Asm. Robert Rivas

(1) Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. The STAKE Act requires a person engaged in the retail sale of tobacco products to check the identification of a tobacco purchaser to establish the purchaser's age if the purchaser reasonably appears to be under 21 years of age. This bill would, among other things, require a person engaged in the retail sale of tobacco products to use age verification software or an age verification device to establish the age of a tobacco purchaser. The act requires the State Department of Public Health to, among other things, establish and develop a program to reduce the availability of tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age through enforcement activities, and conduct random, onsite sting inspections at retail sites. The act authorizes the department to also conduct onsite sting inspections in response to public complaints or at retail sites where violations have previously occurred. This bill would, among other things, instead require the department to conduct random, onsite sting inspections at retail sites of at least 20% of the total number of licensed tobacco retailers, and in the event of a violation at a retail site, would require the department to conduct a 2nd sting inspection at that retail site within 6 months of the first violation, and a 3rd sting inspection within 12 months of the first violation. The act imposes specified civil penalties for the furnishing of tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law imposes additional civil penalties in the amount of $250 for a 3rd, 4th, and 5th violation, requires a 45-day suspension of the license to sell tobacco or cigarettes for a 3rd violation at the same location within a 5-year period, a similar 90-day suspension of the license for a 4th violation, and a revocation of the license for a 5th violation. This bill would decrease the 5-year period for calculating the civil penalties and license suspensions and revocations for violations to a 36-month period and increase the penalty amount for a first, 2nd, and 3rd or subsequent violation imposed by an enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would instead impose the additional $250 civil penalty and the license suspensions and revocation for the first, 2nd, and 3rd violations in a 36-month period, and would require a 60-day suspension of the license for the first violation, except as specified, a 90-day suspension for the 2nd violation, and a revocation of the license for a 3rd violation. The bill would also prohibit anyone under 21 years of age from entering a tobacco store, as defined, except for active duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older, as specified. (2) Existing law, the California Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003, provides for the licensure by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration of manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers of cigarette or tobacco products that are engaged in business in California. The act prohibits retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers from distributing or selling those cigarette and tobacco products unless they are licensed. The act authorizes the board to suspend or revoke the license of any manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, importer, or retailer of tobacco products that is in violation of the act's provisions. Existing law makes a violation of the act a misdemeanor. This bill, commencing 90 days after the effective date of the bill, would prohibit a licensed retailer from selling a non-tobacco-flavored vapor product, as specified, or a single-use electronic cigarette, as defined. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to assess specified civil penalties for each violation. (3) Existing law makes every person, firm, or corporation that knowingly or under circumstances in which it has knowledge, or should otherwise have grounds for knowledge, sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to another person who is under 21 years of age any tobacco, cigarette, cigarette papers, or blunt wraps, or any other preparation of tobacco, or any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco, tobacco products, or any controlled substance, subject to either a criminal action for a misdemeanor or a civil action, punishable by a fine, as specified. This bill would instead subject a person described above to that criminal or civil fine, specified community service, or the criminal or civil fine and community service. (4) Existing law requires that cartridges for electronic cigarettes and solutions for filling or refilling an electronic cigarette be in child-resistant packaging, as defined. This bill would create various advertising, promoting, packaging, and selling prohibitions on electronic cigarettes, including, among others, prohibiting an electronic cigarette manufacturer from advertising, promoting, or packaging the electronic cigarette in a manner that is attractive to persons under 21 years of age, as specified, or is intended to encourage persons under 21 years of age to use the device, prohibiting a person from displaying on an electronic cigarette, or on its packaging, an indication or illustration that could cause a person to believe that the product is flavored if there is reasonable belief that the indication or illustration could be appealing to persons under 21 years of age. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to assess specified civil penalties for each violation. (5) Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of cannabis for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. This bill would amend AUMA by, among other things, commencing 90 days after the effective date of the bill, prohibiting a licensed retailer from selling an artificially-flavored vapor product, as defined. The bill would also prohibit the use of flavors not derived from the cannabis plant or other natural botanical sources or flavors derived or synthesized from tobacco in the production of cannabis products that can be used to deliver cannabis to a person in aerosolized or vaporized form. The bill would authorize the licensing authority to issue a citation for each violation. