Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance standards, and motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution that the state board has found necessary, cost effective, and technologically feasible. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the state board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions from those sources. This bill would authorize the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in consultation with the state board and the Public Utilities Commission, to require any weight class of battery electric vehicle to be bidirectional capable, as defined, if it determines there is a sufficiently compelling beneficial bidirectional-capable use case to the battery electric vehicle operator and electrical grid. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in its analysis, to consider vehicle readiness and duty cycles required of vehicles operated by essential service providers. The bill would define various terms for this purpose and authorize the state board and Energy Commission to each periodically update the definitions of specified terms to ensure that the definitions align with current technologies in bidirectional charging and account for ongoing innovation.
Sponsored bills
Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. This bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to report to the department a collision on a public road that involved one of its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that is operating under a testing or deployment permit that resulted in damage of property, bodily injury, or death within 10 days of the collision. The bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to annually submit to the department specified information regarding the deactivation of the autonomous mode for its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that were operating under a testing or deployment permit that authorized the vehicle to operate on public roads. The bill would prohibit the operation of an autonomous vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more on public roads for testing purposes, transporting goods, or transporting passengers without a human safety operator physically present in the autonomous vehicle at the time of operation. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles, by January 1, 2030, or 5 years after commencement of testing, whichever occurs later, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature evaluating the performance of autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on public safety and employment in the transportation sector for autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more. The bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Transportation, the State Air Resources Board, and other relevant state agencies to provide additional information needed to research the report.
Existing law provides for the construction and operation of various toll bridges by the state, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, and private entities that have entered into a franchise agreement with the state. This bill would prohibit a toll from being imposed on the passage of a pedestrian, bicycle, or personal micromobility device over these various toll bridges, unless the bridge was under construction on or after January 1, 2025, and the tolls are used to fund the cost of constructing the bridge.
Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations setting forth requirements for the submission and approval of an application, including, among other things, any testing, equipment, and performance standards the department concludes are necessary to ensure the safe operation of autonomous vehicles on public roads, as specified. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, require manufacturers of autonomous vehicles that operate without a human operator physically present in the vehicle, except as provided, to comply with certain requirements, including, among other things, to maintain a dedicated emergency response telephone line that is available for emergency response officials, as defined, and to equip each autonomous vehicle with a 2-way voice communication device that enables emergency response officials that are near the vehicle to communicate effectively with a remote human operator, as specified. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2026, authorize an emergency response official to issue an emergency geofencing message, as defined, to a manufacturer and would require a manufacturer to direct its fleet to leave or avoid the area identified within 2 minutes of receiving an emergency geofencing message, as specified. The bill would authorize peace officers, as defined, to issue of notices of autonomous vehicle noncompliance upon observing an alleged violation of the Vehicle Code or upon observing an alleged violation of a local traffic ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code by an autonomous vehicle while the autonomous technology is engaged. The bill would require the notice to identify, at minimum, the alleged violation, as specified, the date, time, and location of the alleged violation, and the license plate number of the vehicle. The bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to provide the department with any issued notice of autonomous vehicle noncompliance within 72 hours of issuance, or within a timeframe otherwise determined by the department. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations setting forth requirements for the processes related to notices of autonomous vehicle noncompliance and would prohibit the above-described provisions from becoming operative until the regulations are adopted.
Existing law, the Teacher Housing Act of 2016, authorizes a school district to establish and implement programs, as provided, that address the housing needs of teachers and school district employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing. The act restricts programs established under its provisions to teachers and school district employees, with certain exceptions. The act defines the term "teacher or school district employee" for these purposes to mean any person employed by a unified school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, an elementary school district maintaining prekindergarten, transitional kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, or a high school district maintaining grades 9 to 12, inclusive, including, but not limited to, certificated and classified staff. The act creates a state policy supporting housing for teachers and school district employees and permits school districts and developers in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to teachers and school district employees, as specified. This bill would expand the authority provided under the act to include programs that address the housing needs of nonprofit organization employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing. The bill would define "nonprofit organization employee" for these purposes to include employees of a nonprofit organization operating early childhood, prekindergarten, or schoolage childcare, classrooms, or programs, or expanded learning classrooms and programs, on school district property with funding from the State Department of Education, the federal Head Start program, or other public funding targeted to children from families of low and moderate income. The bill would make conforming changes to the act in this regard. The bill, for housing made available or a contract for housing entered into on or after January 1, 2025, would require a program established under these provisions to provide teachers, school district employees, and nonprofit organization employees with a right of first refusal to occupy housing acquired, constructed, rehabilitated, or preserved under the act. The bill would require teachers or school district employees to be prioritized before nonprofit organization employees.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (hereafter the act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law requires the records, books, and papers of a health care service plan and other specified entities to be open to inspection by the director of the department during normal business hours. This bill would instead require the records, books, and papers of a health care service plan and other specified entities to be open to inspection by the director, including through electronic means. The bill would require a plan and other specified entities to furnish in electronic media records, books, and papers that are possessed in electronic media and to conduct a diligent review of records, books, and papers and make every effort to furnish those responsive to the director's request. The bill would require records, books, and papers to be furnished in a format that is digitally searchable, to the greatest extent feasible. The bill would require records, books, and papers to be preserved until furnished, if requested by the department. The bill would authorize the director to inspect and copy these records, books, and papers, and to seek relief in an administrative law proceeding if, in the director's determination, a plan or other specified entity fails to fully or timely respond to a duly authorized request for production of records, books, and papers. Because a willful violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to conduct periodically an onsite medical survey of the health delivery system of each plan. Existing law requires the director to publicly report survey results no later than 180 days following the completion of the survey, and requires a final report to be issued after public review of the survey. Existing law requires the department to conduct a followup review to determine and report on the status of the plan's efforts to correct deficiencies no later than 18 months following release of the final report. This bill would state that nothing in those provisions prohibits the director from taking any action permitted or required under the act in response to the survey results before the followup review is initiated or completed, including, but not limited to, taking enforcement actions and opening further investigations. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of and clarify existing law with regard to the director's enforcement authority. Existing law enumerates acts or omissions by a health care service plan that constitute grounds for disciplinary action by the director. This bill would add to those enumerated acts or omissions the failure by a health care service plan to respond fully or timely, or both, to a duly authorized request for production of records. 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 establishes the state flag and the state's emblems, including, among other things, the poppy as the official state flower, the California redwood as the official state tree, and the California gray whale as the official state marine mammal. This bill would establish the banana slug (Ariolimax) as the official state slug.
