Asm. Joaquin Arambula

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. The California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 requires all agencies and museums, which is defined to include higher education institutions, that receive state funding and have possession or control over collections of California Native American human remains and associated funerary objects to inventory those remains and objects for repatriation to the appropriate California Indian tribes, as specified. This bill would urge the University of California to, on or before June 30, 2024, and annually thereafter, report each University of California campus's progress towards completing repatriation pursuant to the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001. The bill would urge the office of the President of the University of California to provide available funding to sufficiently support those efforts. The bill would urge the University of California to prohibit use of any Native American human remains or cultural items for purposes of teaching or research at the University of California. Existing law requires the California State Auditor to conduct an audit commencing in the year 2019 and again in 2021 regarding the University of California's compliance with the federal and California acts and to report its findings to the Legislature and all other appropriate entities. This bill would require the California State Auditor to additionally conduct an audit again in 2024 and 2026, and to also report its findings to the Native American Heritage Commission.

Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of federal, state, and county funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under the CalWORKs program, as a condition of eligibility for aid, recipients are required to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities, except for specified individuals, including, among others, individuals under 16 years of age and recipients who are pregnant. Existing law requires that a recipient be excused from participation for good cause if the county has determined that there is a condition or other circumstance that temporarily prevents or significantly impairs the recipient's ability to be regularly employed or to participate in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law requires the county human services agency to review the good cause determination for its continuing appropriateness in accordance with the projected length of the condition, or circumstance, but not less than every 3 months. Under existing law, conditions that may be considered good cause include, but are not limited to, lack of necessary supportive services, licensed or license-exempt childcare for a child 10 years of age or younger is not reasonably available during the individual's hours of training or employment, arrangements for childcare have broken down or have been interrupted, or childcare is needed for a child who meets specified criteria. Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination under, any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. This bill would add denial of reasonable accommodations for pregnant or parenting students, in violation of Title IX, to the list of conditions that may be considered good cause for excuse from participation in welfare-to-work activities. Existing law prohibits the application of sanctions for a failure or refusal to comply with CalWORKs program requirements for reasons related to employment, an offer of employment, an activity, or other training for employment. Under existing law, those reasons include, among others, that the employment-related circumstance involves conditions that are in violation of applicable health and safety standards or it discriminates on any of specified protected characteristics. This bill would add to those reasons the circumstance of the recipient requiring pregnancy- or parenting-related accommodations covered under Title IX, or other specified laws, and not having received adequate accommodations. The bill would make a change to a related provision under existing law concerning a stakeholder workgroup. Under existing law, a parent or caretaker relative is not eligible for CalWORKs aid when the parent or caretaker has received aid for a cumulative total of 48 months. Existing law increases that time limit to 60 months on May 1, 2022, or upon a specified notification to the Legislature from the State Department of Social Services. Existing law provides that all months of aid received under the CalWORKs program apply toward those time limits, except when certain conditions apply, or as otherwise specified by law. Existing law establishes the Cal-Learn Program, which requires certain CalWORKs recipients who are under 19 years of age and are pregnant or custodial parents to participate in the program until the participant earns a high school diploma or its equivalent. Existing law requires counties to arrange for the provision of education