This measure would recognize March 7, 2020, as California Arbor Day, and would urge California residents to observe the day with appropriate tree-planting activities and programs.
This measure would memorialize the achievements of Rosa Parks in the Civil Rights Movement and would commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Rosa Parks Day in California on February 4, 2020.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a driver's license to an applicant when the department determines that the applicant is lawfully entitled to a license. Existing law allows an in-person applicant for a driver's license or identification card to request the word "VETERAN" be printed on the face of the driver's license or identification card, subject to certain requirements, including, among others, verification of veteran status, as specified, and payment of a $5 fee, which the department is authorized to increase by regulation, in an amount not to exceed $15, as specified. Existing law prohibits a fee from being charged for that request if made by (1) a person who has been determined to have a current income level that meets the eligibility requirements for specified assistance programs, or (2) a person who can verify their status as a homeless person, in accordance with specified provisions. This bill would make the payment of a fee by any veteran inoperative no later than July 1, 2021, and repeal the law on January 1, 2022, thereby indefinitely requiring the department to make a veteran designation on a verified applicant's license, without charge. The bill also would make technical and conforming changes.
Existing law authorizes a registered voter of an electoral jurisdiction to commence proceedings to seek the recall of an officer of that jurisdiction by serving, filing, and publishing or posting a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition. Existing law requires the notice of intention to contain specified information, including the printed name, signature, and residence address of each of the proponents of the recall. Existing law requires that a copy of the notice be published at the proponents' expense in a newspaper of general circulation, or, if publication is not possible, to be posted in at least three public places within the jurisdiction. This bill would require that the signatures and residence addresses of the proponents be redacted from the copy of the notice that is published or posted pursuant to these provisions.
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, 2025, authorizes the County of Inyo to operate a pilot project that exempts 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 to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project, as specified. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2026, a similar pilot program in the City of Needles. The bill would also require the City of Needles, in conjunction with specified state agencies, to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project by January 1, 2025, as specified.
The California Environmental Quality Act requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The act requires all public agencies to adopt by ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation specified objectives, criteria, and procedures for the evaluation of projects and the preparation of environmental impact reports and negative declarations, as specified. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
This measure would proclaim January 23, 2020, as Maternal Health Awareness Day, to draw attention to the efforts that have improved maternal health in California and to highlight the need for continued improvement of maternal health for all women.
Existing law establishes the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program, which requires the Public Utilities Commission to implement annual procurement targets for the procurement of eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, for all retail sellers, as defined, and requires local publicly owned electric utilities to adopt and implement a renewable energy resources procurement plan to achieve the targets and goals of the program. Eligible renewable energy resources include small hydroelectric generation facilities of 30 megawatts or less that meet specified criteria. Existing law states that it is the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. This bill would revise the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource for the purposes of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program to include all hydroelectric generating facilities in operation as of January 1, 2021, and nuclear electric generating facilities and would make conforming changes. This bill would suspend the requirements of the program and the state policy that are applicable to retail sellers. The bill would terminate the suspensions if the commission makes unspecified factual determinations and issues an order reinstating those requirements. The bill would require the commission to determine the amount saved by an electrical corporation due to the suspension and would require the electrical corporation to expend that amount to improve its transmission and distribution infrastructure to minimize the risk of wildfire ignition. The bill would require the commission to require retail sellers to maintain their procurement levels of bioenergy products under the agreements in effect as of December 31, 2020, for the duration of the suspension. The bill would prohibit electrical corporations from increasing the salaries of, or providing bonuses to, their executive officers during the suspension of the program's requirements. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be 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, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for purposes of specified wage orders. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. This test is commonly known as the "ABC" test. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of Dynamex and these provisions. Existing law instead provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the test adopted in S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. This bill would expand the above-described exemptions to also include small businesses, as defined.
