This measure would designate that January 16, 2012, be observed as the official memorial of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth, commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Existing law prohibits certain employment contract provisions as against public policy and declares provisions in certain construction contracts between a contractor and subcontractor for work in this state that purport to require dispute resolution between the parties to be commenced or determined outside of the state to be void and unenforceable. This bill would make void and unenforceable as against public policy any provision in an employment contract that requires an employee, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, to use a forum other than California, or to agree to a choice of law other than California law, to resolve any dispute with an employer regarding employment-related issues that arise in California, and would make related changes.
(1) Existing law establishes the public school system in this state, and, among other things, provides for the establishment of school districts throughout the state and for their provision of instruction at the public elementary and secondary schools they operate and maintain. Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, among other things, requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of comprehensive school safety plans for schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and further requires the Department of Justice and the State Department of Education to contract with one or more professional trainers to coordinate statewide workshops for school districts, county offices of education, and schoolsite personnel to assist them in the development of school safety and crisis response plans. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would encourage the inclusion of policies and procedures aimed at the prevention of bullying in comprehensive school safety plans. The bill also would require the Department of Justice and the State Department of Education to contract to provide training in the prevention of bullying, as defined in the bill. (2) Existing law requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age, inclusive, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time day school in the school district in which his or her parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing boards of 2 or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the districts. Existing law requires the supervisor of attendance of the school district of residence to issue an individual permit verifying the district's approval, pursuant to policies of the governing board of the school district and terms of the agreement, for the transfer. Existing law establishes an appeal process for pupils whose permits are denied, or, in the absence of an agreement between the school districts, if the school districts fail or refuse to enter into an agreement. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would require that a pupil who has been determined by personnel of either the school district of residence or the school district of proposed enrollment to have been the victim of an act of bullying, as defined, committed by a pupil of the school district of residence be given priority for interdistrict attendance under any existing interdistrict attendance agreement or, in the absence of an agreement, be given additional consideration for the creation of an interdistrict attendance agreement, at the request of the person having legal custody of the pupil. To the extent this provision would impose new or additional duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the school district superintendent or the school principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, bullying, as defined to include sexual harassment, hate violence, or harassment, threats, or intimidation. This bill, as of July 1, 2012, would amend the definition of bullying in this provision by specifying that bullying means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, as defined, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment, hate violence, or harassment, threats, or intimidation, that has the effect or can reasonably be predicted to have the effect of placing a reasonable pupil, as defined, in fear of harm to that pupil's or those pupils' person or property, causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health, causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with his or her academic performance, or causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. (4) The bill would also make various technical and conforming changes. (5) 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 these statutory provisions.
(1) Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to investigate and enforce statutes and orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission that, among other things, specify the requirements for the payment of wages by employers. Existing law provides for criminal and civil penalties for violations of statutes and orders of the commission regarding payment of wages. This bill would provide that in addition to being subject to a civil penalty, any employer who pays or causes to be paid to any employee a wage less than the minimum fixed by an order of the commission shall be subject to paying restitution of wages to the employee. This bill would make it a misdemeanor if an employer willfully violates specified wage statutes or orders, or willfully fails to pay a final court judgment or final order of the Labor Commissioner for wages due. (2) Existing law provides that an action by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations for collection of a statutory penalty or fee must be commenced within one year after the penalty or fee became final. This bill would extend the period within which the division may commence a collection action, as defined, from one year to 3 years. (3) Existing law permits the Labor Commissioner to require an employer who has been convicted of a subsequent wage violation or who has failed to satisfy a judgment to post a bond in order to continue business operations. This bill would extend the time required for a subsequently convicted employer to maintain a bond from 6 months to 2 years and would require that a subsequently convicted employer provide an accounting of assets, as specified, to the Labor Commissioner. (4) Existing law requires an employer to post specified wage and hour information in a location where it can be viewed by employees. This bill would require an employer to provide each employee, at the time of hiring, with a notice that specifies the rate and the basis, whether hourly, salary, commission, or otherwise, of the employee's wages and to notify each employee in writing of any changes to the information set forth in the notice within 7 calendar days of the changes unless such changes are reflected on a timely wage statement or another writing, as specified. No notice would be required for an employee who is employed by the state or any subdivision thereof, exempt from the payment of overtime, or covered by a collective bargaining agreement containing specified information. (5) In addition to the crime and employer obligations imposed by this bill, the Labor Code provides for other work-related standards and duties that, upon violation, are subject to specified penalties. This bill would state that the Labor Code establishes minimum penalties for failure to comply with wage-related statutes and regulations. Because this bill would create a new crime or expand the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 98 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 240, that would become operative only if AB 240 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is enacted last. This bill would also incorporate additional changes to Section 226 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 243, that would become operative only if AB 243 and this bill are both enacted, both bills become effective on or before January 1, 2012, and this bill is enacted last. (7) 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, subject to certain exceptions, makes it an offense to carry a concealed handgun on the person or in a vehicle, as specified. Existing law provides that firearms carried openly in belt holsters are not concealed within the meaning of those provisions. This bill would establish an exemption to the offense for transportation of a firearm between certain areas where the firearm may be carried concealed, or loaded, or openly carried unloaded, as specified. Existing law prohibits, with exceptions, a person from possessing a firearm in a place that the person knows or reasonably should know is a school zone, as defined. This bill would additionally exempt a security guard authorized to openly carry an unloaded handgun and an honorably retired peace officer authorized to openly carry an unloaded handgun from that prohibition. Existing law, subject to certain exceptions, makes it an offense to carry a loaded firearm on the person or in a vehicle while in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated city or in any public place or on any public street in a prohibited area of unincorporated territory. The bill would, subject to exceptions, make it a misdemeanor to openly carry an unloaded handgun on the person or openly and exposed in a motor vehicle in specified public areas and would make it a misdemeanor with specified penalties to openly carry an exposed handgun in a public place or public street, as specified, if the person at the same time possesses ammunition capable of being discharged from the handgun, and the person is not in lawful possession of the handgun, as specified. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any driver or owner of a motor vehicle to allow a person to bring a loaded firearm into the motor vehicle in a public place, as specified. This bill would expand the scope of that crime to include allowing a person to bring an open and exposed unloaded handgun into the vehicle, as specified. By creating a new offense, and expanding the scope of existing crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make conforming and nonsubstantive technical changes. 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 a state park system of which the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park in Tulare County is a unit. This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation to notify the State Park and Recreation Commission of any proposed development that may substantially impact the historical, cultural, or recreational significance of the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, and would require the commission, upon receipt of that notification to hold a duly noticed public hearing to receive public input regarding the potential impacts of the proposed development on the park. The bill would require the commission, following the public hearing, to submit, in writing, to the department a summary of its conclusions on the potential park impacts that may be caused by the proposed development for transmission by the department to the appropriate local government entities. The bill would also require the department, in consultation with the State Office of Historic Preservation, to study the feasibility of recommending that the park be considered for designation as a National Historic Landmark. The bill would make legislative findings as to the necessity of a special statute.
