Asm. James Gallagher

This measure would recognize May 2018 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law also provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Health Care Services of adult alcoholism and drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities for adults. This bill would, among other things, define a "recovery residence" as a residential property that is operated as a cooperative living arrangement to provide an alcohol and drug free environment for persons recovering from alcoholism or drug abuse, or both, who seek a living environment that supports personal recovery. The bill would authorize a recovery residence to demonstrate its commitment to providing a supportive recovery environment by applying and becoming certified by a certifying organization that is approved by the State Department of Health Care Services. The bill would require an approved certifying organization to, among other things, maintain an affiliation with a national organization recognized by the department, establish and use procedures to administer the application, certification, renewal, and disciplinary processes for a recovery residence, and investigate and enforce violations by a residence of the organization's code of conduct, as provided. The bill would specify the information and documentation that an operator who seeks to have a residence certified is required to submit to an approved certifying organization. This bill would require an approved certifying organization to maintain and post on its Internet Web site a registry containing specified information of a residence that has been certified pursuant to these provisions, and would require the department to maintain and post on its Internet Web site a registry that contains specified information regarding each residence and operator that has had its certification revoked. This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2020, specified entities, including a state agency, state-contracted vendor, county agency, or county-contracted vendor, certified alcohol drug counselor, and person or entity licensed in the healing arts that directs substance use treatment, or a judge or parole board that sets terms and conditions for the release, parole, or discharge of a person from custody, if it requires that person to reside in a sober living environment, to first refer that person to a residence listed as a certified recovery residence on a registry posted by an approved certifying organization, if available. The bill would authorize those entities to refer persons to noncertified recovery residences, if they determine it is in the best interests of those persons, and would authorize those entities to notify the department of their decision. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2021, regarding the efficacy of its regulation of certifying organizations' impact on complaint resolution, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local governments, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide for the repeal of all of these provisions on January 1, 2026. 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 Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, and before January 1, 2024, would allow a credit against the taxes imposed under both laws to a qualified employer in an amount equal to 35% of the qualified wages paid or incurred during the taxable year to a qualified employee, defined to mean an employee who has no functional hearing and has completed, or is completing, specified rehabilitative services. The bill would prohibit the credit from exceeding $2,100 per employee. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Under existing law, the Department of Water Resources operates the State Water Resources Development System, known as the State Water Project, in accordance with the California Water Resources Development Bond Act to supply water to persons and entities in the state. Under existing law, the State Water Project is comprised of the State Water Facilities, as defined in the bond act, and additions determined by the department to be necessary and desirable. This bill would establish within the Natural Resources Agency the State Water Project Commission, consisting of 9 members appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, including one member nominated by the Butte County Board of Supervisors. By imposing a new duty on the Butte County Board of Supervisors, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would transfer authority over and relating to the State Water Project from the department to the commission, as specified. 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.

(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture and requires it to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. This bill would establish the Agricultural Growth Council, with a prescribed membership of specified state agencies and public members, to plan for regulatory alignments that would aid grower compliance, reduce costs to the agriculture industry, and protect the environment and to make recommendations for regulatory alignments to the proper agency or department. The bill would require the council, if the council determines that it is impossible for a person, and similarly situated persons, to comply with one or more regulations due to conflicting regulatory requirements, to suspend the application of one or more of the conflicting requirements to those persons as necessary to resolve the conflict. The bill would provide for the continued suspension of a requirement or requirements as to those persons until all applicable agencies have resolved the original conflict and provided clear direction on how to achieve compliance with the previously conflicting requirements. The bill would require the department to create a user-friendly navigational link on its Internet Web site that provides farmers and other members of the agricultural industry comprehensive information about regulatory requirements, and guidance, for operating and managing a farm. The bill would require the department to encourage community college districts, California state universities, the University of California, and state and county fairgrounds to establish and maintain smart farms, as described by the bill, on the respective campuses or fairgrounds to provide regional agricultural businesses the opportunity to show up-to-date agricultural technology, as defined by the bill, in real world practice. (2) Existing law provides for a department of agriculture in each county and for the appointment of a county agricultural commissioner. The county agricultural commissioner has specified duties, including making an annual report to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture on the condition of agriculture in his or her county, attending the annual meeting of the California Agricultural Commissioners Association, and consulting with staff members of various federal departments. This bill would require the county agricultural commissioner, in completing the annual report, to also conduct a survey of Internet accessibility on farms and in rural communities in his or her county to identify gaps in Internet accessibility on farms that create hurdles to the adoption of agricultural technology. By creating additional duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the California State University as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law, the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, requires community colleges to create associate degrees for transfer that meet the requirements of approved transfer model curricula, which are developed and vetted through a process known as the Course Identification Numbering System process. Existing law requires the California State University to guarantee, to a student holding a transfer model curriculum-aligned associate degree for transfer, admission to a corresponding program or major and concentration, as specified, of the California State University. This bill would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to direct the statewide Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to engage in the Course Identification Numbering System process to explore the feasibility of developing, within established transfer model curricula for agricultural disciplines, a model curriculum in the subdiscipline of Agricultural Business and Technology that focuses on agricultural technology. (4) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2025, in an amount, as specified, for agricultural technology deployed for at least 3 consecutive months during the taxable year. The bill would establish the Agriculture Technology Innovation Institute within the Department of Food and Agriculture, or as a part of another public entity that may otherwise be designated by an interagency agreement between the department and the public entity, to, among other things, administer these credits. (5) Existing law creates the Employment Development Department within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which is vested with the duties, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction regarding job creation activities. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to include in the annual Budget Act an appropriation of moneys to the Labor Market Information Division within the Employment Development Department for the purpose of performing agricultural industry statistical analysis and examining the economic impact and employment effect the agricultural industry has on the state. (6) This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to include in the Budget Act of 2019, or annually in the Budget Act, as provided, appropriations in specified amounts from the General Fund for specified purposes relating to agriculture. (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, 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 authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers. This bill would require a school district or a charter school to hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm, to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that a school district's or charter school's costs of implementing this requirement shall be reimbursed as a state mandate and shall not be funded with the funding provided to school districts and charter schools pursuant to the local control funding formula. 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.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the commission to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, so that the total number of kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, then incrementally increases for specified compliance periods to 33% of retail sales by December 31, 2020, 40% by December 31, 2024, 45% by December 31, 2027, and 50% by December 31, 2030. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the procurement requirements established by the program. This bill would require that not less than an unspecified percentage of the incremental procurement requirements for each compliance period be satisfied with geothermal, biogas, or biomass energy resources procured on or after July 1, 2017, until either an unspecified percentage of the total electricity products procured to satisfy the overall procurement requirements are from those energy resources or December 31, 2030, whichever occurs first. The bill would require an unspecified portion of this increment to be procured from the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resources Area. Under existing law, a violation of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would expand that program, a violation of these provisions would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws,and standards and to protect employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Existing law requires every employer to comply with those standards. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. This bill would require the board to adopt occupational safety and health standards for state public works projects to prevent and control coccidioidomycosis, more commonly known as Valley Fever. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.