Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, that generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law requires an employer to provide all medical services reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of the injury. Under existing law, an employee injured on and after January 1, 2004, is entitled to no more than 24 chiropractic, 24 occupational therapy, and 24 physical therapy visits per industrial injury. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to the opioid crisis and would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the above-described provisions.
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Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining with respect to wages, terms of employment, and other employment conditions, and authorizes employees to elect exclusive bargaining representatives for these purposes. Existing law requires the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to certify the results of an election conducted by secret ballot of employees in a collective bargaining unit to designate a collective bargaining representative, unless the board determines there are sufficient grounds to refuse to do so. Existing law further provides that if the board refuses to certify an election because of employer misconduct that would render slight the chances of a new election reflecting the free and fair choice of employees, the labor organization shall be certified as the bargaining representative for the bargaining unit. This bill would refer to the secret ballot election as a polling place election. This bill would also permit agricultural employees, as an alternative election procedure, to select their labor representatives through a representation ballot card election by submitting a petition to the board supported by representation ballot cards signed by a majority of employees in the bargaining unit. This bill would require the board to conduct an immediate investigation regarding the validity of the petition and the supporting representation ballot cards and, within 5 days after receiving a petition, to make an administrative decision as to whether the petition meets certain requirements and as to whether the labor organization submitted the requisite number of cards. The bill would require the board to certify the labor organization as the exclusive bargaining representative if the board determines that the labor organization has submitted the required number of representation ballot cards and the cards meet specified criteria. Existing law authorizes a person aggrieved by the final order of the board granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought for an unfair labor practice, to obtain a review of the order in a specified court of appeal by filing in the court a written petition requesting that the order of the board be modified or set aside. This bill would require an employer who appeals or petitions for a writ of review of any order of the board involving make-whole, backpay, or other monetary awards to employees, to post an appeal bond in the amount of the entire economic value of the order, as specified, and would provide for the bond to be forfeited under specified conditions. This bill would state that its provisions are severable.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish an advisory committee to advise the Legislature and the Governor on human cloning and other issues relating to human biotechnology. This bill would require the department to develop a process, with input from the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC) and industry stakeholders, to verify that gene synthesis providers and manufacturers of gene synthesis equipment adhere to customer and sequence screening protocols that are equivalent to, or stronger than, the IGSC's Harmonized Screening Protocol. Beginning January 1, 2025, the bill would require a gene synthesis provider and manufacturer of gene synthesis equipment operating in California to be a current member of the IGSC or verified by the department as adhering to the prescribed proper screening protocols. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2022, authorize the department to charge a fee in an amount not to exceed the department's reasonable costs to establish and administer the verification process, as specified. The bill would also require, beginning January 1, 2025, any entity that is the recipient of state resources to purchase gene synthesis products from a gene synthesis provider, and gene synthesis equipment from a manufacturer of gene synthesis equipment, only if they are a current member of the IGSC or verified by the department, as specified. The bill would impose specified penalties on gene synthesis providers and manufacturers of gene synthesis equipment for failure to comply with those requirements, and would require the department to develop an appeals process to address appeals on the imposition of those penalties.
Existing law establishes the University of California (UC) , under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the segments of postsecondary education in this state. Provisions of the act apply to UC only to the extent that the regents act, by appropriate resolution, to make those provisions applicable. A provision of the act expresses the intent of the Legislature that, in determining the standards and criteria for undergraduate and graduate admissions to UC and the California State University, the governing bodies of the segments, among other things, develop processes that strive to be fair and are easily understandable. This bill would request the regents to adopt a policy directing the Office of the President of the University of California to establish systemwide protocols for admissions of students no later than February 1, 2022, to become effective for the fall 2023 admission cycle of the university, beginning August 1, 2022. The protocols adopted under the bill would prohibit consideration of a student applicant's family or other personal relationship connections to university staff or faculty in any decision related to, or resulting in, that student's admission to the UC system and communication between any person employed in, or connected with, any UC campus development office and any UC campus admissions office regarding any UC student applicant or prospective UC student applicant. The protocols would also require verification of the athletic talent of all prospective student athlete applicants and tracking of the participation of student athletes in the sport for which they were recruited. Under the bill, the protocols would also require the office of the president to annually select a random sample of student applicants admitted by exception, and verify that each UC campus that admitted any student in this manner recorded a rationale for each such admission, and that each recorded rationale aligns with the guidance issued by the UC's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools. The protocols would require the office of the president, by July 1, 2022, to begin conducting an audit of the undergraduate admissions process by annually auditing 2 campuses each year, and to review the undergraduate admissions process of each UC campus once every 5 years. The protocols would also require, no later than 120 days after the completion of each audit conducted under these protocols, the office to determine whether each UC campus has adequately completed all corrective actions identified as a result of any of these audits, and to determine whether each UC campus has fully adopted all UC systemwide admission policies in accordance with the protocols. The protocols would require the office of the president, on or before May 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to the budget, appropriations, and education committees of both houses of the Legislature on admissions policies and campuswide standards for admissions with respect to specified subjects.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires the Director of Transportation, upon consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, to review and modify all bid specifications relating to the purchase of paving materials and base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials using certain recycled materials. Existing law requires the specifications to be based on standards developed by the Department of Transportation for recycled paving materials and for recycled base, subbase, and pervious backfill materials. Existing law requires a local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway to either adopt these standards developed by the Department of Transportation or to discuss at a public hearing why the standards are not being adopted. Existing law requires the State Procurement Officer, when purchasing materials to be used in paving or paving subbase for use by the Department of Transportation and any other state agency that provides road construction and repair services, to contract for those items that use recycled material in those materials, unless the Director of Transportation determines that the use of the materials is not cost effective. This bill would require the department and a local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway, to the extent feasible and cost effective, to use advanced technologies and material recycling techniques that reduce the cost of maintaining and rehabilitating streets and highways and that exhibit reduced levels of greenhouse gas emissions through material choice and construction method. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2023, a local agency that has jurisdiction over a street or highway, to the extent feasible and cost effective, to apply standard specifications that allow for the use of recycled materials in streets and highways, as specified. By increasing the duties of local agencies, 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, 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, including some supervisory and managerial 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. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The 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 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 California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to assist the local chief elected official in planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce investment. The act requires local boards to carry out specific tasks consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, including, with representatives of secondary and postsecondary education programs, to lead efforts in the local area to develop and implement career pathways within the local area by aligning the employment, training, education, and supportive services that are needed by adults and youth, particularly individuals with barriers to employment. The act also provides for training partnerships that are overseen by the board, including the High Road Training Partnerships initiative, a demonstration project to model partnership strategies for the state among various industry sectors, and that is industry based and worker focused in order to build skills for California employers that, among other things, pay family-supporting wages to their employees. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the California Workforce Development Board to establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Supportive Services Program. The bill would require the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, to make $50,000,000 in grants available to applicants, including local workforce development boards, labor organizations, K–12 educational entities, community colleges, adult schools, county social service agencies, community-based organizations, business-related nonprofit organizations, and workforce intermediaries who work directly with the individuals experiencing employment barriers to ensure those individuals receive needed training, that apply for funding to provide supportive services, as defined, and are approved in accordance with the bill. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to develop criteria, policies, and guidelines for the award of supportive service grant funds consistent with the bill. The bill would require that those criteria, policies, and guidelines consider, but not be limited to, the ability of applicants to leverage additional funds in support of the program, priority for grant applicants that are or that partner with High Road Training Partnerships, and tracking of participants into the labor market to measure program efficacy.