Asm. Rob Bonta

This measure would recognize May 2018 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.

Under the Donahoe Higher Education Act, the segments of postsecondary education in this state are the University of California, the California State University, the California Community Colleges, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions. The act applies to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act by resolution to make it applicable. Existing law requires each campus of the California State University to, and requests each campus of the University of California to, post on its Internet Web site information about the market cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the areas surrounding that campus where its students commonly reside. Existing law requires each campus of the California State University to, and requests each campus of the University of California to, publicly provide labor market outcome information relating to the graduates of their undergraduate programs. This bill would require the California State University, the University of California, and independent institutions of higher education to include at minimum, specified items, including tuition and fees, in a calculation of a full-time student's cost of attendance at that institution. The bill would require the California State University, the University of California, and independent institutions of higher education to disclose to a student in accurate and meaningful ways how they created their cost of attendance calculation and provide a student with the option of receiving financial aid disbursements once per month during the academic term.

The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows various exclusions from gross income. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2023, would exclude from gross income any income earned on the moneys contributed to a homeownership savings account, as described. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, and additionally amended by statute, imposes an excise tax commencing January 1, 2018, on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products, as defined, at the rate of 15% of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. Commencing January 1, 2018, AUMA also imposes a cultivation tax upon all cultivators on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market, at specified rates per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flowers and leaves. Existing law requires the revenues from those taxes to be deposited into the California Cannabis Tax Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes pursuant to a specified schedule. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent. This bill would reduce that excise tax rate to 11% on and after the operative date of this bill until June 1, 2021, at which time the excise tax rate would revert back to 15%. This bill would suspend the imposition of the cultivation tax on and after the operative date of this bill until June 1, 2021. This bill would make specified findings and declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the AUMA. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.

(1) Existing law prohibits an employer from discharging, or discriminating or retaliating against, an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and who takes time off from work to obtain, or attempt to obtain, any relief to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the victim or his or her child. Existing law also prohibits an employer from discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking because of the employee's status as a victim, if the employer has notice or knowledge of that status. Existing law additionally prohibits an employer with 25 or more employees from discharging, or discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim, in this regard, who takes time off to obtain specified services or counseling. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for an employer to refuse to rehire, promote, or restore an employee who has been determined to be so eligible by a grievance procedure or legal hearing. This bill would extend these employment protections to victims of sexual harassment, as defined. The bill would also extend these employment protections to family members, as defined, of the victims for taking time off from work to provide assistance to the victims when seeking relief or obtaining those services and counseling, as described above. The bill would apply these protections to state and local public employers and to the Legislature. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would extend confidentiality protections provided to victims in this context, which existing law applies only to people employed by employers with 25 or more employees, to employers generally. The bill would make conforming changes. (2) 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 California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws,and standards and to protect employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Existing law requires every employer to comply with those standards. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. This bill would require the board to adopt occupational safety and health standards for state public works projects to prevent and control coccidioidomycosis, more commonly known as Valley Fever. By expanding the definition of an existing 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.

Existing law requires that an election for congressional and state elective offices be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. Existing law requires a presidential general election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in any year that is evenly divisible by the number 4. Existing law designates specific days as holidays in this state. Existing law designates holidays on which community colleges and public schools are required to close. Existing law entitles state employees, with specified exceptions, to be given time off with pay for specified holidays. Existing law designates optional bank holidays. This bill would add the day on which a statewide general election is held, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of any even-numbered year, to these lists of holidays. The bill would require community colleges and public schools to close on any day on which a statewide general election is held. The bill would require that state employees, with specified exceptions, be given time off with pay for days on which a statewide general election is held. By increasing the duties of local 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, 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 provides for the indemnification of victims of crime and commits the administration of these provisions to the California Victim Compensation Board. Existing law provides for the payment of victim's compensation from the Restitution Fund and provides that moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated, as specified. Existing law allows the board, until January 1, 2019, to grant reimbursement for outpatient psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling-related expenses incurred by the victim or derivative victim, including peer counseling services provided by violence peer counseling services provided by a service organization for the victims of violent crimes. Under existing law, a violence peer counselor for purposes of these provisions must meet specified criteria, including that he or she has completed a training program aimed at preparing an individual who was once a mental health services consumer to use his or her life experience with mental health treatment, to promote the mental health recovery of other mental health services consumers. Existing law requires a licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed educational psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, or licensed professional clinical counselor supervising peer violence counseling services to be employed by the same service organization as the violence peer counselor. This bill would continue these provisions indefinitely. By extending the use of continuously appropriated funds, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would delete the requirement that a violence peer counselor complete a training program requiring him or her to have once been a mental health services consumer. The bill would delete the requirement that the supervising licensed mental health professional be employed by the same service organization as the violence peer counselor. Existing law prohibits payments for peer counseling services provided by a rape crisis center from exceeding $15 for each hour of services provided and limits in-person counseling for a period not to exceed 10 weeks. This bill would instead require the board to provide reimbursement for peer counseling services provided by a rape crisis center or a violence peer counseling organization and would require the rate to be no less than one-half of the reimbursement rate set by the board for individual or family counseling services provided by mental health interns. By expanding the amounts for which a continuously appropriated fund may be spent, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law prohibits a person who is convicted of a violent felony, as defined, from being granted compensation until he or she has been discharged from probation or has been released from a correctional institution and has been discharged from parole, postrelease community supervision, or mandatory supervision. This bill would, notwithstanding the above provision, make a person who has been the victim of a violent crime eligible to receive reimbursement for mental health treatment, including violence peer counseling services, before he or she has been discharged from parole, postrelease community supervision, or mandatory supervision. By expanding the purposes for which a continuously appropriated fund may be spent, the bill would make an appropriation.

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status. The act prohibits various forms of employment discrimination, including discharging or refusing to hire or to select for training programs on a prohibited basis. Existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, provides that a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates marijuana for personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician is not subject to conviction for offenses relating to possession and cultivation of marijuana. Existing law also requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a voluntary program for the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients who are entitled to the protections of the act. This bill would provide that, when used to treat a known physical or mental disability or known medical condition, the medical use of cannabis by a qualified patient or person with an identification card is subject to reasonable accommodation. The bill would provide that it does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire an individual or discharging an employee who is a qualified or person with an identification card, if hiring or failing to discharge an employee would cause the employer to lose a monetary or licensing-related benefit under federal law. The bill would also provide that it does not prohibit an employer from terminating the employment of, or taking corrective action against, an employee who is impaired on the property or premises of the place of employment or during the hours of employment because of the use of cannabis.