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. Under the act, proof of the intent to discriminate in housing may be established using either direct or circumstantial evidence. This bill would provide that an intentional violation of the act regarding employment occurs when a person intends to discriminate using any of the protected characteristics of any person as a motivating factor in the employment action or decision even though other factors may have also motivated the action or decision, as proven by direct or circumstantial evidence. The act requires an employer, as defined, to maintain personnel records and files of employees, applicants, and terminated employees for at least 2 years, with specified exemptions. This bill would also require an employer to maintain records of employee complaints, as defined, for at least 5 years, as specified.
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Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects the rights of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination on account of various personal characteristics, including medical condition. The act prohibits various forms of employment discrimination, including discharging or refusing to hire or to select for training programs on a prohibited basis, and empowers the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to investigate and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful practices. Under existing law, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates marijuana for personal medical purposes 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 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 make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer or other entity to refuse to hire or employ a person, to refuse to select a person for a training program leading to employment, to bar or to discharge a person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against an employee, because of the employee's status as a qualified patient, or as a person with an identification card, as specified, for purposes of medical cannabis, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would grant people who use medical cannabis while employed the same rights to reasonable accommodation and the associated interactive process as are provided to workers prescribed other legal drugs under this section, subject to specified requirements. The bill would prohibit these provisions from being interpreted as prohibiting employers from refusing to hire an individual, or from discharging or reasonably accommodating an employee, who is a qualified patient or person with an identification card for purposes of medical cannabis, if doing so could reasonably cause the employer to violate, lose a monetary or licensing-related benefit, or incur damages under federal law or regulations, as specified. The bill would exempt an employer from these provisions if the employer requires all employees and job applicants to be drug and alcohol free for legitimate safety reasons as required by federal or state laws and who are required to conduct applicant and ongoing testing of employees by those laws and regulations. The bill would also prohibit the employee protections described above from being construed as diminishing an employer's ability to terminate an employee, refuse an accommodation, suspend an employee, or take any other lawful action against the employee if the employer discovers that the employee is using or impaired by medical cannabis on the property or premises of the place of employment or during the hours of employment. The bill would allow an employer to utilize impairment testing before or during work in addition to other measures to determine if an individual is impaired and allow the information provided by the test to be considered in conjunction with other considerations in determining reasonable accommodation.
Existing law requires the Director of Health Care Services to establish and administer a program, called the Holden-Moscone-Garamendi Genetically Handicapped Persons Program (GHPP) , for the medical care of persons with specified genetic conditions, including cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, Huntington's disease, Friedreich's Ataxia, Joseph's disease, and Von Hippel-Landau syndrome, specified metabolic disorders, and other genetic organic acidemias that require specialized treatment or service available from only a limited number of program-approved sources. Existing law requires the program to provide access for these persons to social support services. This bill would add mucopolysaccharidosis, a group of metabolic disorders, to the list of medical conditions eligible for coverage under the GHPP.
This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Existing law provides for programs relating to treatment of persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) . Under existing law, the Office of AIDS, in the State Department of Public Health, is the lead agency within the state responsible for coordinating state programs, services, and activities relating to HIV, AIDS, and AIDS-related conditions. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to develop and review plans and participate in a program for the prevention and control of venereal disease. Existing law authorizes the department to establish, maintain, and subsidize clinics, dispensaries, and prophylactic stations for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of venereal disease, and authorizes the department to provide medical, advisory, financial, or other assistance to those clinics, dispensaries, and stations, as may be approved by the department. This bill would require the Secretary of California Health and Human Services and the Chief of the Office of Aids to develop and implement a statewide master plan on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) , hepatitis C virus (HCV) , and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) , for the purpose of improving the health of people living with, and vulnerable to, those conditions, reducing new transmissions, and ending these epidemics. The bill would require the secretary and chief to create a stakeholder advisory committee and a cabinet-level workgroup to advise them in developing and implementing the master plan. The bill would require the master plan to be developed to accomplish key goals to end the HIV, HCV, and STD epidemics in California, including, but not limited to, increasing access to comprehensive HIV, HCV, and STD prevention services, and addressing social determinants of health that impact people living with, and vulnerable to, those conditions. The bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, in coordination with the Office of AIDS, to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature by October 1, 2021, and submit updates annually thereafter, until October 1, 2031, regarding the master plan.
