Asm. Robert Rivas

Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, including some supervisory and managerial employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. 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 California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, to be administered generally by the Department of Conservation, and provides that it is the intent of the act to, among other things, encourage voluntary, long-term private stewardship of agricultural lands by offering landowners financial incentives, encourage local land use planning for orderly and efficient urban growth and conservation of agricultural land, and encourage improvements to enhance long-term sustainable agricultural uses. The act establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and requires, except as provided, moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be used for the purposes of the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which include, among other things, the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, fee title acquisition grants, and land improvement and planning grants. This bill would establish the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program as a separate component of the California Farmland Conservancy Program. The bill would authorize the Director of Conservation to, subject to appropriation, enter into contracts for an initial term of 3 years with nonpublic entities that are owners of record or lessees of productive rangelands, grazing lands, or grasslands that are determined by the director to be important for the conservation of grassland birds, soil health, and biodiversity. The bill would require these contracts to include an agreement by the owner and any lessee to restore, enhance, and protect the grassland habitat character of the land subject to the contract and to require the Department of Conservation to pay a specified amount to the owner or lessee for undertaking conservation obligations under the contract. The bill would create the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program Account in the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and would make funds deposited in the account available for expenditure, upon appropriation, to the department for purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the department to use up to 30% of the funds to provide grants to nonprofit organizations, regional conservancies, or resource conservation districts for specified purposes relating to the program, including assisting owners or lessees with enrollment or implementation of the program or preparation of management plans, as specified.

Existing law requires a city or county to administratively approve applications to install solar energy systems through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit. Existing law requires every city, county, or city and county, to develop a streamlined permitting process for the installation of small residential rooftop solar energy systems, as that term is defined. Existing law prescribes and limits permit fees that a city or county may charge for a residential and commercial solar energy system. Existing law grants the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Decisions of the PUC adopted the California Solar Initiative, which is administered by electrical corporations and subject to the PUC's supervision. Existing law requires the PUC and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake certain steps in implementing the California Solar Initiative. A violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. This bill would require every city and county to implement an online, automated permitting platform that verifies code compliance and instantaneously issues permits for a solar energy system that is no larger than 38.4 kilowatts alternating current nameplate rating and an energy storage system paired with a solar energy system that is no larger than 38.4 kilowatts alternating current nameplate rating, as specified. The bill would require a city or county to amend a certain ordinance to authorize a residential solar energy system and an energy storage system to use the online, automated permitting platform. The bill would prescribe a compliance schedule for satisfying these requirements, which would exempt a county with a population of less than 150,000 and all cities within a county with a population of less than 150,000. The bill would require a city with a population of 50,000 or less that is not otherwise exempt to satisfy these requirements by September 30, 2023, while cities and counties with populations greater than 50,000 that are not otherwise exempt would be required to satisfy the requirements by September 30, 2022. The bill would require a city, county, or a fire department, district, or authority to report to the Energy Commission when it is in compliance with specified requirements, in addition to other information. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit the provision of specified funding sources to cities and counties not in compliance with certain provisions relating to solar energy systems and fees charged for their installation or if they are not in compliance with provisions of the bill. The bill would require the Energy Commission, upon provision of sufficient funding, to provide technical assistance and grant funding to cities and counties in order to support the above-described requirements. The bill would require the commission to develop grant guidelines and other requirements, as specified, by May 1, 2022, and make applications available no later than July 1, 2022. Because this requirement would expand the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Energy Commission to set guidelines for cities and counties to report to the commission on the number of permits issued for solar energy systems and an energy storage system paired with a solar energy system and the relevant characteristics of those systems. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, a credit for qualified taxpayers in an amount equal to 15% of the qualified value of fresh fruits or vegetables and specified raw agricultural products or processed foods donated to a food bank. In accordance with specified requirements imposed on bills containing new tax expenditures, existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to report to the Legislature on or before December 1, 2019, and each December 1 thereafter until January 1, 2021, regarding the utilization of those tax credits and requires specified data to be included in the report. This bill would extend the authorization for those tax credits to a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2027. The bill would extend the requirement of the reports until January 1, 2026. