Asm. Marc Berman

(1) Existing law sets forth a comprehensive plan for the conservation of the waters of the San Francisco Bay and the development of its shoreline and delegates to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission authority to implement the plan. Existing law requires any person or governmental agency wishing to place fill, to extract materials, or to make any substantial change in the use of any water, land, or structure within the shoreline and body of the bay to, among other things, secure a permit from the commission, which has authority to impose permit conditions and civilly enforce permit requirements, as prescribed. This bill would require, by the end of the 2020–21 fiscal year, that the commission create and implement a procedure to provide managerial review of staff decisions in enforcement cases, timelines for resolving enforcement cases, a penalty matrix for assessing fines and civil penalties, and a method for assessing civil penalties in cases involving multiple violations. (2) Existing law, the Suisun Marsh Preservation Act of 1977, sets forth a comprehensive plan for the preservation and protection of the Suisun Marsh. The act delegates to the commission the primary state responsibility for the implementation of the act, including review at least once every 5 years, of a certified local protection program for Suisun Marsh, as prescribed. If the commission determines that the certified local protection program, or any component of the program, is not being carried out in conformity with the act, existing law requires the commission to submit recommendations of corrective actions to certain local government entities, as specified. Existing law requires the affected local government entities to review the commission's recommendations and, if they do not take the commission's recommended actions within one year, to forward to the commission a report setting forth reasons for not taking the recommended actions, which the commission must then review and, where appropriate, report to the Legislature, as prescribed. This bill would require the commission to perform and complete the required review of the local protection program by no later than July 1, 2025, and to perform successive reviews under the act at least once every 5 years.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires the filing of specified statements, reports and other documents. Under the act, a local government agency may require these filings to be made online or electronically with the local filing officer, as specified. The act requires the local filing officer to make all data so filed available on the internet in an easily understood format that provides the greatest public access. This bill would require a local government agency to post on its internet website, within 72 hours of the applicable filing deadline, a copy of any specified statement, report, or other document filed with that agency in paper format. This bill would require that the statement, report, or other document be made available for four years from the date of the election associated with the filing. By imposing a new duty on local government agencies, 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. 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.

Federal Executive Order 13888 generally prohibits a refugee from being resettled in a state or locality if the state or locality has not consented, in writing, to the resettlement of refugees. The Executive Order requires the United States Secretary of State and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement a process to determine if a state or locality consents. The bill would prohibit a refugee from being denied resettlement in California based on any criterion, method of administration, or practice that has the purpose or effect of discriminating on the basis of specified protected characteristics.

