Technology

Existing law generally regulates social media platforms, including by requiring a social media company to post terms of service for each social media platform owned or operated by the company in a manner reasonably designed to inform all users of the social media platform of the existence and contents of the terms of service, as prescribed. Existing law generally prohibits a person from using violence or intimidation to interfere with another person's enjoyment of certain rights or because of certain attributes of that person, including the person's political affiliation, race, or sexual orientation, and punishes violations of that law with certain civil penalties or as misdemeanors, as prescribed. This bill would make a social media platform, as defined, that violates the above-referenced provisions of law relating to personal rights through its algorithms that relay content to users or aids, abets, acts in concert, or conspires in violation of those laws, or is a joint tortfeasor in an action alleging a violation of those laws, liable for specified civil penalties. The bill would declare its provisions to be severable and would declare attempted waiver of its provisions to be void and unenforceable. This bill would become operative on January 1, 2027.

Under existing law, the residence address, telephone number, and email address of a registered voter is confidential, except that under certain circumstances a county elections official must provide that information to any candidate for federal, state, or local office, to any committee for or against any initiative or referendum measure, and to any person for election, scholarly, journalistic, political, or governmental purposes. This bill would exempt the residence address, telephone number, and email address of a federal, state, or local elected official or candidate from that disclosure requirement, except that the information may be disclosed for journalistic or governmental purposes under specified conditions. The bill would require the Secretary of State to provide each county elections official with a list identifying each federal and state elected official or candidate residing in the county, require the county elections official to add each local elected official or candidate to that list, and require the county elections official to make the elected official or candidate's information confidential within 5 business days. The bill would require the county elections official to exclude the elected official or candidate's confidential information when producing any list, roster, or index. The bill would require an elected official or candidate to contact their county elections official to ensure their voter registration record has been made confidential. The bill would authorize an elected official or candidate to opt out of making their residence address, telephone number, and email address confidential. By adding new duties for county elections officials, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2194 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 827 to be operative only if this bill and AB 827 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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. 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 Cyberbullying Protection Act requires a social media platform to take certain actions to mitigate or prevent bullying on the social media platform, including establish a prominent mechanism within its internet-based service that allows any individual, whether or not that individual has a profile on the internet-based service, to report cyberbullying or any content that violates the existing terms of service related to cyberbullying, as prescribed. The act makes a violator liable to certain plaintiffs, including the Attorney General, for $10,000 for each violation, among other relief. This bill would instead make a violator liable for $50,000 for each violation.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to direct a business that sells or shares personal information about the consumer to third parties not to sell or share the consumer's personal information, as specified. The CCPA requires a business that controls the collection of a consumer's personal information to, at or before the point of collection, inform a consumer of, among other things, the categories of personal information to be collected, the purposes for which the categories of personal information are collected or used, and whether that information is sold or shared. 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 and establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency and vests the agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to enforce the CCPA. This bill would enact the Stop Foreign Governments from Accessing Californians' Sensitive Personal Information Act which would additionally require a business to disclose to a consumer if the business intends to maintain the consumer's personal information outside of the United States. The bill would prohibit a business from maintaining a consumer's personal information outside of the United States unless, among other things, the consumer explicitly consented to the business maintaining the consumer's personal information outside of the United States. The bill would also prohibit a business from maintaining personal information that is health care information, financial information, or geolocation data in the custody of a foreign government or a third party that is owned or controlled by a foreign government. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, while local publicly owned utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party a customer's electrical or gas consumption data, as defined, except as specified. This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to create the Data Access Governance Committee, with specified membership, and would require the committee, on or before January 1, 2027, to provide initial recommendations on prescribed topics to the Energy Commission and the PUC, as specified. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to work with certain gas corporations, electrical corporations, and local publicly owned utilities that provide gas or electrical service to enact cost-effective energy utility data programs, as specified. The bill would create, and would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to administer and enforce, the Customer Energy Utility Data Bill of Rights, with specified protections and customer rights. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because a violation of a PUC action implementing the requirements of this bill would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. In addition, to the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local publicly owned utilities, 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 specified reasons.