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law prohibits an urban and community water system, defined as a public water system that supplies water to more than 200 service connections, from discontinuing residential water service for nonpayment until a payment by a customer has been delinquent for at least 60 days. Existing law requires an urban and community water system to have a written policy on discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment, including, among other things, specified options for addressing the nonpayment. Existing law requires an urban and community water system to provide notice of that policy to customers, as provided. This bill would apply those provisions, on and after July 1, 2022, to a very small community water system, defined as a public water system that supplies water to 200 or fewer service connections used by year long residents. The bill would require the written policy on discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment to include an arrearage management plan, as specified, and, for those systems that provide water use audits or have the capacity to do so, to include a water use audit offered at no additional charge to low-income households. The bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board to provide technical assistance to very small community water systems, as appropriate, to assist with compliance with these requirements and to establish a bridge loan program to assist very small community water systems that may suffer revenue loss or delayed collection while complying with these requirements. The bill would also require the board to develop a template for a written policy on discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment, on or before September 1, 2022, to aid very small community water systems in complying with the requirement to have a written policy on discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment. Existing law prohibits an urban and community water system from discontinuing residential service for nonpayment if certain conditions are met, including that the customer or a tenant submits certification that discontinuation of residential service will be life-threatening to, or pose a serious threat to the health and safety of, a resident of the premises. This bill would revise the conditions under which urban and community water systems and very small community water systems are prohibited from discontinuing residential service for nonpayment. The bill would prohibit these systems from discontinuing residential service for nonpayment during a state or local emergency when the area of the declared state or local emergency encompasses the customer's residence, unless the entity declaring the emergency finds that the emergency will not impact the customers' ability to pay for residential service. The bill would authorize a customer, or tenant of the customer, to submit in writing, under penalty of perjury, specified information that would prevent the discontinuation of water services. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit these systems from discontinuing residential water service for nonpayment until a payment by a customer has been delinquent for at least 90, rather than 60, days or the total amount of the delinquency, exclusive of late charges and interest, is at least $250. The bill would also prohibit these systems from discontinuing residential water service for nonpayment to a master-metered multifamily residence with at least 4 units or to a master-metered mobilehome park. Existing law requires an urban and community water system to impose specified fees for reconnection of service for customers with a household income below 200% of the federal poverty line. This bill would instead require an urban and community water system and very small community water system to waive fees for disconnection and reconnection of service for those customers, as specified. The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, by January 1, 2023, to consider whether to establish a pilot program for an arrearage management plan program to be offered by urban and community water systems regulated by the commission to eligible low-income customers who have been with the water system for at least 6 months and who have an arrearage of payment of their water service bill meeting a specified threshold. The bill would require that if the commission establishes a pilot program for an arrearage management plan, the commission provide an evaluation of the program by no later than 3 years after the commencement of the program and post that evaluation on its internet website. The bill would require the commission to terminate the pilot program by no later than 4 years after the commencement of the program if the evaluation of the program determines it is not in the interest of all ratepayers. The bill would require an urban and community water system not regulated by the commission to, by January 1, 2023, or during its next rate study, whichever comes first, determine whether it may offer an arrearage management plan to aid low-income residential customers with household income below 200% of the federal poverty line with high arrearages for water or wastewater service without using ratepayer funds from customers who are not enrolled in the arrearage management plan, and would authorize the urban and community water system to consider specified criteria in evaluating whether it may offer an arrearage management plan. The bill would also require the consideration of specified actions if an urban and community water system determines that it may not offer an arrearage management plan. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to enforce the requirements imposed on urban and community water systems in connection with discontinuing residential service for nonpayment by seeking an injunction, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize the board to issue an order to an urban and community water system or very small community water system to enforce these requirements, or to seek an injunction, as specified. Existing law requires an urban and community water system or very small community water system to report annually the number of discontinuations of residential service for inability to pay, as specified, on the water system's internet website, if an internet website exists, and to the State Water Resources Control Board. This bill would require an urban and community water system to report certain information to the board during the reporting year that it completes a specified evaluation. The bill would require, by January 1, 2024, the board to complete a report to the Legislature on arrearage management plans that includes whether and to what extent urban and community water systems have offered arrearage management plans, any identified barriers, any identified alternatives, and all available information regarding reduction in shutoffs and revenue impacts. 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.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, would allow a credit against those taxes to a taxpayer that is transferred, and allocated, credits pursuant to the sale of a multifamily rental housing development or mobilehome park to a qualified developer, as defined, that has received a credit reservation from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, in specified amounts. The bill would require the credits to be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of credit that may be allocated by the committee, as provided. The bill would also provide that the credit amount shall be $0 for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, unless otherwise specified in a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Act. Existing law requires that any bill introduced on or after January 1, 2020, that would authorize certain tax expenditures, as defined, or tax exemptions contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure or exemption will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law establishes the California Statewide Housing Plan to serve as a state housing plan for all relevant purposes. Existing law requires that the plan incorporate, among other things, a statement of housing goals, policies, and objectives and that the Department of Housing and Community Development update and provide a revision of the plan to the Legislature every 4 years. Existing law establishes the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) within the Department of Housing and Community Development, administered by a board of directors, with the primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, to appoint an executive director of CalHFA and requires the executive director, subject solely to supervision by the board of directors, to administer and direct the day-to-day operations of CalHFA. This bill would establish the Legislative Task Force on the California Master Plan on Homeownership. The bill would require the Executive Director of CalHFA to serve as the chair of the task force and to appoint a homeownership advisory committee, as provided. The bill would require the task force to evaluate policy and regulatory impediments to increasing the rate of homeownership for Californians and, no later than October 31, 2022, to develop a final report that includes specified information and recommendations and submit that report to the Legislature. The bill would make findings in this regard.

Existing law requires a person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line upon any mountainous land or forest-covered land, brush-covered land, or grass-covered land to maintain around and adjacent to any pole or tower that supports a switch, fuse, transformer, lightning arrester, line junction, or dead-end or corner pole a firebreak, as specified. Existing law requires a person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line upon any mountainous land or in forest-covered land, brush-covered land, or grass-covered land to maintain a clearance between all vegetation and all conductors that are carrying electric current, as specified. This bill would impose a civil penalty of up to $100,000 for each violation of the above-described provisions after the person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line is offered a reasonable opportunity to cure. The bill would impose an additional civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each acre burned by a fire resulting from a violation of the above-described provisions after the person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line is offered a reasonable opportunity to cure. The bill would require 50% of the penalties collected to be deposited into the Utility Accountability and Wildfire Prevention Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury, and would distributed the remaining 50%, as provided. The bill would provide that the moneys in the Utility Accountability and Wildfire Prevention Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, are available for purposes of enhancing forest management, fire planning, wildfire prevention and suppression, and fire-related enforcement activities. The bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop regulations to define what a reasonable opportunity to cure means for the above-described purposes.

Existing law establishes the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council and specifies various goals for the council, including, among others, creating partnerships with specified entities, including the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program and identifying resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would require the council to develop and publish an action plan to implement those provisions on or before June 1, 2022. The bill would require the council, on an annual basis, to review that action plan and hold a stakeholder meeting to determine whether the action plan's goals are being met. The bill would require the council to address the above-described specified goals on or before June 1, 2022. The bill would also require the council to collaborate with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a statewide best practices guide that addresses and tackles homelessness to disseminate to local agencies and organizations that participate in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program. The bill would require those agencies and organizations to follow those practices as a condition of receiving state funding.

