Asm. Patty López

This measure would urge the United States Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and the Office of Management and Budget to expedite the rulemaking and implementation processes for federal safety regulations governing the transport by rail of flammable and combustible liquids, including crude oil, and would also urge the President and the Congress of the United States to pass specified federal legislation mandating public safety measures regulating the transport by rail of those liquids.

This measure would proclaim August 8, 2016, to August 12, 2016, inclusive, as Concrete Pipe Week.

This measure would proclaim April 12, 2016, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.

This measure would encourage teaching sun safety practices to children to enable them to identify the importance of sun safety, practice strategies to protect against the harmful effects of the sun, and understand why and how to stay safe from overexposure to the sun.

Existing law, the Motion Picture, Television, and Commercial Industries Act of 1984, establishes the California Film Commission within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. Under existing law, the Governor appoints 13 of the 26 members of the commission, with 6 of those appointments based upon specified occupational criteria. Existing law requires the commission to, among other duties, adopt guidelines for a standardized film permit and to administer the qualified motion picture tax credits. This bill would require one of the Governor's appointees to be an independent filmmaker and would also require one of the Governor's appointees to be a member who is an independent commercial producer, or an employee of a trade association representing independent commercial producers. The bill would also require the commission to create on its Internet Web site a navigational link labeled "Independent Films" that contains information explaining the qualified motion picture tax credits available to independent films and highlights the required allocation of 5% of the aggregate amount of the credits to independent films.

Existing law prohibits an employer from refusing to allow a female employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition to take a leave for a reasonable time of up to 4 months before returning to work. Existing law also prohibits an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes that leave, as specified. This bill would prohibit an employer, as defined, from refusing, as specified, to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, and who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child's birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The bill would also prohibit an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes this leave.

This measure would recognize the month of June 2016 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, would recognize June 21, 2016, as The Longest Day in California, and would urge all residents to wear purple on this day to help spread global awareness of the Alzheimer's Association's vision of imagining a world without Alzheimer's disease.

This measure would recognize the year of 2016 as the 50th anniversary of California's community-based developmental services system, and would reaffirm the commitment of the Legislature to support this system. This measure would declare the importance of ensuring a sustainable system that protects the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities.