Asm. Robert Rivas

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution (HR 3) sets internal procedural rules for the California Assembly during the 2025-26 legislative session. It restricts bill introductions during the organizational period to only those authorized in writing by the bill's author (filed with the Chief Clerk), requires the Committee on Rules or Chief Clerk to handle payment warrants for Assembly staff, and mandates distributing Assembly Weekly Histories to the Legislative Counsel, Governor, Attorney General, and press. The bill directly affects Assembly staff, members, and legislative processes by standardizing administrative workflows. As a procedural measure, it does not change substantive policy but ensures orderly session organization.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system to compensate employees for injuries sustained in the course of their employment. Existing law creates a disputable presumption that specified injuries sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law authorizes the Department of Industrial Relations to expend moneys that have been appropriated for the administration and enforcement of laws under its jurisdiction, as well as for the maintenance of any commission or office of the department, as specified. Existing law establishes the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund within the State Treasury. Existing law requires the director to levy a surcharge upon employers in order to fund, among other things, the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law authorizes funds to be expended for, among other things, the Return-to-Work Program and the enforcement of the insurance coverage program. This bill would create a disputable presumption that a heat-related injury that develops within a specified timeframe after working outdoors for an employer in the agriculture industry that fails to comply with heat illness prevention standards, as defined, arose out of and came in the course of employment. The bill would require the appeals board to find in favor of the employee if the employer fails to rebut the presumption. The bill would specify that compensation awarded for heat-related injury to farmworkers is to include, among other things, medical treatment and disability. The bill would establish the Farmworker Climate Change Heat Injury and Death Fund that would consist of a one-time transfer of $5,000,000 derived from nongeneral funds of the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund for the purpose of administrative costs associated with this presumption. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, provides for enforcement of that prohibition by the Attorney General. Existing law prohibits a tobacco retailer, as defined, from offering for sale any flavored tobacco product or tobacco product flavor enhancer, as specified. This bill would require the Attorney General to, by no later than December 31, 2025, establish and maintain on the Attorney General's internet website a list of tobacco product brand styles that lack a characterizing flavor, as defined. This bill would require each manufacturer or importer of tobacco products to submit to the Attorney General a list of all brand styles, as defined, of tobacco products that they manufacture or import for sale or distribution in or into California. The bill would require a manufacturer or importer that submits a product pursuant to these provisions to, under penalty of perjury, describe each brand style, brand, and product category, as specified, describe, for each brand style, if a formal authorization, approval, or order from the United States Food and Drug Administration has been sought and its status, if applicable, and certify that each brand style lacks a characterizing flavor. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a fee for each submission and renewal of a brand style for the costs incurred by the Attorney General for processing the submissions, and operating the list, as specified. The bill would create the California Unflavored Tobacco List Fund for the collection of these fees, and would continuously appropriate these fees to the Attorney General for the purposes above, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Attorney General to determine whether each brand style has a characterizing flavor, as specified. The bill would require any manufacturer or importer that submits a brand style in this way to, among other things, consent to the jurisdiction of the California courts for the purpose of enforcing these provisions and to appoint an agent for service of process, as specified. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief and a civil penalty up to $50,000 against any manufacturer or importer who falsely certifies that brand style determined to have a characteristic flavor, lacks a characteristic flavor. This bill would refine the definitions of characteristic flavor and tobacco product for purposes of the prohibition and these provisions. This bill would prohibit a distributor or wholesaler from selling any tobacco product not listed on the Unflavored Tobacco List or any tobacco product flavor enhancer to any person, as specified, for sale in the state and would prohibit a delivery seller from selling a tobacco product not listed on the Unflavored Tobacco List or a tobacco product flavor enhancer to a consumer in California. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to assess civil penalties, as specified, for violations of these prohibitions. