Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, and requires the department to administer various housing programs throughout the state, including programs that address the needs of homeless individuals and families, and to review local ordinances for the design, development, and operation of homeless shelters in cities and counties that have declared a shelter crisis. Existing law also 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 to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to incorporate the core components of Housing First, an evidence-based model that uses housing as a tool, rather than a reward, for recovery. This bill would declare that it is the policy of the state that every individual has the right to safe, decent, and affordable housing, and would require the policy to consider homelessness prevention, emergency accommodations, and permanent housing, as specified. The bill would, among other things, require all relevant state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the State Department of Social Services, and the Office of Emergency Services to consider that state policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria when those policies, regulations, and criteria are pertinent to advancing the guidelines listed as core components of Housing First. The bill would make these provisions operative on January 1, 2026, and would make implementation of these provisions subject to an appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act for these purposes.
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Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the department, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. FQHC and RHC services are reimbursed, to the extent that federal financial participation is obtained, to providers on a per-visit basis, and a "visit" is defined as a face-to-face encounter between a patient of an FQHC or RHC and specified health care professionals, including dental providers. Existing law prohibits a requirement of in-person contact between a health care provider and a Medi-Cal patient when the service may be provided by telehealth, and, for purposes of telehealth, prohibits the department from limiting the type of setting where Medi-Cal services are provided. Existing law authorizes, to the extent that federal financial participation is available, the use of health care services by store and forward under the Medi-Cal program, subject to billing and reimbursement policies developed by the department, and prohibits a requirement of in-person contact between a health care provider and a Medi-Cal patient when these services are provided by store and forward. This bill would provide that an FQHC or RHC "visit" includes an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and a health care provider using telehealth by synchronous interaction or asynchronous store and forward. The bill would specify that an FQHC or RHC is not precluded from establishing a patient who is located within the FQHC's or RHC's federal designated service area through synchronous interaction or asynchronous store and forward as of the date of service if specified requirements are met. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations, as specified, and to provide a status report to the Legislature on a semiannual basis until those regulations have been adopted. The bill would make these provisions inoperative 180 days after the state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic has been terminated, as specified.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to establish the Office of Suicide Prevention within the department, would require the office to perform specified duties, including providing information and technical assistance to statewide and regional partners regarding best practices on suicide prevention policies and programs and reporting on progress to reduce rates of suicide, and authorize the office to apply for and use federal, state, and foundation grants. The bill would require the office to consult with the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to implement suicide prevention efforts. The bill would require that the duties and responsibilities of the office be accomplished with existing staff and resources. The bill would make these provisions operative subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish specifications for automotive spark-ignition engine fuels, as prescribed. Existing law requires the antiknock index for gasoline and gasoline-oxygenate blends to not be less than 87. Existing law makes a violation of the provisions relating to weights and measures, including fuels and lubricants, a crime. This bill would define "dimethyl ether-propane fuel blend" and require dimethyl ether-propane fuel blends for use as motor vehicle fuel to meet the latest specifications set forth by the ASTM International, and, if no specifications exist, the bill would require the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to establish interim specifications by regulation. The bill would additionally require the antiknock index for dimethyl ether-propane fuels blends to not be less than 87. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires, with certain specified exceptions, every person offering for sale or selling any motor fuel to the public from any place of business to display, as prescribed, on the premises the total prices of the three major grades of motor vehicle fuel offered for sale. This bill would exempt a dimethyl ether-propane fuel blend, as defined, from these requirements. (3) The Use Fuel Tax Law imposes a state excise tax at specified rates, generally $0.18 per gallon, on the use of fuel, as defined. The Use Fuel Tax imposes a state excise tax upon liquefied petroleum gas at the rate of $0.06 per gallon. The Use Fuel Tax Law provides that the owner or operator, except an interstate user, of a vehicle propelled by a system using liquefied petroleum gas, liquid natural gas, or compressed natural gas may pay the fuel tax for the use of those fuels by paying an annual flat rate fuel tax according to a prescribed schedule. Existing law makes a violation of the Use Fuel Tax Law a crime. This bill would, on or after July 