Asm. Buffy Wicks

(1) The California Constitution, with respect to any taxes levied on taxable property in a redevelopment project established under the Community Redevelopment Law, as it then read or may be amended, authorizes the Legislature to provide for the division of those taxes under a redevelopment plan between the taxing agencies and the redevelopment agency, as provided. Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and designates successor agencies to act as successor entities to the dissolved redevelopment agencies. This bill, the Community Redevelopment Law of 2019, would authorize a city or county, or two or more cities acting jointly, to propose the formation of an affordable housing and infrastructure agency by adoption of a resolution of intention that meets specified requirements, including that the resolution of intention include a passthrough provision and an override passthrough provision, as defined. The bill would require the city or county to submit that resolution to each affected taxing entity and would authorize an entity that receives that resolution to elect to not receive a passthrough payment, as provided. The bill would require the city or county that adopted that resolution to hold a public hearing on the proposal to consider all written and oral objections to the formation, as well as any recommendations of the affected taxing entities, and would authorize that city or county to adopt a resolution of formation at the conclusion of that hearing. The bill would then require that city or county to submit the resolution of intention to the Strategic Growth Council for a determination as to whether the agency would promote statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals. The bill would require the council to approve formation of the agency if it determines that formation of the agency both (1) would not result in a state fiscal impact, determined as specified by the Controller, that exceeds a specified amount and (2) would promote statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals. The bill would deem an agency to be in existence as of the date of the council's approval. The bill would require the council to establish a program to provide technical assistance to a city or county desiring to form an agency pursuant to these provisions. The bill would provide for a governing board of the agency consisting of one member appointed by the legislative body or the legislative bodies, as applicable, that adopted the resolution of intention, one member appointed by each affected taxing entity, and 2 public members. The bill would authorize an agency formed pursuant to these provisions to finance specified infrastructure and housing projects, and to carry out related powers, such as the power to purchase and lease property within the redevelopment project area, that are similar to the powers previously granted to redevelopment agencies. The bill would require an agency to adopt an annual budget and to maintain detailed records of every action taken by that agency for a specified period of time, and would provide that any person who violates this requirement be subject to a fine of $10,000 per violation. The bill would require the agency to submit an annual report containing specified information, and a final report of any audit undertaken by any other local, state, or federal government entity, to its governing body within specified time periods. The bill would also require the agency to submit a copy of the annual report with the Controller and a copy of any audit report with the Department of Housing and Community Development. The bill would establish procedures under which the Controller would identify major audit violations and the Attorney General would bring an action to compel compliance. The bill would require the governing board of an agency to designate an appropriate official to prepare a proposed redevelopment project plan, in accordance with specified procedures. The bill would require the agency to hold a public hearing on the proposed redevelopment project plan, and would authorize the governing board to either adopt the redevelopment project plan or abandon proceedings, in which case the agency would cease to exist. The bill would authorize the redevelopment project plan to provide for the division of taxes levied upon taxable property, if any, between an affected taxing entity and the agency, as provided. The bill would declare that this authorization fulfills the intent of constitutional redevelopment provisions. The bill would also require that not less than 30% of all taxes allocated to the agency from an affected taxing entity be deposited into a separate fund, established by the agency, and used for the purposes of increasing, improving, and preserving the community's supply of low- and moderate-income housing available at an affordable housing cost, as provided. The bill would authorize the agency to issue bonds to finance redevelopment housing or infrastructure projects, in accordance with specified requirements and procedures, including that the resolution proposing the bonds include a description of the facilities or developments to be financed and the estimated cost of those facilities or developments, and that the resolution adopting the bonds provide for specified matters such as the principal amount of bonds. The bill would also authorize a city, county, or special district that contains territory within the boundaries of an agency to loan moneys to the agency to fund activities described in the redevelopment project plan. The bill would require the agency to contract for an independent financial and performance audit every 2 years after the issuance of debt. (2) Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution sets forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts for each fiscal year. This bill would require the Director of Finance to adjust the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts for these purposes in a manner that ensures that the division of taxes authorized by the Community Redevelopment Law of 2019 have no net fiscal impact upon the total amount of the General Fund revenue and local property tax revenue allocated to school districts and community college districts pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, as specified. (3) By imposing additional duties on the county auditor with respect to the allocation of tax increment revenues, and the review of information submitted to the county auditor by an agency pursuant to these provisions, 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.

Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law also prohibits the use of tobacco products in county offices of education, on charter school or school district property, or near a playground or youth sports event, as specified. This bill would prohibit a tobacco retailer from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product, as defined. The bill would make a violation of this prohibition an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for each violation. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that these provisions not be construed to preempt or prohibit the adoption and implementation of local ordinances related to the prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. By creating a new 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.

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 corporations and trustees 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 in accordance with rules and regulations of the Attorney General. Existing law exempts from this filing requirement corporate trustees subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Business Oversight. This bill would also require the Attorney General to adopt rules and regulations requiring a donor-advised fund, as defined, to include specified information in reports to the Attorney General for the purpose of helping the Attorney General determine whether the funds or accounts managed by the donor-advised fund are being administered properly. The bill would also prohibit the disclosure of the personal information that identifies an individual donor and would exempt a donor-advised fund sponsoring organization from disclosure requirements if it meets specified, self-certified conditions. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes and a conforming change.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health, which, among other things, administers various programs that prevent disease and promote health. This bill would prohibit a retailer from selling, offering for sale, or otherwise providing to a consumer an unsealed beverage container, as defined, that is able to contain more than 16 fluid ounces, except for an unsealed beverage container designated for the consumption of water. The bill would define retailer to mean any person, firm, corporation, or business that sells, offers for sale, or otherwise provides a sugar-sweetened beverage to a consumer. This bill would make a violation of this prohibition punishable as an infraction, or a civil penalty in an action brought by the Attorney General, or a district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney, of $200 for the first violation, $500 for the second violation, and $1,000 for each subsequent violation. By creating a new 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 law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, including some supervisory and managerial employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. 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 provides for various programs that prevent disease and promote health, including the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program that provides, until July 1, 2020, additional benefits to residents of prioritized disadvantaged communities to purchase safe drinking water. Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes of the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges and establishes criminal penalties for specified acts, including making it a misdemeanor to knowingly or willfully file a false return and making it a felony to willfully evade or attempt to evade or defeat the payment of a fee. This bill, subject to specified exemptions, would impose a fee on every distributor, as defined, for the privilege of distributing bottled sugary drinks and concentrate in the state, at a rate of $0.02 per fluid ounce and for the privilege of distributing syrups and powders concentrate in this state, either as concentrate or as sweetened beverages derived from that concentrate, at the rate of $0.02 per fluid ounce of sweetened beverage to be produced from concentrate. The bill would require the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to administer and collect the fee pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law, to register the distributors upon whom the fee is imposed, and would authorize the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to promulgate and enforce regulations related to administration of the fee. The bill would require the fees to be deposited into the California Community Health Fund, created by the bill. The bill would require moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to specified entities, including the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Education, to promote health equity, to reduce health disparities, to improve oral health, and to prevent the leading causes of illness, injury, and premature death. The bill would authorize state departments to award competitive grants to local organizations in support of the bill's objectives, and would authorize the State Department of Social Services to prioritize the revenues that it receives from the California Community Health Fund to fund the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to coordinate with the State Water Resources Control Board for purposes of conducting any activities related to the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program and that are funded by the California Community Health Fund. The bill would extend the Safe Drinking Water Supplemental Benefit Pilot Program to July 1, 2025, and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2026. Because the bill would expand the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages, diabetes, childhood obesity, and dental disease. 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. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII   A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

