Asm. Tom Lackey

Existing law allows a person who was arrested or convicted of a nonviolent offense while they were a victim of human trafficking to petition the court for vacatur relief. Existing law requires the petitioner to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the arrest and conviction was the direct result of being a victim of human trafficking. This bill would prohibit a court from refusing to hear the petition on the basis of the petitioner's outstanding fines and fees or the petitioners's failure to meet the conditions of probation. With the exception of restitution, the bill would require that the collection of fines imposed as a result of a nonviolent offense that is the subject of the petition be stayed while the petition is pending.

This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

Existing law allows a person who was arrested or convicted of a nonviolent offense while they were a victim of human trafficking to petition the court for vacatur relief. Existing law requires the petitioner to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the arrest and conviction was the direct result of being a victim of human trafficking. Existing law requires that a petition be made and heard within a reasonable time after the person has ceased to be a victim of human trafficking, or within a reasonable time after the petitioner has sought services, whichever is later. Existing law allows a petitioner, or the petitioner's attorney, to be excused from appearing in person at a hearing on the petition only if the court finds a compelling reason why the petitioner cannot attend, in which case existing law allows the petitioner to appear by electronic means. This bill would allow the petitioner to appear at all hearings on the petition by counsel if the petition is unopposed. The bill would allow a petition to be made and heard at any time after the person has ceased to be a victim of human trafficking, or at any time after the petitioner has sought services for being a victim of human trafficking. The bill would specify that the right to petition for relief pursuant to these provisions do not expire with the passage of time.

Existing law makes the State Department of Health Care Services the sole authority in state government to license adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities and prohibits a person, firm, corporation, or other specified entity from operating that type of facility without a valid license. Existing law also prohibits specified persons, programs, or entities from giving or receiving remuneration or anything of value for the referral of a person who is seeking alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment services. Existing law authorizes the department to investigate allegations of violations of that prohibition and to impose sanctions for a violation, including assessing a penalty upon, or suspending or revoking the license or certification of, a facility. This bill would enact Brandon's Law, which would prohibit an operator of a licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility or a certified alcohol or other drug program from engaging in various acts, including making a false or misleading statement about the entity's products, goods, services, or geographical locations. The bill would also prohibit a picture, description, staff information, or the location of an entity from being included on an internet website along with false contact information that surreptitiously directs the reader to a business that does not have a contract with the entity. The bill would authorize the department to investigate allegations of a violation of these provisions and, upon finding a violation, to impose the sanctions available pursuant to existing law, as specified.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act 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 as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to administer various programs, including grant programs, relating to forest health and wildfire protection. Existing law states that a specified amount is to be annually appropriated, through the 2023–24 fiscal year, from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the department in the annual Budget Act for specified healthy forest and fire prevention programs and projects. Under existing law, the 2019–20 annual Budget Act appropriated $165,000,000 to the department, with at least $5,000,000 to be made available to the California Conservation Corps, as specified. This bill would appropriate $330,000,000 for the 2020–21 fiscal year from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, as specified, to the department for specified healthy forest and fire prevention programs and projects that improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by uncontrolled wildfires, with not less than $10,000,000 for the California Conservation Corps' fire prevention projects and activities in, or adjacent to, the state responsibility areas.

Existing law makes the sharing of intimate images of another person, as specified, that were intended to remain private, and that result in the serious emotional distress of the person depicted, a misdemeanor. This bill would make the sharing of those images a felony and require the offender to register as a sex offender. The bill would make the threat to distribute intimate images a misdemeanor. The bill would also make it a misdemeanor to distribute an intimate image, as specified, that has been digitally altered to appear to be that of another person, or to distribute an intimate image and deceptively claim that the image is of another person that is not the person actually depicted. Because the bill would change an existing misdemeanor to a felony and create new crimes, it 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 a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Under the ABC test, 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. 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 the ABC test described above. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously established in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. This bill would, until January 1, 2021, prohibit the application of the ABC test to determine the liability of a hiring entity for damages, injunctive relief, or civil penalties based upon the classification of workers as independent contractors, and instead would require that employer liability to be based upon the multifactor test set forth in the case of Borello. The bill would provide that its provisions apply retroactively, as specified.

