(1) Existing law requires each state agency that significantly regulates or impacts small business to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison for the agency. Existing law requires the small business liaison to be responsible for, among other things, receiving and responding to complaints received by the agency from small businesses and assisting in ensuring that the procurement and contracting processes of the entity are administered in order to meet or exceed the goal of 25% small business participation. This bill would also require the small business liaison to develop an "economic equity first" action plan and policy for the agency to provide, among other things, direction, recommendations, and strategies as to how to ensure that small businesses, as specified, are effectively involved and benefiting from the agency's procurement process. The bill would require the action plan and policy to be adopted by January 1, 2024. The bill would require the action plan to include, as part of a general outreach effort to all small businesses, education, outreach, and stakeholder engagement with representative business organizations and business enterprises owned by women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, and prescribes the duties and functions of the Small Business Advocate, who is also the Director of the Office of Small Business Advocate. Existing law requires the advocate to prepare and submit a written annual report to the Governor and the Legislature that describes the activities and recommendations of the office, including an evaluation of the efforts of state agencies and, where appropriate, specific departments, that significantly regulate small businesses to assist minority and other small business enterprises, and make appropriate recommendations to assist the development of these enterprises. This bill would require the annual report to also include details regarding the office's activities to support procurement participation by small businesses, microbusinesses, disabled veteran business enterprises, and businesses owned by women, minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community that also qualify as a small business, microbusiness, or disabled veteran business enterprise, as well as compliance and implementation of specified action plans and policies by state agency liaisons and advocates. The bill would require each state agency to provide information regarding its activities to the advocate upon request. Existing law requires the advocate to post certain information on the GO-Biz or the advocate's internet website, including how to receive assistance in certifying as a small business and identifying and participating in state procurement opportunities. This bill would require the above-described information, and also information in receiving assistance in certifying as a disabled veteran business enterprise, to be easily accessible from the homepage of the Go-Biz internet website. (3) Existing law, the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act, declares that it is essential that opportunity is provided for full participation in our free enterprise system by small business enterprises. This bill would also declare that the state economy is strengthened by the diversity and resiliency of its small businesses and that it is essential to ensure all small businesses are able to fully participate in the domestic and global markets, including businesses owned by women and other specified groups. Existing law requires the Director of General Services and the heads of other state agencies that enter into contracts for the acquisition of goods, services, and information technology and for the construction of state facilities to establish goals for the participation of small businesses and microbusinesses in these contracts, to provide for a small business preference in the award of these contracts, to give special consideration and special assistance to small businesses, and, whenever possible, to make awards to small businesses, as specified. This bill would instead require those directors to establish a minimum goal of 25% procurement participation for small businesses, including microbusinesses. Existing law, requires the department to make rules and regulations for the purpose of administering these provisions. This bill would require the department to consider appropriate remedial actions to be taken in regards to mandatory reporting agencies that failed in 3 out of 5 years to meet their small business or disabled veteran business enterprise goals. The bill would require the department to set forth the department's actions in its consolidated annual report. This bill would require the department to contract for a statewide procurement and contracting disparity study, in order to guide outreach strategies, state government program development, and improvements to contracting policies. The bill would require the department to post the report, with prescribed content, to its internet website on or before January 1, 2025. (4) Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services within the department and charges it with specified duties, including making recommendations to the department and other state agencies for simplification of specifications and terms in order to increase the opportunities for small business, microbusiness, and disabled veteran business enterprise participation. This bill would include, with those recommendations, simplification of specifications and terms in order to increase opportunities for minority-owned business, women-owned business, and LGBTQ-owned business. The bill would add duties for the office of marketing the benefits and availability of state small business certification to businesses that currently hold a federal certification as a disadvantaged business enterprise and making available the option for an applicant or certified firm to voluntarily identify that the business is at least 51% owned by, and whose management and daily operations are controlled by, individuals who identify as one of specified categories. This bill would require the department to make available the option for an applicant or certified firm to voluntarily identify that the business is at least 51% owned by, and whose management and daily operations are controlled by, individuals who identify as one of specified categories. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. This bill would state that its provisions are severable. (5) 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, 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 creates the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and prescribes its composition, duties, and powers. Existing law authorizes the board to hold hearings and conduct investigations and requires that certain procedures be the exclusive method of redressing unfair labor practices. Under existing law, any person who willfully resists, prevents, or interferes with a member of the board or its agents or agencies in the performance of their duties is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law requires the 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 election by secret ballot process as a polling place election. The bill would establish alternative procedures to the polling place election and authorize a labor organization to be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit through either a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election, as prescribed, dependent on whether an employer enrolls and agrees to a labor peace election for labor organization representation campaigns. The bill would provide that a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election permits a bargaining unit to summarily select a labor organization as its representative for collective bargaining purposes without using the existing polling place process. Under the bill, a labor peace election would be a mail ballot election and a non-labor peace election would establish a process for the submission of a petition with proof of majority support, subject to certification by the board. Among other provisions, the bill would require for both alternative procedures that an employer respond to the board with regard to a petition, including providing a specified list of employees to the board. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would establish a schedule for agricultural employers to indicate to the board whether they agree to a labor peace compact, defined to mean an agreement by the employer to, among other things, make no statements for or against union representation to its employees or publicly, in any written or oral form, at any time during employee hire, rehire, or orientation, or after certain documents regarding organization are filed with the board. The bill would prohibit a labor peace compact from prohibiting an employer from communicating truthful statements to employees regarding workplace policies or benefits, as specified. The bill would require the board to develop an online web-based labor peace election process that will allow employers to indicate their labor peace choice online, and that will allow labor organizations to see whether a specific agricultural employer has agreed to a labor peace election campaign. This bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2028. This bill would prescribe civil penalties to be imposed upon an agricultural employer who commits an unfair labor practice in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each violation, and would increase that sum to an amount not to exceed $25,000 for specified violations. The bill would require the board to consider specified factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also authorize the board to impose personal liability for these penalties upon a director or officer of an employer in certain circumstances. 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. 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.
(1) Existing law authorizes the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and requires that they be made in accordance with regulations of the Director of Employment Development. Existing law generally requires the Employment Development Department to promptly pay benefits if claimants are eligible or to promptly deny benefits if they are ineligible. Existing law prohibits payment of unemployment compensation benefits for services performed by a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States, unless that person is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed, as specified. This bill would establish, until January 1, 2026, the Excluded Workers Pilot Program, to be administered by the Employment Development Department upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of providing income assistance to excluded workers who are ineligible for the existing state or federal benefits administered by the department and who are unemployed. The bill would make individuals eligible to receive $300 per week for each week of unemployment, if the Director of Employment Development makes certain findings, as defined and specified. The bill would require the department to promulgate regulations to implement the program, including regulations providing for an application process, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from requesting or compelling certain information from individuals in connection with administering the program and would prohibit the department from retaining specified documents for longer than necessary to administer benefits. The bill would also prohibit, except as specified, disclosures of personal information, as defined. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2025, to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature that makes recommendations for establishing a permanent unemployment insurance benefit program for workers excluded from the unemployment insurance system based on their immigration status, as specified. (2) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality and prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the federal national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program established by the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Existing law requires each regional board to formulate and adopt water quality control plans for all areas within the region, as provided. Existing law authorizes the state board to require a person submitting a report to the state board, a regional board, or a local agency to submit the report in electronic format. This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2025, the state board to update its stormwater data collection systems and software through specified actions. The bill would require the state board, after making the necessary findings, to establish a statewide commercial, industrial, and institutional NPDES order regulating stormwater and authorized nonstormwater discharges from facilities with impervious surfaces that are significant contributors of pollutants to federally protected surface waters, as determined by the state board. The bill would require the state board to