Asm. Mark Stone

Existing law provides for the procedure of approving and accepting bail, and issuing an order for the appearance and release of an arrested person. Existing law requires that bail be set in a fixed amount, as specified, and requires, in setting, reducing, or denying bail, a judge or magistrate to take into consideration the protection of the public, the seriousness of the offense charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the probability of his or her appearing at trial or at a hearing of the case. Under existing law, the magistrate or commissioner to whom the application is made is authorized to set bail in an amount that he or she deems sufficient to ensure the defendant's appearance or to ensure the protection of a victim, or family member of a victim, of domestic violence, and to set bail on the terms and conditions that he or she, in his or her discretion, deems appropriate, or he or she may authorize the defendant's release on his or her own recognizance. Existing law provides that a defendant being held for a misdemeanor offense is entitled to be released on his or her own recognizance, unless the court makes a finding on the record that his or her release would compromise public safety or would not reasonably ensure the appearance of the defendant as required. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail. This bill would implement a revised pretrial release procedure. The bill would require, except when a person is arrested for certain felonies, that a pretrial services agency conduct a pretrial risk assessment on an arrested person and prepare a pretrial services report that includes the results of the pretrial risk assessment and recommendations on conditions of release for the person immediately upon booking. The bill would require the pretrial services agency to transmit the report to a magistrate, judge, or court commissioner and the magistrate, judge, or court commissioner, within an unspecified number of hours, to issue an oral or written order to release the person, with or without release conditions, subject to the person signing a specified release agreement. The bill would require, if a person is in custody at the time of his or her arraignment, the judge or magistrate to consider the pretrial services report and any relevant information provided by the prosecuting attorney or the defendant and to order the pretrial release of the person, with or without conditions, subject to the person signing a specified release agreement. If the judge or magistrate determines that pretrial release, with or without conditions, will not reasonably ensure the appearance of the person in court as required, the bill would require the judge or magistrate to set monetary bail at the least restrictive level necessary to ensure the appearance of the defendant in court as required. The bill would authorize, if the judge or magistrate has set monetary bail, the person to execute an unsecured appearance bond, execute a secured appearance bond, or deposit a percentage of the sum mentioned in the order setting monetary bail. The bill would authorize a prosecuting attorney to file a motion seeking the pretrial detention of a person in certain circumstances, including when the person has been charged with a capital crime and the prosecuting attorney alleges that the facts are evident or the presumption great. The bill would require, if this motion has been filed, a hearing to be held to determine whether to release the person pending trial, unless the person waives the hearing. The bill would authorize the person to be detained pretrial only if the court makes one of several specified findings. The bill would require each county to establish a pretrial services agency that would be responsible for gathering information about newly arrested persons, conducting pretrial risk assessments, preparing individually tailored recommendations to the court regarding release options and conditions, and providing pretrial services and supervision to persons on pretrial release. The bill would require an unspecified agency to take certain actions relating to the implementation of the revised pretrial release procedure, including, among others, selecting a pretrial risk assessment tool to be used in conducting pretrial risk assessments that meets specified requirements and reviewing collected data to monitor compliance with state law and guidelines relating to pretrial release. The bill would also authorize that agency to take certain actions relating to the implementation of the revised pretrial release procedure, including, among other things, providing training and assistance to judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, pretrial services agencies, jail staff, and law enforcement agencies. The bill would require the Board of State and Community Corrections, in consultation with that unspecified agency, to develop a plan that establishes statewide requirements for counties relating to annual reporting of pretrial release and detention information. By imposing additional duties on local 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.

Existing law specifies that certain types of confidential or privileged information shall not be introduced as evidence in a court action. Existing law generally permits the parties to a civil action to include, as a condition to a settlement, a provision requiring that information about the settlement or the underlying dispute be kept confidential; however, existing law prohibits a confidential settlement agreement in a civil action with a factual foundation establishing a cause of action for civil damages for an act that may be prosecuted as a felony sex offense. Existing law also establishes that flouting this prohibition is grounds for professional discipline for an attorney, and it requires the State Bar of California to investigate and take appropriate action in any case brought to its attention. This bill would instead authorize but not require the State Bar to investigate these cases of attorney misconduct. This bill would also provide that in an action based upon the existence of a danger to the public health or safety, as defined, information relating to the danger that was discovered during the course of litigation shall not be kept secret pursuant to an agreement of the parties or a court order, except that a court or arbitral tribunal may order information relating to a trade secret be kept secret in narrow circumstances. The bill would similarly establish that flouting this prohibition is grounds for professional discipline for an attorney.

Existing law authorizes, except as specified, a person who is the subject of a juvenile court record, or the county probation officer, to petition the court to seal the records relating to the person's case, including records in the custody of the juvenile court and the probation officer and any other agencies, including law enforcement agencies and public officials as the petitioner alleges to have custody of the records. Existing law authorizes the petition to be filed 5 years or more after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated or, if no petition was filed, 5 years or more after the person was cited to appear before a probation officer or was taken before a probation officer or law enforcement officer, or, in any case, at any time after the person reaches 18 years of age. This bill would instead require the court to seal all records relating to a juvenile dependency case that has been dismissed or for which jurisdiction has terminated at the time the dismissal or termination is final, including those records held by all child welfare agencies, the court, law enforcement agencies, the minor's or nonminor's schools, and any agency with which the minor was placed, unless the court finds compelling evidence that the records should not be sealed. The bill would require the proceedings of the case to be deemed never to have occurred. The bill would authorize the sealed records to be available for inspection in certain instances, including if the minor is the subject of a subsequent dependency petition. The bill would make additional conforming changes. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Judicial Council and the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to develop and issue guidance to county child welfare departments regarding the process for identifying and inspecting records that have previously been sealed.