(1) Existing law, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020, establishes certain procedural requirements and limitations on evictions for nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 rental debt, as defined. The act, among other things, prohibits a tenant that delivers a declaration, under penalty of perjury, of COVID-19-related financial distress from being deemed in default with regard to the COVID-19 rental debt, as specified. Existing law defines COVID-19 rental debt as unpaid rent or any other unpaid financial obligation of a tenant that came due between March 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021. Existing law repeals the act on February 1, 2025. This bill would extend the definition of "COVID-19 rental debt" as unpaid rent or any other unpaid financial obligation of a tenant that came due between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021. The bill would also extend the repeal date of the act to January 1, 2026. The bill would make other conforming changes to align with these extended dates. By extending the repeal date of the act, the bill would expand the crime of perjury and create a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes a landlord to require a high-income tenant, as defined, to submit additional documentation supporting the claim that the tenant has suffered COVID-19-related financial distress if the landlord provides the tenant with a specified notice. This bill would provide that a tenant is not required to submit that additional supporting documentation unless the landlord provides the tenant with a copy of the proof of income that demonstrates that the tenant qualifies as a high-income tenant. Existing law prohibits a landlord from interrupting or terminating utility service furnished to a tenant with the intent to terminate the occupancy of the tenant, and imposes specified penalties on a landlord who violates that prohibition. Existing law, until February 1, 2021, imposes additional damages in an amount of at least $1,000, but not more than $2,500, on a landlord that violates that prohibition, if the tenant has provided a declaration of COVID-19 financial distress, as specified. This bill would extend the imposition of those additional damages to January 1, 2022, and would remove the condition that the tenant provide a declaration of COVID-19 financial distress. This bill would additionally prohibit a landlord from taking certain actions with respect to a tenant's COVID-19 rental debt, including, among others, charging or attempting to collect late fees, providing different terms or conditions of tenancy, or withholding a service or amenity. Existing law, until February 1, 2021, prohibits a landlord from bringing an action for unlawful detainer based on a cause of action other than nonpayment of COVID-19 rental debt for the purpose of retaliating against the lessee because the lessee has COVID-19 rental debt. This bill would extend that prohibition to January 1, 2022. Existing law, until February 1, 2025, provides that a small claims court has jurisdiction in any action for recovery of COVID-19 rental debt, as defined, regardless of the amount demanded. This bill would extend that provision to January 1, 2026. Existing law prohibits action to recover COVID-19 rental debt from commencing before March 1, 2021. This bill would extend that prohibition to January 1, 2022, or the end of a local jurisdiction's repayment period, whichever is later. (2) Existing law, the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, provides for the regulation of consumer credit reporting agencies that collect credit-related information on consumers and report this information to subscribers and of persons who furnish that information to consumer credit reporting agencies, as provided. This bill would prohibit a housing provider, credit reporting agency, tenant screening company, or other entity that evaluates tenants on behalf of a housing provider from using an alleged COVID-19 rental debt, as defined, as a negative factor for the purpose of evaluating creditworthiness or as the basis for a negative reference to a prospective housing provider. (3) Existing law, the Mobilehome Residency Law, requires the management of a mobilehome park to comply with notice and specified other requirements in order to terminate a tenancy in a mobilehome park due to a change of use of the mobilehome park, including giving homeowners at least 15 days' written notice that the management will be appearing before a local governmental board, commission, or body to request permits for the change of use. This bill would instead require the management to give homeowners at least 60 days' written notice that the management will be appearing before a local governmental board, commission, or body to obtain local approval for the intended change of use of the mobilehome park. (4) Existing law prescribes various requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. In this regard, existing law requires that a notice of default and a notice of sale be recorded and that specified periods of time elapse between the recording and the sale. Existing law establishes certain requirements in connection with foreclosures on mortgages and deeds of trust, including restrictions on the actions mortgage servicers may take while a borrower is attempting to secure a loan modification or has submitted a loan modification application. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, applies those protections to a first lien mortgage or deed of trust that is secured by residential real property that is occupied by a tenant, contains no more than four dwelling units, and meets certain criteria, including that a tenant occupying the property is unable to pay rent due to a reduction in income resulting from the novel coronavirus. The bill, commencing January 1, 2023, would limit the extension of those protections to the above-described first lien mortgages and deeds of trust to instances in which the borrower has been approved for foreclosure prevention, as specified, or the borrower submitted a completed application for a first lien loan modification before January 1, 2023, and, as of January 1, 2023, either the mortgage servicer has not yet determined whether the applicant is eligible, or the appeal period for the mortgage servicer's denial of the application has not yet expired. (5) 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. (6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.