Asm. Sandré Swanson

Existing law, until January 1, 2016, provides for the voluntary certification of massage practitioners and massage therapists by a nonprofit Massage Therapy Organization that is and governed by a board of directors, and imposes certain duties on that organization. This bill would add 2 members to the Board of Directors of the Massage Therapy Organization who would be selected by specified peace officer associations, and would limit the number of law enforcement professionals that may serve on the board of directors.

Existing law governs the hiring of real property based on the terms of the agreement, or on the behavior of the parties. Under existing law, a tenant may notify the landlord in writing that he or she, or a household member, was a victim of an act of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and intends to terminate the tenancy. The tenant is released from any rent payment obligation 30 days following the giving of the notice, or as specified. Existing law establishes the criteria for determining when a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer of a premises, and includes committing nuisance in this regard. Existing law provides, until January 1, 2012, for the purposes of the law of unlawful detainer, that if a person commits any specified act or acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking against another tenant or subtenant on the premises, there is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof that the person has committed a nuisance on the premises if the victim or a member of the victim's household has not vacated the premises. This bill would, except as specified, prohibit a landlord from terminating a tenancy or failing to renew a tenancy based upon an act of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking against a protected tenant, as defined, or a protected tenant's household member when that act is documented, as specified, and the person who is restrained from contact with the protected tenant under a court order, as defined, or is named in a police report of that act is not a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would require the landlord to change the locks, as defined, within 24 hours of a written request, as specified, when the restrained person is not a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would also require, under specified circumstances, the landlord to change the locks when the restrained person is a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The bill would declare the landlord not liable to a restrained person who is excluded from the dwelling unit if the locks are changed pursuant to that provision. The bill would state that a restrained person who has been excluded from a dwelling unit under that provision remains liable under the lease with all other tenants of the dwelling unit for rent as provided in the lease. The bill would authorize a protected tenant to change the locks without the landlord's permission, as specified, notwithstanding any provision in the lease to the contrary, if the landlord does not change the locks within 24 hours, as specified, with regard to leases executed on or after the date the bill would take effect. The bill would also specify the manner in which a protected tenant is required to change the locks if the protected tenant changes the locks without the permission of the landlord. The bill would also require the Judicial Council, on or before January 1, 2012, to develop a new form or revise an existing form that may be used by a party to assert in the responsive pleading the grounds set forth in this section as an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action.

Existing law prescribes procedures for the issuance of registered warrants and provides that a registered warrant is acceptable and may be used as security for the performance of any public or private trust or obligation. This bill would, if the Controller makes a specified determination, require a state agency to accept, from a person or entity, a registered warrant issued by the Controller and endorsed by that payee, at full face value, for the payment of any obligations owed by that payee to that state agency. The bill would specify that its requirements do not apply to certain obligations and would require the Controller, on or before the September 1 following the conclusion of a fiscal year in which a state agency is required to accept registered warrants pursuant to these provisions, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on July 1, 2012, and would repeal them on January 1, 2013. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires the Department of Finance to provide an annual report to the Legislature on tax expenditures, as specified, no later than September 15 of each year. This bill would require the Department of Finance to provide the report described above on February 1 of each year.