Existing law provides that a child may be adjudged to be a dependent of the juvenile court because of abuse or neglect, and that after this determination, the court is required to hear evidence on the question of the proper disposition to be made of the child. Existing law requires that before determining the appropriate disposition, the court receive in evidence, among other things, the social study of the child made by the social worker and evaluation made by a child advocate appointed by the court. Existing law further prescribes the information that is required to be included in that social study or evaluation, including the appropriateness of any relative placement. Existing law gives preferential consideration to a request by a relative of a dependent child for placement of the child with the relative, and requires the county social worker and the court to consider certain factors in determining whether placement with a relative is appropriate, including, among others, the best interest of the child and the safety of the relative's home. Existing law prohibits the consideration and investigation of a relative placement from being good cause for continuance of the dispositional hearing. Existing law defines relative for these purposes to mean an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the 5th degree of kinship, among others. This bill would, among other things, extend the definition of relative to include caregivers of minor siblings who are in a permanent plan of adoption, legal guardianship, or placement with a fit and willing relative, and would delete that provision prohibiting the consideration and investigation of a relative placement from being a cause for continuance of the dispositional hearing. The bill would also require, if a relative or any party requests a hearing regarding a request for relative placement, the court to set a hearing within 15 court days from the request for a hearing. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2021, the Judicial Council to develop and implement standards, and develop and adopt appropriate forms, necessary to implement that provision. To the extent that the bill imposes new requirements on county officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature for siblings to be placed in foster care together, unless it has been determined that placement together is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling, and requires the responsible local agency to make a diligent effort in all out-of-home placements of dependent children and wards in foster care, including those with relatives, to place siblings together in the same placement, and to develop and maintain sibling relationships. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process, and directs counties and foster family agencies to approve resource families in lieu of licensing and certifying foster homes. Existing law requires the department to adopt standards pertaining to the home environment assessment, including a requirement that the total number of children residing in the home of a resource family shall be no more than the total number of children the resource family can properly care for, and not to exceed 6 children, unless exceptional circumstances exist to permit a resource family to care for more children, including the need to place siblings together. This bill would provide that the size and space of the placement home shall not be the sole reason to find that placement of siblings together is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that siblings should be placed together regardless of the size and space of the placement home, and would require the department, on or before July 1, 2021, to update the written directives and any other regulation that administers the approval of a resource family home or foster family home to reflect this intent. The bill would also require that a resource family be determined to have the size and space to care for more than the number of children described above when necessary to place siblings together. 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.

Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is responsible for providing various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. Under existing law, the department contracts with regional centers to provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the department to ensure that regional center staffing patterns demonstrate that direct service coordination is the highest priority, and requires a regional center contract to include specified staffing levels and expertise, including criminal justice and special education expertise. This bill would, by December 31, 2021, require a contract between the department and a regional center to require the regional center to have, or contract for, a full-time dental coordinator, or equivalent thereof, to serve consumers. The bill would require the department to establish uniform expectations and performance outcomes for the dental-coordinator position, and to fund this position at each regional center.

The Compassionate Use Act of 1996, an initiative measure enacted by the approval of Proposition 215 at the November 5, 1996, statewide general election, prohibits specified criminal penalties from being imposed on a patient or a patient's primary caregiver who possesses or cultivates cannabis for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes. The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, among other things, provides an exemption from those taxes for retail sales of certain medicinal cannabis and medical cannabis products when a qualified patient or primary caregiver for a qualified patient provides a specified medicinal cannabis identification card and a valid state government-issued identification card. This bill, on or after January 1, 2021, would provide an exemption from those taxes for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, medicinal cannabis or medicinal cannabis product purchased by a qualified patient or a primary caregiver of a qualified patient if that qualified patient or primary caregiver provides a valid physician's recommendation and a valid state government-issued identification card for that qualified patient. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. Existing law requires a bill that would authorize a new tax expenditure under the Sales and Use Tax Law to identify specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, and detailed performance indicators and data collection requirements for determining whether the tax expenditure achieves these goals, purposes, and objectives. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that will comply with those new tax expenditure requirements. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.