Asm. Marc Levine

This measure would designate the month of January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month in California.

Existing law generally regulates insurance and creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to insurance.

This measure, among other things, would declare that California is a Reproductive Freedom State for All and provide that the Legislature is committed to guaranteeing the constitutionally protected right to an abortion and supporting efforts to increase access to the best available reproductive and pregnancy-related care for women and pregnant individuals.

This measure would proclaim January 13, 2020, as Korean American Day.

The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law authorizes a claimant to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of property taxes that are due on the residential dwelling of the claimant, as provided, and requires the claim for postponement to be filed under penalty of perjury. Existing law establishes the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, in the State Treasury for, among other things, disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes, as provided. Existing law requires the Controller, on June 30, 2018, and on June 30 each year thereafter, to transfer any moneys in the fund in excess of $15,000,000 to the General Fund. Existing law requires property tax postponement payments, from the time a payment is made, to bear interest at the rate of 7% per annum. Existing law prohibits the postponement of property taxes if the claimant's household income exceeds $35,500. This bill would require the annual transfer of moneys in excess of $15,000,000 from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund to the General Fund to occur until June 30, 2019. The bill, beginning July 1, 2020, would lower the rate of interest on property tax postponement payments from 7% per annum to 5% per annum. The bill would revise the income limitations described above to instead provide that the claimant's household income cannot exceed $35,500 or the "very low income" limit, as adjusted for household size, for the county in which the household is located, as published annually by the Department of Housing and Community Development, whichever is greater. Because this bill would provide for additional expenditures from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. By increasing the circumstances in which claims for postponement are required to be filed under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing 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.

The California Constitution provides that the Legislature may, by statute, prohibit retirement board investments if it is in the public interest to do so and providing that the prohibition satisfies specified fiduciary standards. Existing law prohibits the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from investing public employee retirement funds in a company with active business operations in Sudan, the energy sector of Iran, and thermal coal companies, subject to specified requirements, limitations, and procedures. This bill would prohibit the boards of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from making new investments or renewing existing investments of public employee retirement funds in a private prison company, as defined. This bill would require the boards to liquidate investments in private prison companies on or before July 1, 2020, and would require the boards, in making a determination to liquidate investments, to constructively engage with private prison companies to establish whether the companies are transitioning their business models to another industry. The bill would provide that it does not require a board to take any action unless the board determines in good faith that the action is consistent with the board's fiduciary responsibilities established in the constitution. The bill would provide that board members and other officers and employees shall be held harmless and be eligible for indemnification in connection with actions taken pursuant to the bill's requirements, as specified. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.

Existing law defines first degree murder, in part, as all murder that is committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, specified felonies, including arson, rape, carjacking, robbery, burglary, mayhem, and kidnapping. Existing law, as enacted by Proposition 7, approved by the voters at the November 7, 1978, statewide general election, prescribes a penalty for that crime of death, imprisonment in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole, or imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life. This bill would prohibit a person from being executed pursuant to a judgment that was either sought or obtained on the basis of race if the court makes a finding that race was a significant factor in seeking or imposing the death penalty. The bill would provide that a finding that race was a significant factor would include statistical evidence or other evidence that death sentences were sought or imposed significantly more frequently upon persons of one race than upon persons of another race or that race was a significant factor in decisions to exercise preemptory challenges during jury selection. Because this bill would place additional duties on prosecutors, it 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 imposes various requirements governing public works and public purchases, including, among other things, protection of infrastructure, preferences, emergency conservation, access to buildings, and contract requirements. The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of the legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill would require a public agency undertaking a publicly funded major technology project that is estimated to cost $100,000,000 or more to form an oversight committee subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act or the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, as applicable, and to develop and use risk management plans throughout the course of the project. The bill would require the oversight committee to be composed of specified members selected by the public agency undertaking the project. The bill would require the oversight committee to act as the authority for critical decisions regarding the project and to have sufficient staff to support decisionmaking. By imposing new duties on local public agencies, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.