publish a draft order of the statewide order for public comment on or before December 31, 2026, or 18 months after the reissuance of a specified statewide permit, as specified. The bill would require the state board to contemporaneously develop a model memorandum of understanding to issue with the publication of the draft statewide order for public comments that details the necessary components of an agreement between commercial, industrial, and institutional permittees and local municipalities for achieving offsite stormwater capture and use within the adopted final statewide commercial, industrial, and institutional NPDES order. The bill would require the NPDES order to include multiple options to achieve compliance with water quality standards, including, but not limited to, compliance options incentivizing onsite or offsite stormwater capture and use. The bill would make the operation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute. Existing law required the state board, no later than July 1, 2009, to develop a comprehensive guidance document for evaluating and measuring the effectiveness of municipal stormwater management programs and permits, as prescribed. Existing law requires the state board and regional boards to refer to the guidance document when establishing requirements in municipal stormwater programs and permits. This bill would require, on or before January 31, 2025, the state board to initiate a series of board workshops to evaluate the California stormwater program and the state's progress toward attainment of beneficial uses and compliance with water quality standards as they pertain to permits issued pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act. The bill would require, on or before December 31, 2026, and after holding public workshops and soliciting public comments, the state board to develop and submit to the Legislature a report, as prescribed, evaluating the state's progress toward, and recommendations to achieve, attainment of beneficial uses and compliance with water quality standards as they pertain to permits issued pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. The bill would require the report to include recommendations for the state board, regional boards, other relevant state agencies, and the Legislature to act upon to ensure permitting of stormwater discharges protects and supports attainment of beneficial uses and results in compliance with water quality objectives.
Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase an agricultural product grown in California when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Existing law also requires the institutions, when they solicit or intend to accept a bid or price for agricultural products grown outside the state, to accept the bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products in the state before accepting a bid or price from a vendor that packs or processes these agricultural products outside of the state when specified conditions are met, including that the bid or price of the agricultural product grown outside the state and packed or processed in the state does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest bid or price for the agricultural product packed or processed outside the state. Existing law requires a school district that solicits bids for the purchase of an agricultural product to accept a bid or price for that agricultural product when it is grown in California before accepting a bid or price for an agricultural product that is grown outside the state when the bid or price of the California-grown agricultural product does not exceed the lowest bid or price for an agricultural product produced outside the state and the quality of the California-grown agricultural product is comparable. Under existing law, these provisions only apply to a contract to purchase agricultural products for a value that is less than the value of the threshold for supplies and services for which California has obligated itself under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization. This bill would revise and recast these provisions. The bill would instead require a California state-owned or state-run institution that purchases agricultural food products, as defined, to implement necessary practices to achieve a goal of ensuring that at least 60% of the agricultural food products that it purchases in a calendar year are grown or produced in the state by December 31, 2025. The bill would provide that this goal does not apply to local educational agencies and the segments of public postsecondary education. The bill would change the above-described requirement for school districts to apply to the purchase of a domestic agricultural food product that is grown outside the state, instead of an agricultural product that is grown outside of the state, and would expand the application of this requirement from school districts to local educational agencies. The bill would eliminate the above-described preference for in-state vendors. The bill would provide that the bill's provisions neither limit nor expand California's obligations under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization. By creating new duties for local educational 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 California Suicide Prevention Act of 2000, allows the State Department of Health Care Services, contingent upon appropriation, to establish and implement a suicide prevention, education, and gatekeeper training program to reduce the severity, duration, and incidence of suicidal behaviors. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to establish the Office of Suicide Prevention to, among other things, convene experts and stakeholders, including, but not limited to, stakeholders representing populations with high rates of suicide, to encourage collaboration and coordination of resources for suicide prevention. This bill would require the department to establish an Ending Military and Veteran Suicide Task Force within the Office of Suicide Prevention to systematically reduce military and veteran suicides and to develop a plan to eliminate all military and veteran suicides in the state, as specified. Commencing June 1, 2025, the bill would require the task force to submit a specified report to the Governor and the Legislature on the state of veteran suicide prevention, as specified, including, among other things, an analysis of the plans, activities, strategies, and programs undertaken pursuant to the task force's recommendations and their effects on reducing military and veteran suicides in the state.
