Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the Director of Developmental Services to establish, maintain, and revise, as necessary, an equitable process for setting rates of state payment for nonresidential services purchased by regional centers. Existing law requires activity centers, adult development centers, behavior management programs, and other look-alike day programs with a daily rate to bill regional centers for services provided to consumers in terms of 12 days of service and full days of service, as defined, but authorizes a regional center to change the length of the declared and approved program day for a specific consumer in order to meet the needs of that consumer. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to daily rate billing.
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Existing law regulates a person who performs certain home inspections for a fee in connection with a transfer of real property. Existing law provides that it is the duty of a home inspector who is not licensed as a general contractor, structural pest control operator, or architect, or registered as a professional engineer to conduct a home inspection with the degree of care that a reasonably prudent home inspector would exercise. Under existing law, contractual provisions that purport to waive this duty, or limit the liability of the home inspector to the cost of the home inspection report, are contrary to public policy and invalid. Existing law prohibits commencement of a legal action for breach of duty arising from a home inspection report more than 4 years from the date of the inspection. Under existing law, certain activities by a home inspector or a company that employs a home inspector constitute unfair business practices. This bill would enact the Home Inspection Licensure Act, which would revise and recast those provisions, and would make the substantive changes described below operative on and after January 1, 2025. This bill would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to administer and enforce the provisions of the act. The bill would prohibit a person from acting or holding themself out as a home inspector unless that person has an active license, except as specified. The bill would make a willful violation of this provision a public offense punishable by imprisonment, by a fine not exceeding an unspecified amount, or by both imprisonment and fine. By creating a new crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. This bill would require an applicant for a license to, among other things, submit to the department an original completed application containing specified personal information, proof of completion of a prelicensing education course from an approved provider, and payment of an unspecified application fee. The bill would require a license issued to be valid for 2 years following the date of issuance. The bill would authorize a person to renew their expired license upon the filing of a completed renewal application containing proof of completion of a continuing education course from an approved provider and payment of an unspecified renewal fee, except as specified. The bill would authorize a licensee to apply for an inactive license, and would prohibit the department from requiring an inactive license to be renewed after the licensee pays an unspecified one-time retired license fee. This bill would authorize the department to enter into a reciprocity agreement with another state that authorizes a home inspector from that state to act or hold themselves out as a home inspector, if the department makes specified determinations and issues a temporary license to that home inspector that is valid for a period not exceeding one year. This bill would require the department to approve a provider of professional home inspection educational courses that meets certain requirements, and would authorize the department to remove the approval if the course provider has failed to comply with those requirements. The bill would require the department to provide on its internet website certain information regarding every licensee and course provider, as specified. This bill, instead, would prohibit commencement of a legal action for breach of duty arising from a home inspection report more than 2 years from the date of the inspection. The bill would require a home inspector, before beginning a home inspection, to provide to the client, and to obtain the client's signature on, an inspection agreement containing specified information. The bill would require a home inspector to provide an inspection report to the client on or before 5 days following the completion of the home inspection, unless a different date is specified in the inspection agreement. This bill would establish the Home Inspectors License Fund, and would require all fees, fines, and penalties collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited into the fund, which the bill would make available for administration of these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature. 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 requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those individuals with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Existing law requires a local educational agency to initiate and conduct meetings for the purposes of developing, reviewing, and revising the individualized education program of each individual with exceptional needs. Existing law requires a local educational agency to give a parent or guardian a copy of the individualized education program, at no cost to the parent or guardian. This bill would additionally require the local educational agency, at least 72 hours before the individualized education program meeting, to make available to the parent or guardian a preliminary draft of the individualized education program in electronic form and to mail to the parent or guardian a hard copy of that preliminary draft, at no cost to the parent or guardian, as provided. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies, 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, 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.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Under its existing authority, the commission requires electrical corporations to implement the California Overhead Conversion Program to provide financial assistance to local governments to facilitate projects that are in the public interest and that remove overhead infrastructure, replacing it with infrastructure in underground trenches. This bill would require the commission to require electrical corporations to develop and administer programs to replace overhead electric facilities along public streets and roads, and on other public or private properties in high fire threat districts, as determined by the commission, with underground electric facilities. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any rule, order, decision, or direction of the commission is a crime. Because certain of the above provisions would be in the act, a violation of an order by the commission implementing the above provisions would be a crime, and therefore 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, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development, which satisfies specified objective planning standards, that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit. Under existing law, those objective planning standards include that the development proponent must certify both (1) that the development is either a public work, for purposes of specified law, or that all construction workers employed in the execution of the development will be paid at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area and (2) that if the development meets certain conditions, a skilled and trained workforce, as defined, will be used to complete the development if the application is approved, as provided. Existing law exempts from any requirement to pay prevailing wages or use a skilled and trained workforce a project that includes 10 or fewer units and is not a public work. This bill would delete the requirement that a skilled and trained workforce be employed on any project subject to these provisions. The bill would also limit the requirement that prevailing wages be paid on a development that is not a public work to work on market rate units within the development and revise the exemption from this requirement to instead require that the project either: (1) include 10 or fewer units and be a wholly affordable project or (2) not be a public work. 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 does not apply to the ministerial approval of projects. This bill, by expanding the scope of developments eligible for streamlined, ministerial approval, as described above, would expand the exemption for the ministerial approval of projects under CEQA.