Existing law establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments include the California State University, the campuses of which are administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to provide instruction to students at community college campuses. Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, authorizes the community colleges to grant associate in arts and associate in science degrees. The act also requires the regents, the trustees, and the board of governors to have as a fundamental policy the maintenance of a healthy and expanded program to increase the number of transfer students from community colleges. This bill would enact the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which, commencing with the 2011–12 academic year, would require a student that receives an associate degree for transfer to be deemed eligible for transfer into a California State University baccalaureate program when the student meets prescribed requirements. The bill would condition a community college district's receipt of state apportionment funds on its development and granting of associate degrees for transfer, unless each of the state's community college districts waives reimbursement for specified state-mandated costs of implementing the bill in accordance with a prescribed procedure. This bill would prohibit a community college district from imposing any requirements, in addition to these requirements, for a student to be eligible for the associate degree for transfer, and would prohibit remedial noncollegiate level coursework from being counted towards the units required for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would require the California State University to guarantee admission with junior status to any community college student who meets the requirements for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would not guarantee a student admission for specified majors or campuses, but would require the California State University to grant a student priority admission to his or her local California State University campus and to a program or major that is similar to his or her community college major or area of emphasis, as determined by the California State University campus to which the student is admitted. This bill would authorize the California State University to require a transferring student to take additional coursework at the California State University in specified circumstances, and would prohibit the California State University from requiring a transferring student to repeat courses that are similar to those taken at the community college that counted towards the units required for the associate degree for transfer. This bill would also require the Legislative Analyst's Office to review and report to specified legislative committees and subcommittees, within a prescribed time period, on specified outcomes and recommendations related to this act. By requiring a community college district to grant the associate degree for transfer in exchange for receipt of state apportionment funds, 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish, by January 1, 2010, and until January 1, 2015, the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program for the purpose of increasing the amount of umbilical cord blood that is donated in the state and that will be added to the national inventory. Existing law authorizes the department, to the extent private or public funds are identified for this purpose, to contract with blood banks that are licensed or accredited to provide umbilical cord blood banking storage services, for the purpose of collecting and storing umbilical cord blood. This bill would, instead, request the University of California to establish and administer the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program on or before July 1, 2011, to conclude no later than January 1, 2018, for the purpose of collecting units of umbilical cord blood for public use, as defined, for transplantation and for providing nonclinical units for specified research. Existing law provides that any funds made available for purposes of the program shall be deposited into the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program Fund. Existing law provides that moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. Existing law provides that the fund shall include any federal, state, and private funds made available for purposes of the program. Existing law requires the collection of a $7 fee for certified copies of birth certificates. Under existing law, $4 of the $7 fee is allocated to either the county Children's Trust Fund or to the State Children's Trust Fund, which exists in the State Treasury. Existing law requires that the money in the State Children's Trust Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the State Department of Social Services for the purpose of funding child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs, as specified. This bill would, instead, until January 1, 2018, require the collection of a $9 fee for certified copies of birth certificates and require that $2 of any $9 fee be paid to the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program Fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes the California State University and its various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University. Existing law requires the California State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education. This bill, until July 1, 2018, would authorize the California State University to establish a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program at 3 campuses chosen by the Board of Trustees to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy degree offered at the University of California. The bill would require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program to be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time, train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs. The bill would require the California State University to enroll and maintain no more than 90 full-time equivalent students in the degree pilot program at all 3 campuses combined. The bill would require initial funding to come from existing budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or reducing enrollment therein. The bill would require the California State University, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Department of Finance to jointly conduct a statewide evaluation of the degree pilot program and report the results to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1, 2017.

Existing law requires a person under 18 years of age to wear a properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet while operating a bicycle or riding upon a bicycle as a passenger upon the streets or any other public bicycle path. This bill would require a person under 18 years of age to wear a properly fitted and fastened snow sport helmet while operating snow skis or a snowboard while participating in the sport of downhill skiing or snowboarding, or while riding upon a seat or other device that is attached to the snow skis or a snowboard while participating in the sport of downhill skiing or snowboarding. The bill would impose a $25 fine for a violation of this requirement. The bill would, however, provide that the charge against a person be dismissed if it is the first charge against that person for a violation of this requirement, as specified. Because this bill would create a new crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that nothing in those provisions shall be construed to increase or decrease duties imposed under existing law. The bill would also specify that those provisions shall not apply to Nordic skiing. The bill would require a ski resort to post signs at the resort giving reasonable notice of the snow sport helmet requirement and the fine for a violation of that requirement. The bill also would require a ski resort to provide prominent written notice of the snow sport helmet requirement on all trail maps and resort Internet Web sites. 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 bill would also provide that it shall become operative only if AB 1652 is also enacted.

Existing law provides that a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover costs in any action or proceeding, and specifies those items allowable as costs. Existing law provides that costs, or any portion of claimed costs, shall be as determined by the court, in its discretion, in a case other than a limited civil case, if the prevailing party recovers a judgment that could have been rendered in a limited civil case. This bill would exempt from that latter provision an action brought under a specified provision of the Fair Employment and Housing Act alleging an unlawful practice.

This measure would recognize March 31, 2010, as the anniversary of the birth of César Chávez, and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate observances to remember César Chávez as a symbol of hope and justice to all persons.