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to recover reasonable attorney's fees, investigative costs, and other related costs, against a nonprevailing party in a civil action brought pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require moneys recovered by the Attorney General in an action pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the Public Rights Law Enforcement Special Fund, as specified. This bill would also ban the retail sale of any tobacco product not on the Unflavored Tobacco List, as specified. The bill would authorize the California Tax and Fee Administration or a law enforcement agency that discovers that a retailer possesses, stores, owns, or has made a retail sale of flavored tobacco products or tobacco product flavor enhancers to seize those products, as specified. Under the bill, seized products would be delivered to the department within 30 days and deemed forfeited to the state. The bill would require the department to issue a civil penalty against the retailer equal to $50 per individual package of flavored tobacco product or tobacco product flavor enhancer seized or delivered to the department, with increasing penalties for subsequent seizures. If a wholesaler possesses, stores, or owns, or has made a sale of, a tobacco product not on the Unflavored Tobacco List or a tobacco product flavor enhancer, the bill would authorize the department to seize the tobacco product or tobacco product flavor enhancer and would require the department to impose a civil penalty if the property is seized, as specified. If a distributor or other person has made a sale of a tobacco product not on the Unflavored Tobacco List or a tobacco product flavor enhancer, or a wholesaler has made a sale of a tobacco product not on the Unflavored Tobacco List or a tobacco product flavor enhancer and the department or a local law enforcement agency has not seized the product, the bill would require the department to issue a warning for a first offense, suspend their license for a second offense, and revoke their license for a third offense. Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law, generally prohibits the retail sale of cigarettes in California unless the sale is a vendor-assisted, face-to-face sale. Existing law authorizes the delivery sale of cigarettes or tobacco products if specified conditions are met. This bill would refine the definition of cigarette for the purpose of these provisions, and would expand that prohibition to include the sale of tobacco products. The bill would require a delivery seller of cigarettes or tobacco products to comply with any applicable state law or local ordinance that imposes restrictions on the retail sale of cigarettes or tobacco products directly to the public from a retail location as if the delivery sale occurred entirely within the state and place. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 104559.5 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 1230 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1230 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , to develop a framework for assessing, tracking, and analyzing total annual energy costs paid by residential households in California, as specified. The bill would authorize the PUC to use the framework for purposes of evaluating any request by an electrical corporation and gas corporation to track new spending eligible for recovery or to adjust a revenue requirement. The bill would require the PUC to submit a report to the Legislature containing the framework and certain information. The bill would require large electrical corporations, as defined, and large gas corporations, as defined, by January 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, to publish on their internet websites and provide to the PUC a visual representation of certain cost categories included in residential electric or gas rates for the succeeding calendar year. Existing law requires the PUC, triennially, to submit a report to the Legislature on the energy efficiency and conservation programs it oversees. This bill instead would require the PUC to submit a report to the Legislature on the demand-side management programs it oversees or that are paid for by ratepayers of community choice aggregators, electrical corporations, or gas corporations. The bill would revise the information required to be included in the report. This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the Energy Commission, the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, and the Independent System Operator, by July 1, 2025, to submit to the Governor and the Legislature a study identifying proposals to reduce the cost to ratepayers of expanding the state's electrical transmission grid as necessary to achieve the state's goals, to meet the state's requirements, and to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, as specified in law, regulation, or executive order. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because certain of the above-described provisions would be part of the act and a violation of those provisions or a PUC action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health insurer or health care service plan, including a specialized health care service plan, to reimburse a claim or portion of a claim no later than 30 working days after receipt of the claim, unless the plan contests or denies the claim, in which case the plan is required to notify the claimant within 30 working days that the claim is contested or denied. Under existing law, if a claim or portion thereof is contested on the basis that a health insurer or health care service plan has not received all information necessary to determine payer liability for the claim or portion thereof and notice has been provided, the health insurer or health care service plan has 30 working days after receipt of the additional information to complete reconsideration of the claim. Existing law extends these timelines to 45 working days for a health care service plan that is a health maintenance organization. Under existing law, if a claim is not reimbursed, contested, or denied pursuant to these timelines, as specified, interest accrues at a rate of 15% per annum for a health care service plan and 10% per annum for a health insurer. Commencing January 1, 2026, this bill instead would require a health care service plan, including a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or health insurer to reimburse a complete claim or a portion thereof within 30 calendar days after receipt of the claim, or, if a claim or portion thereof does not meet the criteria for a complete claim or portion thereof, to notify the claimant as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 calendar days that the claim or portion thereof is contested or denied. The bill would authorize the departments to issue guidance and regulations related to these provisions. The bill would exempt the guidance and amendments from the Administrative Procedure Act until December 31, 2027. Existing law requires health care service plans to establish a grievance process, as specified. This bill would require a complaint made by an enrollee to a health care service plan about a delay or denial of a payment of a claim to be treated as a grievance subject to that grievance process. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Under existing law, human trafficking is a crime and law enforcement officers who are assigned field and investigative duties are required to complete minimum training pertaining to the handling of human trafficking complaints. Existing law generally provides support services for individuals who are survivors of human trafficking, including public social services and address confidentiality, as specified. Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to prescribe selection and training standards for peace officers. Existing law requires the commission to develop training curriculum in specified areas and to develop model policies that may be used by local law enforcement agencies, including model policies for investigations of missing persons, elder and dependent adult abuse, and hate crimes. This bill would require the commission to, by no later than June 1, 2026, develop guidelines for interacting with survivors of human trafficking. The bill would require each law enforcement agency to, by no later than December 1, 2026, adopt a written policy for interacting with survivors of human trafficking based on the guidelines developed by the commission. By requiring local agencies to adopt a new policy, 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 establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the department to establish the Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program and the Short-Term Medically Tailored Meals Intervention Services Program, to operate in specified counties and during limited periods for the purpose of providing medically tailored meal intervention services to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries with certain health conditions, including congestive heart failure, cancer, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or renal disease. Existing law, subject to implementation of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, authorizes a Medi-Cal managed care plan to elect to cover community supports approved by the department as cost effective and medically appropriate in a comprehensive risk contract that are in lieu of applicable Medi-Cal state plan services. Under existing law, community supports that the department is authorized to approve include, among other things, medically supportive food and nutrition services, including medically tailored meals. This bill would make medically supportive food and nutrition interventions a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program, through both the fee-for-service and managed care delivery systems, no sooner than July 1, 2026, upon appropriation and subject to federal approval and the issuance of final guidance by the department. The bill would require those interventions to be covered if determined to be medically necessary by a health care provider or health care plan, as specified. The bill would require the provision of interventions for 12 weeks, or longer if deemed medically necessary. The bill would require the department to define the qualifying medical conditions for covered interventions and delineate the services included in the definition of a medically supportive food and nutrition intervention. The bill would require a health care provider, to the extent possible, to match the acuity of a patient's condition to the intensity and duration of the covered intervention and to include culturally appropriate foods. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation, to establish a medically supportive food and nutrition benefit stakeholder group, with a specified composition, to advise the department on certain related items, such as the scope of the benefit, among others.

(1) Existing law, the Employee Housing Act, generally regulates employee housing, as defined. Among other things, the act authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial process, as specified, and is not subject to a conditional use permit if certain requirements are met, including that the development is located on land designated as agricultural in the applicable city or county general plan, and that the development is an eligible agricultural employee housing development. The act defines eligible agricultural housing development as, among other things, an agricultural employee housing development that consists of no more than 36 units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household and is not ineligible for state funding under a provision that prohibits state funding from being provided to an employer who employs at least one H-2A worker, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize a development proponent to submit an application for a development that would be subject to the above-described conditions, if the development is located on land in the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz that is within 15 miles of an area designated as farmland or grazing by the Department of Conservation and is not a site or adjoined to a site where more than 13 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, as specified. The bill would also increase the maximum number of units in an eligible agricultural employee housing development from 36 units to 150 units if the development is located with the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz. The bill would also specify that an eligible agricultural employee housing development under these provisions may not be ineligible for state funding pursuant to a specified provision of the Joe Serna, Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program, which prohibits funding under that program to an agricultural employer or farm labor contractor who employs at least one H-2A worker, as specified, and would make additional clarifying changes. By expanding the scope of housing developments eligible for approval under these provisions, thereby increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Santa Clara and the County of Santa Cruz. (2) Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program pursuant to which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee provides procedures and requirements for the allocation, in modified conformity with federal law, of state insurance, personal income, and corporation tax credit amounts to qualified low-income housing projects that have been allocated, or qualify for, a federal low-income