Existing law authorizes various state entities to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations for various specified purposes. The Administrative Procedure Act requires the Office of Administrative Law and a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to review the proposed changes for, among other things, consistency with existing state regulations. This bill would require each state agency to, on or before January 1, 2022, review its regulations, identify any regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date, revise those identified regulations, as provided, and report its findings and actions taken to the Legislature and Governor, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2023.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to develop an alternative service delivery model that provides an Individual Choice Budget and suspends a regional center's authority to purchase certain services, including, camping services and associated travel expenses, social recreation activities, educational services, and nonmedical therapies, as specified, pending implementation of the Individual Choice Budget and certification that the Individual Choice Budget has been implemented and will result in state budget savings, as specified. This bill would repeal the above-described suspension of a regional center's authority to purchase camping services and associated travel expenses, or social recreation activities.
Existing law creates the Department of Transportation within the Transportation Agency and creates the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations within the department, with specified powers and duties. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint the director of the office for a 6-year term, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and provides that the director, known as the Inspector General, may not be removed from office during the term except for good cause. Existing law specifies the duties and responsibilities of the Inspector General with respect to the department and local agencies receiving state and federal transportation funds through the department, and requires an annual report to the Legislature and Governor. This bill would eliminate the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations and would instead create the Independent Office of the Transportation Inspector General in state government, as an independent office that would not be a subdivision of any other government entity, to ensure that specified state agencies and all external entities that receive state and federal transportation funds are operating efficiently, effectively, and in compliance with federal and state laws. The bill would require the Governor to appoint the Transportation Inspector General for a 4-year term, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and would prohibit the Transportation Inspector General from being removed from office during the term except for good cause. The bill would specify the duties and responsibilities of the Transportation Inspector General and set the salary of the Transportation Inspector General. The bill would require the Transportation Inspector General to submit an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the California Transportation Commission.
Under existing law, a hunting license grants the privilege to take birds and mammals and is valid from July 1 to June 30 or, if issued after July 1, for the remainder of that term. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue various types of hunting licenses, including a discounted hunting license known as a junior hunting license, upon payment of a certain fee from an eligible applicant. Existing law, until July 1, 2020, expands the eligibility for a junior hunting license from persons who are under 16 years of age on July 1 of the licensing year to persons who are under 18 years of age on July 1 of the licensing year, as specified, and makes conforming changes related to that expanded eligibility. This bill would extend, this expanded eligibility, for a junior hunting license indefinitely.
Existing law establishes within the Department of Housing and Community Development the California Housing Finance Agency and provides that the primary purpose of the agency is to meet the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency administer the Roberti-Greene Home Purchase Assistance Program, to provide home purchase assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers to qualify for the purchase of owner-occupied homes. Existing law authorizes the agency, pursuant to specified objectives, to create its own home purchase assistance programs, home purchase assistance products, or both, on terms and conditions as the agency deems prudent. Existing law requires the agency to provide to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst an annual report containing information concerning all units produced, assisted, or insured using agency funds. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst to conduct a study, and present the findings thereof to the Legislature, to inform the creation of a low-interest loan program for first responders. The bill would require the report to be submitted on or before January 1, 2024. The bill would require the report to include a recommendation as to which state department is best suited to administer the program, an estimation of the amount of funding that would be necessary to conduct the program, and recommendations for qualifications for participation in the program.