Asm. Marc Steinorth

This measure would designate the month of January 2018 as Gang Awareness and Prevention Month in the State of California and would encourage cities and constituents across the state to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to prevent future gang activity and honor those who lost their lives due to gang activity.

Existing law generally protects employees who disclose illegal or improper workplace activities by prohibiting interference with, and retaliation for, making such disclosures. Existing law provides procedures for a person to file a complaint alleging violations of legislative ethics. Existing law also authorizes each house of the Legislature to adopt rules for its proceedings and to select committees necessary for the conduct of its business. This bill would impose criminal and civil liability on a Member of the Legislature or legislative employee, as defined, who interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, which is defined as a good faith allegation made by a legislative employee to specified entities that a Member of the Legislature or a legislative employee has engaged in, or will engage in, activity that may constitute a violation of law, including sexual harassment, or a violation of a legislative standard of conduct. The bill would also impose civil liability on an entity that interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, as specified. By creating new crimes, the 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act provides for the creation and regulation of common interest developments. Existing law requires that certain documents be recorded in order to create a common interest development, including a declaration. Existing law provides that a declaration that specifies a termination date, but that contains no provision for extension of the termination date, may be extended by the approval of members, as provided, except that no single extension of the terms of the declaration may exceed the initial term of the declaration or 20 years, whichever is less. Existing law makes related legislative findings. This bill would prohibit a single extension of the terms of the declaration from exceeding the initial term of the declaration or 25 years, whichever is less. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to the legislative findings.

Existing law declares the importance of, and general responsibility for, making housing available and affordable for all Californians. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.

Existing law provides that it is the policy of the state that all minors and nonminors in foster care have specified rights, including, among others, the right to attend school and participate in extracurricular, cultural, and personal enrichment activities, consistent with the child's age and developmental level, with minimal disruptions to school attendance and educational stability. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, on or before March 1, 2018, to convene a workgroup and would require the workgroup to develop an implementation plan for the California Foster Youth Enrichment Grant Program. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2019, upon appropriation by the Legislature and in consideration of the implementation plan, to establish that program in order to provide grants of $500 or less to qualified foster youth to enable the foster youth to participate in activities that enhance the foster youth's skills, abilities, self-esteem, or overall well-being. The bill would specify eligibility criteria for receipt of a grant and the authorized uses of a grant. The bill would require a recipient, within 6 months after receipt of a grant, to submit copies of receipts showing the purchase of the program, product, or service, and payment of any directly related costs purchased with the grant. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2022, to submit a report to the Legislature that addresses, among other things, data on the number of applications received and the number of grants awarded. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2023.

Under existing law, as amended by Proposition 35, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election, a person who causes, induces, or persuades a person who is a minor at the time of the commission of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, as specified, is guilty of human trafficking, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and a fine of not more than $500,000. If the offense involves force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, the crime is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 15 years to life and a fine of not more than $500,000. Proposition 35 provides that it may be amended by a statute in furtherance of its objectives by a majority of the membership of each house of the Legislature concurring. This bill would impose an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison of 3, 4, or 5 years for the above-specified offenses if the victim was less than 16 years of age at the time of the offense. The bill would require the additional term to be served consecutively to the above-specified punishment. By increasing the punishment for a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes solicitation for purposes of prostitution a crime, except as specified. Under existing law, if the person who was solicited was a minor at the time of the offense, and if the defendant knew or should have known that the person who was solicited was a minor at the time of the offense, the violation is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 2 days and not more than one year, or by a fine of $10,000, or by both that imprisonment and fine. This bill would make solicitation for prostitution, if the person who was solicited was a minor at the time of the offense, and if the defendant knew or should have known that the person who was solicited was a minor at the time of the offense, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 6 months and not more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding $15,000, or both that imprisonment and fine, or as a felony subject to incarceration for 2, 3, or 4 years. By increasing the punishment for 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 the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, among other things, sets forth the missions and functions of these 3 segments. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to the costs of public postsecondary education. The bill would require that the amount of tuition charged to eligible students of the California State University, and the amount of the enrollment fee charged to eligible students of the California Community Colleges, not be increased from the amounts that were charged as of December 31, 2016, until the completion of the 2019–20 academic year. Notwithstanding this provision, the bill would not be operative in a fiscal year for which the Governor has issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency pursuant to a specified provision of the California Constitution. The bill would define "eligible students" as students exempt from payment of nonresident tuition either because they are California residents, as defined, or are exempted from payment of nonresident tuition pursuant to any of several specified provisions of existing law. The bill would also urge the regents to adopt policies that are consistent with this provision.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program as a state education, economic, and workforce development initiative with the goal of providing pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with the knowledge and skills necessary to transition to employment and postsecondary education. Existing law appropriates $200,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of this grant program for the 2017–18 fiscal year. Existing law requires applicants for grants under the program to demonstrate that they have local matching funds, as specified. Existing law specifies that no applicant may receive a renewal grant under the program for the 2018–19 fiscal year. This bill would change the name of the program to the California Career Technical Education Grant Program. The bill would increase to $300,000,000 the General Fund appropriation to the State Department of Education for this program for the 2017–18 fiscal year, and would further provide for an appropriation to the department in this amount for the 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would lower the amount of local matching funds required of an applicant from $1.50 for every dollar received to $1 for every dollar received, for the 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would also provide that an applicant receiving a grant from this program in the 2017–18, 2018–19, or 2019–20 fiscal year would be eligible for a renewal grant in the next fiscal year if that applicant demonstrates continued compliance with program requirements. (2) The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.