(1) 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. Existing law 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 from a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law continuously appropriates 35% of the annual proceeds of the fund for transit, affordable housing, and sustainable communities programs and 25% of the annual proceeds of the fund for certain components of a specified high-speed rail project. This bill would continuously appropriate $480,000,000 and $20,000,000 to the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention and the California Conservation Corps, respectively, for fire prevention activities, as provided. (2) The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law, until January 1, 2022, authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from the requirements of that act a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the person's property that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuelbreak for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with certain requirements. This bill would extend the state board's authorization to provide for the above exemption indefinitely. The bill would extend the distance of the fuelbreak to not more than 500 feet. (3) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 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. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA projects or activities related to forest health and fuel reduction that involve thinning overgrown brushes or trees 10 inches or less in diameter by mechanical thinning, pile burning, prescribed fire, and grazing. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development for the purpose of advocating for the causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. This bill, the Keep California Working Act, would establish the Keep California Working Grant Program. The act would require the Small Business Advocate to administer the program and award grants, as specified, to small businesses and nonprofit entities that meet specified criteria, including that the entity has experienced economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The act would specify that grant money awarded pursuant to the program may be used only for specified purposes, including payroll costs, health care benefits, paid sick, medical, or family leave, and insurance premiums. The act would appropriate $2.6 billion dollars to the Office of Small Business Advocate for those purposes. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally define "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provide various exclusions from gross income. This bill would exclude from gross income, for state income tax purposes, the amount of a grant awarded pursuant to the Keep California Working Grant Program. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill also would include additional information required for a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program, commonly known as the smog check program, that is administered and enforced by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The smog check program requires inspection of motor vehicles upon initial registration, biennially upon renewal of registration, upon transfer of ownership, and in certain other circumstances. Among other things, the smog check program requires the department to provide a licensed smog check station with a sign informing customers about options when their vehicle fails a biennial smog check inspection. Existing law requires the sign to be posted conspicuously, as provided, and requires the sign in all licensed smog check stations. Existing regulations implement this requirement. A person who violates these laws, including any order, rule, or regulation of the department adopted pursuant to these laws, is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the department to provide a licensed smog check station with a sign informing customers about strategies for deterring catalytic converter theft, including the etching of identifying information on the catalytic converter. The bill would require the sign to be posted conspicuously in an area frequented by customers and would require it in all licensed smog check stations. The bill would also authorize stations where licensed smog check technician repairs are performed to offer and recommend to customers the etching as an optional service provided in conjunction with the smog check. Because the department would adopt regulations implementing the new requirements and a violation of these regulations 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.
The California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, including school districts, requires the state to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, unless an exception applies. Statutory provisions that establish procedures for making that reimbursement include a requirement that no claim shall be made or paid unless it exceeds $1,000. This bill would change the minimum claim amount to $800.
(1) Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement literacy programs in the state prison. Existing law requires the department to offer college programs through voluntary education programs or their equivalent. This bill would instead require the department to make college programs available for the benefit of inmates with a general education development certificate or equivalent or a high school diploma and would require those college programs to only be provided by the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the University of California, or other regionally accredited, nonprofit colleges or universities. The bill would provide a set of criteria to prioritize various college programs, including face-to-face instruction, comprehensive in-person support, and coordination with nonprofit postsecondary programs serving formerly incarcerated students. The bill would require the education providers to be responsible for determining and developing their curricula and degree pathways, determining certificate pathways, providing instructional staff, and determining what services will be offered to ensure incarcerated students can successfully complete the course of study. (2) Existing law allows the department to create regulations for the administration of the state prison. Existing regulations authorize an inmate enrolled in a full-time college program, as defined, to combine that program with a half-time work or career program to equate to a full-time work assignment. This bill would require an inmate enrolled in a full-time college program, as specified, to be deemed by the department to be assigned to a full-time work or training assignment.