housing tax credit, and farmworker housing. Existing law limits the total annual amount of the state low-income housing credit for which a federal low-income housing credit is required to the sum of $70,000,000, as increased by any percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year, any unused credit for the preceding calendar years, and the amount of housing credit ceiling returned in the calendar year. Existing law provides for an additional allocation of $500,000,000 in low-income housing tax credits for the 2020 calendar year and up to $500,000,000 for the 2021 calendar year and thereafter, only if the Budget Act or related legislation specifies an amount available for allocation (additional amount) . Existing law, for calendar years 2024 to 2034, inclusive, allocates the lesser of 5% or $25,000,000 of that additional amount for farmworker housing, as specified. Existing law requires any amount of the farmworker housing funds that are unallocated in a funding round to rollover to consecutive subsequent funding rounds in that calendar year, except that any of those farmworker housing funds that are unallocated prior to the final funding round for that calendar year are returned to the above-described additional amount. This bill would instead require that any of those farmworker housing funds that are unallocated after the final funding round for that calendar year are returned to the above-described additional amount. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 12206, 17058 and 23610.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code proposed by AB 3160 to be operative only if this bill and AB 3160 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, through its Office of Migrant Services, to assist in the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of migrant farm labor centers, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Director of Housing and Community Development to contract with specified local public and private entities, including school districts and housing authorities, for the procurement or construction of housing or shelter and to obtain specified services, including education, for migratory agricultural workers. Existing law authorizes a migrant farm labor center subject to these contracts to be operated for an extended period prior to or beyond the standard 180-day period, but not to exceed 275 days in any calendar year, if certain conditions are satisfied. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2026, to engage and solicit feedback from specified stakeholders on the definition of "migratory agricultural worker" for the purposes of updating the definition. The bill would also require the department to develop, and by July 1, 2027, submit to specified legislative committees, a report that analyzes the feasibility and impact of transitioning housing units at Office of Migrant Services centers to year-round availability. The bill would require the report to include specified criteria, including, among other things, the quantity of housing units at each center. The bill would require the department, by December 31, 2028, and following the completion of the report, to coordinate with the Department of General Services and the Department of Food and Agriculture to identify available excess sites in proximity to migrant farm labor centers and prioritize those locations for the development of permanent farmworker housing. The bill would prescribe various requirements on the department, including that the department conduct an annual inspection of each migrant farm labor center to determine whether health, safety, and infrastructure standards are properly met. The bill would also prescribe various requirements on entities operating a migrant farm labor center, including that the entities ensure that each housing unit complies with all applicable local health and safety laws and prescreen Office of Migrant Services program applicants for eligibility in farmworker-restricted units on properties funded by the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program. By imposing additional duties on entities with regard to operating a farm labor center, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make related findings and declarations. 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 generally provides for the placement of foster youth in various placement settings. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a unified, family friendly, and child-centered resource family approval process to replace the multiple processes for licensing foster family homes, certifying foster homes by licensed foster family agencies, approving relatives and nonrelative extended family members as foster care providers, and approving guardians and adoptive families. This bill would require the department, notwithstanding any other law and on or before January 1, 2027, to adopt a simplified approval process for relative caregivers, as specified. The bill would condition implementation of the simplified approval process upon federal financial participation and approval, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to convene with tribes and communicate with other interested individuals and organizations to develop a simplified process for relative caregivers that achieve the goals of safety, permanency, and well-being for children in out-of-home care. This bill would require the department on or before September 30, 2026, to report to the Legislature for consideration the additional statutory changes required to fully implement separate resource family approval standards for relative caregivers. The bill would require the department, to the extent that the requested data can be tracked in the statewide child welfare information system, to track specified information on the approval process, including, among other information, (1) whether the placement of children or youth with relatives has increased, decreased, or remained the same over time, after January 1, 2023, and (2) existing barriers, if any, that affect implementation of the simplified approval process. The bill would require the department to report this information to the Legislature no later than 18 months after implementation of the simplified approval process. The bill would make these reporting and tracking provisions inoperative on June 30, 2030, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2031.