This measure would declare April 28, 2022, as Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, and would recognize the goals of introducing our daughters and sons to the workplace and commend all participants of Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day.
This measure would designate the week of May 1, 2022, through May 7, 2022, as Compost Awareness Week.
This measure would proclaim, in perpetuity, the month of April as California Wines: Down to Earth Month, to celebrate the sustainable leadership of California wineries and winegrape growers throughout the month of April.
Existing law, referred to as the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 (MICRA) , prohibits an attorney from contracting for or collecting a contingency fee for representing any person seeking damages in connection with an action for injury or damage against a health care provider based upon alleged professional negligence in excess of specified limits. This bill would recast those provisions and base the amount of contingency fee that may be contracted for upon whether recovery is pursuant to settlement agreement and release of all claims executed before a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, or pursuant to settlement, arbitration, or judgment after a civil complaint or demand for arbitration is filed, as specified. The bill would add and revise definitions for these purposes. Existing law provides that in any action against a health care provider based upon professional negligence, the injured plaintiff is entitled to recover noneconomic losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, and other nonpecuniary damage. Existing law limits the amount of damages for noneconomic losses in an action for injury against a health care provider based on professional negligence to $250,000. This bill would remove the $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages and expand the recast provisions to include an action for injury against a health care institution, as defined. The bill would increase the applicable limitation based upon whether the action for injury involved wrongful death. The bill would specify that these limitations would increase by $40,000 each January 1st for 10 years and beginning on January 1, 2034, the applicable limitations on noneconomic damages for personal injury and for wrongful death would be adjusted for inflation on January 1st of each year by 2%. Existing law specifies that in any action for injury or damages against a provider of health care services, a superior court shall, at the request of either party, enter a judgment ordering that money damages or its equivalent for future damages of the judgment creditor be paid in whole or in part by periodic payments rather than by a lump-sum payment if the award equals or exceeds $50,000. This bill would increase the minimum amount of the judgment required to request periodic payments to $250,000. Existing law makes statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person, or to the family of that person, inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action. This bill would specify that statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy, regret, a general sense of benevolence, or suggesting, reflecting, or accepting fault relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person, or to an adverse patient safety event or unexpected health care outcome, as specified, shall be confidential, privileged, protected, not subject to subpoena, discovery, or disclosure, and shall not be used or admitted into evidence in any civil, administrative, regulatory, licensing, or disciplinary board, agency, or body action or proceeding, and shall not be used or admitted in relation to any sanction, penalty, or other liability, as evidence of an admission of liability or for any other purpose.
Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law establishes various incentive programs that are administered or funded by the State Air Resources Board to provide financial assistance for the purchase of vehicles by individuals, including, among others, the Clean Cars 4 All Program. This bill would require the state board, with respect to zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) incentive programs administered or funded by the state board, to ensure that beginning January 1, 2024, incentives awarded under those programs are awarded based on the average annual gallons of gasoline or diesel that the applicant's vehicle consumed. The bill would require the state board to develop a tool to determine the annual average gallons of gasoline or diesel consumed by a particular vehicle and would require the state board to make the tool publicly available on its internet website for use by potential applicants of a ZEV incentive program. To maximize equity benefits, the bill would require the state board to ensure that additional per gallon incentive payments are provided to an applicant of a ZEV incentive program if the applicant is low or moderate income. The bill would require the state board to submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2024, and every 2 years thereafter, regarding the ZEV incentive programs. This bill would require specified information to be provided by an applicant of these programs under penalty of perjury. By expanding the crime of perjury, 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.
Existing law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, provides a comprehensive set of procedures for the enforcement of express and implied warranties on consumer goods, as defined. Under existing law, every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, including televisions, radios, audio or video recording equipment, major home appliances, antennas, and rotators, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than $50 nor more than $99.99 is required to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 3 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 3-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. Existing law also requires every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, as described above, with a wholesale price to the retailer of $100 or more, to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 7 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 7-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. This bill would instead require the manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product, in the above-described circumstances and timeframes, to make available, on fair and reasonable terms, sufficient service literature, at no charge, and prescribed functional parts and tools, including documentation, tools, software and parts needed to disable the lock or function during the course of the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product, to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers. The bill would also require a service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer to provide a written notice containing specified information related to warranties to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product. This bill would define terms for its purposes, and would provide that the above-specified provisions do not require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, except as may be necessary to provide service literature, documentation, tools, and parts on fair and reasonable terms, and shall not be construed to require the distribution of a product's source code. Existing law authorizes a retail seller of consumer goods or an independent serviceman of consumer goods injured by the willful or repeated violation of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act to bring a legal action for the recovery of damages. Existing law provides that a court may award 3 times the amount at which actual damages are assessed plus reasonable attorneys fees. This bill would additionally authorize a service dealer, as defined, to bring a legal action pursuant to the above provisions.
(1) Existing law requires a licensed firearm dealer to report sales and transfers of firearms to the Department of Justice. This bill would, commencing on July 1, 2023, until July 1, 2028, require the department, upon request from the City of San Jose, to mail notifications, as specified, to all firearm owners of record within the City of San Jose, to inform them of any city code or ordinance imposing any new requirement upon firearm owners within the City of San Jose. The bill would require the City of San Jose to pay the cost to the department of the processing and mailing of the notifications. This bill would state that the mailing of notices by the department does not constitute an endorsement of the code or ordinance or the legality thereof. The bill would request the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis to conduct a study analyzing the impact of the notification letters on compliance with the local code or ordinance, and to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature, as specified. (2) Existing law requires any person who purchases or receives a firearm, as specified, to possess a firearm safety certificate. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to develop a written test required for the issuance of a firearm safety certificate. Existing law requires the department to post specified information for certificate applicants on their internet website and to regularly update that information to reflect current laws and regulations. This bill would require the department to update the information on the internet website no less frequently than once annually.
