Asm. Cecilia Aguiar-Curry

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. Existing law declares it to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. Existing law requires the state board, by January 1, 2018, to develop a plan for the funding and implementation of the Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program, as prescribed. Existing law requires the state board, by February 1, 2018, to report to the Legislature on its findings regarding the feasibility, financial stability, and desired structure of the program, including any recommendations for legislative action that may need to be taken. This bill would establish the Water Rate Assistance Fund in the State Treasury to help provide water affordability assistance, for both drinking water and wastewater services, to low-income residential ratepayers. The bill would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the state board to provide, in consultation with relevant agencies, direct water bill assistance to low-income residential ratepayers served by eligible systems, as defined, and would require 80% of total expenditures from the fund to be directly applied to residential ratepayer accounts. The bill would require the state board, to the extent feasible, cost effective, and permitted under the California Constitution, to identify and contract with one or more third-party providers. The bill would impose requirements on the state board in connection with the program, including, among others, within 270 days of the effective date, as defined, adopting guidelines in consultation with relevant agencies and an advisory group for implementation of the program and preparing a report to be posted on state board's internet website identifying how the fund has performed. The bill would require the guidelines to include minimum requirements for eligible systems, including the ability to confirm eligibility for enrollment through a request for self-certification of eligibility under penalty of perjury. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require, within 365 days of the effective date, the Public Utilities Commission to establish a mechanism for electrical corporations and gas corporations to, and would authorize the state board or third-party providers to enter into agreements with local publicly owned electric utilities and local publicly owned gas utilities to, regularly share specified customer data with the state board or third-party providers, subject to certain protections. The bill would require the state board to, among other things, coordinate with the commission to align criteria between all existing water rate assistance programs offered by investor-owned utilities and to ensure timely processing of payments to investor-owned utilities. The bill would make the operation of these provisions contingent on an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes. 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 that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, determined by the Director of Industrial Relations, be paid to workers employed on public works projects. Existing law defines the term "public works" for purposes of requirements regarding the payment of prevailing wages to include construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for using public funds, except as specified. Existing law makes a willful violation of laws relating to the payment of prevailing wages on public works a misdemeanor. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2024, expand the definition of "public works" to include fuel reduction work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds performed as part of a fire mitigation project, as specified. The bill would limit those provisions to work that falls within an apprenticable occupation in the building and construction trades for which an apprenticeship program has been approved and to contracts in excess of $100,000. The bill would delay the application of those provisions until January 1, 2025, for nonprofits. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1720 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 1886 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1886 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.