and supportive services that teenage parents need to successfully participate in the Cal-Learn Program. Existing law requires a county to exempt a teenage parent from the Cal-Learn Program if specified conditions occur, including, but not limited to, if the teenage parent is expelled from school, childcare is necessary and unavailable, or the teenage parent has a verified illness, injury, or incapacity, as specified. Existing law generally excludes months when a CalWORKs recipient is eligible for, participating in, or exempt from the Cal-Learn Program from the limit on cumulative total months of CalWORKs aid. Existing law does not limit the amount of time a teenage parent may participate in the initial education components of the Cal-Learn Program in order to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent. Existing law also authorizes a teen who begins participation in the program before 19 years of age to continue to receive intensive case management services after 19 years of age, until the individual earns a high school diploma or its equivalent. This bill would revise references of "teenage parent" in some provisions of the Cal-Learn Program to refer instead to "teen." The bill would require the county to exempt a teen from the program when the teen is in a situation or a crisis that is destabilizing their family, as specified. The bill would make all exemptions subject to annual redetermination. The bill would specifically exclude all months in which a teen participates in the initial education components of the Cal-Learn Program and months the individual continues to receive intensive case management services after 19 years of age from being counted toward their cumulative total months of CalWORKs aid. Existing law requires a participant in the Cal-Learn Program who maintains satisfactory progress in school to receive a $100 supplement to the amount of cash aid paid to the participant, as specified, as well as a $500 supplement for a participant who successfully completes high school or a California high school equivalency examination. Under existing law, if a participant fails to demonstrate that they have made adequate progress in school, as prescribed, the participant is subject to a $100 sanction from the amount of cash aid that the participant would otherwise be paid. Existing law requires the case manager of a participant who fails or refuses to comply with Cal-Learn Program requirements without good cause to inform the client of the consequences of nonparticipation and provide the participant with specified contact information for the local welfare rights organization or legal aid society for further assistance. This bill would delete those sanctions and related case manager duties for noncompliance in the Cal-Learn Program. The bill would delete a provision requiring the supplement to be paid to the assistance unit of which the teen is a member under a specified timeline. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing these provisions. 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 Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Existing law requires the Superintendent to develop procedures for state preschool contractors to identify and report data on dual language learners enrolled in a preschool program. Existing law requires these procedures, at minimum, to include a distribution and collection of a family language instrument, as specified, and a family language and interest interview. Existing law requires the reported data to include, among other things, a child's home language and the language composition of the program staff. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, which includes various programs and services, including, among others, general childcare and development programs and migrant childcare and development programs. This bill would similarly require the Director of Social Services to develop procedures for general or migrant childcare and development contractors to identify and report data on dual language learners enrolled in a general childcare and development program or migrant childcare and development program, as specified, and requires the director to develop informal directives and adopt regulations to implement these provisions. The bill would require the Superintendent and the director to coordinate efforts to implement these provisions. The bill would prohibit the use of these provisions to compel a parent or guardian to participate in the data collection procedures described above. The bill would further clarify that a family's decision to decline to complete the family language instrument or family language and interest interview shall not affect the contract of a state preschool contractor or general or migrant childcare and development contractor. The bill would also specify that these provisions shall not affect the eligibility of a child to enroll in a state preschool program or a general or migrant childcare and development program.

Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight. This bill would add fentanyl to the substances for which additional terms or fines can be imposed and would require a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine, as specified, to know of the substance's nature or character as a controlled substance to be subjected to an additional term and authorized fine. By increasing the penalty for, and by changing the definition of, 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 requires the State Department of Public Health, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2016, to award funding to local health departments, local governmental agencies, or on a competitive basis to other organizations, as specified, to support or establish programs that provide naloxone or another opioid antagonist to first responders and at-risk opioid users through programs that serve at-risk drug users. Existing law exempts from civil liability a person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, as provided. This bill would require each stadium, concert venue, and amusement park to maintain unexpired doses of naloxone hydrochloride or any other opioid antagonist on its premises at all times, and to ensure that at least 2 employees are aware of the location of the naloxone hydrochloride or other opioid antagonist. The bill would exempt from civil or criminal liability a person who, in good faith, administers naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist by nasal spray or auto-injector on the premises of a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct, except as specified. The bill would exempt from civil or criminal liability a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, or its employees, or an entity that owns, occupies, or operates a stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, or its employees, for the administration of naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist, or the failure to administer naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist, on the premises of the stadium, concert venue, or amusement park, as provided.

(1) Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to operate an aircraft in pest control unless, among other things, the pilot operating the aircraft holds a valid manned or unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate issued by the Director of Pesticide Regulation. Existing law requires each unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate to designate the pilot's status as a journeyman, apprentice, or vector control technician, and requires an applicant for a manned or unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate to pass an examination as a condition of licensure. This bill would additionally include the status of private applicator as a designation under the unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate. The bill would prohibit an individual with a private applicator unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate from applying pesticides except for the purpose of producing an agricultural commodity on property owned, leased, or rented by the pilot or their employer. The bill would require a pilot to submit satisfactory documentary proof demonstrating the pilot's completion of a program accredited by the director and possession of a valid private applicator certificate to be eligible for an unmanned pest control aircraft pilot's certificate under the status of private applicator, and to pass an examination as a condition of licensure. (2) Existing law prohibits the issuance of a journeyman's certificate until the applicant has served as an apprentice under an apprentice certificate for one year and until the applicant presents to the director satisfactory documentary proof that the applicant operated an aircraft in pest control activities for a specified amount of time within the previous 2 years, as provided. This bill would, notwithstanding the above limitation, authorize the director to establish specific requirements for obtaining an unmanned journeyman certificate, as specified. (3) Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to act as a pest control aircraft pilot in any county without first registering with the appropriate county agricultural commissioner. Under existing law, it is unlawful to use any fraud or misrepresentation in connection with meeting any license requirement relating to pest control operations. A violation of any of these provisions is a crime. To the extent the bill would expand the scope of existing crimes, 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 requires the Division of Boating and Waterways, in cooperation with the State Department of Education and other appropriate entities involved with water safety, to develop an aquatic safety program to be made available for use at an appropriate grade level in public elementary schools at no expense to the schools. Existing law requires the division to notify schools and school districts of the availability of the aquatic safety program once it is developed. This bill would authorize specified organizations to provide informational materials, in electronic or hardcopy form, to a public school regarding specified topics relating to drowning prevention. The bill would authorize, beginning with the 2024–25 school year, upon receipt of the informational materials, a public school to provide the informational materials to parents, legal guardians, or caregivers of pupils at the time the pupil enrolls at the school and at the beginning of each school year.

Existing law, until January 1, 2026, requires the State Department of Health Care Services to annually reimburse the Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan up to $3,000,000 per year for claim payments that exceed $70,000 made by the plan on behalf of an eligible employee or dependent for a single episode of care on or after September 1, 2016. The Robert F. Kennedy Farm Workers Medical Plan is a nonprofit voluntary employees beneficiary association, organized under federal law, that provides payments for health care and other benefits to its members. The bill would extend these provisions until January 1, 2031.

Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, except certain specified categories of excluded employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. For the purposes of bargaining or meeting and conferring in good faith, the bill would define "employer" to mean the Assembly Committee on Rules or the Senate Committee on Rules. The bill would require the employer to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations regarding matters within the scope of representation. The bill would exclude certain matters from the scope of representation, as specified. The bill would grant exclusive jurisdiction to the Public Employment Relations Board to make an initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified, and, if so, the necessary remedy, as specified. However, the bill would prohibit the board from issuing a decision or order that intrudes upon or interferes with the Legislature's core function of efficient and effective lawmaking or the essential operation of the Legislature. The bill would require the board to determine appropriate bargaining units, and would prohibit the board from including employees in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the employer. The bill would prohibit the board from including within a bargaining unit employees from both the Assembly and Senate. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. The bill would become operative on July 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would additionally exempt from public inspection records related to activities governed by the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act that reveal the employer's deliberative processes, impressions, evaluations, opinions, recommendations, meeting minutes, research, work product, theories, or strategy, or that provide instruction, advice, or training to employees who do not have full collective bargaining and representation rights under the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations 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.

Existing law defines the term "serious felony" for various purposes, including, among others, enhancing the punishment for felonies pursuant to existing sentencing provisions commonly known as the Three Strikes Law. This bill would include human trafficking of a minor within the definition of a serious felony for all purposes, including for purposes of the Three Strikes Law, except as specified. By expanding the scope of an enhancement, 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.