 60 days after the date of notice. This bill would decrease the maximum amount of time a hearing may be fixed after the date of notice to no more than 45 days.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources, on or before January 1, 2028, and in coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board, to submit a report to the Legislature on the progress of urban retail water suppliers towards achieving their urban water use objective. This bill would instead require the report to be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2029.