Existing law, the Teacher Housing Act of 2016, authorizes a school district to establish and implement programs that address the housing needs of teachers and school district employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing, as specified. The act provides that the purpose of the act is to facilitate the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable rental housing for teachers and school district employees to allow teachers or school district employees to access and maintain housing stability. The act provides that it specifically creates a state policy supporting housing for teachers and school district employees as described by specified federal law and permits school districts and developers in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to teachers and school district employees on land owned by school districts, so long as that housing does not violate any other applicable laws. The act defines various terms for these purposes. This bill would authorize the California State University to establish and implement programs that address the housing needs of faculty or California State University employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing, as specified. The bill would provide that the purpose of its provisions are to facilitate the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable rental housing for faculty or California State University employees to allow them to access and maintain housing stability. The bill would provide that it specifically creates a state policy supporting housing for faculty or California State University campus employees as described by specified federal law and permits the California State University developers in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to faculty or California State University employees on land owned by the California State University or a California State University auxiliary organization, as defined, so long as that housing does not violate any other applicable laws. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with possession and control of the state highway system and associated property. Existing law prohibits each state agency that has responsibility for roadside vegetation control operations on, or along, a roadway, including a state highway, from conducting a roadside vegetation control operation on a portion of the roadway for which a property owner has made a request for information related to the roadside vegetation control operation until certain conditions are satisfied, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Transportation to adopt, on or before January 1, 2026, a statewide policy to use integrated pest management, as defined, on state roads and highways, as specified, and to implement the statewide policy in cities or counties that have adopted integrated pest management approaches to roadside vegetation management. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, in developing the statewide policy, to consult with the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, when operating in a city or a county that has adopted an integrated pest management policy that is more restrictive than the statewide policy, to the extent feasible, to operate in a manner consistent with the city's or county's integrated pest management policy, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Transportation, on or before December 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, to make publicly available on its internet website the amount, location, and type of pesticides, and the pesticide formulation, by city and county, it uses, and, at least 24 hours before applying a pesticide, would require the Department of Transportation to provide on its internet website and mobile application, and through any other means of communication deemed appropriate by the applicable state transportation district, information on when and where it plans to apply the pesticide. Under existing law, a violation of certain provisions and regulations related to pesticides is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000, or by imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. Because a violation of this bill's requirements would be a crime subject to the provision above, the 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.
(1) Existing state and federal law, including the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, require the Secretary of State and county elections officials to provide language assistance to voters in order to access voting information, register to vote, and cast their votes at the polling place. Existing law requires a county elections official to provide a facsimile copy of the ballot with the ballot measures and ballot instructions printed in Spanish and other languages if the Secretary of State has determined that doing so is appropriate, as specified. This bill would, by December 15, 2025, and by December 15 of every subsequent year following a presidential election, require the Secretary of State to determine the number of residents of voting age in each county and precinct who are members of a single language minority group and who lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance, as specified. The bill would require that, by that same date, the Secretary of State make publicly available on the Secretary of State's internet website a list of languages used by single language minority groups, as specified. Beginning January 1, 2028, this bill would further require the Secretary of State and county elections officials to provide specified materials in the language of the applicable language minority group as well as in the English language. (2) Existing law requires the Secretary of State to make specified findings and determinations regarding the provision of ballot materials in languages other than English. Until January 1, 2028, this bill would direct the Secretary to make those findings and determinations by December 15 of each year following a presidential election, and it would further limit the expansion of categories of covered languages for the purpose of providing facsimile ballots. As of January 1, 2028, this bill would impose new requirements relating to translated ballots, including requiring the training of specified precinct board members. The bill would make conforming changes. By increasing the duties of county elections officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the elections official to send a voter information guide that contains the written statement of each candidate. Existing law requires the elections official to provide a Spanish translation of the written statement to each candidate who wishes to have one and to select a person to provide the translation who is, among other things, a certified and registered interpreter on the judicial council master list or a current voting member in good standing of the American Translators Association. This bill would add a language speaker with relevant experience in providing certified translations of legal documents who has been referred by a nonprofit agency to the list of eligible individuals that may provide the translation. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3019 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 3184 to be operative only if this bill and AB 3184 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The bill would incorporate changes to Section 4005 of the Elections Code proposed by SB 1450 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1450 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (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 the statutory provisions noted above.