(1) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase the efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Existing law also requires the commission to prescribe, by regulation, energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. In order to implement these requirements, existing law requires the commission to develop a public domain computer program that enables contractors, builders, architects, engineers, and government officials to estimate energy consumed by residential and nonresidential buildings. This bill would require the commission to approve and make publicly available, not less than 6 months prior to the effective date of adopted or updated efficiency standards, a version of the public domain computer program that will function properly with these adopted or updated standards. The bill would require the commission, before approving the public domain computer program for use with adopted or updated standards, to perform preliminary tests of the public domain computer program using common examples of residential and nonresidential buildings and building systems to ensure the usability of the program. The bill would require the commission to make the results of those preliminary tests publicly available. (2) Existing law requires the commission to establish criteria for adopting a statewide home energy rating program for residential dwellings. For existing single-family residential dwellings and multifamily residential dwellings with up to 4 units, this bill would require the commission, in administering the statewide home energy rating program, to ensure that energy assessment tools approved by the commission are routinely adjusted to improve modeling accuracy and to ensure that consumers receive a notice with the output of the energy assessment tools explaining the assumptions used in the energy assessment tools and how they may differ from actual usage patterns.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights, authorizes a law enforcement agency investigating certain felony sex offenses, upon the request of the victim, and subject to the commitment of sufficient resources, to inform the victim whether a DNA profile was obtained from the testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from the case, whether that information has been entered into the Department of Justice Data Bank of case evidence, and whether there is a match between the DNA profile developed from the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence and a DNA profile contained in the Department of Justice Convicted Offender DNA Data Base. Existing law also requires that the victim be given written notification by the law enforcement agency if the law enforcement agency elects not to perform DNA testing of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence, or intends to destroy or dispose of the rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Existing law provides that the sole civil or criminal remedy available to a sexual assault victim for a law enforcement agency's failure to fulfill its responsibilities under the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights is standing to file a writ of mandamus to require compliance with these notification provisions. This bill would require a law enforcement agency responsible for taking or processing rape kit evidence to annually report, by July 1 of each year, to the Department of Justice information pertaining to the processing of rape kits, including the number of rape kits the law enforcement agency collects, the number of those rape kits that are tested, and the number of those rape kits that are not tested. For those rape kits that are not tested, the bill would require the law enforcement agency to also report the reason the rape kit was not tested. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2017, and each January 1 after that date, the Department of Justice to submit a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature summarizing the information the department receives pursuant to these provisions. 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 these statutory provisions.
This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.
This measure would commemorate the centennial of the founding of Locke, California, would recognize and honor Locke, California, as the last remaining Chinatown in North America, and would urge all Californians to learn about the important history of Locke, California, and its inhabitants.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop a high school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in accordance with state academic content standards. Existing law requires, commencing with the 2003–04 school year and each school year thereafter, each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass the high school exit examination as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school. This bill would provide that the high school exit examination shall not be required as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school for a pupil completing grade 12 in 2015 and who has met all other high school graduation requirements. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would congratulate the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls on the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and recognize and commend the commission for its various contributions and accomplishments.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support H.R. 167, the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.
This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation allowing immigrants to serve in the military if they are eligible under the President's Executive Order for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Executive Order for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents.
This measure would proclaim April 14, 2015, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.
This measure would designate a portion of State Highway Route 44 in the City of Redding as the Richard "Dick" Dickerson Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.