Under existing law, the Legislature encourages school administrations to (1) offer wellness programs that include personalized instruction about healthy eating and physical activity and (2) ensure that the nutrition services, health services, and social services pupils need in order to learn are provided at the schoolsite or in cooperation with other community agencies. This bill would state that the Legislature encourages school administrations, if the school maintains an internet website, to post on the school's internet website information about community programs that offer nutrition assistance to families.

Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the Native California Wildlife Rehabilitation Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2033, allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the continuously appropriated California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund. By establishing a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also require the fund to appear on the personal income tax return for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2033. The bill would require that the above provisions remain operative only until December 1, 2033, and be repealed as of that date. However, the bill would provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during the 2nd and later calendar years after its first appearance on a return will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year. The bill would require, notwithstanding the repeal of the bill's provisions, that any contribution amounts designated prior to the repeal of the bill's provisions be transferred and disbursed in accordance with those provisions, as specified.

Existing law requires a law enforcement agency, as defined, to obtain specific approval of a governing body prior to acquiring military equipment, as specified. Existing law defines "military equipment" to include an unmanned, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicle. This bill would prohibit a law enforcement agency from purchasing, on or after January 1, 2027, an uncrewed, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicle unless the vehicle contains an option to turn off any data collection programs that are not necessary for the vehicle to function and the law enforcement agency uses an American data storage company, as defined, to house all data collected, including, but not limited to, video and photographic images, as specified, or both. For uncrewed, remotely piloted, powered aerial or ground vehicles purchased on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2027, the bill would require a law enforcement agency to use an American data storage company. For uncrewed aerial or ground vehicles owned or possessed by a law enforcement agency prior to January 1, 2026, the bill would require the law enforcement agency to use an American data storage company after the current contract to house the data expires. The bill would require contracts entered into pursuant to these provisions with an American data storage company to prohibit the American data storage company from using, selling, renting, trading, or otherwise sharing this data with any other entity.

Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law authorizes the division, which is headed by the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state, the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. This bill would generally regulate the use of workplace surveillance tools and an employer's use of worker data. The bill would, among other things, require an employer, at least 30 days before introducing a workplace surveillance tool, to provide a worker who will be affected a written notice that includes, among other things, a description of the worker data to be collected, the intended purpose of the workplace surveillance tool, and how this form of worker surveillance is necessary to meet that purpose. The bill would define "employer" to include public employers, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from transferring, selling, disclosing, or licensing worker data to a vendor, unless the vendor is under contract to analyze or interpret the worker data and the contract includes certain terms. The bill would prohibit an employer from using certain workplace surveillance tools, including a workplace surveillance tool that incorporates facial, gait, or emotion recognition technology, except as specified. The bill would also prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool to infer specified categories of information about a worker, including, among others, their immigration status, veteran status, ancestral history, religious or political beliefs, disability status, criminal record, or credit history. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions, would authorize an employee to bring a civil action for specified remedies for a violation of the bill's provisions, and would authorize a public prosecutor to enforce the provisions. The bill would subject an employer who violates the bill's provisions to a civil penalty of $500 for each violation. The bill would define various terms for purposes of its provisions.