Existing federal law provides for the allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing 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 provides that a parent or caretaker relative shall not be eligible for CalWORKs aid when he or she has received aid for a cumulative total of 48 months. Under existing law, certain amounts are exempt from the calculation of income of the family for purposes of determining the amount of a grant under the CalWORKs program, including specified amounts of disability-based unearned income and earned income. This bill would instead provide that a parent or caretaker relative shall not be eligible for CalWORKs aid when he or she has received aid for a cumulative total of 60 months. This bill would increase the amount of exempted disability-based unearned income and other earned income, as specified. The bill would also make other, conforming changes. By increasing county administrative duties relating to 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 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.

Existing law creates the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law, with certain exceptions, establishes 8 hours as a day's work and a 40-hour workweek, and requires payment of prescribed overtime compensation for additional hours worked. This bill would create the Opportunity to Work Act. The bill would require an employer with 10 or more employees to offer additional hours of work to an existing nonexempt employee before hiring an additional employee or subcontractor, except as specified, would require an employer to post a notice of employee rights, as specified, and would require the employer to maintain certain documentation. The bill would authorize an employee to file a complaint for violation of these provisions with the division and to, in the alternative, bring a civil action for remedies under the act. The bill would require the division to enforce these provisions, as specified and would authorize the division to, among other things, adopt rules and regulations. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a civil penalty. The bill would also define various terms for these purposes.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in this state, to generally meet one of specified criteria. This bill would prohibit a retailer, on and after January 1, 2020, from selling or offering for sale a single-use plastic beverage container with a cap that is not tethered to or contiguously affixed to the beverage container. The bill would define terms for purposes of these provisions.

Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, provides for planning and regulation of development in the coastal zone, as defined. The act specifies planning and management policies for the location of new residential, commercial, and industrial development in the coastal zone. The act requires the permitting of revetments, breakwaters, groins, harbor channels, seawalls, cliff retaining walls, and other such construction that alters natural shoreline processes when required to serve coastal-dependent uses or to protect existing structures or public beaches in danger from erosion and when designed to eliminate or mitigate adverse impacts on local shoreline sand supply. This bill would also require that the permitted construction of those structures be consistent with the policies of the act, including policies regarding protection of public access, shoreline ecology, natural landforms, and other impacts on coastal resources, and would define the term "existing structure" for the purposes of those provisions. The act requires any person wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, as defined, to obtain a coastal development permit, but exempts from those requirements specified emergency projects undertaken, carried out, or approved by a public agency, as prescribed. This bill would specify that any emergency permit issued under those provisions is a temporary authorization intended to allow the minimum amount of temporary development necessary to address the identified emergency, and minimize any potential harm or adverse coastal impacts related to addressing the emergency. The bill would specify that any subsequent development that is carried out that is beyond the scope of the emergency permit shall require a coastal development permit and is not subject to emergency authorization granted under those provisions. The act imposes specified civil penalties on a person, including a landowner, who is in violation of the public access provisions of the act for each violation of the act. This bill would additionally impose those civil penalties on a person, including a landowner, who has placed or caused to be placed an unpermitted shoreline protection structure within the coastal zone.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The act requires the state board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act requires the state board, when adopting rules and regulations to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions beyond the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit and to protect the state's most impacted and disadvantaged communities, to follow specified requirements, consider the social costs of the emissions of greenhouse gases, and prioritize specified emission reduction rules and regulations. This bill would additionally require the state board to consider and account for the social costs of the emissions of greenhouse gases when adopting those rules and regulations. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt or amend regulations that establish a market-based compliance mechanism, applicable from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2030, to complement direct emissions reduction measures in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt no-trade zones or facility-specific declining greenhouse gas emissions limits where facilities' emissions contribute to a cumulative pollution burden that creates a significant health impact. This bill would require the state board, in consultation with affected air pollution control and air quality management districts, to adopt air pollutant emissions standards for emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants at industrial facilities that are subject to a market-based compliance mechanism. The bill would prohibit the state board from allocating allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to industrial facilities that do not meet the air pollutant emissions standards for criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants. This bill would require the state board, in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030, to adopt the most effective and equitable mix of emissions reduction measures and ensure that emissions reduction measures collectively and individually support achieving air quality and other environmental and public health goals.

Existing law provides that where personal property remains on the premises after a tenancy has terminated and the premises have been vacated by the tenant, the landlord shall give written notice to the tenant or any other person the landlord reasonably believes is the owner of the property, as specified. Under existing law, if the personal property described in the notice is not released, as specified, it is required to be sold at public sale by competitive bidding. This bill would require personal property that is sold under these provisions to be done so at public sale subject to competitive bidding and held in the county where the vacated premises are located.