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 prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis and allows a city, county, or city and county, in lieu of compliance, to adopt by ordinance reasonable local standards and procedures for the design, site development, and operation of homeless shelters and the structures and facilities therein. Existing law, upon a declaration of a shelter crisis by specified local jurisdictions, specifies additional provisions applicable to a shelter crisis declared by one of those jurisdictions. 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 also defines a "homeless shelter" as a facility with overnight sleeping accommodations, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary shelter for the homeless that is not in existence after the declared shelter crisis. Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county that declares a shelter crisis pursuant to these provisions to develop a plan to address the shelter crisis on or before July 1, 2019, or July 1, 2020, as applicable, and to annually report particular information, as indicated, to specified committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2019, or on or before January 1 of the year following the declaration of the shelter crisis, as applicable, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2023. Existing law repeals these additional provisions as of January 1, 2023. This bill would apply those additional provisions to a shelter crisis declared by any county or city. By expanding the scope of these provisions to apply within any county or city that has declared a shelter crisis, the bill would expand the above-described exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act. This bill would require jurisdictions that adopt ordinances under the act, 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 that jurisdiction provides, when filing their ordinance with the Department of Housing and Community Development, an explanation of why the standards cannot be met and how the standards in the ordinance protect health and safety. The bill requires jurisdictions to provide the same information in their annual report to the Legislature. The bill would additionally exempt homeless shelters that are constructed or allowed pursuant to the shelter crisis declarations from the Recreational Vehicle Park Occupancy Law, which governs occupancy and tenancy of recreational vehicle parks. The bill would also revise the definition of a "homeless shelter" to include 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. The bill would require the county or city to develop the above-described shelter plan on or before July 1, 2021, or on or before July 1 of the year following the declaration of the shelter crisis, as specified, and to include a plan to transition residents from homeless shelters to permanent housing. The bill would require the above-described annual report, for reports due by January 1, 2022, and thereafter, to include the bed capacity of new homeless shelters built, as specified. The bill would require a declaration of a shelter crisis by a city, county, or city and county and those additional provisions that are or may be utilized by a city, county, or city and county to apply to any land owned or leased by an agency or entity created pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, if the city, county, or city and county that declared a shelter crisis is one of the parties to the agreement creating the entity or agency and the real property owned or leased by the agency or entity is located within the jurisdiction of the city, county, or city and county that declared the shelter crisis. The bill would extend the repeal date of these provisions to January 1, 2026. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing state law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law entitles a family to receive an allowance for specified nonrecurring special needs after a family has used all available liquid resources in excess of $100, as specified, with the exception of funds deposited in a certain restricted account. This bill would except homeless assistance from that $100 liquid resources limit. Under existing law, a family is considered homeless for the purpose of establishing eligibility for homeless assistance benefits if, among other things, the family has received a notice to pay rent or quit. Existing law requires the family to demonstrate that the eviction is the result of a verified financial hardship, as specified, and not other lease or rental violations, and that the family is experiencing a financial crisis that may result in homelessness if preventive assistance is not provided. This bill would eliminate the requirement for a family to demonstrate the reason for the eviction and the existence of the financial crisis. Existing law requires temporary shelter assistance to be granted or denied immediately upon the family's application for homeless assistance and requires the county welfare department to verify the family's homelessness within the first 3 working days. Under existing law, if the family meets the criteria of questionable homelessness established by the department, the county welfare department is required to refer the family to its early fraud prevention and detection unit, as specified. This bill would require the temporary shelter assistance to be granted or denied the same day as the family's application for homeless assistance. The bill would eliminate the requirement for the county welfare department to verify the family's homelessness within the first 3 working days, and instead would require the family, upon applying for homeless assistance, to provide a sworn statement that the family is homeless. The bill would specify that questionable homelessness means that there is reason to suspect that the family has permanent housing. Existing law authorizes a nonrecurring special needs benefit for permanent housing assistance to an eligible family to pay for the last month's rent and security deposits, if these payments are reasonable conditions of securing a residence. This bill would remove the reference to "reasonable" in requiring the payments to be conditions of securing a residence. Under existing law, a family that becomes homeless as a direct and primary result of a state or federally declared natural disaster is eligible for temporary and permanent homeless assistance. This bill would remove the requirement that the state or federally declared disaster be a natural disaster, thereby making the provision apply to any state or federally declared disaster. Under existing law, county welfare departments, and all other entities participating in the costs of the CalWORKs program, have the right in their share to any refunds resulting from payment of the permanent housing. This bill would eliminate that provision. Under existing law, a CalWORKs applicant who provides a sworn statement of past or present domestic abuse and who is fleeing their abuser is deemed to be homeless and is eligible for temporary homeless assistance, consisting of 2 periods of not more than 16 cumulative calendar days of temporary shelter assistance in a lifetime. This bill would require the 2nd 16-day period to continue to be available to the applicant when the applicant becomes a CalWORKs recipient during the first 16-day period. This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement and administer the bill's provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions until regulations are adopted. The bill would require the department to adopt emergency regulations no later than 18 months following the completion of all necessary automation to implement the bill. 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. This bill would become operative on July 1, 2021, or on the date the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the bill, whichever date is later, except that the individual changes imposed by the bill that result in a cost would become operative only if necessary funds are appropriated for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. By expanding the duties of county welfare departments administering the CalWORKs program, 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, 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, the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act exempts an institution from its application if any of a list of specific criteria are met. Existing law requires an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution to comply with specified requirements, including providing the bureau evidence of the institution's accreditation. Existing law repeals the act on January 1, 2021. If the operation of the act is extended by another measure, existing law, effective July 1, 2022, requires additional duties by an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution. This bill would define nonprofit corporation and public institution of higher education specially for purposes of the act. The bill would specify that only an institution of higher education meeting the act's definition of nonprofit corporation or public institution of higher education is exempt from the requirements imposed on an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution. The bill, commencing January 1, 2022, would prohibit the bureau from verifying the exemption of, or contracting to handle complaints for, a nonprofit institution that operated as a for-profit institution during any period on or after January 1, 2010, unless the Attorney General verifies specified information, and would require the Attorney General to provide written notification to the institution and the bureau of its verification within 90 days of receipt of all information the Attorney General determines is necessary for the verification. The bill, commencing January 1, 2022, would authorize appeal of actions taken by the bureau and the Attorney General to the superior court. The provisions of this bill would be implemented only if the operation of the act is extended by another measure. Under existing law, the act specifies conduct by regulated institutions that, if undertaken, is a crime. Because this bill would extend the application of those criminal provisions, it 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 establishes the State Department of Public Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to establish the Office of Suicide Prevention within the department, would require the office to perform specified duties, including providing information and technical assistance to statewide and regional partners regarding best practices on suicide prevention policies and programs and reporting on progress to reduce rates of suicide, and authorize the office to apply for and use federal, state, and foundation grants. The bill would require the office to consult with the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to implement suicide prevention efforts. The bill would require that the duties and responsibilities of the office be accomplished with existing staff and resources. The bill would make these provisions operative subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Existing law designates the Secretary of State as the chief elections officer of the state and requires the Secretary of State to make reasonable efforts to promote voter registration and encourage eligible voters to vote. This bill would require the Secretary of State to establish a Native American Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee. The committee would include the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State's designees, and additional members appointed by the Secretary of State who have demonstrated experience with voting rights or are county elections officials. The committee would serve in an advisory capacity to the Secretary of State and would make specified recommendations and take other actions to make voting more accessible to Native American voters.

Existing law requires that the statewide direct primary be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March in each even-numbered year. Existing law requires that the presidential primary be held on that same date in any year that is evenly divisible by 4. This bill would change the date of the statewide direct primary to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June in even-numbered years in which there is no presidential primary.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Route 35 that runs through the City of Daly City in the County of San Mateo as the Alice Peña Bulos 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.