(1) The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to request that a business delete personal information about the consumer that the business has collected from the consumer. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. The CCPA establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to implement and enforce the CCPA. The CCPA creates the Consumer Privacy Fund in the State Treasury and makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature first to offset any costs incurred by the state courts in connection with actions brought to enforce the CCPA, the costs incurred by the Attorney General in carrying out the Attorney General's duties under the CCPA, and then for the purposes of establishing an investment fund in the State Treasury, with any earnings or interest from the fund to be deposited into the General Fund, and making grants to promote and protect consumer privacy, educate children in the area of online privacy, and fund cooperative programs with international law enforcement organizations to combat fraudulent activities with respect to consumer data breaches, as prescribed. This bill would revise and restructure the Consumer Privacy Fund by creating the Consumer Privacy Subfund, the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund, and the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund within the fund. The bill would require moneys in the fund and each subfund to be used for prescribed purposes, and make moneys in the fund and each subfund available upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require 95% of any administrative fine recovered in an action brought by the agency for a violation of the CPPA, and of the proceeds of any settlement of those actions, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Subfund to be used exclusively by the agency in carrying out its duties under the CCPA, and 95% of any civil penalty recovered in an action brought by the Attorney General for a violation of the CCPA to be deposited into the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund to be used exclusively by the Attorney General in carrying out its duties under the CCPA. The bill would require 5% of any administrative fine recovered in an action brought by the agency for a violation of the CCPA, and of the proceeds of any settlement of those actions, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund, and 5% of any civil penalty recovered in an action brought by the Attorney General for a violation of the CCPA to be deposited into that subfund. The bill would require funds deposited into the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund to be used exclusively by the agency to administer and distribute grants to promote and protect consumer privacy, educate children in the area of online privacy, and fund cooperative programs with international law enforcement organizations to combat fraudulent activities with respect to consumer data breaches. The bill would require the agency, subject to that provision, to make grants from the subfund by distributing 13 of the amount allocated for grant funding to specified grant recipients, including nonprofit organizations to promote and protect consumer privacy. The bill would require the agency to begin administering the grant program when the amount of funds within the subfund exceeds $300,000. The bill would require specified percentages of any remaining funds in the Consumer Privacy Fund that were not appropriated as part of the 2025 Budget Act to be transferred on a one-time basis in the 2025–26 fiscal year to each subfund, including that 45% is transferred to the Consumer Privacy Subfund, 45% is transferred to the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund, and 10% is transferred to the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund. This bill would declare that the above provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020. (2) Existing law establishes the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and gives the department the responsibility for administering various laws. Existing law establishes the Financial Protection Fund to support the department in the administration of these laws, and requires that all expenses and salaries of the department be paid out of the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes. Existing law provides that the chief officer of the department is the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. Existing law requires various entities to pay various fees to the commissioner for various services or licenses provided by the commissioner and the department. This bill would change some of those fees, as specified. The bill would also make other technical changes. (3) When a state or local agency is required or requested by law to submit a report to the Legislature, existing law requires submission of the report as a printed copy to the Secretary of the Senate, an electronic copy to the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, and an electronic or printed copy to the Legislative Counsel. This bill would instead require a state or local agency report to the Legislature to be submitted as electronic copies to the Secretary of the Senate, the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, and the Legislative Counsel. (4) Existing law requires a state agency to review all proprietary state lands under its jurisdiction, as specified, to determine what land is in excess of its needs, and to report on these lands to the Department of General Services. Existing law prescribes a process for the disposition of surplus state property. This bill would require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, upon approval from the Department of Finance, to notify the Department of General Services and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of any state real property under its jurisdiction that has been determined to be excess to its needs. The bill would authorize the Department of General Services, upon authorization by the Legislature, to sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of excess state real property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as specified. Notwithstanding those provisions, the bill would authorize the Department of General Services to execute leases for those properties, as provided. The bill would require that revenues received pursuant to the bill's provisions, except those deposited into the Deficit Recovery Bond Retirement Sinking Fund Subaccount and the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, and those used to reimburse costs and expenses incurred by the Department of General Services, be deposited into the Property Acquisition Law Money Account and be available for transfer into the Architectural Revolving Fund for expenditure by the Department of General Services to improve the likelihood of successful redevelopment of the property, as provided. Because the bill would require revenues to be transferred into continuously