Asm. Marc Levine

Existing law permits a petitioner to seek a restraining order, including a temporary restraining order, to protect against domestic violence. Existing law requires the court to decide whether to grant a request for an ex parte restraining order on the same day that the petition is submitted to the court, which will be effective until the hearing on the petition, except as specified. Existing law directs the Judicial Council to promulgate rules and forms for a petitioner seeking a domestic violence restraining order and to assist local courts in developing procedures to assist a petitioner. This bill would require any court or court facility that receives petitions for domestic violence restraining orders or temporary restraining orders to permit such petitions to be submitted in a drop box located on the court premises, during and after normal business hours. The bill would provide that the deadlines applicable to any action taken by the court with respect to a petition filed directly with the court also apply to any action taken with respect to a petition submitted in a drop box. The bill would require the Judicial Council to develop rules and to assist courts in developing local rules or procedures necessary to effectuate this provision.

Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, prescribes a set of requirements, prohibitions, and remedies applicable to public agencies, as defined, with regard to their collection, storage, and disclosure of personal information. Other existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) , grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, including the right to know the categories and the specific pieces of personal information that have been collected and to opt out of the sale of personal information. The CCPA also grants a consumer the right to request a business to delete any personal information about the consumer collected by the business and requires a business to do so upon receipt of a verified request, except as specified. The CCPA exempts certain categories of personal information and entities from its provisions, including a health care provider or a covered entity governed by certain federal privacy, security, and data breach notification rules if the health care provider or covered entity maintains information in accordance with specified requirements. This bill would prohibit data collected, received, or prepared for purposes of contact tracing from being used, maintained, or disclosed for any purpose other than facilitating contact tracing efforts. The bill would prohibit an officer, deputy, employee, or agent of a law enforcement agency, as defined, from engaging in contact tracing. The bill would require all data collected, received, or prepared for purposes of contact tracing to be deleted within 60 days, except if that data is in the possession of a state or local health department. The bill would define terms for its purposes. 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 local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop and implement performance reliability standards for backup power systems installed on the property of residential and small commercial customers by a facilities-based provider of telephony services upon determining that the benefits of the standards exceed the costs. This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and the telecommunications industry, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement backup electrical supply rules, as specified, for telecommunications service, as defined, that is provided within a commission-designated Tier 2 or Tier 3 High Fire Threat District. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements 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 unemployment compensation law requires every employer, with specified exceptions, to pay contributions to the Unemployment Fund for the succeeding calendar year upon taxable wages with respect to employment at the rate specified in set schedules, which is determined according to the ratio of the employer's net balance of reserve on July 31 to the employer's average base payroll, as defined, and the ratio of the balance in the Unemployment Fund on September 30 to all wages with respect to employment paid during the 12-month period ending upon the computation date of June 30. This bill would, for calendar years 2021 and 2022, limit the contribution rate of an employer from exceeding the rate that was in effect for that employer in calendar year 2020. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes, including, until July 1, 2023, an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products, defined as tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, beginning on May 15, 2020, to estimate the total dollar amount of revenue that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax exemption for menstrual hygiene products and requires the Controller to transfer that amount from the General Fund to the Local Revenue Fund 2011, a continuously appropriated fund, no later than June 30 of each fiscal year. This bill would establish a similar exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products beginning July 1, 2023, and would define menstrual hygiene products to additionally include menstrual underwear. The bill would provide that the Department of Finance is required to calculate, and the Controller is required to transfer, the total dollar amount of revenue prior to January 1, 2024, that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax with respect to menstrual hygiene products, as specified. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency, and local officials and local governments to proclaim a local emergency, when specified conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist, and authorizes the Governor or the appropriate local government to exercise certain powers in response to that emergency. Existing law defines the terms "state of emergency" and "local emergency" to mean a duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state caused by, among other things, fire, storm, or riot. This bill would additionally include a deenergization, defined as a planned public safety power shutoff, as specified, within those conditions constituting a state of emergency and a local emergency. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. The act requires the lead agency to mail certain notices to persons who have filed a written request for notices. This bill would require the lead agency and the project applicant to post those notices on their internet website. CEQA requires a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse in sufficient number of copies, in either hard-copy or electronic form, a draft environmental impact report, proposed negative declaration, or proposed mitigated negative declaration for projects in which a state agency is the lead agency, a responsible agency, or a trustee agency; a state agency otherwise has jurisdiction with respect to the project; or the project is of sufficient statewide, regional, or areawide environmental significance. This bill would instead require a lead agency to submit to the State Clearinghouse, in electronic form, the above-described environmental review documents for all projects and would require the lead agency and project applicant to post those documents on their internet website. CEQA requires a state agency, if it determines to carry out or approve a project that is subject to CEQA, to file a notice of determination with the Office of Planning and Research. CEQA authorizes a state agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research. This bill would require the notice of determination or the notice of exemption to be filed electronically by the state agency. CEQA requires a local agency, if it determines to carry out or approve a project that is subject to CEQA, to file a notice of determination with the county clerk of a county in which the project will be located. CEQA authorizes a local agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA, to file a notice of exemption with the county clerk of a county in which the project will be located. This bill would require the notice of determination or notice of exemption to be filed electronically by the local agency if that option is offered by the county clerk. Because this bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency, 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 generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license, inspect, and regulate health facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and congregate living health facilities, all of which provide skilled nursing and supportive care. This bill would require, by January 1, 2025, the State Department of Public Health and the State Department of Social Services to collaborate to create health and safety guidelines and a description of best practices for use by skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and congregate living health facilities that are providing post-acute care during a pandemic, public health crisis, or other emergency.

This measure would proclaim the week of March 1, 2020, to March 7, 2020, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week.