Rep. Mark Stone

This measure would declare August 2022 as Valley Fever Awareness Month.

This measure would declare the month of September 2022 as California Emergency Preparedness Month.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, including, among other solid waste, plastic packaging containers. This bill would require an e-commerce shipper, as defined, that ships purchased products in or into the state to reduce from its 2023 calendar year levels the total weight and number of units of single-use plastic shipping envelopes, cushioning, and void fill, and expanded and extruded polystyrene, it uses to ship or transport the products, by no less than unspecified percentages on or before January 1, 2030. The bill would establish exemptions from these prohibitions. The bill would make a violation of the foregoing requirements subject to civil penalties and would require penalties collected by the Attorney General to be deposited into the Plastic Packaging Reduction Penalty Account, which the bill would create, for expenditure by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce those requirements.

Existing law requires the California Department of Aging, among other things, to administer the Mello-Grandlund Older Californians Act that established various programs that service older individuals, including aging information and educational programs. Under existing law, the department's mission is to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. This bill would create, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Bridge to Recovery for Adult Day Services: COVID-19 Mitigation and Resilience Grant Program to Combat Senior Isolation to improve the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable at-risk older adults and people with disabilities through safe access to vital services in adult day health care and adult day program settings. The bill would require the department to administer the grant program and award grants for qualified entities for infection prevention and control and to address workforce shortages, as specified. The bill would specify that the program would be operative for 2 years from an appropriation and would require the department to post on its internet website when the 2 years have passed.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to allocate certain funds through contracts with community-based providers or entities or through local assistance allocations to counties or Indian tribes that support new or expanded programs, services, practices, and training that build system capacity and ensure the provision of a high-quality continuum of care that is designed to support foster children in the least restrictive setting that is consistent with a child's permanency plan. Existing law requires recipients of those funds to use the funds for specified purposes, one of which may be building system capacity for intensive, child-specific recruitment, family finding and engagement, and support programs for children with complex needs. This bill would require county placing agencies, to the extent that funding is available and provided, to implement model practices for intensive family finding and support for foster children, children detained but not adjudicated, and candidates for foster care. The bill would require a county, as a condition of receiving funds for this purpose, to submit a county plan to the department that describes, among other things, the population to be served and the expected outcomes and method for tracking outcomes. The bill would require the county plan to be automatically approved if it complies with those requirements and would require the department to notify a county within 14 business days of receiving the county plan of any required changes to, or additional information needed for, the county plan. The bill would require counties receiving funds pursuant to these provisions to track and report outcomes achieved through the use of the funds. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions through all-county letters or similar written instructions.

Existing law establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires the state board 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 to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture to, among other duties and authorities, promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law provides funds to the department, as specified, for grants to promote practices on farms and ranches that improve agricultural and open-space soil health, carbon soil sequestration, erosion control, water quality, and water retention. This bill would declare the goal of the state to sequester, through natural carbon sequestration in California, at least 60,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually on or before December 31, 2030, and 75,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually on or before December 31, 2035. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2024, the Natural Resources Agency, in coordination with other state entities, to review and, as necessary, update the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy, as described, and the Pathways to 30x30: Accelerating Conservation of California's Nature, as described, to achieve this goal, and to update those documents every 5 years, as described. The bill would also require on December 31, 2025, and every year thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency and the State Air Resources Board to submit a report to the Legislature on progress toward meeting the goal. The bill would also require, on or before March 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency and the State Air Resources Board to present the findings of the report before the relevant policy committees of the Legislature.

Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council consisting of specified state agency members and members of the public. Existing law requires the council, among other things, to recommend policies and investment strategies and priorities to the Governor, the Legislature, and to appropriate state agencies to encourage the development of sustainable communities, such as those communities that promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and promote public health and safety. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides additional federal funds to rebuild the nation's infrastructures. Executive orders issued by President Biden established the federal Justice40 Initiative with the goal that 40% of the overall federal benefits flow to disadvantaged communities and stating that the implementation of the IIJA should prioritize investing public dollars equitably, including through the Justice40 Initiative. This bill would require a minimum of 40% of funds received by the state under the IIJA and certain other federal funds to be allocated to projects that provide direct benefits to disadvantaged communities and disadvantaged unincorporated communities and, except as specified, a minimum of an additional 10% be allocated for projects that provide direct benefits to low-income households and low-income communities, as provided. The bill would require state agencies administering those federal funds to perform specified tasks related to the expenditure of those federal funds. This bill would establish the Justice40 Advisory Committee in the council, as provided, to perform various actions related to the expenditure of those federal funds. The bill would require the committee, by December 31, 2024, to submit a report to the Legislature, and to the council at a public meeting of the council, that identifies certain recommendations it has developed, including recommending projects under any covered program for federal funding. The bill would require the council, by December 31, 2027, to submit a report to the Legislature on the expenditure of federal funds and an evaluation of the state agencies' success in meeting the requirements of the bill. The bill would provide that those provisions would be repealed by their own terms on a specified date.

Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant's mental competency is evaluated and by which the defendant receives treatment with the goal of returning the defendant to competency. Existing law requires a court to appoint 2 psychiatrists, licensed psychologists, or a combination thereof to examine a defendant if the defendant is not seeking a finding of mental incompetence. This bill would require the court to appoint one mental health professional to evaluate the defendant's mental competence. The bill would require the court to appoint 2 mental health professionals, as specified, only if, at the time of appointment, the defendant or their counsel objects to the mental competency evaluation and requests an evaluation by 2 court-appointed experts. The bill would also require the examining psychiatrists or licensed psychologists to evaluate the defendant's eligibility for mental health diversion. Existing law presumes that a defendant is competent unless shown, by a preponderance of evidence, that the defendant is incompetent. Existing law also requires the counsel for the defendant to offer evidence in support of the allegation of mental incompetence and, if they decline to do so, authorizes the prosecution to do so. This bill would delete the requirement that counsel for the defendant offer evidence in support of an allegation of mental incompetence, and would, if any report from a court-appointed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist indicates that the defendant is incompetent to stand trial, instead presume the defendant incompetent and allow the prosecution to offer evidence in support of an allegation of mental competence. The bill would allow the defense to present its case regarding the issue of the defendant's present mental incompetence at the conclusion of the prosecution's case. The bill would retain the presumption that the defendant is mentally competent if all reports from the court-appointed psychiatrists or licensed psychologists indicate that the defendant is mentally competent, unless it is proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is mentally incompetent. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain a database of state summary criminal history information, as defined, and to provide that information upon request and as specified. Existing law includes a finding of mental incompetence arising out of a complaint charging a specific set of sex crimes as part of the state summary criminal history information. Existing law defines "gravely disabled" to include a condition in which a person has been found mentally incompetent, as specified. Existing law allows for a conservator to be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism. This bill would require the clerk of the court, when a person is determined to be incompetent to stand trial or when a court determines that competency has been restored, to transmit that information to the Department of Justice for inclusion in the person's state summary criminal history information, and would make that information disclosable as part of the person's state summary criminal history information. If a person has been deemed incompetent to stand trial in any jurisdiction and there has been no certificate of restoration that has been accepted by a court, the bill would generally establish a presumption of mental incompetence and would require a court, before which a defendant is appearing on a new charge or specified proceeding, to ask the defendant's attorney about the defendant's mental competency. The bill would, if defense counsel opines that the defendant is or may be mentally incompetent, require the court to evaluate the defendant's mental competency, as specified, and would authorize the court to evaluate the defendant's mental competency if defense counsel opines that the defendant is mentally competent. This bill would, if the prosecution elects to dismiss and refile charges at the end of a commitment or upon a finding that the defendant is unlikely to be restored to competency in the foreseeable future, require the court to find the defendant is mentally incompetent. If, in the court's opinion, the defendant appears gravely disabled, as defined, the bill would require the court to order a conservatorship investigator to initiate conservatorship proceedings for the defendant. If, however, the defendant is found not to be subject to commitment or detention, as specified, the bill would not subject the defendant to further confinement and the criminal action would be subject to dismissal. If the prosecution provides the court with substantial evidence creating doubt as to the defendant's current mental incompetence, the bill would require the court to appoint a psychiatrist or licensed psychologist to opine whether the defendant regained competence. The bill would require the court to hold a hearing to determine if competency has been restored, as specified, if, in the medical expert's opinion, the defendant has regained competency. If, in the medical expert's opinion, the defendant has not regained competency and the defendant appears to the court to be gravely disabled, the bill would require the court to order a conservatorship investigator to initiate conservatorship proceedings for the defendant. If, however, the defendant is not subject to commitment or detention, as specified, the bill would not subject the defendant to further confinement and the criminal action would be subject to dismissal.