appropriated accounts and funds, it would make an appropriation. (5) Existing law generally requires a state agency to obtain written consent of the Attorney General before employing in-house counsel, as defined, to represent a state agency or employee in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding, or contracting with outside counsel, as defined. Existing law exempts specified circumstances from these requirements, including the employment by certain state officers and agencies or when specifically waived pursuant to other provisions. Existing law specifies that provisions relating to legal representation of state agencies do not prohibit a state agency from obtaining legal services from the Attorney General for any purpose. This bill would also exempt the employment of outside counsel for specified purposes relating to civil discovery from the above-described requirement to obtain written consent of the Attorney General. The bill would revise and recast the latter provision to instead specify these provisions do not prohibit a state agency from requesting legal representation or legal services from the Attorney General for any purpose. Existing law prohibits a state agency from employing any in-house counsel to act on behalf of the state agency or its employees in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding in which, among other things, the agency is interested, or from contracting with outside counsel or any purpose, unless the agency has first obtained the written consent of the Attorney General, as described above. Existing law exempts from this prohibition, among other state officers and agencies, the Regents of the University of California. This bill would also include the office of the Governor among the state officers and agencies that are exempt from the prohibition on employing in-house counsel without obtaining written consent of the Attorney General as described above, and would also exempt from that prohibition the representation of a state agency related to civil discovery in any action brought by the Attorney General in their independent capacity on behalf of the people of the State of California or the State of California, as specified. The bill would specify that nothing in the latter exemption prohibits a state agency from requesting representation from the Attorney General in any other proceeding, and specify that the purpose of the prohibition is to promote fiscal efficiency and economy. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the overall efficiency and economy in state government is to be enhanced by the employment of the Attorney General as counsel for the representation of state agencies and employees in judicial and administrative adjudicative proceedings. This bill would specify that it is the overall fiscal efficiency and economy in state government that is to be enhanced as described above, and make additional findings and declarations related to its provisions. The bill would specify, among other things, that the Attorney General has no possession, custody, or control over any state agency's documents or electronically stored information for purposes of criminal or civil discovery or any other purpose. (6) Existing federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. Existing law creates in the State Treasury the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund for the receipt and deposit of moneys received by the state from Indian tribes pursuant to the terms of gaming compacts entered into with the state. Existing law authorizes moneys in the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund to be appropriated for certain purposes, including, among others, for programs designed to address gambling addiction, support of state and local governmental agencies impacted by tribal government gaming, and compensation for regulatory costs incurred in connection with implementing and administering tribal-state gaming compacts. Existing law establishes an order of priority for funding in the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund. This bill would delete the authorization for moneys in the fund to be appropriated for support of state and local governmental agencies impacted by tribal government gaming. The bill would authorize moneys in the fund to be appropriated for compensation for regulatory costs incurred in connection with implementing and administering class III gaming secretarial procedures. The bill would delete the order of priority for funding. (7) Existing law creates the California Small Business Technical Assistance Program within the California Office of Small Business Advocate, under the direct authority of the Small Business Advocate. Existing law requires the office to administer the program to provide grants to expand the capacity of small business development technical assistance centers in California, as specified. Existing law also requires the office, subject to appropriation of necessary funds by the Legislature, to establish a supplemental grant program designated as the California Dream Fund Program to provide microgrants disbursed through California Small Business Technical Assistance Program grantees to seed entrepreneurship and small business creation. Existing law sets forth the criteria that an applicant must meet to be eligible to participate in these programs. This bill would, if an applicant's federal contract was canceled, frozen, or rescinded, except as specified, in the 2024–25 fiscal year, for grants made in fiscal years 2025–26 to 2027–28, inclusive, establish, until June 30, 2029, specified exceptions and modifications to the eligibility criteria. The bill would require the office to review and confirm that the applicant continues to meet state performance standards and provides high-quality, equitable technical assistance services, and to report its findings and actions to the Legislature. (8) The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, that is governed by a board of directors. Existing law, the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Act of 2020, authorizes the I-Bank, under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program, to provide financial assistance to any eligible sponsor or participating party for eligible climate catalyst projects, either directly to the sponsor or participating party or to a lending or financial institution, as specified. Existing law establishes the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund within the State Treasury, which is continuously appropriated for purposes of the program, except as specified. Existing law requires the I-Bank to adopt a climate catalyst financing plan, as defined, in consultation with specified state agencies. Existing law identifies areas of climate catalyst projects and consulting agencies for each area. This bill would revise and recast the above-described climate catalyst financing plan provisions to instead require the I-Bank to adopt a climate catalyst plan for each category of climate