Pursuant to constitutional authorization, existing property tax law provides a welfare exemption, pursuant to which property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes owned and operated by specified types of entities is exempt from taxation if it meets certain criteria, including that the property is used for the actual operation of the exempt activity, and does not exceed an amount of property reasonably necessary to the accomplishment of the exempt purpose. Under existing property tax law, property used exclusively for the charitable purposes of museums owned and operated by religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable fund, foundation, limited liability company, or corporation that meets these criteria is deemed to be within the welfare exemption. Existing property tax law requires a person claiming the welfare exemption to file that claim with the assessor and obtain an organizational clearance certificate from the State Board of Equalization, as provided. This bill would define the term "museum" for these purposes and prohibit the assessor from denying a claim for the welfare exemption for property that is used exclusively for the charitable purposes of museums, as described above, on the basis that the property is occasionally made available for private rentals as a service to the community if specified conditions are met. By adding to the duties of assessors in administering the welfare exemption, 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 requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. This bill, no later than January 1, 2022, would require each cement plant operating in the state to prepare, and submit to the state board, a current facility-specific Environmental Product Declaration, Type III, as specified.
Existing law, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act, the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act, Judicial Council Employer-Employee Relations Act, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act, as well as provisions commonly referred to as the Educational Employment Relations Act and the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, regulates the labor relations of the state, the courts, and specified local public agencies and their employees. Existing law establishes other requirements relating to labor relations that are applicable to specified transit agencies. These acts grant specified public employees the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing and require public agency employers, among other things, to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations and exclusive representatives on terms and conditions of employment. These acts generally require the public entities in this context to grant employee representatives of recognized employee organizations reasonable time off without loss of compensation or benefits for certain purposes in connection with labor relations, commonly referred to as release time. This bill would prescribe requirements relating to release time that would apply to all of the public employers and employees subject to the acts described above and would generally repeal the provisions relating to release time in those acts. The bill would require these public employers to grant a reasonable number of employee representatives of the exclusive representative reasonable time off without loss of compensation or other benefits for specified activities. This requirement would apply to activities to investigate and process grievances or otherwise enforce a collective bargaining agreement or memorandum of understanding; to meet and confer or meet and negotiate with the public employer on matters within the scope of representation, including preparation for the activities specified in these provisions; to testify or appear as the designated representative of the exclusive representative in conferences, hearings, or other proceedings before the Public Employment Relations Board or similar bodies, as specified; to testify or appear as the designated representative of the exclusive representative before the governing body of the public employer, or a personnel, civil service, or merit commission, among others; and to serve as a representative of the exclusive representative for new employee orientations. The bill would require the exclusive representative to provide reasonable notice requesting an absence in this connection. The bill would specify that its provisions prescribe minimum release time rights and would prescribe requirements regarding the relation of its provisions to other labor agreements that address release time. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from enforcing these provisions with regard to public transit workers that are not otherwise subject to the board's jurisdiction.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Department of Housing and Community Development that includes, among other specified information, the number of net new units of housing that have been issued a completed entitlement, a building permit, or a certificate of occupancy, thus far in the housing element cycle, as provided. This bill would require a planning agency to include in that annual report specified additional information regarding housing development projects located within the jurisdiction, and information related to local requirements or incentives for proposed housing development projects, as provided, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to assess the accuracy of the information submitted as part of the annual report and, if it determines that any report submitted to it by a planning agency contains inaccurate information, require that the planning agency correct that inaccuracy. The bill would require the department to post a report submitted pursuant to these provisions on its internet website within a reasonable time of receiving the report. 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 prohibits a city, city and county, or local law enforcement agencies from entering into a contract with the federal government or any federal agency to house or detain noncitizens for purposes of civil immigration custody in a locked detention facility. Existing law requires the Attorney General to engage in reviews of county, local, and private locked detention facilities in which noncitizens are being housed or detained for purposes of civil immigration proceedings in California. Existing law requires that review to include a review of the conditions of confinement, a review of the standard of care and due process provided to the detainees, and a review of the circumstances around their apprehension and transfer to the facility. Existing state regulations specify minimum standards for local detention facilities, including standards for visiting, correspondence, library services, access to telephones, and access to courts and counsel, among others. This bill would require any facility in the state that detains, confines, or holds an individual in custody to develop written policies and procedures to ensure persons detained have access to basic minimum standards with respect to due process and access to the court and to legal counsel and the minimum standards specified in state regulations. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish the Due Process in Detention Program to provide individual consultations where unrepresented individuals can consult with an attorney, develop a statewide referral network with legal service providers, and monitor access to legal resources, courts, and counsel for individuals in detention. The bill would require the department to collect and publicly report data from each immigration detention center, as specified.