Asm. Marc Berman

(1) Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, on or before July 1, 2020, by regulation, to adopt appropriate thresholds for determining whether a telecommunications service outage constitutes a community isolation outage based on the risks to public health and safety resulting from the outage. Existing law requires all providers of telecommunications service that provide access to 911 service to notify the office whenever a community isolation outage occurs that limits their customers' ability to make 911 calls or receive emergency notifications. Existing law requires those community isolation outage notifications to include certain information, including a description of the estimated area and community affected by the outage. This bill would require each of those providers of telecommunications service to maintain on its internet website a public outage map showing that provider's outages, and would require the office, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, on or before July 1, 2022, to adopt by regulation requirements for those maps, as specified. The bill would authorize the office to provide the commission with all of the information provided to it as part of a telecommunications service provider's community isolation outage notification and require the office to aggregate that data and post that aggregated data on its internet website. (2) Under the California Constitution and the Public Utilities Act, the commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. The act requires the commission to develop and implement performance reliability standards for backup power systems installed on the property of residential and small commercial customers by facilities-based providers of telephony services upon determining that the benefits of the standards exceed the costs. This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the office, to develop and implement backup electricity rules to require providers of telecommunications service to submit resiliency plans to maintain backup electricity for their telecommunications infrastructure sufficient to maintain telecommunications service for at least 72 hours, except as provided. (3) The act requires the commission to develop, publish, and annually update a report that contains specified information, including an accounting of the commission's transactions and proceedings from the prior year, together with other facts, suggestions, and recommendations that the commission deems of value to the people of the state. This bill would require that the report additionally include a description of the actions taken by the commission using the information provided to it by the office, as described in paragraph (1) , a summary of deenergization event trends and the effect of deenergization events on telecommunications service and public safety, and an analysis of how the impacts of deenergization events on telecommunications service could be mitigated. (4) Under existing law, a violation of the act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be parts of the act and because a violation of a commission action implementing the 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 Natural Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Act of 2000 requires the Wildlife Conservation Board to implement a program under which property, as defined, may be contributed to the state, any local government, as defined, or to any nonprofit organization designated by a local government, based on specified criteria, in order to provide for the protection of wildlife habitat, open space, and agricultural lands. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a credit against the taxes imposed by those laws in an amount equal to 55% of the fair market value of any qualified contribution, defined as a contribution of property that has been approved for acceptance by the Wildlife Conservation Board, that is made on or after January 1, 2010, and no later than June 30, 2020, during the taxable year pursuant to the Natural Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Act of 2000, as provided. Those laws allow the credit to be carried over for 15 years if necessary. This bill would renew this tax credit for qualified contributions on or after January 1, 2021, and no later than June 30, 2026. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring elected officials, candidates for elective office, committees formed primarily to support or oppose a candidate for public office or a ballot measure, and other entities to file periodic campaign statements and reports concerning campaign finances. This bill would require a limited liability company that qualifies as a committee or a sponsor of a committee under the act, as specified, to file a statement of members with the Secretary of State. The bill would require the statement of members to include certain information about the limited liability company, including a list of all persons who have a membership interest in the limited liability company of at least 10% or who made a cumulative capital contribution of at least $10,000 to the limited liability company after it qualified as a committee or sponsor of a committee, or within the 12 months before it qualified. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Existing law requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for all elections proclaimed or conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Existing law requires county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications. This bill would extend the requirements to mail a ballot to every registered voter to all elections and apply them to all local elections officials. This bill would require a vote by mail tracking system to be accessible to voters with disabilities. The bill would also make various conforming and technical changes. Existing law requires county elections officials to permit voters with a disability, and military or overseas voters, to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system, and required county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. This bill would require county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for any election. Under existing law, a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received by the voter's elections official via the United States Postal Service, or a bona fide private mail delivery company, no later than 3 days after election day. This bill would provide instead that a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received no later than 7 days after election day. This bill would authorize an elections official to consider any information from the United States Postal Service or a bona fide private mail delivery company that indicates the date on which the ballot was mailed, in order to determine whether a vote by mail ballot was timely cast. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are cast to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes 29 days before the election. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots on the 15th business day before the election, except, for the statewide general election held on November 3, 2020, these jurisdictions were authorized to start processing the ballots on the 29th day before the election. Existing law authorizes all other jurisdictions to start processing vote by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the election. Existing law authorizes a county elections official to establish vote by mail ballot drop-off locations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a county to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election under certain specified conditions. This bill would require any county that does not conduct an all-mailed ballot election to provide at least two vote by mail ballot drop-off locations within the jurisdiction where the election is held, or at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location for every 30,000 registered voters within the jurisdiction where the election is held, whichever results in more vote by mail ballot drop-off locations. In a jurisdiction with fewer than 30,000 registered voters, the bill would require at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location, and would require the elections official to make a reasonable effort to provide a ballot drop-off location in the jurisdiction where the election is held. This bill would require the operation of vote by mail ballot drop-off locations to meet certain specified criteria. This bill would authorize a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots the 29th day before any election. By requiring local elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter, and to take other actions, 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 federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requires a state to, among other things, establish procedures to register a person to vote for federal office by an application made simultaneously with a driver's license application. Existing state law requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters. Existing state law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to the person's eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver's license or identification card. Existing state law provides that this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, and the Secretary of State is required to register the person to vote, unless the person affirmatively declines to register to vote or the person is ineligible to vote, or other specified conditions exist. This bill would require a driver's license or identification card application, renewal, or change of address notification, as specified, to include a voter registration application and would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit the application to the Secretary of State according to specified deadlines. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to monitor the timeliness of its transmittals to the Secretary of State, and to provide the Secretary of State information regarding delays and irregularities in its ability to do so. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Secretary of State each to designate an employee to undertake specified responsibilities to ensure compliance with the California New Motor Voter Program and the National Voter Registration Act. The bill would require the Secretary of State to convene a task force that would provide advice and perform other duties with respect to implementing the California New Motor Voter Program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5100 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 446 to be operative only if this bill and AB 446 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and sets forth its powers and duties relating to enforcement of civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based on specified characteristics or status. Existing law grants the department the power to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful employment practices. Existing law, the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, commonly known as the California Family Rights Act, which is a part of FEHA, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, as defined, to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid protected leave during any 12-month period for family care and medical leave, as specified. Existing law defines family care and medical leave to include, among other things, leave to care for a parent. This bill would additionally include leave to care for a parent-in-law within the definition of family care and medical leave, and would make other conforming changes. Existing law requires the department to create a small employer family leave mediation pilot program, for alleged violations of these family care and medical leave provisions, applicable to employers with between 5 and 19 employees. Existing law authorizes the employer or the employee to request that all parties participate in mediation through the department's dispute resolution division after the department issues a right-to-sue notice. Existing law requires the department to initiate the mediation promptly following a request, prohibits an employee from pursuing a civil action until the mediation is complete, and tolls the statute of limitations for the employee, including for all related claims not subject to mediation, from the date of receipt of a request to participate in the program until the mediation is complete. Existing law repeals the pilot program on January 1, 2024. This bill would recast those provisions to require the department, when an employee requests an immediate right to sue alleging a violation of the above-described family care and medical leave provisions by an employer, to notify the employee in writing of the requirement for mediation prior to filing a civil action, if mediation is requested by the employer or employee. The bill would also require the employee to contact the department's dispute resolution division, in the manner specified by the department, prior to filing an action and to indicate whether they are requesting mediation. This bill would require the department, upon contacting the dispute resolution division regarding the intent to pursue a legal action for an employer's violation of the family and medical leave provisions, to notify all named respondents of the alleged violation and the requirement for mediation, if mediation is requested by the employee or employer, in writing. The bill would require the department to terminate its activity if neither the employee nor the employer requests mediation within 30 days of receipt by all named respondents of the notification, as specified. The bill would require the department, if it receives a request for mediation