Existing constitutional law establishes the right of freedom of speech. Existing case law interpreting those provisions applies varying levels of scrutiny to state action that restricts protected speech, and classifies specific types of speech as unprotected speech, including, but not limited to, obscenity, incitement of imminent lawless action, and true threats, which are given lesser or no protection under the First Amendment. This bill would require a social media platform located in California, as defined, to develop a policy or mechanism to address content or communications that constitute unprotected speech, including obscenity, incitement of imminent lawless action, and true threats, or that purport to state factual information that is demonstrably false.
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Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue or renew environmental license plates to provide revenue for the California Environmental License Plate Fund that indicate on the plates the combination of letters or numbers, or both, requested as a registration number by the applicant, to be displayed on the applicant's vehicle in lieu of regular license plates. Existing law imposes a fee for the issuance or renewal of an environmental license plate, in addition to the regular registration and renewal fees. Existing law also establishes procedures for the cancellation, transfer, or retention of the environmental license plates and requires the payment or reimbursement of additional fees in connection with those transactions, as specified. This bill would establish a similar program, to be known as the "8-letter license plate" program, for the support of the Natural and Agricultural Open Space and State Recreational Support Fund, which would be created by the bill. The bill would impose additional fees, including, but not limited to, fees for the issuance and renewal of an 8-letter license plate, as specified. The bill would require that all revenue derived from the fees be deposited in the fund for specified purposes that include, among other things, subventions for open-space land programs, assistance to California fairs, and support of programs administered by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
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, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency when specified conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist, and authorizes the Governor to exercise certain powers in response to that emergency, including, but not limited to, suspending specified statutes, ordinances, orders, regulations, or rules. Existing law requires all of the powers granted the Governor by the California Emergency Services Act with respect to a state of emergency to terminate when the state of emergency has been terminated by proclamation of the Governor or by concurrent resolution of the Legislature declaring it at an end. This bill would require a state of emergency to terminate 60 days after the Governor's proclamation of the state of emergency unless the Legislature extends it by a concurrent resolution, as specified. The bill would prohibit a concurrent resolution from extending a state of emergency by more than 60 days, as specified.
Existing law authorizes cities and counties to license any kind of business, not prohibited by law, transacted and carried on within the limits of its jurisdiction. Cities and counties, pursuant to certain restrictions, may impose a license fee on those businesses. This bill would prohibit cities and counties, including charter cities and counties, from imposing or collecting license fees from restaurants from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, as provided, and would require the city or county to refund to a restaurant any license fees collected during that period. By imposing new duties on cities and counties with respect to imposing or collecting specified license fees, and by requiring that the fees be refunded, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and regulates the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. Existing law imposes various assessments, including annual renewal fees for licenses and permit fees, depending on the type of license issued, and specified surcharges. Existing law authorizes an adjustment of the renewal fees, as provided, and requires these fees and surcharges to be deposited into various funds, including the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Fund, and the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund. This bill would waive specified permanent license application fees, annual renewal fees, and associated surcharges for applications submitted on or after January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2022, and would require the department to refund those fees if already paid. The bill would waive specified interim operating permit fees from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, and would require the department to refund those fees if already paid. The bill would also authorize, subject to specified limitations, the department to adjust specified annual renewal fees on or after January 1, 2022, and each January 1 thereafter, as if the annual renewal fees were adjusted on January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021. By requiring fees and surcharges to be refunded to licensees from the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Fund, and the Motor Vehicle Account, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities, as defined, and requires local health enforcement agencies to enforce these provisions. The code requires each food facility to have a valid permit to be open for business and requires any fee for the permit to be determined by the local governing body. This bill would require a local enforcement agency to waive or refund the fee, as applicable, for the issuance of a new permit or the renewal of an existing permit from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. By imposing new duties on local law enforcement agencies with respect to waiving or refunding specified permit fees, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities and counties, including charter cities and counties. 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 Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is administered through the Director of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law vests the department with jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. The California Constitution establishes the 5-member Fish and Game Commission, with members appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. Existing law requires the commissioners to annually elect one of their number as president. Existing law requires the commission to formulate the general policies for the conduct of the department and requires the director to be guided by those policies and be responsible to the commission for the administration of the department in accordance with those policies. This bill would establish in the department the Office of the Ombudsperson, administered through the ombudsperson. The bill would require the commission to appoint the ombudsperson and would require the office to operate independently of department staff and to report to the president of the commission. The bill would require the office to undertake specified duties under the supervision of the president of the commission, including working independently as an intermediary to provide individuals with a confidential process to address complaints regarding the department and resolve disputes with the department. The bill would require information provided to the ombudsperson pursuant to the confidential process to be protected as confidential and to be exempt from public disclosure, including, but not limited to, disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. 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.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. For the emissions of pollutants other than greenhouse gases, existing law generally designates the state board with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from vehicular sources and air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. This bill would revise the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 by designating the state board with the responsibility of regulating vehicular sources of emissions of greenhouse gases and each district with the responsibility of regulating all sources, other than vehicular sources, of emissions of greenhouse gases within its jurisdiction. By imposing additional duties on the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law limits the width of a vehicle and its load except for implements of husbandry driven or moved incidentally over a highway. Existing law requires the person operating or moving the implement to be a farmer or person employed by a farmer or farm corporation and limits the distance that an implement may be moved over a highway. This bill would add a person contracted with a farmer or farm corporation to the list of persons authorized to drive or move an implement of excessive width, as specified.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, defined to mean the cutting or removal, or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products from timberlands for commercial purposes, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted for the operations to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act provides an exception from its provisions for timber operations that involve the removal of trees less than 16 inches in diameter at breast height from a firebreak or fuelbreak if the removal meets specified requirements, including the requirement that the removed trees will not be processed into logs or lumber. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. The Administrative Procedure Act generally governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to develop and implement a fuels transportation program that provides competitive grants or other financial incentives for projects in eligible communities to offset the costs of transporting fuels to a biomass energy facility, as specified. The bill would authorize the agency to allocate moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund consistent with the purposes of the fund. The bill would exempt these provisions from the Administrative Procedure Act.
Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department (department) to administer the federal-state unemployment insurance program and provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Existing law establishes procedures for the filing, determination, and payment of benefit claims, and those benefits are payable from the Unemployment Fund. Existing law requires the department to promptly pay benefits if it finds the claimant is eligible and to promptly deny benefits if it finds the claimant is ineligible for benefits. Existing law requires the department to consider facts submitted by an employer in making this determination and also provides for the department to audit claims, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2021, require the department, as part of its process for determining eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits, cross-check all claimant information with state and county correctional facility inmate data in an effort to detect fraudulent applications. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.