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.
Sponsored bills
Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the State Department of Public Health and appropriate stakeholders, to develop and submit to the Legislature a community outreach and education campaign to help families learn about, and apply for, CalFresh. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in order to increase client access and retention within CalFresh, to participate in the Elderly Simplified Application Project, a demonstration project operated by the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. As part of this participation, the bill would require the department to develop a CalFresh user-centered application for seniors that minimizes the burdens of the overall enrollment process and to waive the semiannual reporting requirements under CalFresh for households enrolled under the Elderly Simplified Application Project. Existing law requires each county welfare department, to the extent permitted by federal law, to exempt a household from complying with face-to-face interview requirements for the purpose of determining eligibility at initial application and recertification. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, give an individual the option to apply, report, and recertify for CalFresh in person, by mail, online, or by telephone, and permit an individual to complete the interview requirement and client signature by telephone. The bill would authorize counties to implement any method of telephonic or electronic signature that is supported by county business practice and technology. The bill would require the department, with the input of stakeholders, to develop and execute a plan of support for counties that have not already implemented a telephone-based application and renewal process and to provide technical assistance and resources. The bill would require the application process to satisfy specified criteria, including simple, user-friendly language and instructions. The bill would require certain counties to comply with these provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2022, and require the remaining counties to comply with the provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2023. By imposing new duties on counties, 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 measure would declare the week of February 17 to February 21, 2020, inclusive, as California Fitness Week, and would encourage Californians to enrich their lives through proper nutrition and exercise.
This measure would proclaim February 20, 2020, as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.
This measure would recognize February 2020 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice, and recognize the significance in protecting citizens' right to vote and remedying racial discrimination in voting.
The California Constitution requires the Legislature to convene in regular session on specified dates and provides that a majority of the membership constitutes a quorum, although a lesser number may recess from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members. The California Constitution requires the proceedings of each house of the Legislature to be open and public and recognizes the right of the public to attend, record, and broadcast those proceedings. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to provide for the convening of the Legislature to meet the needs resulting from a war-caused or enemy-caused disaster in the state. This measure would permit Members to remotely attend and vote in a legislative proceeding, or to vote by proxy in a legislative proceeding if permitted by their house, during the pendency of a state of emergency declared by the Governor or the President of the United States, under specified conditions. The measure would provide, among other conditions, that a Member may remotely attend and vote, or vote by proxy as authorized, in a proceeding only if the state of emergency prevents the Member from safely attending the proceeding in person. The measure would also provide that a Member attending remotely would be included in the determination of a quorum. The measure would provide that if 15 or more of the Members of a house cannot attend a proceeding during a state of emergency because they are deceased, disabled, or missing, a quorum may be established by a majority of those Members able to attend. The measure would specify that the Legislature may provide by statute for temporarily filling the vacant offices of Members with pro tempore members in the event that 15 or more of the Members of a house are deceased, disabled, or missing during a state of emergency. The measure would require the Legislature by concurrent resolution, or each house by separate resolutions, 23 of the membership concurring, to adopt rules to implement this provision no later than the end of the biennial legislative session in which this measure takes effect, except as specified.
Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to, among other things, identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California and to serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the council to conduct, or contract with an entity to conduct, a statewide needs and gaps analysis to, among other things, identify state programs that provide housing or services to persons experiencing homelessness and create a financial model that will assess certain investment needs for the purpose of moving persons experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. The bill would authorize local governments to collaborate with the council or any other entity conducting the analysis upon the above-mentioned appropriation. The bill would also require the council or any other entity conducting the analysis to seek input from the council's members on the direction of, design of data collection for, and items to be included in the statewide needs and gaps analysis. The bill would require the council to report on the analysis to specified committees in the Legislature by July 31, 2021. This bill would require the council or any other entity conducting the analysis to evaluate all available data, including, among other things, data from other state departments and agencies. The bill would require a state department or agency with a member on the council to assist in data collection for the analysis by responding to data requests within 180 days, as specified.
Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop and implement a course of instruction and training for specified peace officers on the topic of hate crimes. Existing law requires that training to be implemented into the basic course and requires, as specified, all state and local law enforcement agencies to provide the training to all peace officers they employ. This bill would require POST to develop and periodically update an interactive refresher course on hate crimes for in-service peace officers, and require specified peace officers to take the course every 5 years.
This measure would proclaim March 15, 2020, to March 22, 2020, as California Down Syndrome Awareness Week and March 21, 2020, as California Down Syndrome Day, and would encourage all Californians to support and participate in related activities.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. Under that law, supportive housing, as defined, is a use by right in zones where multifamily and mixed uses are permitted if the developer provides the planning agency with a plan for providing supportive services and the proposed housing development meets specified criteria, including that the housing development consist of 50 units or fewer if it is located in an unincorporated area of a county or city that has a population of fewer than 200,000 and a population of persons experiencing homelessness of 1,500 or fewer. This bill would, additionally, make supportive housing a use by right in zones where emergency shelters are permitted. The bill would revise the above-described limit on the number of units in a housing development to 120 or fewer if it is located within a region served by a contimuum of care, as defined, and the most recently published total homeless point-in-time count for the region is 1,500 or fewer. 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 locations in which, and sizes of, supportive housing that qualify as a use by right, would expand the exemption for the ministerial approval of projects under CEQA. By adding to the duties of local planning officials, 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.