Asm. Gail Pellerin

Existing law requires an elections official to provide a 2nd vote by mail voter ballot to any voter upon receipt of a statement under penalty of perjury that the voter has failed to receive, lost, or destroyed their original ballot. This bill would remove the requirement that the voter provide a statement under penalty of perjury, and instead require the elections official to provide a replacement ballot upon request. The bill would require the voter making the request to provide the elections official with specified personal identifying information. The bill would also require the elections official, prior to issuing the replacement ballot, to advise the requester that a request for a replacement ballot made by a person other than the registered voter is a criminal offense. By imposing new duties on local elections officials, the 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.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Act creates the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and authorizes the district to provide for the conservation and management of flood, storm, and recycled waters, and other waters, for beneficial uses and to enhance natural resources in connection with carrying out the purposes of the district. Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Existing law defines terms for these purposes. Existing law defines "surplus land" to generally mean land owned in fee simple by a local agency for which the local agency's governing body takes formal action in a public meeting declaring that the land is surplus and not necessary for the agency's use. Existing law defines "agency's use" to include land that is being used, is planned to be used pursuant to a written plan adopted by the local agency's governing board, or is disposed of to support agency work or operations. Existing law excludes from "agency's use" commercial or industrial uses or activities, or property disposed of for the sole purpose of investment or generation of revenue, unless the local agency is a district, except as specified, and the agency's governing body takes specified actions in a public meeting. This bill would additionally authorize the district to take certain actions in order to assist unsheltered people living along streams, in riparian corridors, or otherwise within the district's jurisdiction, in consultation with a city or the County of Santa Clara to provide solutions or improve outcomes for the unsheltered individuals. The bill would require, if the district elects to use the above-described authority, the district to provide a report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature on or before July 1, 2029, and a subsequent report on or before July 1, 2034, containing specified information, including, among other things, the district's actions taken to assist unsheltered people. The bill would provide that the use of land by the district for these specified actions constitutes "agency's use" for purposes of the prescribed requirements related to the disposal of surplus land by a local agency, and would make this provision operative only if SB 747 of the 2023–24 Regular Session is enacted as provided. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Santa Clara.

Existing law, added by the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1991, creates the Department of Pesticide Regulation and authorizes the Director of Pesticide Regulation, among other things, to adopt regulations for the issuance and renewal of licenses and certificates for pest control operations. Existing law requires the director, on or after January 1, 2025, to adopt regulations for the issuance and renewal of licenses and certificates for pest control operations for a 3-year period. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2026, to establish and convene a Department of Pesticide Regulation Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, as provided, that would provide prioritized recommendations to the department on ways to integrate environmental justice considerations into department programs, policies, decisionmaking, and activities, and on how the department can improve its engagement with communities with the most significant exposure to pesticides. The bill would require the advisory committee to hold, at a minimum, 2 public meetings annually and to post, as needed, its recommendations on the department's internet website. The bill would also require the department to post, as needed, on its internet website an update on its efforts to incorporate the advisory committee's recommendations.

(1) Existing law prohibits a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference from voting in a particular party's primary election, including a presidential primary election, unless the party has authorized such a voter to vote in that party's primary election. This bill would require, for any nonpartisan ballot provided to a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference for use in a presidential primary election, that the ballot provide specified information regarding how a voter may request and vote a partisan ballot. (2) Existing law requires a county elections official, prior to each partisan primary election, to mail to every voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference a notice and application by which the voter can request a vote by mail ballot of a party that has authorized such voters to vote in its primary election. Existing law specifies other means by which a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference can request the ballot of a political party that has authorized such a voter to vote in its primary election. This bill would require the above-described application to contain a list of political parties that have authorized a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference to vote in that party's primary election, along with a box next to each party's name for the voter to mark to request a vote by mail ballot for that party. The bill would authorize such a voter to request a party's ballot by text message to the appropriate elections official, if the county has established a system for processing such a request. The bill would also require a voter requesting another party's ballot to provide specified personal identifying information. By imposing new duties on local elections officials, 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 law authorizes the Department of Water Resources to make examinations of lands subject to inundation and overflow by floodwaters and of the waters causing the inundation or overflow and to make plans and estimates of the cost of works to regulate and control the floodwaters. Existing law also vests in the department charge of all expenditures unless otherwise provided by law for all public works relating to general river and harbor improvements, including reclamation and drainage of lands. Existing law authorizes the department to cooperate and contract with any agency of the state or of the United States in order to carry out its powers and purposes. Existing law establishes the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and authorizes the board to engage in various flood control activities along the Sacramento River, the San Joaquin River, their tributaries, and related areas. This bill would authorize the department or the board to provide advance payments, as defined, to local agencies for projects that restore habitat for threatened and endangered species under state or federal law or improve flood protection, as provided. The bill would prohibit the amount of funds advanced by the department or the board to the local agency at any one time from exceeding 25% of the entire amount authorized to be provided under the funding agreement. The bill would require the project proponent to demonstrate a need for an advance payment and that the project proponent is sufficiently qualified to manage the project and the project's finances. The bill would require the funds to be spent within 6 months and would require the recipient to provide an accountability report to the department or the board on a quarterly basis, as specified.