1, 2021, set the state excise tax under the Use Fuel Tax Law upon a dimethyl ether-liquefied petroleum gas fuel blend and upon dimethyl ether at the rate of $0.06 for each gallon used. Commencing July 1, 2021, the bill would add dimethyl ether and a dimethyl ether-liquefied petroleum gas fuel blend to the categories of fuels for which an owner or operator may pay an annual flat rate fuel tax in lieu of the per gallon fuel tax. The bill would exempt from excise taxes under the Use Fuel Tax Law the use of dimethyl ether and a dimethyl ether-liquefied petroleum gas fuel blend in a vehicle during any period of time for which the owner or operator of the vehicle has instead paid the applicable annual flat rate fuel tax. The bill would also provide that to the extent that an owner or operator has provided written representation to a fuel seller that the owner or operator has prepaid the annual flat rate fuel tax for dimethyl ether or for a dimethyl ether-liquefied petroleum gas fuel blend, the owner or operator shall be solely responsible for paying the applicable fuel taxes under the Use Fuel Tax Law, and the fuel seller shall not be liable for collecting and remitting those taxes. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, 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.
This measure would designate a specified portion of State Route 50 in the County of El Dorado as the Deputy Sheriff Brian "Ish" Ishmael Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.
Existing law authorizes a court to allow a defendant sentenced to county jail for a felony to withdraw their plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty, after the lapse of one or 2 years following the defendant's completion of the sentence, provided that the defendant is not under supervision, and is not serving a sentence for, on probation for, or charged with the commission of any offense. Existing law requires the defendant to be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which the defendant was convicted, except as specified. This bill would allow a defendant who successfully participated in the California Conservation Camp Program or a county incarcerated individual hand crew as an incarcerated individual hand crew member, and has been released from custody, to petition to withdraw their plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty. The bill would make persons convicted of specified violent felonies and sex offenses ineligible for relief. The bill would allow the court, if the defendant is eligible for relief, to dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant at the court's discretion and in the interest of justice and would release the defendant from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense, except as provided. In granting this relief, the bill would require the court to order the early termination of probation, parole, or supervised release if the court determines that the defendant has not violated any of the terms or conditions of their release during the pendency of the petition.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue special license plates or distinguishing placards to disabled veterans for purposes of certain parking privileges. In issuing a special license plate or placard to a disabled veteran, existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to accept as proof of disability a certificate from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs certifying that the applicant is a disabled veteran. This bill would additionally require the Department of Motor Vehicles to accept a certificate from a county veterans service officer or the Department of Veterans Affairs that certifies that the applicant for a special license plate or placard is a disabled veteran.
Existing law expresses the policy of the state to recognize the training and experience that individuals gain while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to develop policies to assist persons who are leaving active duty to obtain commercial driver's licenses, as specified. Existing law prohibits those policies from waiving any requisites, fees, or examinations required by law for a commercial driver's license. This bill would remove the requirement that the policies not waive any fees. Existing federal regulations require a person to pass a knowledge and driving skills test before being issued a commercial driver's license. Existing federal regulations allow the knowledge test to be administered in a written, verbal, or automated format. Existing federal regulations authorize a state to waive the knowledge test and waive the driving skills test, as specified, for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. Existing federal regulations also require a person to pass a specialized knowledge test for a hazardous materials endorsement on a commercial driver's license or a tank vehicle endorsement on a commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit. Existing federal regulations require a person to pass a specialized knowledge test and a skills test for a passenger endorsement on a commercial driver's license or commercial learner's permit. Existing federal regulations authorize a state to waive these tests, as specified, for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. Existing state law requires a person to pass a written test and driving skills test before being issued a commercial driver's license. Existing state law authorizes a waiver of the driving skills test for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. This bill would bring state law into alignment with current federal regulations by requiring a person to pass a knowledge test instead of a written test before being issued a commercial driver's license, by authorizing a waiver of both the knowledge test and the driving skills test for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces, and to waive the testing requirements, as specified, for a hazardous materials, tank vehicle, or passenger endorsement for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet certain specified requirements related to their experience operating a commercial vehicle in the Armed Forces. The bill would make other nonsubstantive conforming changes.