from the employer or employee within 30 days of receipt, as described above, to initiate the mediation within 60 days of the department's receipt of the request or the receipt of the notification by all named respondents, whichever is later. The bill would require the mediator, once mediation has been initiated and no later than 7 days before the mediation date, to notify the employee of their right to request certain labor-related information and to help facilitate other reasonable requests for information, as specified. The bill would prohibit the employee from pursuing a civil action unless the mediation is not initiated by the department within the time period prescribed above or until the mediation is complete or deemed unsuccessful. The bill would toll the statute of limitations applicable to the employee's claim from the date the employee contacts the department's dispute resolution division regarding the intent to pursue a legal action until the mediation is complete or deemed unsuccessful. This bill would entitle a respondent or defendant in a civil action that did not receive the required notification as a result of the employee's failure to contact the department's alternative dispute resolution prior to filing a civil action and who had 5 to 19 employees at the time that the alleged violation occurred, to a stay of any pending civil action or arbitration until the mediation is complete or deemed unsuccessful. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12945.2 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1041 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1041 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law prescribes procedures, including the election of a board of directors, for the formation of regional park districts, regional park and open-space districts, or regional open-space districts. Existing law authorizes 3 or more cities, together with any parcel or parcels of city or county territory, whether in the same or different counties, to organize and incorporate, but requires that all the territory in the proposed district be contiguous. Existing law requires the board of directors to superintend, control, and make available to all the inhabitants of the district all public recreation lands and facilities, as provided. Existing law requires the board of directors to act only by ordinance, resolution, or a motion duly recorded in the minutes of a meeting of the board. This bill would authorize the board of directors of a district, by ordinance, to declare that an encroachment onto district lands constitutes a nuisance. The bill would authorize a district that adopts such a nuisance ordinance to establish a nuisance abatement procedure, which would include notice and hearing requirements, and to collect abatement and related administrative costs and penalties, including through a nuisance abatement lien, as specified. The bill would authorize a county recorder to impose a fee on a district to reimburse the costs of processing and recording a nuisance abatement lien and providing notice. The bill would additionally authorize a district to initiate a civil action to abate a nuisance in the name of the district, as specified. Existing law provides that a violation of an ordinance, rule, or regulation adopted by the board of directors of a district is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or imprisonment in the county jail, as provided. This bill would provide that the above provision does not apply to a violation of an ordinance adopted pursuant to the bill's provisions.

The 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 established as a policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. The act requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , and State Air Resources Board to, as part of a public process, issue a joint report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, and every 4 years thereafter, that includes specified information relating to the implementation of the policy. Existing law requires the PUC and the Energy Commission to undertake various actions in furtherance of meeting the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before June 1, 2022, to evaluate and quantify the maximum feasible capacity of offshore wind to achieve reliability, ratepayer, employment, and decarbonization benefits and to establish offshore wind planning goals for 2030 and 2045, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in coordination with specified agencies, to develop a strategic plan for offshore wind energy developments installed off the California coast in federal waters, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to submit the strategic plan to the Natural Resources Agency and the Legislature on or before June 30, 2023. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in coordination with specified agencies, to work with stakeholders, state, local, and federal agencies, and the offshore wind energy industry to identify suitable sea space for wind energy areas in federal waters sufficient to accommodate the offshore wind planning goals for 2030 and 2045. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in coordination with relevant state and local agencies, to develop a plan to improve waterfront facilities that could support a range of floating offshore wind energy development activities. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the PUC and Independent System Operator, to assess the transmission investments and upgrades necessary to support the offshore wind planning goals for 2030 and 2045, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to develop and produce a permitting roadmap that describes timeframes and milestones for a permitting process for offshore wind energy facilities and associated electricity and transmission infrastructure off the coast of California. The bill would require the information described in this paragraph and potential impacts on coastal resources, fisheries, Native American and Indigenous peoples, and national defense, and strategies for addressing those potential impacts, to be included in the strategic plan, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before December 31, 2022, to submit to the Natural Resources Agency and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature a preliminary assessment of the economic benefits of offshore wind as they relate to seaport investments and workforce development needs and standards. The bill would repeal all of these provisions on January 1, 2027.

This measure would proclaim November 3, 2021, as One Health Day, to celebrate and bring attention to the need for a One Health approach to address shared health threats at the human-animal-environmental interface.

This measure would designate the month of September 2021 as Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month and the first week of September 2021 as Blood Donation Week.