Asm. Ash Kalra

Existing law allows a person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of the imprisonment or restraint. Existing law allows a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted for, but not limited to, false evidence that is substantially material or probative to the issue of guilt or punishment that was introduced at trial and false physical evidence that was a material factor directly related to the plea of guilty of the person. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Existing law declares it to be the policy of the state to encourage the preservation, conservation, and maintenance of wildlife resources under the jurisdiction and influence of the state and specifies that the policy includes certain objectives. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

Existing law defines the term "public works" for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages, the regulation of working hours, and the securing of workers' compensation for public works projects. Existing law generally requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works projects, and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement. Existing law authorizes the awarding body for a public works project to not require the payment of the general prevailing rate of per diem wages on public works projects of specified sizes and types of work, including construction projects of $25,000 or less, if the awarding body elects to initiate and enforce a labor compliance program containing specified requirements for every public works project under its authority, as specified. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the department to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would encourage smart climate agriculture.

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to issue a credential to teach special education to an applicant who has a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, completes a program of professional preparation, and satisfies any other standards established by the commission. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the commission and the State Department of Education implement pathways for credentialed general education teachers to obtain an authorization to teach special education pupils with mild or moderate disabilities.

(1) Existing law, the Horse Racing Law, provides that the California Horse Racing Board has all powers necessary and proper to enable it to carry out fully and effectually the purposes of the Horse Racing Law and requires that the board be responsible for, among other things, adopting rules and regulations for the protection of the public and the control of horse racing and parimutuel wagering, and the administration and enforcement of all laws, rules, and regulations affecting horse racing and parimutuel wagering. A violation of the Horse Racing Law is a crime. This bill would require the board to adopt rules and regulations for the welfare and safety of equines that are used for the purpose of horse racing and to convene and oversee a panel of independent veterinarians and stewards to review the medical, training, and racing histories of horses entered to race and be authorized to deem a horse unfit to run. The bill would also require the board to adopt regulations on the authorized use of minerals, vitamins, or other supplements and would require the board to only authorize uses that are in the best interest of the welfare and safety of the horse. (2) The Horse Racing Law authorizes the board to issue a license to a track operator to conduct horse racing meetings in accordance with the Horse Racing Law at the track specified in the license application. That law also requires the board to, among other things, establish safety standards governing the uniformity and content of the track base and racing surface, inner and outer rails, gates and gaps, turf, access and egress to the track, lighting for night racing, equipment for horse and rider, drainage, communications, veterinary services, medical and ambulance services, and other track facilities in order to improve the safety of horses, riders, and workers at the racetrack. This bill would require, for licensed track operators with an average daily handle of $1,500,000 or more, other than a fair, to install cameras covering the horse stalls of all entries, provide computerized tomography (CT) scanning equipment or a digital scanning equivalent to detect potential horse injuries that shall be available onsite, establish an onsite central pharmacy, report to the board any sealing or reinforcement of the track that is not considered regular maintenance, and prohibit training or races at least 7 days after any sealing or reinforcement of the track that is not considered regular maintenance or until the board deems the track surface not to pose a danger to the safety of the horses from a hardened impact. The bill would also authorize the board to require racetracks to transition to high-quality synthetic surfaces and require the revocation of the license of a track operator who fails to comply with the requirements as described above. (3) The Horse Racing Law requires that any blood or urine test sample required by the board to be taken from a horse that is entered in any race be divided or taken in duplicate, if there is sufficient sample available after the initial test sample has been taken. That law also requires the executive director of the board to report to the board a finding of a prohibited drug substance in an official test sample within 24 hours of the confirmation of that prohibited drug substance in the split sample by the independent laboratory, or within 24 hours of waiver of split sample testing by the owner or trainer. This bill would require the executive director of the board to also make the test results publicly available, by posting on its internet website, a finding and the results of the prohibited drug substance as described above. (4) The Horse Racing Law also requires the board to adopt regulations to establish policies, guidelines, and penalties relating to equine medication in order to preserve and enhance the integrity of horse racing in the state. That