Asm. Chris Holden

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.

Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, creates the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law authorizes a person who utilizes an unlicensed contractor to bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this state for recovery of compensation paid to the unlicensed contractor for performance of any act or contract. Existing law authorizes a court to determine that a contractor has substantially complied with licensure requirements if specified conditions are met, including that the contractor did not know or should not reasonably have known, that he or she was not duly licensed when the performance under the contract occurred. Existing law also requires a contractor to demonstrate that he or she acted promptly and in good faith to reinstate his or her license upon learning it was invalid in order to meet substantial compliance of these licensure requirements. This bill would revise certain of the criteria for a court to find that a contractor is in substantial compliance with the licensure requirements, including removing the condition that the contractor did not know or should not have reasonably have known, that he or she was unlicensed during performance of the contract.

Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds, appropriated to the department for the purpose of supporting county veterans service officers pursuant to the annual Budget Act, on a pro rata basis, to a county that complies with certain conditions. This bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2016, to develop an allocation formula based upon performance standards that encourage innovation and reward outstanding service by county veterans service officers, and would require those moneys to be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with that formula, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually report to the Legislature the efficacy, return on investment, work volume, and regional impact of the subvention funds on each county that receives those funds, as specified. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions and would make conforming changes.

This measure would urge the federal government to provide greater financial support for local agencies implementing a federal mandate to improve stormwater quality, including, but not limited to, by passing legislation strengthening the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and creating new grant programs to assist in funding stormwater projects.

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 the Academic Senates of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to expedite their current efforts to streamline the transfer process and ensure that all general education credits can transfer between the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges educational systems.

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 creates the Fair Employment and Housing Council within the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The council consists of 7 members, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, who serve 4-year terms. This bill would, beginning with appointments to the council made on or after January 1, 2017, make the terms of 4 of the members 4 years in length and the terms of 3 of the members 2 years in length. The bill would provide that after the terms of these initial appointments expire, members would be appointed to serve 4-year terms. The bill would also provide that vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of the term would be filled by appointment for the unexpired term.

The California Public Records Act requires that public records, as defined, be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of a state or local agency and that every person has a right to inspect any public record, with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that the act shall not be construed to require the disclosure of specified information concerning utility customers of local agencies, except for certain purposes. This bill would remove requests for usage rates of industrial, institutional, and commercial water users from that exception to required disclosure. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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.