(1) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law generally provides that a violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act is a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes the issuance of a caterer's permit, upon application to the department, to a licensee under an on-sale general license, an on-sale beer and wine license, a club license, or a veterans' club license, that authorizes the holder of the permit to sell alcoholic beverages at specified locations and events, including, among others, conventions, sporting events, and trade exhibits. Under existing law, licensees are required to first obtain consent from the department for sales of alcoholic beverages at each event in the form of a catering or event authorization. The department, pursuant to its powers and in furtherance of emergency declarations and orders of the Governor under the California Emergency Services Act regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus, has prescribed temporary relief measures to suspend certain legal restrictions relating to, among other things, the expansion of a licensed footprint, sales of alcoholic beverages to-go, and delivery privileges. This bill would prohibit the issuance of a catering authorization for use at any one premises for more than 36 events in one calendar year, except as specified. This bill would authorize the department, for a period of 365 days following the end of the state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor on March 4, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to permit licensees to exercise license privileges in an expanded license area authorized pursuant to a COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization approved in accordance with the Fourth Notice of Regulatory Relief issued by the department, as specified. The bill would also authorize the department to extend the period of time during which the COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization is valid beyond 365 days if the licensee has filed a pending application with the department for the permanent expansion of their premises before the 365-day time period expires. The bill would make these provisions effective only until July 1, 2024, and repeal them as of that date. (2) Existing law, with exceptions, prohibits a licensee from having, upon the licensed premises, any alcoholic beverages other than the alcoholic beverage that the licensee is authorized to sell at the premises under their license, and makes a violation of this prohibition punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would, as an exception to that prohibition, authorize a licensed manufacturer to share a common licensed area with multiple licensed retailers, subject to specified provisions, including, but not limited to, that (A) a licensee sharing the common licensed area with a licensed manufacturer is prohibited from selling or serving any alcoholic beverages that are manufactured, produced, bottled, processed, imported, rectified, distributed, represented, or sold by the manufacturer, as provided, (B) the licensed manufacturer may, in connection with the operation of the shared common area only, advertise or promote the common licensed area, provided that each retailer pays its pro rata share of the costs of such advertising or promotion, as specified, (C) no thing of value may be given or furnished by the manufacturer to the retailers, except as specified, (D) the manufacturer may have on the area of its licensed premises that encompass the shared common licensed area alcoholic beverages that would not otherwise be permitted on the manufacturer's licensed premises, as provided, (E) all licensees sharing the common licensed area are required to hold the same license type retailers, (F) all licensees holding licenses within the shared common licensed area are jointly responsible for compliance with all laws that may subject their license to discipline, and (G) the manufacturer maintains records necessary to establish its compliance, as specified. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires, during the next revision of the publication "Health Framework for California Public Schools," the Instructional Quality Commission to consider developing, and recommending for adoption by the State Board of Education, a distinct category on mental health instruction to educate pupils about all aspects of mental health. Existing law requires mental health instruction for these purposes to include, but not be limited to, specified elements, including reasonably designed and age-appropriate instruction on the overarching themes and core principles of mental health. This bill would require each school district, county office of education, state special school, and charter school that offers one or more courses in health education to pupils in middle school or high school to include in those courses instruction in mental health that meets the requirements of the bill, as specified. The bill would require that instruction to include, among other things, reasonably designed instruction on the overarching themes and core principles of mental health. The bill would require that instruction and related materials to, among other things, be appropriate for use with pupils of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds, pupils with disabilities, and English learners. The bill would require the State Department of Education to develop a plan to expand mental health instruction in California public schools on or before January 1, 2024.