Existing law requires that specified actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault, as defined, be commenced within 22 years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within 5 years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by the sexual assault, whichever occurs later. Existing law prohibits certain of those actions from commencing on or after the plaintiff's 40th birthday unless the person or entity knew or had reason to know, or was otherwise on notice, of any misconduct that creates a risk of childhood sexual assault by an employee, volunteer, representative, or agent, or the person or entity failed to take reasonable steps or to implement reasonable safeguards to avoid acts of childhood sexual assault, as specified. Existing law revives claims that would otherwise have been barred as of January 1, 2020, because the applicable statute of limitations, claim presentation deadline, or any other time limit had expired and authorizes the claims to be commenced within specified time periods. This bill would eliminate time limits for the commencement of actions for the recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault, as specified. The bill would eliminate the prohibition on certain actions proceeding on or after the plaintiff's 40th birthday unless specified conditions are met. The bill would specify that its provisions apply to any claim in which the childhood sexual assult occurred on and after January 1, 2024.

Existing law establishes procedures for authors to submit arguments for and against local ballot measures, and rebuttals to those arguments, in accordance with deadlines set by local elections officials. Existing law requires elections officials to select arguments from those submitted for publication in the voter information guide. This bill would establish a lead county, as defined, for the purposes of district or school district elections when the boundaries of the district or school district encompass more than one county. The bill would require authors of arguments for or against district or school district measures, and related rebuttal arguments, to submit the arguments to the elections official of the lead county. The bill would require the elections official of the lead county to work with the other counties within the district bounds to establish deadlines for receipt of the arguments. The bill would require the elections official of the lead county to select the arguments for publication in the county voter information guide, and to transmit copies of the selected arguments to elections officials in the other counties within the district or school district, as specified. The bill would require an elections official who receives arguments selected by the lead county to include the arguments in their county voter information guide. Existing law permits an elections official to post a form on their internet website for a candidate to use to submit the candidate's statement for the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. If the elections official posts the form, existing law requires the elections official to accept that form by electronic submission if it is submitted in accordance with certain timeframes and procedures for the preparation of the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. Existing law requires a candidate running in a multicounty district to provide to each county a hardcopy of the candidate statement form from the candidate's county of residence and payment of the requisite fee. This bill would require elections officials to post and accept electronic submission of a form for candidates to submit a candidate statement for the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. The bill would authorize a candidate running in a multicounty district to submit to each county an electronic copy of the form from the candidate's county of residence, and would require the candidate to transmit hardcopies of the candidate statement form, any accompanying form, and payment of the requisite fee to each county by overnight mail within 72 hours of filing the statement electronically. By increasing the duties of local elections officials, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021, requires a public school, as provided, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to stock the school's restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products, as defined, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women's restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men's restroom, at all times, and to post a certain notice, on or before the start of the 2022–23 school year, as prescribed. This bill would extend these requirements, commencing on or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, to instead apply to public schools maintaining any combination of classes from grades 3 to 12, inclusive. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, 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 classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight. This bill would add fentanyl to the substances for which additional terms or fines can be imposed and would require a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine, as specified, to know of the substance's nature or character as a controlled substance to be subjected to an additional term and authorized fine. By increasing the penalty for, and by changing the definition of, 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 establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth a schedule of covered benefits under the Medi-Cal program. This bill would, commencing on July 1, 2024, add pharmacogenomic testing as a covered benefit under Medi-Cal, as specified. The bill would define pharmacogenomic testing as laboratory genetic testing that includes, but is not limited to, a panel test, to identify how a person's genetics may impact the efficacy, toxicity, and safety of medications. The bill would condition implementation of this benefit coverage on receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters or similar instructions. The bill would also make related legislative findings.