Existing law, the Open Enrollment Act, allows the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school to submit an application for the pupil to attend school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent of the pupil resides, but in which the parent nevertheless intends to enroll the pupil. Existing law defines a low-achieving school, for purposes of these provisions, as a school identified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction by inclusion on a list of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing Academic Performance Index score. Existing law provides that no local educational agency may have more than 10% of its schools on the list and that specified types of schools, including charter schools, may not be included on the list. This bill would instead provide that the list created by the Superintendent to define low-achieving schools may include up to 1,000 schools, that a local educational agency shall not have more than 10% of its schools on the list, calculated as specified, and that county offices of education operating a special education program and state special schools not be included on the list. The bill would also provide that a school shall only be identified as a low-achieving school if it is identified on the list for 2 consecutive years and would delete the provision excluding charter schools from inclusion on the list. Existing law requires a school district of enrollment to conduct a lottery to select pupils at random if the number of pupils who request a particular school exceeds the number of spaces available at that school. This bill would provide that a school district of enrollment shall not reject the transfer of an individual with exceptional needs or an English learner if he or she is randomly selected through the lottery.
(1) Existing law establishes various categorical education programs and appropriates the funding for those programs in the annual Budget Act. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the 2008–09 to 2014–15 fiscal years, inclusive, to apportion from the amounts provided in the annual Budget Act for specified categorical education programs an amount based on the same relative proportion that the local educational agency received in the 2008–09 fiscal year for those programs and authorizes school districts, for those fiscal years, to use these funds, with specified exceptions, for any educational purpose, to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing law requires, as a condition of receipt of the above-described funds for any educational purpose, the governing board of a school district or county office of education, as appropriate, to discuss, approve, or disapprove the proposed use of funding and to make explicit the purposes for which each item of appropriation for specified categorical education programs will be used at a regularly scheduled open public hearing. This bill would require that public hearing to be held prior to and independent of a meeting where the governing board of a school district or county office of education adopts a budget. The bill would also require the governing board to identify the program or programs to be closed before the public hearing, as specified. (2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district maintaining an adult class to require an adult enrolled in the class to pay a fee and prohibits the governing board from imposing a charge for a class in English and citizenship for foreigners or a class in an elementary subject, except as specified. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to charge a fee for a class in English and citizenship until July 1, 2015.
(1) Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the use of risk factors and specified characteristics to deny an injured worker his or her rightful benefit when disabled in the workplace. The bill would also state the intent of the Legislature to prohibit the apportionment of risk factors and characteristics without prohibiting the apportionment of documentable preexisting nonindustrial causes of disability or holding an employer liable for any percentage of permanent disability not directly caused by an injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment. (2) Existing law requires any physician who prepares a report addressing the issue of permanent disability due to a claimed industrial injury to address the issue of causation of the permanent disability, and requires that the report include an apportionment determination in order to be considered complete on the issue of permanent disability. Existing law requires a physician to make an apportionment determination by finding what approximate percentage of the permanent disability is caused by the direct result of injury arising out of and occurring in the course of employment and what approximate percentage is caused by other factors. This bill would prohibit the approximate percentage of the permanent disability caused by other factors from including consideration of race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or genetic characteristics.
Existing law regulates the operation of health facilities. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, establishes certain safety and other responsibilities of employers and employees, including the requirement that employers provide safety devices and safeguards reasonably necessary to render the employment safe. Willful or repeated violations are a crime. This bill would make findings and declarations concerning the lifting, repositioning, and transfer of patients in acute care hospitals and resulting injuries to hospital personnel. This bill would amend the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 to require an employer to maintain a safe patient handling policy, as defined, for patient care units, and to provide trained lift teams, as defined, or staff trained in safe lifting techniques in each general acute care hospital, except for specified hospitals. The safe patient handling policy would require the replacement of manual lifting and transferring of patients with powered patient transfer devices, lifting devices, or lift teams, as specified. As part of the injury and illness prevention programs required by existing regulations, employers would be required to adopt a patient protection and health care worker back and musculoskeletal injury prevention plan, which shall include a safe patient handling policy component, as specified, to protect patients and health care workers, as defined, in health care facilities. By changing the definition of a crime, 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.