This measure would urge each bank with which the State of California has a business relationship to evaluate its commercial relationship with gun manufacturers and to consider the repercussions of that relationship, and urge all banks to discuss their lending practices with their shareholders and to adopt lending practices that mirror the people of California's values of protecting citizens before profit.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission and authorizes the commission to exercise ratemaking and rulemaking authority over all public utilities, as defined, subject to control by the Legislature. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to supervise and regulate every public utility, including electrical corporations, and to do all things that are necessary and convenient in the exercise of that power and jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law authorizes the commission, in a proceeding on an application by an electrical corporation to recover costs and expenses arising from a catastrophic wildfire occurring on or after January 1, 2019, to allow cost recovery if the costs and expenses are just and reasonable, after consideration of the conduct of the utility, including consideration of specified factors. Existing law establishes the Wildfire Fund to pay eligible claims arising from a covered wildfire, as provided. Existing law requires the commission to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider using its existing authority to require certain electrical corporations to collect a nonbypassable charge from its ratepayers to support the Wildfire Fund, and requires the commission to direct those electrical corporations to collect that charge if the commission determines that the imposition of the charge is just and reasonable and that it is an appropriate exercise of its authority, as specified. This bill would enact the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Act of 2020 and would require the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the commission, to adopt an interim expenditure plan and an expenditure plan that are focused on reducing wildfire risk on the ground and in communities through activities such as defensible space implementation, home hardening, improved public safety, including expenditures to add trained emergency medical technicians to the workforce, and other authorized activities, as well as to prepare residents for wildfires through public education and outreach, as provided. The bill would establish the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require moneys in the fund be used for the implementation of those plans. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, upon the adoption of the interim plan, to notify the State Controller of the adoption. The bill would require, within 30 days of the notification, the transfer of $500,000,000 from the Surplus Money Investment Fund to the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund, and would appropriate the money to the Natural Resources Agency for the implementation of the interim expenditure plan. The bill would provide for the repayment of the moneys transferred from the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund to the Surplus Money Investment Fund, as provided. The bill would require the commission to require large electrical corporations, as defined, to collect, on and after a specified time, a nonbypassable charge from their ratepayers, as provided, to finance the bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund, as described below. Existing law, until January 1, 2003, authorizes the Department of Water Resources to enter into contracts for the purchase of electric power. Existing law authorizes the department to sell power to retail end use customers and local publicly owned electric utilities under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes the department to issue revenue bonds and entitles the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds and purchase electric power pursuant to these provisions. Existing law authorizes the department to issue Wildfire Fund bonds on and after either the date on which the department legally defeases all of its remaining bonds under the provisions described above or the date on which it pays those obligations in full at maturity, whichever is earlier, to support the Wildfire Fund. Existing law entitles the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds in support of the Wildfire Fund. Existing law requires those bond proceeds and revenues received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Fund and repayment of the bonds issued in support of the Wildfire Fund. This bill would authorize the department to issue bonds, in an aggregate amount of up to $3,000,000,000, the repayment of which, including interest, commences on the date on which the department has paid in full, at maturity, or legally defeases any outstanding bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Fund or on January 1, 2036, whichever is later, to support the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. The bill would entitle the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds in support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. The bill would require those bond proceeds and revenues received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund and repayment of the bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. 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 certain of the above provisions would be codified in the act and would require action by the commission, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3289 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by SB 350 to be operative only if this bill and SB 350 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.