Asm. Buffy Wicks

Existing law prohibits a person or entity from providing the operation of a voice recognition feature of a connected television within the state without prominently informing the specified user of the connected television during the initial setup or installation. Existing law prohibits any actual recordings of spoken word collected for a specified purpose through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer of a connected television, or a contracting third party, from being sold or used for any advertising purpose. Existing law prohibits a person or entity from compelling a manufacturer or other entity providing the operation of a voice recognition feature to build specific features for the purpose of allowing an investigative or law enforcement officer to monitor communications through that feature. Existing law limits the liability of a manufacturer to functionality provided at the time of the original sale of a connected television and specifically excludes liability for functionality provided by applications the user chooses to use in the cloud or that are downloaded and installed by a user. Existing law prohibits a waiver of these prohibitions and authorizes their enforcement by injunction or civil penalty in a court of competent jurisdiction by the Attorney General or a district attorney. Existing law defines terms for these purposes. This bill would include smart speaker devices, as defined, in those provisions, thereby prohibiting, among other things, a person or entity from providing the operation of a voice recognition feature within the state without prominently informing the user during the initial setup or installation of a smart speaker device. The bill would prohibit any actual recordings or transcriptions collected or retained through the operation of a voice recognition feature by the manufacturer of a connected television or smart speaker device, that qualify as personal information or that are not deidentified, from being used for any advertising purpose, or being shared with, or sold to, a third party, unless the user has provided affirmative written consent, as defined. The bill would also prohibit them from being retained by the manufacturer, as specified, unless the user opts in to having that recording retained by the manufacturer either during installation or at a later time in the device settings. The bill would revise existing definitions and define additional terms for its purposes.

The Healthy Start Support Services for Children Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award grants to local educational agencies or consortia to fund programs in qualifying schools that provide support services, which include case-managed health, mental health, social, and academic support services, to eligible pupils and their families. The act establishes the Healthy Start Support Services for Children Program Council, specifies the members of the council, and provides for the duties of the council, which include assisting a local educational agency or consortium with local technical assistance, as provided. The act authorizes a local educational agency or consortium to contract with other entities, including county agencies and private nonprofit organizations or private partners, to provide services to pupils and their families. This bill would establish the COVID-19 Support Services and Resiliency for Children Program, under which the Superintendent would be required to award grants to qualifying entities, defined to include schools, local educational agencies, and consortia that meet specified criteria, to pay the costs of planning and operating programs that provide support services related to COVID-19 to pupils and their families. The bill would require grants to be awarded for no more than $500,000 each and to be matched by the grantee with $1 for each $2 awarded, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services to establish the Children's Coordinated Services Emergency Response Team with specified membership and duties, including providing recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Department of Education regarding the program. The bill would prescribe criteria for the application for and awarding of grants, including requiring a qualifying entity applying for a grant to establish procedures to ensure ongoing consultation and collaboration with local agencies. The bill would impose additional program requirements on a participating qualifying entity that is located within a county that has established an interagency children's services coordinating council. The bill would make implementation of its provisions contingent on funds being appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute, or being made available from federal sources, for its purposes.