(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state. This system comprises local educational agencies throughout the state that provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at schoolsites operated by these agencies. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday. Existing law authorizes the governing boards of school districts and county superintendents of schools to make applications for free or reduced-price meals electronically available online. Existing law specifies requirements to be met by the governing boards of school districts, county offices of education, and school food authorities that choose to provide access to an online application. This bill would require applications for free or reduced-price meals made electronically available online by school district governing boards or county offices of education to comply with specified requirements, including provisions prohibiting the misuse of information provided online by applicants. The bill would require applications for free and reduced-price meals, which are authorized to be submitted at any time during a schoolday, to be processed within 10 days of submission. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would make private third-party vendors who violate its provisions subject to specified civil penalties. The bill would specify that its provisions would not prevent the use of information provided by a school meal applicant from being used by a governmental entity to increase access to a government-administered anti-hunger program. The bill would authorize each school district and county superintendent of schools to establish a secured internet website providing access to an online data collection form as part of the annual enrollment process, and would require the department to host a sample application by July 1, 2024, unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that use of the form would negatively impact the local control funding formula. (2) Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , administered in California as CalFresh, under which each county distributes nutrition assistance benefits provided by the federal government to eligible households. Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. Existing federal law provides for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, under which the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States is authorized to approve state plans to provide eligible children with temporary emergency nutrition assistance benefits during fiscal years 2020 and 2021 in any case in which a school is closed or has reduced the number of days or hours that students attend the school during a public health emergency designation during which the school would otherwise be in session. This bill would establish the Better Out of School Time (BOOST) Nutrition EBT Program, to be administered by the State Department of Social Services, to provide benefits to eligible pupils during regularly scheduled summer breaks. The bill would make eligible pupils who receive benefits under Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or CalWORKs, or are in foster care. The bill would make implementation of the BOOST Nutrition EBT Program contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for its purposes. The bill would require the department to seek all available funding for, and maximize participation in, the P-EBT program. The bill would also require the department to issue BOOST Nutrition EBT benefits to any pupil who was eligible to receive benefits under the P-EBT program, as of July 1, 2021, for the 5-month period following the end of the P-EBT program, and any child who was eligible to receive benefits under the P-EBT program, as of July 1, 2021, for the 5-month period following the end of the P-EBT program and who also receives benefits under Medi-Cal, CalFresh, or CalWORKs, or is in foster care. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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 California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. The California Constitution requires the board to consist of 7 ex officio members and 18 appointive members appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. The California Constitution authorizes the members of the board to appoint either a member of the faculty at a campus of the university or of another institution of higher education, or a person enrolled as a student at a campus of the university, or both, as members of the board serving for no less than one year with all rights of participation. This measure would require, rather than authorize, the members of the board to appoint 2 students enrolled at a campus of the university for each regular academic term during their service as members of the board, as provided.