law requires that those policies, guidelines, and penalties include, at a minimum, provisions that prohibit, among other things, a substance of any kind from being administered by any means to a horse after it has been entered to race in a horse race, unless the board has, by regulation, specifically authorized the use of the substance and its quantity and composition. That law provides that violations of this provision, as determined by the board, are punishable as set forth in regulations adopted by the board. This bill would revise and expand these provisions to prohibit medications from being administered to a horse that is engaged in racing activities, including training related to competing in parimutuel racing, unless it is to treat a specific medical condition diagnosed within the context of a valid veterinarian-client patient relationship, as specified. The bill would require that the license of a trainer with more than 3 violations of these medication requirements or the medication rules or regulations of any other state be suspended or revoked. The bill would authorize the board to suspend a trainer's license during the time period of any administrative action. The bill would require the board to suspend a trainer's license following the death of a horse during racing or training, pending investigation by the board. The bill would require that all penalty revenues imposed pursuant to these provisions be directed to horse welfare and safety measures, as described. The bill would require the board to publicly disclose those measures on their internet website. The bill would require, for licensed track operators with an average daily handle of $1,500,000 or more, all medications administered at racetracks to be dispensed through an onsite central pharmacy. The bill would require that all medications dispensed onsite be limited to the least amount needed for the horse while staying at the racetrack. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations to require that the onsite central pharmacy has complete electronic recordkeeping to facilitate monitoring of veterinarian treatment and medications. The bill would prohibit private veterinarians from bringing medications to the track that are not dispensed at the onsite central pharmacy. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations to ensure that trainers are educated and encouraged to provide horses with sufficient time to recuperate from normal exercise-induced microdamage to the horse's bones and injuries. The bill would require an owner to not order horses to be entered in races if a veterinarian has recommended against it for the welfare and safety of the horse. The bill would require a veterinarian to report owners who violate this requirement to the board. The bill would also require the board to administer all auctions of thoroughbreds 2 years of age and younger, as specified. The bill would require that all records required by law to be kept by a veterinarian subject to the Horse Racing Law, including, but not limited to, records pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of race horses and records pertaining to drugs or devices for use on race horses, and all equipment and drugs on the premises, or in any other place, where veterinary medicine, dentistry, surgery, or the various branches thereof is being practiced with respect to race horses, or otherwise in the possession of a veterinarian for purposes of that practice, be open to inspection by the board, or its authorized representatives, during an inspection as part of a regular inspection program by the board, or during an investigation initiated in response to a complaint that a licensee or contractee has violated any law or regulation that constitutes grounds for disciplinary action by the board. The bill would require that a copy of all those records be provided to the board immediately upon request. The bill would also require that these veterinary records and the equipment and drugs as described above be open to inspection by the owner of the horse, a licensed board or track veterinarian authorized by the board, the currently licensed trainer of the race horse, or the race horse's jockey. The bill would prohibit the board, its authorized representatives, or any person authorized to inspect the records, equipment, or drugs as specified under these provisions and the information obtained thereby from transferring to, discussing, or sharing with any unauthorized person or entity. (5) By imposing new requirements under the Horse Racing Law, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (6) 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 generally requires a vehicle, stopped or parked upon a roadway where there are adjacent curbs, to be stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels of the vehicle parallel with, and within 18 inches of, the right-hand curb, with specified exceptions. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to publish a synopsis or summary of laws regulating the operation of vehicles and the use of highways, and requires the department to furnish copies of the publication to its field offices for general distribution at no charge. Existing law requires an applicant for a driver's license to submit to examination by the department. This bill would require the department to include in its California Driver Handbook publication information advising drivers on the Dutch Reach method, as defined, when opening a vehicle door after parallel parking the vehicle. The bill would also require the department to include test questions regarding driving safely in the presence of bicycles in the question pool used for the written portion of the driver's license examination. The bill would permit one of those questions to be a question regarding the Dutch Reach method.

This measure would proclaim January 23, 2020, as Maternal Health Awareness Day, to draw attention to the efforts that have improved maternal health in California and to highlight the need for continued improvement of maternal health for all women.

This measure would proclaim January 26, 2020, as India Republic Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India Republic Day.