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 23 vote of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would declare that its provisions further specified purposes and the intent of AUMA. (6) The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law, the violation of which is a crime, imposes a tax on distributors of cigarettes at the rate of $2.87 per package of 20 cigarettes and a tax on distributors of tobacco products, based on wholesale cost, at a rate determined annually that is equivalent to the combined rate of all taxes imposed on cigarettes plus an additional rate equivalent to $0.50 per package of 20 cigarettes. These taxes are inclusive of the taxes imposed under the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988, the California Families and Children Act of 1998, and the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016. The California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016 (Proposition 56) , an initiative measure approved at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, revised the definition of tobacco products to include electronic cigarettes, thereby extending the taxes on distributors of tobacco products to distributors of electronic cigarettes, which is based on the wholesale cost of these products. Proposition 56 requires the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to adopt regulations providing for the implementation of the equivalent tax on electronic cigarettes and the methods for collection of the tax. This bill would impose, commencing January 1, 2021, an additional tax on electronic cigarettes at a rate of $2.40 per every 40 milligrams of base product nicotine contained in the electronic cigarette, as specified. The bill, commencing January 1, 2021, would require a manufacturer of any electronic cigarette offered for sale in this state to include, on its sales invoice, the amount of base product nicotine contained in the product that is clearly identified by the milligrams. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2021, on or before the 25th day of each month, every wholesaler of electronic cigarettes to file a report in the form, as prescribed by the department, which may include, but not be limited to, electronic media respecting the wholesaler's inventory, purchases, and sales of electronic cigarettes during the preceding month. The bill would require the revenues, interest, and penalties derived from the tax imposed above to be deposited into a newly created fund, the California Healthy Families Health Care Access Fund, which would be continuously appropriated for specified health-related purposes. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. By imposing new requirements in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would also impose a state-mandated local program. (7) 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. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Under existing law, price, fitness, and quality being equal, any body, officer, or other person charged with the purchase, or permitted or authorized to purchase supplies for the use of the state, or of any of its institutions or offices, or for the use of any county or city, is required to always prefer supplies that are manufactured or produced in the state, and is required to next prefer supplies partially manufactured or produced in the state. Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase an agricultural product grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Existing law also requires the institutions, when they solicit or intend to accept a bid or price for agricultural products grown outside the state, to accept the bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products in the state before accepting a bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products outside of the state when specified conditions are met, including that the bid or price of the agricultural product grown outside the state and packed or processed in the state does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for the agricultural product packed or processed outside the state. Existing law requires a school district that solicits bids for the purchase of an agricultural product to accept a bid or price for that agricultural product when it is grown in California before accepting a bid or price for an agricultural product that is grown outside the state when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Under existing law, these provisions only apply to a contract to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the threshold for supplies and services for which California has obligated itself under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization. This bill would instead require all California state-owned or state-run institutions, including public universities and colleges and school districts, that purchase agricultural products to only purchase an agricultural product grown in California unless the agricultural product is not available from an in-state source or is not grown in the state. The bill would eliminate the above-described preference for in-state vendors. The bill would eliminate the provision that limits the application of these preferences to contracts to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the above-described threshold. The bill would exempt agricultural products provided to a California state-owned or state-run institution by the United States Department of Agriculture through the Foods in Schools program from these preferences. The bill would define "agricultural product" for purposes of these provisions as fruits, tree nuts, peanuts, vegetables, melons, potatoes, meat from livestock, eggs, or dairy products. The bill would require the California State Auditor to investigate violations of these provisions. By creating new duties for school districts and community college districts, 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.

