Asm. Kansen Chu

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law provides that in the case of active firefighting members of certain fire departments and in the case of certain peace officers, a compensable injury includes cancer that develops or manifests itself during the period when the firefighter or peace officer demonstrates that he or she was exposed while in the service of the public agency to a known carcinogen, as defined. Existing law establishes a presumption that the cancer in these cases arose out of, and in the course of, employment, unless the presumption is controverted, as specified. This bill would provide that in the case of specified active firefighting members, peace officers, and others, a respiratory illness or disease, including, among other things, occupational asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is presumed to arise out of and in the course of employment, unless the presumption is controverted, as specified.

This measure would declare the month of April 2016 as the Month of the Military Child.

This measure would designate April 3, 2016, to April 9, 2016, inclusive, as Women and Girls in STEM Week and would encourage all citizens and community organizations to support the observance of California Women and Girls in STEM Week by encouraging and celebrating women in the STEM fields.

This measure would declare the week of March 7, 2016, through March 13, 2016, as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week.

Existing law makes it a crime to willfully threaten to commit a crime that will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat and which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety. Under existing law, this crime is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for no more than one year for a misdemeanor, or by imprisonment in state prison for a felony. This bill would make a person who, by any means, including, but not limited to, by means of an electronic act, willfully threatens unlawful violence to another person to occur upon the grounds of a school, as defined, with specific intent and under certain circumstances, and that threat creates a disruption at the school, guilty of a misdemeanor or felony punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a specified term. By creating a new 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.

This measure would proclaim the month of March 2016 as Grand Jury Awareness Month in California, recognize those who volunteer in a grand jury, and encourage all Californians to learn about its role in the judicial system.