Existing law establishes a basic speed law that prohibits a person from driving a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent given the weather, visibility, traffic, and highway conditions and in no event at a speed that endangers the safety of persons or property. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2028, the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, Glendale, and Palm Springs, and the City and County of San Francisco, to establish the Speed Safety System Pilot Program if the system meets specified requirements. The bill would require the participating cities or city and county to adopt a Speed Safety System Use Policy and a Speed Safety System Impact Report before implementing the program, and would require the city or city and county to engage in a public information campaign at least 30 days before implementation of the program, including information relating to when the systems would begin detecting violations and where the systems would be utilized. The bill would require the participating cities or city and county to issue warning notices rather than notices of violations for violations detected within the first 60 calendar days of the program. The bill would require the participating cities or city and county to develop uniform guidelines for, among other things, the processing and storage of confidential information. The bill would designate all photographic, video, or other visual or administrative records, not including data about the number of violations issued or the speeds at which they were issued for, made by a system as confidential, and would only authorize public agencies to use and allow access to these records for specified purposes. This bill would specify that any violation of a speed law recorded by a speed safety system authorized by these provisions would be subject only to the provided civil penalties. The bill would, among other things, provide for the issuance of a notice of violation, an initial review, an administrative hearing, and an appeals process, as specified, for a violation under this program. The bill would require any program created pursuant to these provisions to offer a diversion program for indigent speed safety system violation recipients, as specified. The bill would require a city or city and county participating in the pilot program to submit reports to the Legislature, as specified, to evaluate the speed safety system to determine the system's impact on street safety and economic impact on the communities where the system is utilized. Existing law establishes a $25 filing fee for specified appeals and petitions. This bill would require a $25 filing fee for an appeal challenging a notice of violation issued as a result of a speed safety system until January 1, 2028. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, Glendale, and Palm Springs and the City and County of San Francisco. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law authorizes a governing body of a political subdivision, as those terms are defined, to declare a shelter crisis if the governing body makes a specified finding. Upon declaration of a shelter crisis, existing law, among other things, suspends certain state and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, including those prescribing standards of housing, health, or safety to the extent that strict compliance would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis. Existing law, upon a declaration of a shelter crisis by a city, county, or city and county, specifies additional provisions applicable to a shelter crisis declared by one of those jurisdictions, including developing a plan to address the shelter crisis. Existing law allows a city, county, or city and county, in lieu of compliance with local building approval procedures or state housing, health, habitability, planning and zoning, or safety standards, procedures, and laws, to adopt an ordinance setting reasonable local standards and procedures for the design, site development, and operation of homeless shelters and the structures and facilities therein. Existing law requires the ordinance to, at a minimum, meet the standards provided in the 2019 California Residential Code Appendix X, the 2019 California Building Code Appendix O, and any future standards adopted by the Department of Housing and Community Development related to emergency housing or emergency housing facilities unless the jurisdiction adopts findings that state why those standards cannot be met and how the ordinance protects health and safety. Existing law provides that, during the shelter crisis, provisions of any housing, health, habitability, planning and zoning, or safety standards, procedures, or laws shall be suspended for homeless shelters, provided that the city adopts health and safety standards and procedures for homeless shelters consistent with ensuring minimal public health and safety and provided that homeless shelters comply with these standards. Existing law, among other things, exempts from the California Environmental Quality Act specified actions by a state agency or a city, county, or city and county relating to land owned by a local government to be used for, or to provide financial assistance to, a homeless shelter constructed pursuant to these provisions, and provides that homeless shelters constructed or allowed pursuant to these shelter crisis declarations are not subject to specified laws, including the Special Occupancy Parks Act. Existing law defines a "homeless shelter" as a facility with overnight sleeping accommodations, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness that is not in existence after the declared shelter crisis. Existing law provides that a temporary homeless shelter community may include supportive and self-sufficiency development services and that a homeless shelter includes a parking lot owned or leased by a city, county, or city and county specifically identified as one allowed for safe parking by homeless and unstably housed individuals. Existing law repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the repeal date of these provisions to January 1, 2030. The bill would provide that a city, county, or city and county is in a shelter crisis if the number of unsheltered homeless persons that comprises the total homeless population within the jurisdiction of the city, county, or city and county is greater, as a percentage, than the combined average of the 49 states in the United States not including California, as determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development, as specified. This bill would apply the provisions applicable to a city, county, or city and county that has declared a shelter crisis to those jurisdictions in the above circumstance. This bill would require the department to publish a list of jurisdictions that are in a shelter crisis pursuant to this provision on its internet website. This bill would expand the definition of homeless shelter to include any facility that is leased by the city, county, or city and county for the purpose of providing temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness and any low-barrier private shelter, as defined, that is not owned or leased by the city, county, or city and county that provides temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness. The bill would require a county or city to identify all low-barrier private shelters in the jurisdiction and include a plan to transition residents from low-barrier private shelters to permanent housing in the above-described shelter plan. By requiring a city, county, or city and county to provide a new level of service, this bill would create 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.