The California Constitution limits the amount of ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property, defined as the county assessor's valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill and, thereafter, the appraised value of the property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership occurs after the 1975 assessment, subject to an annual inflation adjustment not to exceed 2%. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to authorize a person over 55 years of age or any severely and permanently disabled person residing in property eligible for the homeowner's exemption to transfer the base year value of that property to a replacement dwelling of equal or lesser value located in the same county, or another county that has adopted an ordinance allowing base years value transfers from other counties, as provided. The California Constitution also provides that the purchase or transfer of the principal residence, and the first $1,000,000 of other real property, of a transferor in the case of a transfer between parents and their children, or between grandparents and their grandchildren if all the parents of those grandchildren are deceased, is not a "purchase" or "change in ownership" for purposes of determining the "full cash value" of property for taxation. This measure, beginning on and after April 1, 2021, would authorize an owner of a primary residence who is over 55 years of age, severely disabled, or a victim of a wildfire or natural disaster, as defined, to transfer the taxable value, defined as the base year value plus inflation adjustments, of their primary residence to a replacement primary residence located anywhere in the state, regardless of the location or value of the replacement primary residence, that is purchased or newly constructed as that person's principal residence within 2 years of the sale of the original primary residence. The measure would limit a person who is over 55 years of age or severely disabled to 3 transfers under these provisions. The measure, beginning on and after February 16, 2021, would exclude from the terms "purchase" and "change in ownership" for purposes of determining the "full cash value" of property the purchase or transfer of a family home or family farm, as those terms are defined, of the transferor in the case of a transfer between parents and their children, or between grandparents and their grandchildren if all the parents of those grandchildren are deceased. In the case of a transfer of a family home, the measure would require that the property continue as the family home of the transferee. The measure would require that the taxable value of the property be determined as provided. In the case of property tax benefits provided to a family home under these provisions, the bill would require the transferee to claim the homeowner's or disabled veteran's exemption within one year of the transfer. The measure would specify that the above-described provisions relating to transfers between parents or grandparents and children or grandchildren would apply to transfers occurring on or before February 15, 2021. The measure would establish the California Fire Response Fund in the State Treasury. The measure would require the Controller to annually transfer a specified amount, based on calculations by the Director of Finance, of the additional revenues and savings that accrued to the state from the implementation of this measure's provisions from the General Fund to that fund. However, the measure would provide that, if the amount required to be transferred to the California Fire Response Fund exceeds the amount transferred for the previous fiscal year by more than 10%, that excess amount would not be transferred to the California Fire Response Fund. The measure would require the Legislature to appropriate moneys in the fund solely for the purpose of funding fire suppression staffing by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and underfunded special districts that provide fire protection services, as provided. The measure would also establish the County Revenue Protection Fund and continuously appropriate moneys in that fund for the purpose of reimbursing eligible local agencies, as provided. The measure would require the Controller to annually transfer a specified amount, based on the above-described calculations by the Director of Finance, from the General Fund to that fund. The measure would require each county to annually determine the gain of the county and any local agency within the county resulting from the implementation of this measure and, if that amount of gain is negative, provide that specified eligible local agencies may receive a reimbursement from the County Revenue Protection Fund. The measure would require the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to provide a reimbursement to each eligible local agency that has a negative gain, determined every 3 years based on the aggregate gain of the eligible local agency, as provided, and require the Controller to transfer any remaining balance in the County Revenue Protection Fund to the General Fund at the end of each 3-year period, to be available for appropriation for any purpose.

This measure would proclaim the week of March 1, 2020, to March 7, 2020, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week.

This measure would proclaim March 2, 2020, to March 6, 2020, inclusive, as School Breakfast Week.

Existing law, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014 (the 2014 bond act) , authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $600,000,000, as specified, for expenditure by the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide housing to veterans and their families pursuant to the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014 (VHHPA) . This bill would enact the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2022 to authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount not to exceed $600,000,000 to provide additional funding for the VHHPA. The bill would provide for the handling and disposition of the funds in the same manner as the 2014 bond act. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the March 8, 2022, statewide primary election.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. Existing law authorizes licensed winegrowers and brandy manufacturers to exercise their license privileges away from their licensed premises at, or from, branch offices or warehouses or United States bonded wine cellars located away from the place of production or manufacture, subject to specified exceptions. One of the exceptions to this authorization is the sale or delivery of wine to consumers in containers supplied, furnished, or sold by the consumer. This bill would delete the exception to the authorization applicable to winemakers, as described above, and would thus allow them to sell and deliver wine to consumers in containers supplied, furnished, or sold by the consumer away from their licensed premises.