(1) Existing law requires the Governor to create a California Interagency Council on Homelessness for specified purposes, including to create partnerships among various entities, like participants in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program, and to identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would enact the HELP (Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations) Act. The bill would require cities, counties, and continuums of care receiving state funding to address homelessness, on or after January 1, 2024, to include families, people fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, and unaccompanied women within the vulnerable populations for whom specific system supports are developed to maintain homeless services and housing delivery. The bill would also impose other homelessness planning and data analysis requirements on these cities, counties, and continuums of care. The bill would prohibit victim service providers, as defined, from being required or expected to enter client-level data into specified homeless data systems and would permit any funding provided to cities, counties, and continuums of care, consistent with authorized program uses and limitations, to be used to support the development and the maintenance of comparable databases, as specified. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women in California, as described. The bill would require initial goals to be established by January 1, 2025, and those goals to be evaluated at least every 2 years to determine whether updated goals are needed. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. (2) 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 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses. The act prescribes various requirements and prohibitions with regard to labeling alcoholic beverages and, with regard to wine, prescribes labeling requirements relating to the area of origin of the grapes used to produce the wine. Existing law generally provides that a violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act for which another punishment is not otherwise provided is a misdemeanor. This bill would prescribe labeling requirements for agave spirits produced entirely in California. By broadening the definition of a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law establishes an address confidentiality program, commonly known as the Safe at Home program, for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or elder or dependent adult abuse, under which an adult person, or a guardian on behalf of a minor or an incapacitated person, states that they are such a victim, and designates the Secretary of State as the agent for service of process and receipt of mail. Under existing law, when the Secretary of State certifies the person as a program participant, the person's actual address is confidential. Existing law relating to civil procedure requires written notice and establishes deadlines for serving and filing moving and supporting papers for prescribed motions and for serving notices and other papers, if served by mail. Existing law extends the period of notice in certain circumstances based on the location of the place of mailing or the place of address, or both. This bill would extend those periods by 12 calendar days if the place of address is the address confidentiality program. Under existing law relating to summary proceedings, a plaintiff that wishes to bring an action to obtain possession of real property must file a complaint and serve the defendant with a notice of summons, in which case the defendant has 5 days to respond. This bill would give the defendant an additional 5 court days to file a response, if service is completed by mail or in person through the address confidentiality program. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to approve an application for the address confidentiality program if it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the Secretary of State and if it contains specific information, including the name and last known address of the applicant's minor child or children, the name and last known address of the other parent or parents of the minor child or children of the applicant, and all court orders related to the minor child or children of the applicant, and legal counsel of record in those cases. This bill would revise that information requirement to require the name and last known address of the applicant's minor child or children and the name and last known address of the other parent or parents as legally established by prescribed legal methods. The bill would authorize this section to be left blank if no other parent has been established for the applicant's minor child or children. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to terminate a program participant's certification and invalidate their authorization card for specified reasons, including that the program participant no longer resides at the most recent residential address provided to the Secretary of State, and has not provided at least 7 days' prior notice in writing of a change in address, that a service of process document or mail forwarded to the program participant by the Secretary of State is returned as nondeliverable, or that the program participant obtains a legal name change and fails to notify the Secretary of State within 7 days. This bill would extend the 7-day notice requirement for the most recent residential address to 30 days. The bill would require the program, before terminating a program participant's certification due to nondeliverable mail, to attempt to contact the participant by phone and email, if available, to resolve the mail delivery issue. The bill would extend the legal name change notice deadline to 30 days. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse to renew a program participant's certification if the adult program participant or the parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person has abandoned their domicile in this state. This bill, if the program participant or parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person leaves the state during their valid participation term, would prohibit them from being terminated on the grounds of having abandoned their domicile in this state until they have resided outside of this state for a period of more than 60 consecutive days, if relocating to a state with an address confidentiality program. The bill would require, if the program participant or parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person has relocated to a state without an address confidentiality program, that they remain enrolled and mail be forwarded for the remainder of their certification term. Existing law prohibits any person, business, or association from knowingly and intentionally publicly posting or publicly displaying on the internet prescribed personal information or images with the intent to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the person identified in the posting or display, or to a coresident of that person, where the third person is likely to commit this harm, or with the intent to threaten the person identified in the posting or display, or a coresident of that person, in a manner that places the person identified or the coresident in objectively reasonable fear for their personal safety. This bill would expand the prohibition to also apply to other posting or displaying entities and to posts or displays in public spaces other than the internet. The bill, with respect to the intent to threaten, would provide that disclosure alone may be considered a threat, depending on the totality of the circumstances. Existing law prohibits a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet the home address, home telephone number, or image of a participant with the intent to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the person identified in the posting or display, or to a coresident of that person, where the third person is likely to commit this harm, or with the intent to threaten the person identified in the posting or display, or a coresident of that person, in a manner that places the person identified or the coresident in objectively reasonable fear for their personal safety. This bill would expand that prohibition to also apply to other entities and other forums besides the internet. Existing law prohibits a person from posting specified personal information of a participant or participating family members on the internet, with the intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence against the participant or the program participant's family members who are participating in the program. A violation of this prohibition is a misdemeanor, punishable as prescribed. This bill would expand the prohibition to apply to public spaces other than the internet. The bill would expand the prohibited intent to include the use of the information to intimidate the participant or participating family members. By expanding the application of this prohibition, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides that neither existing law nor participation in the program affects custody or visitation orders in effect before or during program participation. Existing law further provides that participation in the program does not constitute evidence of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, human trafficking, or elder or dependent adult abuse for purposes of making custody or visitation orders. This bill would provide that the fact that a participant is registered with the program creates a rebuttable presumption that disclosure of information about the participant's location and activities during the period of the registration, as specified, would lead to the discovery of the participant's actual residential address or physical location, would endanger the safety of the participant, and is not authorized. The bill would authorize this presumption to be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, as prescribed, and would require this presumption to govern civil discovery requests. The bill would prohibit a participant from being required to provide in discovery their residential address or other location information reasonably likely to lead to the discovery of these addresses unless ordered to do so by a court after the other party has rebutted the presumption against disclosure of this information. This bill would prohibit certification as a program participant from being evidence that minor children in the participant's custody are at-risk in the participant's care. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 6206 and 6206.7 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2872 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2872 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.

Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including telephone corporations, and to fix just and reasonable rates and charges for public utilities. Existing law establishes the state's 6 universal service funds in the State Treasury, including the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund and the California High-Cost Fund-B Administrative Committee Fund, and provides that moneys in each of the state's universal service funds are the proceeds of rates and are held in trust for the benefit of ratepayers and to compensate telephone corporations for their costs of providing universal service. Moneys in the funds may only be expended to accomplish specified telecommunications universal service programs, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or upon supplemental appropriation. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, requires the commission to maintain the California High-Cost Fund-A Administrative Committee Fund (the CHCF-A program) to provide universal service rate support to small independent telephone corporations, as defined, in certain amounts in furtherance of the state's universal service commitment to the continued affordability and widespread availability of safe, reliable, high-quality communications services in rural areas of the state. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, requires the commission to develop, implement, and maintain a suitable, competitively neutral, and broad-based program to establish a fair and equitable local rate support structure aided by universal service rate support to telephone corporations serving areas where the cost of providing services exceeds rates charged by providers, as determined by the commission (the CHCF-B program) . This bill would extend the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program requirements to January 1, 2028. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order or direction of the commission is a crime. Because the CHCF-A program and CHCF-B program, that are extended under the provisions of this bill, are within the act and a decision or order of the commission implements the programs' requirements, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the definition of a crime. 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.

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 establishes the Department of Rehabilitation in the California Health and Human Services Agency to provide vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a comprehensive 3-year device reutilization pilot program in the Counties of Contra Costa, Napa, Solano, and Yolo to facilitate the reuse and redistribution of assistive technology, including durable medical equipment. The bill would require the department to contract with one or more nonprofit agencies to oversee the program and would require a contracting nonprofit agency to use a computerized system to track the inventory of equipment and supplies available for reuse and redistribution and organize pickup and delivery of equipment and supplies. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit a report to the appropriate Senate and Assembly policy committees of the Legislature that includes an evaluation of the success of the pilot program and challenges in implementation, among other things. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2030.

Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging in the California Health and Human Services Agency, and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department to administer and implement the Aging and Disability Resource Connection program, in collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation and the State Department of Health Care services. This bill would establish the Dementia Care Navigator Grant Pilot Program, to be administered by the California Department of Aging, in partnership with organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators. The bill would provide that the purpose of the pilot program is to incentivize organizations that provide services to local communities to provide dementia care navigation training services, as defined. The bill would authorize organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators to apply for a grant. The bill would require the department to award grants on a competitive basis. The bill would require an organization that receives a grant pursuant to these provisions to provide to the department an annual report on the services provided on or before December 31 of the year the grant is received, as specified. The bill would make those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027. The bill would also require the department to provide a report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature on or before December 1, 2027. Implementation of these provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation and the provisions would repeal on January 1, 2028. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities, including skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities, by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law requires skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities to have written policies regarding the rights of patients. This bill would add to these rights the right of every resident to receive the information that is material to an individual's informed consent decision concerning whether to accept or refuse the administration of psychotherapeutic drugs, as specified. This bill would also add the right to be free from psychotherapeutic drugs used for the purpose of resident discipline, convenience, or chemical restraint, except in an emergency that threatens to cause immediate injury to the resident or others. This bill would make the prescriber responsible for disclosing the material information relating to psychotherapeutic drugs to the resident and obtaining their informed consent, as defined. The bill would require facility staff to verify that a resident's health record contains a signed, written consent form before initiating treatment with psychotherapeutic drugs. The bill would require the facility, within 6 months after the consent form is signed, and every 6 months thereafter, to provide a written notice to the resident and their representative of any recommended dosage adjustments and the resident's right to revoke consent, as specified. The bill would permit the use of remote technology, including telehealth, to allow a prescriber to examine and obtain informed written consent. The bill would declare the willful or repeated violation of these provisions to be punishable as a misdemeanor. By establishing a new crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health, upon appropriation by the Legislature from the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account, to develop an informed consent form, a model disclosure statement for providing informed consent regarding the use of psychotherapeutic medication, and a model notification statement of the right to withdraw informed consent. The bill would require the informed consent form to be available to skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities by December 31, 2023, and would exempt the skilled nursing facilities from this requirement until the informed consent form is available. This bill would also require the State Department of Public Health to inspect for compliance with the informed consent requirements described above during prescribed inspections. 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.