Existing law provides that resource conservation is of fundamental importance to the prosperity and welfare of the people of this state. Existing law provides that the Legislature believes that the state must assume leadership in formulating and putting into effect a statewide program of soil and water conservation and related natural resource conservation. Existing law authorizes the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency to jointly develop and submit to the Legislature a plan for forest and water restoration investments for the drainages that supply specified reservoirs. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the National Resources Agency to develop and implement a watershed restoration grant program, as provided, for purposes of awarding grants to eligible counties, as defined, to assist them with watershed restoration on watersheds that have been affected by wildfire, as specified. The bill would require the agency to develop guidelines for the grant program, as provided. The bill would require an eligible county receiving funds pursuant to the grant program to submit annually to the agency a report regarding projects funded by the grant program, as provided.
Sponsored bills
The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires that all meetings of a state body, as defined, be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate in a meeting of a state body, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. This bill would specify that the definition of "state body" includes an advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember advisory body of a state body that consists of 3 or more individuals, as prescribed, except a board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body on which a member of a body serves in their official capacity as a representative of that state body and that is supported, in whole or in part, by funds provided by the state body, whether the multimember body is organized and operated by the state body or by a private corporation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law states the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to attend school and participate in extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment activities, consistent with the child's age and developmental level, with minimal disruptions to school attendance and educational stability. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, to establish, on or before January 1, 2020, the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Pilot Program, upon appropriation by the Legislature of funds for that purpose, to provide grants of $500 or less to qualified foster youth to enable them to participate in activities designed to enhance the foster youth's skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2020, to allocate funds appropriated for these purposes, up to a total of $12,500,000, to 4 county child welfare agencies that submit a 2-year plan by a request for proposal developed by the department. The bill would require the department to select 2 rural counties and 2 urban counties to participate in the pilot program. The bill would require a child welfare agency to indicate its interest in participating in the pilot program by submitting a 2-year plan on or before May 1, 2020, and would specify the required components of the plan. The bill would require the department to develop a grant application form and grant approval instructions for participating county child welfare agencies for purposes of the pilot program. The bill would authorize a specified caregiver to submit an application on behalf of a foster child or youth, and would authorize a foster youth to receive a maximum of $1,000 annually through the pilot program. The bill would prohibit funds provided for purposes of the pilot program from being used for administrative activities. The bill would require the department, on or before October 1, 2022, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes annual data required to be submitted to the department by participating counties. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2023.
Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has been issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes various public entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to designate a highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain requirements are met. Existing law, until January 1, 2020, authorizes the County of Inyo to establish a pilot project that would exempt specified combined-use highways in the unincorporated area in the County of Inyo from this prohibition to link together existing roads in the unincorporated portion of the county to existing trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands in order to provide a unified linkage of trail systems for off-highway motor vehicles, as prescribed. Existing law requires the County of Inyo, in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Parks and Recreation, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot project by January 1, 2019, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of that pilot project until January 1, 2025, and would require the County of Inyo, in consultation with the above-mentioned entities, to submit an additional evaluation report to the Legislature by January 1, 2024. The bill would also require the County of Inyo, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, to submit a report, as specified, to the Legislature by January 1, 2022, regarding the operation and impact of these highways.
Existing law prohibits the possession of nitrous oxide with the intent to inhale it for specified purposes, including to cause intoxication. Existing law also prohibits the sale of nitrous oxide to any person under 18 years of age. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to dispense nitrous oxide to a person and knowing that the person will use it for specified prohibited purposes, if that person then causes death or great bodily injury to themselves or another person. Existing law requires a seller of nitrous oxide to keep a record of persons who purchase nitrous oxide from it and also to provide certain written warnings to the purchaser. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for a retailer of tobacco or tobacco-related products, as defined, to sell, or offer for sale, nitrous oxide, as specified. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the court, with exceptions, to order the suspension of the business license of a person who knowingly commits that offense after having been previously convicted of the offense. 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 establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons. Existing law requires a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, except as specified, to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. Existing law establishes the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations and, among other things, to identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would require the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, by July 1, 2021, to develop and implement a statewide strategic plan for addressing homelessness in the state, as specified. The bill would require the council, by January 1, 2021, to implement strategic plans to assist federal Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care lead agencies in better implementing Housing and Urban Development recommended activities and meeting Housing and Urban Development requirements.