States' attorneys general and various tobacco product manufacturers settled various lawsuits by entering into a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) , which imposes financial obligations on participating manufacturers and provides for the allocation of money to the states and certain territories for recovery of those governments' tobacco-related health care costs. Existing law requires that a tobacco product manufacturer selling cigarettes to consumers in California either become a participating manufacturer in the MSA or, as a nonparticipating manufacturer, place funds into a qualified escrow fund, as specified. The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law requires every tobacco products manufacturer whose cigarettes are sold in this state to make an annual certification to the Attorney General that the manufacturer is a participating manufacturer that has made all payments due under the MSA or has placed funds into the qualified escrow fund. That law also requires the certification to include specified information, including a complete list of all of the manufacturer's brand families and, in the case where the nonparticipating manufacturer is not the fabricator or maker of the cigarettes, that the escrow agreement or other forms are signed by the company that fabricates or makes the cigarettes. That law makes a false certification a misdemeanor. That law requires the Attorney General to post on its internet website a directory (Directory) of tobacco product manufacturers that have submitted compliant certifications, as specified, and requires the directory to include the brand families listed in those certifications, except as provided. This bill would specify that listings on the Directory expire on April 29 each year. This bill would require, beginning with the 2021 calendar year, a tobacco products manufacturer to renew its listing on the Directory by providing the annual certification and remitting an annual fee of $1,000 payable to the office of the Attorney General. This bill would require any fees received to be deposited into the California Tobacco Directory Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. This bill would continuously appropriate amounts deposited in the California Tobacco Directory Fund to the office of the Attorney General for the purpose of administering the Directory. The bill would allow the Attorney General to retain a listing for a tobacco products manufacturer on the Directory while the renewal for the certification is pending. This bill would eliminate the requirement, in the case where the nonparticipating manufacturer is not the fabricator or maker of the cigarettes, that the escrow agreement or other forms are signed by the company that fabricates or makes the cigarettes. This bill would require nonparticipating manufactures to certify that its fabricates all of the brand families of the cigarettes that it seeks to certify. This bill would require the Attorney General to list the brand styles of cigarettes that are compliant with the annual certification and the qualified escrow requirements. This bill would also prohibit the Attorney General from including or retaining in the Directory any brand style that has not met specified requirements, including if the brand style has not been tested and marked in compliance with the California Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act. That law provides that newly qualified and elevated-risk nonparticipating manufacturers are required to file a surety bond with the Attorney General, as specified. That law also prohibits inclusion in the Directory of specified nonparticipating manufacturers and their brand families until a surety bond is filed, as specified. This bill would expand the criteria for when a nonparticipating manufacturer may be deemed to pose an elevated risk, including when, as of January 1, 2021, a nonparticipating manufacturer's cigarettes are sold in or into California by distributors that have not reported their last 12 months of California sales electronically, as prescribed. By expanding the scope of information required to be on the certification and expanding the scope of the surety bond requirement, the false certification of which is a crime, this bill imposes 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. The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law requires that the tax on the distribution of cigarettes imposed by that law be paid through the use of stamps or meter impressions, and requires that these stamps or meter impressions be affixed to each package of cigarettes distributed. That law prohibits (1) any tax stamp or meter impression to be affixed to a package of cigarettes unless the tobacco product manufacturer and brand family are included on the Directory, (2) the sale, offer, or possession for sale in this state, shipment or distribution into or within this state, or importation for personal consumption in this state, of cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family not included in the Directory, and (3) the possession, transportation, and other specified activities of the cigarettes that the person knows or should have known are intended to be distributed in violation of the other 2 prohibitions. That law requires distributors to submit to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration or the Attorney General specified information to facilitate compliance with that prohibition and the certification requirements. That law imposes civil penalties for violations of that prohibition and information reporting requirements. This bill would require the department to disclose to the Attorney General any information it receives under the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law for specified purposes and