Existing law establishes the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. This bill would create the California Organic-to-School Pilot Program, to be administered by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, through the Office of Farm to Fork. The bill would require the secretary to expend moneys allocated for the program to provide grants for school food authorities to purchase California organic food products for school meals, as specified. The bill would require the secretary to consult with the State Department of Education to determine the recipients and amounts of grants awarded under the program. The bill would require a school food authority that receives a grant under the program to submit a report to the secretary containing specified information and would require the secretary to report to the Legislature on the outcomes of the program. The bill would make the implementation of its provisions contingent on a one-time appropriation being made for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health, which, among other things, administers various programs to prevent disease and promote health. Existing law also regulates certain advertising and promotion practices related to specific products, including by prohibiting the nonsale distribution of smokeless tobacco or cigarettes in designated places and the giving away of premiums, gifts, or free goods in connection with the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages, except as specified. This bill would regulate promotion and marketing activities related to sugar-sweetened beverages, as defined, by prohibiting a beverage company, as defined, manufacturer, or distributor, as defined, from giving or offering incentives or other financial support to compensate distributors or retailers for the cost of promotional offers, coupons, or other incentives offered to consumers for branded products of the beverage company. The bill would exempt from that prohibition contracts between a beverage company, manufacturer, or distributor and a theme or amusement park, zoo, other attraction, or professional sports stadium that include nonfood promotions. The bill would authorize local governments and the Attorney General to impose civil penalties for a violation of the prohibition, as specified. The bill would state that these provisions do not preempt or prohibit the adoption and implementation of local ordinances related to promotional and marketing activities for sugar-sweetened beverages that are not inconsistent with these requirements, including ordinances that impose additional or more restrictive requirements on those activities.

Existing law establishes various public health programs related to nutrition that are administered by the State Department of Public Health, including the "5 A Day—For Better Health" program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of the need to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables to improve health and prevent major chronic diseases. Under the California Retail Food Code, the department regulates retail food facilities, as defined, including administering uniform health and sanitation standards, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce these provisions. This bill would enact the California Healthy Checkout Aisles for Healthy Families Act, and would require a store, as defined, to make available only specified beverages, including milk and natural fruit and vegetable juice, in the checkout areas of the store. The bill would require the department and the local health agency having jurisdiction over the store to administer and enforce the act. The bill would make a violation of its provisions an infraction, and would require the first violation to result in a notice of violation. The bill would make the 2nd and 3rd violations within a 5-year period punishable by fines of not more than $250 and $500, respectively. By imposing additional duties on local enforcement agencies and by creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to promulgate regulations to carry out these provisions. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(1) Existing law prohibits sterilization of a person with developmental disabilities without the person's consent, if the person has the ability to consent to sterilization, as defined, unless a limited conservator authorized to consent to the sterilization of an adult with a developmental disability is appointed and obtains court authorization to consent to the sterilization, as specified. Existing law prohibits sterilization for the purpose of birth control in county jails and state prison facilities, as specified. Existing law establishes a procedure for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of certain crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund consisting of General Fund moneys, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law sets forth eligibility requirements and specified limits on the amount of compensation the board may award, and requires applications for compensation to be verified under penalty of perjury. Under existing law, certain property is exempt from enforcement of money judgments, including benefits from a disability or health insurance policy or program. This bill would establish the Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Compensation Program, to be administered by the California Victim Compensation Board for the purpose of providing victim compensation to survivors of state-sponsored sterilization conducted pursuant to eugenics laws that existed in California between 1909 and 1979 and to survivors of coerced sterilizations of people in prisons after 1979. The bill would require the board, in consultation with community-based organizations, to conduct outreach to locate qualified recipients, as defined, disclose a coerced sterilization to that person if the person was sterilized while imprisoned, notify that person of the process to apply for victim compensation, and review and verify all applications for victim compensation, as specified. The bill would require the board to keep confidential and not disclose to the public a record pertaining to a person's application for victim compensation or the board's verification of the application. The bill would exempt victim compensation payments from, among other things, being considered taxable income for state tax purposes or being subject to enforcement of a money judgment, as specified. The bill would provide that these provisions would become operative only upon an appropriation to the board, the State Department of State Hospitals, the State Department of Developmental Services, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the purpose of implementing the program. The bill would also require the board and departments to post a notice on their internet websites once the appropriation described above is made to inform the public of the operative date of the program. (2) Existing law provides that information and records obtained in the course of providing specified mental health and developmental services are confidential, but allows the disclosure of the information and records under specified circumstances. This bill would additionally authorize the State Department of Developmental Services and the State Department of State Hospitals to disclose the above-described information and records to authorized employees of the board for the purposes of verifying the identity and eligibility of individuals claiming compensation under the Forced or Involuntary Sterilization Compensation Program, or to an attorney for a person who was sterilized or alleges a person was sterilized. The bill would require the board to maintain the confidentiality of the information and records received from the departments. (3) 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.