Existing law establishes the Department of Technology within the Government Operations Agency, which is supervised by the Director of Technology. Existing law charges the director and the department with various duties in creating and managing the information technology policy of the state. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2024, in consultation with the public, the Public Utilities Commission, and the California Broadband Council, to develop a state digital equity plan. The bill would require the plan to include, among other things, the identification of barriers to digital equity faced by specified populations, including, among other barriers, the availability and affordability of access to fixed and wireless broadband technology. The bill would additionally require the plan to include measurable objectives for documenting and promoting digital equity among those populations and an assessment of existing digital navigator programs, as specified. The bill would require the department, to the extent practicable, to obtain all available federal funding for purposes of developing and implementing the plan.
The California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 has a purpose of, among other things, promoting the use of urban forest resources for purposes of increasing integrated projects with multiple benefits in urban communities. The act requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to implement a program in urban forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban areas to increase integrated, multiple-benefit projects by assisting urban areas with innovative solutions to problems, as provided. The act authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to make grants to provide assistance of 25% to 90% of costs for projects, as provided. This bill would require funds allocated to the department for the explicit purposes of supporting school greening, as defined, to be administered to provide grants to eligible local educational agencies, as defined, nonprofit organizations, cities, counties, and districts, including special districts, through a competitive grant process, as provided. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2023, the department to develop the competitive grant process, including guidelines and selection criteria. The bill would require the department, before developing the grant process, to hold at least 2 public hearings to gather public input on the grant process development. The bill would, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, require funding for these purposes to be transferred to the School Greening and Resiliency Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury.
Existing law establishes the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury to help water systems provide an adequate and affordable supply of safe drinking water in both the near and long terms. Existing law continuously appropriates to the State Water Resources Control Board moneys deposited in the fund for the development, implementation, and sustainability of long-term drinking water solutions, among other things. Existing law requires the state board to expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible recipients. Existing law includes within the list of "eligible recipients," public agencies, nonprofit organizations, public utilities, mutual water companies, federally recognized California Native American tribes, specified nonfederally recognized Native American tribes, administrators, groundwater sustainability agencies, community water systems, and technical assistance providers. This bill would specify that any waiver of tribal sovereignty that is required by the state board for a tribe that is an eligible recipient to access funding from the fund shall be narrowly drafted to serve both the individual needs of the tribe and make the funding agreement enforceable. The bill would require the state board to include its designated tribal liaison, as defined, in all discussions with eligible recipients, except as specified. The bill would require the state board to consider the extent that funds for safe drinking water projects from the programs administered by the state board are distributed to eligible recipients to provide assistance to federally recognized California Native American tribes or specified nonfederally recognized Native American tribes and make diligent efforts to ensure the distribution of funds to those tribes. The bill would require the state board to expend those funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist those tribes. The bill would require the state board to post on its internet website, and update annually, the number of inquiries for funding received from tribes, the number of applications for funding received from tribes, and the total amount of funding granted to tribes each year.
Existing law, the Municipal Water District Law of 1911, provides for the formation of municipal water districts and grants to those districts specified powers. Existing law permits a district to acquire, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat, purify, recycle, recapture, and salvage any water for the beneficial use of the district, its inhabitants, or the owners of rights to water in the district. Existing law, upon the request of certain Indian tribes and the satisfaction of certain conditions, requires a district to provide service of water at substantially the same terms applicable to the customers of the district to the Indian tribe's lands that are not within a district, as prescribed. Existing law also authorizes a district, until January 1, 2023, under specified circumstances, to apply to the applicable local agency formation commission to provide this service of water to Indian lands, as defined, that are not within the district and requires the local agency formation commission to approve such an application. This bill, among other things, would extend the above provisions regarding the application to the applicable local agency formation commission to January 1, 2027. By imposing new duties on local officials, the bill would create 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.