Existing law authorizes any postsecondary higher educational institution with a medical center to establish diagnostic and treatment centers for Alzheimer's disease, and requires the State Department of Public Health to administer grants to the postsecondary higher educational institutions that establish a center pursuant to these provisions. Until January 1, 2025, this bill would require the department to implement the action agenda items in the Healthy Brain Initiative, as defined, to the extent resources are available. The bill would require the department to annually notify the Legislature about activities conducted pursuant to these provisions. Until January 1, 2025, the bill would also, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to establish a pilot program in up to 8 local health jurisdictions, as specified, and award participating local health jurisdictions one-time grant funding over 3 consecutive fiscal years, to develop local initiatives that are consistent with the Healthy Brain Initiative. The bill would require the department to conduct an evaluation of the pilot program and produce a report, to be submitted to the Legislature by January 1, 2023, describing best practices and making recommendations regarding which solutions and innovations are most feasible to replicate.
Existing property tax law establishes a veterans' organization exemption under which property is exempt from taxation if, among other things, that property is used exclusively for charitable purposes and is owned by a veterans' organization. This bill would provide that the veterans' organization exemption shall not be denied to a property on the basis that the property is used for fraternal, lodge, or social club purposes, and would make specific findings and declarations in that regard. The bill would also provide that the exemption shall not apply to any portion of a property that consists of a bar where alcoholic beverages are served. The bill would apply these changes to lien dates occurring on and after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2030. Existing law requires the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration to implement a statewide automated welfare system for specified public assistance programs. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that representatives from the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Systems Integration, the Interim Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) consortia, and counties meet with advocates, clients, and other stakeholders at least quarterly to review the development status of the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) project and to engage with stakeholders to discuss current and planned functionality changes, among other topics. This bill would additionally require those entities to discuss and recommend how the public-facing elements of CalSAWS may allow users to initiate applications for other health and human services benefits serving low-income Californians, including, but not limited to, the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) , and other programs that are in substantial use, as specified, in order to minimize the burdens of the overall enrollment processes for eligible individuals and households to receive health and human services benefits. Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the State Department of Public Health and appropriate stakeholders, to develop and submit to the Legislature a community outreach and education campaign to help families learn about, and apply for, CalFresh. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to oversee a state and local accountability partnership to increase CalFresh participation and retention, to foster continuous quality improvement in the administration of the CalFresh program, and establish specified statewide goals for CalFresh participation and improvement. The bill would require the department to take specified actions to support counties in increasing and retaining CalFresh participants so that counties can achieve the statewide participation goals, including, among others, maintaining a dynamic and publicly available CalFresh data dashboard. The bill would require county human services agencies to work with the department to increase CalFresh participation and retention rates and identify the most effective actions to increase access to, and participation in, CalFresh. The bill would encourage counties to implement cost-effective actions that can be implemented within existing resources or at the expense of the county, but would prohibit counties from being required to implement specific improvements that require additional funds unless the state provides the county with those additional funds. By imposing new requirements on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires each county welfare department, to the extent permitted by federal law, to exempt a household from complying with face-to-face interview requirements for the purpose of determining eligibility at initial application and recertification. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, give an individual the option to apply, report, and recertify for CalFresh in person, by mail, online, or by telephone, and permit an individual to complete the interview requirement and client signature by telephone. The bill would authorize counties to implement any method of telephonic or electronic signature that is supported by county business practice and technology. The bill would require the department, with the input of stakeholders, to develop and execute a plan of support for counties that have not already implemented a telephone-based application and renewal process and to provide technical assistance or resources. The bill would require the application process to satisfy specified criteria, including simple, user-friendly language and instructions. The bill would require certain counties to comply with these provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2022, and require the remaining counties to comply with the provisions beginning on or before January 1, 2023. By imposing new duties on counties, 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.
The California Disaster Assistance Act provides that the state share for disaster project allocations to local agencies is no more than 75% of total state eligible costs, except for specified events for which the state share is up to 100% of state eligible costs. This bill would provide that the state share is up to 100% of total state eligible costs connected with the Camp Fire that started on November 8, 2018, in the County of Butte. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Butte. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.