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Social Services in the Health and Welfare Agency and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the administration of various programs relating to public social services. This bill would enact the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act, or the C.R.I.S.E.S. Act, for purposes of creating, implementing, and evaluating the C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program, which the act would establish. The bill would require the department to administer the program if appropriate funding is made available to the department. The bill would require the department to award grants to qualified grantees, which include city, county, and tribal departments of social services, disability services, health services, public health, or behavioral health, based on grant eligibility criteria developed in partnership with a stakeholder workgroup. This bill would require each grantee to receive a minimum award of $250,000 per year under the program. The bill would require a grantee to award at least 90% of grant funds received to one or more qualifying community-based organizations, as defined. The bill would require funds awarded under the program to be utilized to create and strengthen community-based alternatives to law enforcement to lessen the reliance on law enforcement agencies as first responders to crisis situations unrelated to a fire department or emergency medical service response. This bill would require a grantee to report at least annually to the department on the use of funding awarded under the program. The bill would require the department to convene a stakeholder workgroup consisting of specified individuals to make recommendations to the department regarding the implementation of the program, as specified. This bill would establish the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Program Fund within the State Treasury, and would provide that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the moneys may be expended by the department for purposes of the program. The bill would prohibit the department from expending more than 5% of appropriated funds on administrative costs, as specified. The bill would require the department to award all grants by January 1, 2023. This bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of the program without taking regulatory action, as specified. The bill would grant immunity to the state from liability resulting from the activities of a grantee or community-based organization under the program. This bill would repeal these provisions on June 30, 2026.
(1) Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to determine the form of all licenses, permits, tags, reservations, and other entitlements issued pursuant to the Fish and Game Code and the method of carrying and displaying all licenses, except for those programs where the Department of Fish and Wildlife has fee-setting authority, in which case the department retains that authority. Existing law requires all licenses and tags to be exhibited upon demand to any person authorized by the department to enforce any law relating to the protection and conservation of fish. This bill would authorize the department, on or before January 1, 2023, to provide an option to display a sport fishing license, validation, report card, or other sport fishing entitlement issued pursuant to the Fish and Game Code or regulations adopted pursuant to this code electronically on a mobile device, except as provided. The bill would provide that a person who displays a sport fishing entitlement electronically on a mobile device in accordance with this provision shall be deemed to be in compliance with any requirement to possess or affix the entitlement. (2) Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose, with specified exceptions, and to have that license on their person or in their immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law governs the issuance of calendar year and short-term sport fishing licenses, including the fees for those licenses. Under existing law, a calendar year license expires at the end of the calendar year, regardless of when issued. Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to adjust the amount of the fees for sport fishing licenses, as prescribed, to fully recover, but not exceed, all reasonable administrative and implementation costs of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the commission relating to those licenses. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, authorize the Director of Fish and Wildlife to allow 12-consecutive-month sport fishing licenses to be issued in addition to certain calendar year licenses. The bill would require the director to provide the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2025, recommendations for increasing fees for all sport fishing licenses to levels that provide adequate resources to fund sport fishing, including all necessary supporting activities, at the department. The bill would require the director, on or before July 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating all sport fishing licenses, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue a reduced fee sport fishing license to specified applicants, including a resident of the state over 65 years of age if the person's total monthly income from all sources does not exceed a specified amount. This bill would instead make a resident over 65 years of age eligible for a reduced fee sport fishing license if the person receives benefits from specified state programs.
(1) Existing law prohibits the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Trustees of the California State University, and, if they adopt an appropriate resolution, the Regents of the University of California from collecting mandatory systemwide tuition and fees from any surviving spouse or surviving child of a deceased person who was a resident of the state and employed by or contracting with a public agency whose principal duties consisted of active law enforcement service or active fire suppression and prevention, and who died as a result of their duties, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the Trustees of the California State University, and, if they adopt an appropriate resolution, the Regents of the University of California from collecting mandatory systemwide tuition and fees from any qualifying surviving spouse or surviving child of a deceased person who was a resident of this state, who was a licensed physician or a licensed nurse employed by or under contract with a health facility regulated and licensed by the State Department of Public Health to provide medical services or a first responder, as specified, and who died of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency in California. The bill would also make conforming changes to related code sections. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 76300 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1456 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1456 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (3) 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.