Existing law provides for various public social services programs, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals, CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county, and the Medi-Cal program, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing federal and state law provide that in determining the eligibility and amount of aid for an alien, the income and resources of an alien shall be deemed to include the income and resources of any person who has executed an affidavit of support on behalf of the alien and the spouse of that person, as specified, and requires the sponsored applicant or recipient to provide information regarding the income and resources of those persons. Existing federal law and state regulations provide that if a sponsored alien is determined to be indigent, as specified, the sponsored alien shall be exempt from the sponsor deeming requirements for a period beginning on the date of that indigency determination and ending 12 months after that date. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, waivers, and directives, require a county to renew the 12-month exception period for additional 12-month periods for a sponsored applicant for, or recipient of, CalWORKs benefits who is deemed to meet the indigence requirement, as specified. The bill would require the department to implement this provision between April 1, 2019, and July 1, 2019, authorize the department to implement and administer this provision through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted, and require the department to adopt emergency regulations no later than January 1, 2021. The bill would exempt the department from specific provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act relating to the adoption of emergency regulations, including the requirement for regulations to be reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law. By increasing county duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires an elections official, during the official canvass of an election in which a voting system is used, to conduct a public manual tally of the ballots cast in 1% of the precincts chosen at random by the elections official, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the Secretary of State to establish a postcanvass risk-limiting audit pilot program. This bill would authorize the use of risk-limiting audits in lieu of the 1% manual tally beginning with the March 3, 2020, statewide primary election. The bill would require the Secretary of State to adopt regulations to implement and administer risk-limiting audits. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2021. The bill would also repeal the existing postcanvass risk-limiting audit pilot program.
Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body, as defined, be open and public, and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body, except as provided. Existing law does not prohibit a state body from holding an open or closed meeting by teleconference for the benefit of the public and state body. Existing law, among other things, requires a state body that elects to conduct a meeting or proceeding by teleconference to post agendas at all teleconference locations, to identify each teleconference location in the notice and agenda, and to make each teleconference location accessible to the public. Existing law requires the agenda to provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the state body directly at each teleconference location, as specified. This bill, for a state body that is an advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember advisory body, would authorize an additional way of holding a meeting by teleconference, as prescribed, provided it also complies with all other applicable requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. In this context, the bill would require a member of a state body participating by teleconference to be listed in the meeting minutes and that notice, as specified, identifying that member to be provided to the public at least 24 hours before the meeting. The bill would require a state body to designate a primary physical meeting location on that notice where members of the public may attend the meeting and participate, to include that information in the agenda of the meeting, and to post the agenda at the primary physical meeting location. The bill would require a quorum of the body's members to be present at the primary physical meeting location and that decisions during the teleconference meeting be made by rollcall vote. The bill would require the state body, if a member participates remotely, to provide the public a way to hear the meeting or to observe it and to provide public notice, as specified, of how this would be done. Upon discovering that a means of remote access has failed during a meeting, the bill would require the body to end or adjourn the meeting, as specified, and would prescribe certain notice requirements and procedures in this connection.
Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes, including a cash payment or reimbursement not to exceed a specified amount to a victim for expenses incurred in relocating, if the expenses are determined by law enforcement to be necessary for the personal safety of the victim or by a mental health treatment provider to be necessary for the emotional well-being of the victim. Existing law requires the board to be named as the recipient of funds upon expiration of the victim's rental agreement if a security deposit is required for relocation. This bill would authorize "expenses incurred in relocating" as described above to include a pet deposit and additional rent required if the victim has a pet. The bill would also require the board to be named as the recipient of funds upon expiration of the victim's rental agreement if a pet deposit is required for relocation. By expanding the authorization for use of continuously appropriated funds, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 13957 of the Government Code proposed by AB 900, AB 1865, and AB 1939 to be operative only if this bill and any or all of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act establishes the Universal Lifeline Telephone Service program in order to provide low-income households with access to affordable basic residential telephone service. Existing law requires the commission, by January 15, 2017, to adopt a portability freeze rule for the lifeline program, and requires the commission to consider including in the rule a period of time during which the subscriber would be able to terminate lifeline service without penalty and a requirement that the administrator of the lifeline program provide a telephone corporation providing lifeline service with specified subscriber information. This bill would require the commission, on or before June 30, 2019, to adopt a rule to improve the cost-effectiveness of the delivery of the lifeline program. The bill would repeal the requirement that the commission consider including in its portability freeze rule the features described above, and would instead require the commission to include, at minimum, those and certain other features in this lifeline program cost-effectiveness rule. 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 provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order, decision, or rule of the commission implementing its 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.
Existing law directs police and sheriffs' departments to submit the description of serialized or uniquely inscribed nonserialized property that has been reported stolen, lost, found, recovered, or under observation, directly to an automated Department of Justice system. Existing law requires that any information entered into the Department of Justice system regarding a firearm remain in the system until the firearm is found, recovered, no longer under observation, or the record is deemed to have been entered in error. Existing law also requires the costs resulting from this requirement to be reimbursed from funds other than those collected from specified fees relating to firearms. This bill would extend this firearms reporting requirement to all law enforcement agencies in the state, as defined, and would require that the report be entered within 7 days of the agency being notified of the precipitating event. Existing law also requires police and sheriffs' departments, and authorizes other law enforcement agencies, to report to the Department of Justice any information in their possession necessary to identify and trace the history of a recovered firearm that is illegally possessed, has been used in a crime, or is suspected of having been used in a crime. This bill would extend this reporting requirement to all law enforcement agencies in the state, as defined, and would require that the information be entered within 7 days of the agency's possession of the information. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 33855 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 746 to be operative only if this bill and SB 746 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would make technical and conforming changes. By imposing new duties on local agencies, 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.