would authorize the department and the Attorney General to share information provided by distributors with specified entities for specified purposes. This bill would additionally authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for civil penalties and injunctive relief against specified persons for specific violations of those prohibitions or information reporting requirements and against any nonparticipating manufacturer that does not submit a timely, complete, and accurate certification as required by the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law regarding its sales of cigarettes in this state, as provided. This bill would require any civil penalties imposed to be deposited into the General Fund. Existing law requires each tobacco product manufacturer that elects to place funds into a qualified escrow to annually certify to the Attorney General that it is in compliance with specified requirements. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action against any tobacco product manufacturer that fails to place into escrow the funds required and authorizes the imposition of civil penalties paid to the General Fund. This bill would additionally authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for civil penalties and injunctive relief against any nonparticipating manufacturer that does not submit a timely, complete, and accurate certification related to those qualified escrow funds regarding its sales of cigarettes in this state, as provided. This bill would require any civil penalties imposed to be deposited into the General Fund.

Existing law, known as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development within the jurisdictional boundaries of that city or county with a density bonus and other incentives or concessions for the production of lower income housing units, or for the donation of land within the development, if the developer agrees to construct a specified percentage of units for very low income, low-income, or moderate-income households or qualifying residents and meets other requirements. Existing law provides for the calculation of the amount of density bonus for each type of housing development that qualifies under these provisions. Existing law also permits variances to be granted from the parking requirments of a zoning ordinance under certain circumstances. This bill would require a local agency, as defined, to allow an applicant for a housing development project to reduce the number of motor vehicle parking spaces that they would otherwise be required to provide based on the number of long-term bicycle parking spaces and car-sharing spaces provided subject to certain limitations, as specified. The bill would provide that a parking reduction allowed pursuant to these provisions does not reduce or increase the number of incentives or concessions to which the applicant is otherwise entitled under a specified provision of the Density Bonus Law. The bill would include findings that this act addresses a matter of statewide concern and shall apply equally to all cities and counties in this state, including charter cities. 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, the California Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act, administered by the State Fire Marshal, prohibits a person from selling, offering, or possessing for sale in this state cigarettes not in compliance with certain requirements, including the requirement that the cigarettes are tested by the manufacturer in accordance with prescribed testing methods. In certain circumstances, the act provides an exception from the above for distributors, wholesalers, or retailers to sell their cigarette inventory that existed on January 1, 2007. This bill would delete the authorization to sell that cigarette inventory that existed on January 1, 2007. The bill would generally delete the State Fire Marshal's authority to administer the act and instead require the Attorney General to administer the act, as provided. The act requires each manufacturer to submit a written certification to the State Fire Marshal attesting that each cigarette listed in the certification has been tested as provided. The act requires, before a certified cigarette can be sold in the state, a manufacturer to submit its proposed marking to the State Fire Marshal for approval. Existing law requires a proposed marking to be deemed approved if the State Fire Marshal fails to act within 10 business days. This bill would instead require each manufacturer to submit a written certification to the Attorney General in the form, manner, and detail required by the Attorney General. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to publish on its internet website this information. The bill would require the Attorney General to approve a proposed marking upon a certain finding and would deem a marking approved if the Attorney General fails to act within 30 business days. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to adopt rules and regulations to implement these provisions, including initial emergency regulations. The act establishes several civil penalties for violations of the act and requires some of the penalty moneys to be deposited into the Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Fund. Existing uncodified law requires the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be made available to the State Fire Marshal to administer and implement the act. This bill would require all civil penalties established for violation of the act to be deposited into the fund. The bill would require the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be made available to the Attorney General to offset minor administrative costs to implement the act. The bill would also making a conforming change relating to the fund.