Rep. Chris Rogers

Federal law establishes United States coins and currency as legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues, and authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue a one-cent coin. Existing state law generally regulates the use of credit cards, debit cards, gift certificates, and other forms of payment for goods and services in this state. Existing law prohibits a person from overcharging for a commodity. A violation of this provision is a crime. This bill would enact the California Common Cents Act to require a merchant, for the portion of the total transaction price paid with legal tender, to determine the total transaction price of goods or services by rounding to the nearest amount of cents divisible by 5, as specified. The bill would define terms for its purposes, including defining "legal tender" as all metal coins and paper currencies of the United States. The bill would require any rounding adjustment to be disregarded for the purposes of the computation of any applicable tax, fee, or surcharge, tax, fee, or surcharge reimbursement, or the measure thereof, and authorize the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to promulgate regulations to implement this requirement. The bill would prohibit a person from collecting from a purchaser an amount greater than the amount permitted under these provisions and would subject a violation of this prohibition to the same remedies as the prohibition against overcharging for a commodity, as provided. By expanding a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions operative on July 1, 2027. The bill would make its provisions severable. 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 defines, for certain school-related purposes, "ultraprocessed food" as any food or beverage that contains a specified substance and either high amounts of saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar or a nonnutritive sweetener or other substance, as specified. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations, on or before June 1, 2028, to define "ultraprocessed foods of concern" and "restricted school foods," as specified, and requires the department, when defining ultraprocessed foods of concern and restricted school foods, to consider specified factors, including, among others, whether the substance or group of substances are banned or restricted in other state, federal, or international jurisdictions due to concerns about adverse health consequences. This bill would require the department, no later than June 1, 2029, to accredit certification agents that can certify food products as "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified." The bill would prohibit an accredited certification agent from certifying a food product as "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" if it is an ultraprocessed food, ultraprocessed food of concern, or a restricted school food, as defined. The bill would require the department to create a specified standardized "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" seal. The bill would authorize a food product to bear the seal only if the product has been certified by an accredited certification agent. The bill would require an accredited certification agent to, among other things, register with the department and provide specified information to the department for each food product certified by the accredited certification agent. The bill would require any registration information submitted by an accredited certification agent to the department to be made available to the public for inspection and copying. This bill would require an accredited certification agent to immediately make specified records available to the department for inspection, as specified, and would authorize the department to audit the accredited certification agent's certification procedures and records at any time. The bill would require any records of the accredited certification agent not otherwise required to be disclosed to be kept confidential by the department. The bill would require the department to maintain a public internet webpage that lists all of the products currently certified as "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" as reported by the accredited certification agent. This bill would make it unlawful for a person to certify products as "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" unless duly registered as an accredited certification agent, for a person to willfully make a false statement or representation or knowingly fail to disclose a fact required to be disclosed in registration as an accredited certification agent, for a person to willfully make a false statement or representation or knowingly fail to disclose a fact required to be disclosed to an accredited certification agent, and for a person to use the "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" seal on a product that does not meet the above-described provisions. The bill would authorize the department, among others, to enjoin a person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in the misuse of the "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" seal. This bill would create the Public Health Food and Nutrition Education Fund for the purposes of supporting the implementation of the "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" label requirements and educating the public and stakeholders about the label requirements, food products, and nutrition. The bill would authorize the department to establish fees for the registration and renewal of accredited certification agents and certification of food at levels not exceeding the reasonable costs of administering and enforcing these provisions. The bill would require the fees to be deposited in the Public Health Food and Nutrition Education Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the bill would make moneys in the Public Health Food and Nutrition Education Fund available to the department for expenditure. Existing law, the California Retail Food Code (Code) , establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities, as defined, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce these provisions. Existing law provides that a violation of the code is punishable as a misdemeanor or a fine. Existing law defines a grocery store as a store primarily engaged in the retail sale of canned food, dry goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh meats, fish, and poultry and any area that is not separately owned within the store where food is prepared and served, including a bakery, deli, and meat and seafood counter. This bill, upon the creation of the "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" seal described above, would require a grocery store with gross annual store sales of more than $10,000,000 to make clearly identifiable, as defined, at least 3 or more "Non-Ultraprocessed Certified" items if the grocery store offers for sale more than 25 certified items. The bill would authorize the Attorney General, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor, as specified, to enjoin a grocery store that fails to meet these requirements. The bill would exempt a violation of these provisions from criminal liability under the California Retail Food Code. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2040. By imposing a higher level of service on local enforcement agencies required to enforce these provisions, 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 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 vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity to file an integrated resource plan, and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan, as provided. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Independent System Operator (ISO) , to determine if there is a need for the procurement of eligible energy resources based on a review of the integrated resource plans. This bill would require the PUC, when requiring procurement of resources under an integrated resource plan, to account for the ability of energy-only resources to achieve required clean energy deployment rates, to charge storage resources during off-peak periods, and to increase resource diversity, and would require the PUC to enable energy-only resources to satisfy procurement requirements to the maximum extent feasible. Existing law requires the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the ISO about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, as specified, to allow the ISO to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers. This bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to identify cost-effective opportunities to enable planned or operating energy-only resources to obtain deliverability through transmission capacity expansions, and to request the ISO to reserve associated deliverability for geothermal and wind. The bill would require the commission to designate energy-only resources as long lead-time resources for purposes of the ISO's scoring in its interconnection process, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.52 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2476 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2476 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 454.57 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2111 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2111 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and establishes various programs for the prevention and reduction of wildfires. This bill, which would be operative until January 1, 2033, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the Fire Innovation Unit within the department to serve as the department's innovation arm for wildfire technology research, coordination, procurement, and deployment for technologies that, among other things, improve ecosystem and landscape scale resilience. The bill would require the unit to consist of the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development, the Innovation, Outreach and Coordination Program, and the Rapid Acquisition and Deployment Program, as provided. The bill would authorize the unit to establish and administer a program to fund early-stage, mature, or dual-use technology projects that enhance wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and response through grants, contracts, or both. The bill would also authorize the unit to (1) administer or monitor pilot, prototype, or demonstration projects to evaluate, mature, and validate wildfire-related technologies, (2) collaborate with public and private educational and research institutions on wildfire technology and innovation, (3) establish testbeds to test or evaluate emerging technologies, (4) provide technical assistance to local, state, federal, and international fire agencies to facilitate deployment of wildfire-related technologies, (5) maintain a publicly accessible resource to provide visibility into these wildfire-related technologies, and (6) provide opportunities for participation in demonstrations, pilot programs, and field testing, as provided. This bill would require the department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature summarizing certain information related to the unit, including, among other things, the technologies and projects evaluated, tested, or deployed.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill, the California Technology Innovation and Ratepayer Protection Act, would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to establish new tariffs or update existing electric rules for the interconnection of participating customer facilities and the provision of retail electric service, transmission, distribution, and generation services to participating customers, as specified. The bill would require the commission, as part of establishing and updating electric rules, to, at a minimum, evaluate the risks and benefits of the tariffs to nonparticipating customers, ensure that the tariffs prevent the creation of stranded costs for, or cost shifts to, nonparticipating customers, and, for unbundled customers, ensure that charges generally included in the generation component of the unbundled customer's consolidated bill are assessed as a separate line item on their bill. The bill would require, as part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission to establish a tariff for the interconnection of a participating customer seeking to receive retail electric service at the transmission level that meets certain requirements, as specified. The bill would authorize a participating customer to participate in a new demand response program authorized by the commission, as specified. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to submit an exceptional case filing to approve a contract between the electrical corporation and a data center seeking interconnection at the transmission level for those facilities that seek to obtain retail electric service after January 1, 2027, but before the commission has approved the tariff, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be a part of the act, and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, 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.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and of any land outside its boundaries that bears relation to its planning. Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, business, residences, open space, and other purposes, as provided. For these purposes, existing law authorizes the legislative body to divide a county or city into zones, but requires that regulations adopted be uniform for each class or kind of building or use of land throughout each zone. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare 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. This bill, the Public Lands Protection Act, would, upon transfer to any private or nonfederal entity of a parcel of land located within the state that is owned by the United States government on or after January 1, 2025, and that has been designated in an adopted general plan or zoning ordinance as open space, public land, resource conservation, or an equivalent conservation-oriented designation, immediately subject that parcel to the zoning designation and associated state and local restrictions. The bill would also, upon transfer of a parcel of land located within the state that is owned by the United States government on or after January 1, 2025, and that has not been designated in an adopted general plan or zoning ordinance at the time of transfer to any private or nonfederal entity, automatically subject that parcel to the most restrictive conservation-oriented zoning designation currently applied in the jurisdiction, by operation of law. The bill would prohibit a parcel of land governed by these provisions from being rezoned, subdivided, or granted any development entitlement that is inconsistent with a conservation-oriented zoning designation, unless certain requirements are satisfied, including that a full environmental impact report is completed in accordance with CEQA. Notwithstanding these provisions, the bill would require electric infrastructure and clean energy facilities necessary to achieve California's climate and decarbonization goals to be deemed permitted uses in a conservation-oriented zoning designation if certain conditions are met. The bill would also exempt certain other parcels from these provisions. This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. This bill would make these provisions severable. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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 (EIR) 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 also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA provides that when an EIR has been prepared for a project, no subsequent or supplemental EIR shall be required by a lead agency or responsible agency, unless specified events occur. This bill would require a lead agency, before issuing the initial discretionary approval for a large-volume bulk coal facility, defined as a facility with a design capacity exceeding 5,000,000 short tons per year of coal handling, storage, or export to prepare or cause to be prepared an EIR. The bill would prohibit a lead agency, air pollution control district, or air quality management district from relying on an existing EIR to issue a discretionary approval for, or to, a large-volume bulk coal facility, and would require a subsequent or new EIR to be prepared, if any of a list of specified conditions are met, including that there is an increase in design capacity of a project that did not previously meet the definition of a large-volume bulk coal facility, as provided; there is a change in the type of coal handled, stored, or exported, or the EIR did not explicitly address the type of coal handled, stored, or exported; or there is a significant increase in the quantity of coal handled, stored, or exported, or the EIR did not explicitly disclose the quantity of coal to be handled, stored, or exported. The bill would require an EIR or subsequent EIR prepared pursuant to these provisions to, among other things, evaluate the large-volume bulk coal facility's potential to generate PM2.5 and PM10 fugitive dust emissions during construction and operations, and to require mitigation measures, as provided. The bill would apply these provisions to a discretionary approval that is pending or made after June 4, 2026, as specified. Because the bill would create new duties for a lead agency, 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.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It directly affects state agencies and organizations by encouraging them to recognize this specific month for awareness activities. The measure does not change laws or allocate funding but serves as a formal commemorative resolution.

Existing law authorizes a person that owns or controls brush-covered land, forest lands, woodland, grassland, and shrubland within a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for permission to use prescribed burning for certain public purposes. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into an agreement for prescribed burning with a person to conduct the prescribed burning operations for certain purposes. Existing law requires the department to develop a training program for prescribed fire users to certify professionals as burn bosses. Existing law requires the department to conduct an experimental program of wildland resources management through prescribed burning and other methods in 2 areas of wildlands. This bill would require the department, on an annual basis, to allocate not less than 10% of funding appropriated to the department for local assistance and other grant programs where prescribed or beneficial fire is an eligible activity, consistent with the term of the appropriation, to expand training, organizational capacity, and support for community-led beneficial fire programs, including, but not limited to, those developed by California Native American tribes, nongovernmental organizations, universities and colleges, resources conservation districts, volunteer fire districts, and other local or special districts, as provided. The bill would require at least 25% of that allocation be awarded to California Native American tribes or tribally led or indigenous-led organizations, except as specified.

Existing law imposes various fees, contingent upon a criminal arrest, prosecution, or conviction, for the cost of administering the criminal justice system, including traffic violator school fees, costs for when a minor is adjudged a ward of the court, as specified, or costs incurred by a state or local agency for the disposal of various substances if the person is convicted of the sale, possession, or transportation of a controlled substance, as specified. This bill would repeal the authority to collect many of those fees, among others. The bill would make the unpaid balance of most court-imposed costs unenforceable and uncollectible and would require any portion of a judgment imposed by those costs to be vacated. The bill would relieve a person who is sentenced to state prison or confined in a county jail from being required to pay any trial court filing fees or costs related to the person's underlying criminal conviction. The bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would also make various conforming changes.