Existing law generally requires a court in a judgment of dissolution of marriage or judgment of legal separation of the parties to make a property division that equally divides the community estate of the parties, except as otherwise specified. This bill would authorize a court, upon request of a party to proceedings for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties and notwithstanding other requirements for dividing the community estate of the parties, to assign sole or joint ownership of a community property pet animal taking into consideration the care of the pet animal. The bill would authorize a court, also upon the request of a party, to order a party to care for the pet animal prior to the final determination of ownership.
Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste. Existing law requires the department to develop and adopt by regulation criteria and guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes and extremely hazardous wastes. Existing regulations adopted pursuant to that provision provide that a waste exhibits the characteristic of toxicity if representative samples of the waste have any of specified properties, including, among others, that a concentration of the waste of less than 500 milligrams per liter in soft water results in a 50% mortality rate of specified fish species after 96 hours of exposure, pursuant to specified procedures. This bill would authorize the department, to the extent that funds are available for this purpose, to evaluate any of specified tests to determine whether the tests can be adapted to be appropriate for use in identifying substances as hazardous waste or extremely hazardous waste, consistent with the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws. The bill would require the department, if it finds that any of the specified tests can be adapted, to authorize the use of each test found appropriate, as adapted, as an alternative to the fish mortality testing method described above.
(1) Existing law prohibits a person from using or operating, or assisting in using or operating, a boat, aircraft, net, trap, line, or other appliance to take fish for commercial purposes unless the person holds a commercial fishing license issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law prohibits the taking of shark and swordfish for commercial purposes with drift gill nets except under a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit (DGN permit) issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked and is issued to at least one person aboard the boat, except as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of Fish and Wildlife to close the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery if, after a public hearing, the director determines the action is necessary to protect the swordfish or thresher shark and mako shark resources and requires the director to reopen the fishery if he or she determines that the conditions that necessitated the closure no longer exist. Existing law authorizes a DGN permit to be transferred to another person under certain circumstances. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a crime. The California Ocean Protection Act creates the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund in the State Treasury and authorizes moneys deposited in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the Ocean Protection Council for, among other things, grants or loans to public agencies, nonprofit corporations, or private entities for, or direct expenditures on, projects or activities that protect, conserve, and restore coastal waters and ocean ecosystems including through the acquisition from willing sellers of vessels, equipment, licenses, harvest rights, permits, and other rights and property, to reduce threats to ocean ecosystems and resources. This bill would require the department by March 31, 2020, to establish a voluntary permit transition program that includes specified conditions, including a condition that a permittee who voluntarily surrenders his or her DGN permit and shark or swordfish gill net or nets receive, to the extent that funds for the transition program are available, a specified payment, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to enter into an agreement with a fiscal agent, as defined, for the fiscal agent to receive state and nonstate funds for purposes of the transition program and, upon receipt of adequate funds, to make the payment to a participating permittee. If the department enters into an agreement with a fiscal agent that is a state entity, the bill would continuously appropriate any funds received from nonstate sources to that state entity for purposes of the transition program. The bill would require the Ocean Protection Council to use $1 million of an appropriation made to it in the Budget Act of 2018 for whale and sea turtle entanglement to fund the transition program. The bill would require the department to notify the Legislature within 10 days of the date that the fiscal agent receives $1 million from nonstate sources and secures $1 million through an agreement with the Ocean Protection Council. The bill would require a DGN permit issued pursuant to these provisions to be surrendered or revoked as of January 31 of the 4th year following the department's notification to the Legislature. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, beginning March 31, 2019, prohibit the transfer of a DGN permit. The bill would provide that the provisions dealing with the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery do not create or recognize a property right in fish expected to be caught using a DGN permit. (2) Existing law establishes a swordfish permit that authorizes a person holding that permit to take, possess aboard a boat, and land swordfish for commercial purposes using specified methods but not including use of a drift gill net. Existing law establishes a fee of $330 for a swordfish permit, as adjusted pursuant to the above-described index, but exempts the holder of a DGN permit from payment of that fee. This bill would also exempt any person who participates in the permit transition program established by the department from payment of the fee for a swordfish permit. (3) Existing law makes it unlawful to use fishing lines, including, but not limited to, troll lines and handlines more than 900 feet in length unless they are used as set lines, as specified. This bill would also exempt from this prohibition fishing lines more than 900 feet in length if they are used as part of deep-set buoy gear authorized under federal law. (4) 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 Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006 requires every retailer, as defined, to have in place a system for the acceptance and collection of used rechargeable batteries for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. Existing law requires the system for the acceptance and collection of used rechargeable batteries to include, at a minimum, specified elements, including, among others, the take-back at no cost to the consumer of a used rechargeable battery of the type or brand that the retailer sold or previously sold. Existing law defines "rechargeable battery" for purposes of these provisions to mean a small, nonvehicular, rechargeable nickel-cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium-ion, or sealed lead-acid battery, or a battery pack containing these types of batteries. This bill would require the Secretary for Environmental Protection, on or before April 1, 2019, to convene the Lithium-Ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group to review, and advise the Legislature on, policies pertaining to the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion batteries sold with motor vehicles in the state, and would require the secretary to appoint members to the committee from specified departments, vocations, and organizations. The bill would require the advisory group to consult with specified entities and, on or before April 1, 2022, to submit policy recommendations to the Legislature aimed at ensuring that as close to 100% as possible of lithium-ion batteries in the state are reused or recycled at end-of-life in a safe and cost-effective manner. The bill would require the policy recommendations to reflect specified considerations. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2027.