Existing law prohibits a governmental authority, or agent of a governmental authority, or person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives any person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States or by the Constitution or laws of California. This bill would authorize a person to bring a civil action against any responsible party, who, motivated by the person's protected status, knowingly causes a peace officer to arrive at a location to contact the person with the intent to, among other things, infringe upon the person's rights or cause the person to feel harassed, humiliated, or embarrassed. The bill would specify that a prevailing plaintiff who suffers harm as a result of a violation of these provisions may recover damages from the responsible party, including, but not limited to, damages for infliction of emotional distress and for damages caused by the peace officers responding to the call, and punitive damages, or, in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory damages between $250 and $10,000, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Existing law defines "hate crime" as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Existing law makes a hate crime punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony if the crime was committed against the person or property of another for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with that other person's free exercise or enjoyment of their rights and if the crime meets specified criteria, including, among other things, that the crime against the person of another included the present ability to commit violent injury or caused actual physical injury. Existing law makes a felony that is a hate crime punishable by an additional term of one, 2, or 3 years in prison. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to, knowing the report is false, falsely report to specified governmental entities that an emergency exists. Existing law makes this crime punishable as a felony if the person knows or should know that the response to the report is likely to cause death or great bodily injury, and great bodily injury or death is sustained by any person as a result of the false report. This bill would make a person who is falsely reported pursuant to those provisions considered a victim of the crime for the purposes of determining if the crime is a hate crime. The bill would additionally make a false report that is a hate crime punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony if it is committed for the purpose of intimidating or interfering with that other person's free exercise or enjoyment of their rights. By expanding the scope of a crime, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

(1) Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2021, each law enforcement agency to maintain a policy that provides a standard on the use of force by implementing various guidelines and procedures and to make that policy accessible to the public. Existing law also requires a uniformed peace officer to wear a badge, nameplate, or other device which bears clearly on its face the identification number or name of the officer. This bill would require each law enforcement agency to expand the agency's use of force policy to include clear and specific guidelines under which officers may use "kettling" or "corralling," as defined by the bill, and to prohibit officers from failing to wear, or intentionally acting to obscure or conceal information on, a badge while on duty. The bill would also require each agency's policy to prohibit law enforcement officers from using force on individuals engaged in, or members of the press covering, a lawful assembly or protest, as specified, and would further require the policy to require that an officer who is found to have intentionally violated this policy be suspended, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law makes it a crime to willfully resist, delay, or obstruct any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician, as defined, in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of the office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed. Existing law exempts from the scope of that crime a person who takes a photograph or makes an audio or video recording of a public officer or peace officer, while the officer is in a public place or the person taking the photograph or making the recording is in a place the person has the right to be, and further provides that those acts do not constitute, in and of itself, commission of the crime proscribed, nor a reasonable suspicion to detain the person or probable cause to arrest the person. This bill would authorize a person who is detained or arrested for engaging in an act that is exempt as described above to recover actual damages, punitive damages not exceeding $25,000 per violation, and reasonable attorney's fees, in addition to any other remedy at law. If that person is detained or arrested in violation of specified law enforcement agency policies relating to the use of force, the bill would also authorize the person to recover additional punitive damages not exceeding $25,000 per violation and reasonable attorney's fees, in addition to any other remedy at law. (3) Existing law makes every person who participates in any rout or unlawful assembly guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would instead make every person who participates in any rout or unlawful assembly guilty of an infraction. (4) 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 requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, among other duties, to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law prohibits the commission from issuing initially a credential, permit, certificate, or renewal of an emergency credential to a person to serve in the public schools unless the person has demonstrated proficiency in basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills in the English language by passing the state basic skills proficiency test. Existing law exempts specified applicants from this basic skills proficiency test requirement, including, among others, out-of-state teachers who have passed a basic skills exam in another state, eminence credential applicants who have achieved eminence in a field of endeavor taught or service practiced in the public schools of California, and applicants who achieve scores on the writing, reading, and mathematics sections of the College Board SAT Reasoning Test, the enhanced ACT English and mathematics tests, or the California State University Early Assessment Program that are sufficient to waive the English placement test and the entry level mathematics examination administered by the California State University. This bill would, until December 31, 2023, exempt from the basic skills proficiency test requirement an applicant who earns at least a letter grade of B in qualifying coursework, as defined, determined by a credential preparation program or the commission, as specified, to sufficiently serve as an alternative indicator of proficiency in basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills in the English language. The bill would also, until December 31, 2023, exempt an applicant who a credential preparation program determines has demonstrated proficiency in the basic skills through a combination of qualifying coursework, passage of components of the state basic skills proficiency test, and scores on the writing, reading, and mathematics sections of the College Board SAT Reasoning Test, the enhanced ACT English and mathematics tests, or the California State University Early Assessment Program that are sufficient to waive the English placement test and the entry level mathematics examination administered by the California State University.

The Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act governs charitable corporations, unincorporated associations, trustees, commercial fundraisers, fundraising counsel, commercial coventurers, and other legal entities holding or soliciting property for charitable purposes over which the state or the Attorney General has enforcement and supervisory powers. Under the act, specified charitable entities are required to file with the Attorney General periodic written reports, under oath, that set forth information as to the nature of the assets held for charitable purposes and the administration of these assets by the corporation or the trustee, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to classify certain entities and establish rules for those classes as to the time and nature of the reports. This bill would require the Attorney General to establish a classification for sponsoring organizations that maintain one or more donor-advised funds, as defined.

The Consumers Legal Remedies Act makes unlawful various specified methods, acts, or practices undertaken in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer, and provides for civil actions by persons who suffer damage as a result of the use or employment of these methods, acts, or practices. The Check Sellers, Bill Payers and Proraters Law licenses and regulates proraters. Existing law defines a "prorater" as a person who, for compensation, engages in the business of receiving money or evidences thereof for the purpose of distributing the money or evidences thereof among creditors in payment or partial payment of the obligations of the debtor. This bill would include, as an unlawful act under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, engaging in the business of receiving or soliciting money or evidences thereof, or processing payment for the purpose of distributing the money or evidences thereof, among creditors in payment or partial payment of the obligations of the debtor in a manner that deceives consumers, including by, among other methods, failing to disclose clearly and conspicuously the terms and risks of the program. The bill would also include as an unlawful practice under the act, engaging in the business of a prorater in a manner that violates the Check Sellers, Bill Payers and Proraters Law. The bill would make it an unlawful act to provide payment processing services, for which a fee is charged to a consumer, to a prorater that is acting in violation of these provisions. The bill would specify that these provisions do not apply to entities that are exempt from taxation, as specified.

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

This measure would proclaim March 2, 2020, to March 6, 2020, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week.

Under existing law, a registered voter may vote by mail by requesting a vote by mail ballot for a specific election or by becoming a permanent vote by mail voter. County elections officials must begin mailing ballots and other required materials to these voters no later than 29 days before the day of the election. Existing law, the California Voter's Choice Act, authorizes any county to conduct any election occurring on or after January 1, 2020, as an all-mailed ballot election if specified conditions are met. In an all-mailed ballot election held under the act, the county elections official must mail a ballot to every registered voter, regardless of whether the voter requested a vote by mail ballot or is a permanent vote by mail voter. This bill would require county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. Existing law requires county elections officials to permit voters with a disability, and military or overseas voters, to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system. This bill would require county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to establish, by January 1, 2020, a system that a county elections official may use to allow a voter to track the voter's vote by mail ballot through the mail system and processing by the county elections official. County elections officials are not required to use the system, however. This bill would require county elections officials to use the Secretary of State's system, or a system that meets the same specifications, for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. Under existing law, a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received by the voter's elections official via the United States Postal Service, or a bona fide private mail delivery company, no later than 3 days after election day. This bill would, for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, extend the deadline by which vote by mail ballots must be received by the county elections official to the 17th day after election day. Under existing law, any jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability may start to process vote by mail ballots on the 10th business day before the election. This processing includes opening vote by mail ballot return envelopes, removing ballots, duplicating any damaged ballots, and preparing the ballots to be machine read, or machine reading them, including processing write-in votes so that they can be tallied by the machine, but under no circumstances may a vote count be accessed or released until 8 p.m. on the day of the election. This bill would authorize these jurisdictions, for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, to begin processing vote by mail ballots on the 29th day before the election. By requiring county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter, and to take other actions expanding vote by mail voting, including making remote accessible voting available to all voters, 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, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.