catalyst projects identified, in consultation with the corresponding consulting agencies. The bill would rename the act, program, and fund, as specified, and would make conforming changes throughout. Existing law requires the I-Bank by January 1 of each year, to submit to prescribed recipients a report containing information on the I-Bank's activities relating to the infrastructure bank fund and programs for the preceding fiscal year. This bill would additionally require the I-Bank to submit the above-described report to the legislative budget subcommittees related to the climate. The bill would also require the I-Bank to provide written notification to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee when federal funds are fully recycled into state dollars before committing to any additional financing projects. Existing law requires the I-Bank, in each fiscal year following the adoption of the initial climate catalyst financing plan, to contact each consulting agency to discuss potential revisions to the plan and requires the I-Bank to consider adopting a revised plan reflecting any material revisions. This bill would instead authorize the I-Bank to consider adopting a revised climate catalyst financing plan if consultation with the consulting agencies results in proposed revisions. The bill would require any revisions to, or repeals of, a climate catalyst financing plan to take effect 30 days after the I-Bank provides written notice to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or not sooner than whatever lesser time after that notification the chairperson of the joint committee, or the chairperson's designee, may determine. The bill would remove the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Conservation, and the Department of Resources, Recycling, and Recovery as consulting agencies for climate catalyst projects relating to the federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law requires the I-Bank, by January 1 of each year, to prepare and submit a report regarding Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program activity, including specified financing information. This bill would additionally require that the above-described report include the total amount of federal moneys applied to the climate catalyst project. Existing law authorizes the I-Bank to provide financial assistance only for climate catalyst projects that the I-Bank approved before July 1, 2025. This bill would extend the July 1, 2025, date to December 31, 2031, thereby extending the financial assistance authorization. By extending the operation of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law exempts from public disclosure specified financial information and records provided to the I-Bank on and after August 1, 2022, and before July 1, 2025. This bill would extend the July 1, 2025, date to January 1, 2032. 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. (9) The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Existing law requires the city or county's planning agency, after the legislative body has adopted a general plan, to submit an annual report to the legislative body, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. Existing law requires the housing element portion of the annual report to be prepared through the use of standards, forms, and definitions adopted by the Department of Housing and Community Development and exempts those standards, forms, and definitions from the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would similarly require the annual report, except for the housing element portion as described above, to be prepared through the use of standards, forms, and definitions adopted by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and would also exempt these standards, forms, and definitions from the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. By imposing new duties on a city or county's planning agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Chapter 41 of the Statutes of 2024 renamed the Governor's Office of Planning and Research the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and requires all references to the Governor's Office of Planning and Research to be deemed references to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. This bill would correct an outdated reference to the Office of Planning and Research. (10) Existing law establishes the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, administered by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, and requires the office to develop the California Climate Change Assessment to provide, among other products, reports that examine how climate change will affect the welfare of vulnerable communities and decision-support tools for organizations that serve vulnerable communities. For these and related purposes, existing law defines "vulnerable communities" as having the meaning of "vulnerable communities" that was adopted by the Integrated Climate Adaption and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council at the council's April 2, 2018, meeting and recorded in the "Defining Vulnerable Communities in the Context of Climate Adaptation" resource guide published by the office in July 2018. This bill would provide that, for these and related purposes, "vulnerable communities" has the meaning of "vulnerable communities" adopted by the council in the most up-to-date "Defining Vulnerable Communities in the Context of Climate Adaptation" resource guide published by the office. (11) Existing law, the California Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Trust Account Act, establishes a program to provide a trust fund account to an eligible child. For purposes of that act, an "eligible child" is defined to include minor residents of California who are specified dependents or wards under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in foster care with reunification services terminated by court order, or who have a parent, Indian custodian, or legal guardian who died due to COVID-19 during the federally declared COVID-19 public health emergency and meet a specified family household income limit. Existing law establishes the HOPE for Children Trust Account Fund in the State Treasury, and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the board and Treasurer for implementation of the program. This bill would expand the definition of "eligible child" to include residents of California who are 18 years of age or older who, prior to attaining 18 years of age, had a parent, Indian custodian, or legal guardian who died due to COVID-19 during the federally declared COVID-19 public health emergency and met the specified family household income limit, thereby expanding eligibility for a HOPE trust account. By expanding eligibility for HOPE trust accounts, which are funded through a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (12) 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. (13) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.