The Economic Revitalization Act establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as "GO-Biz," to, among other duties, serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing law requires the director of GO-Biz to develop an International Trade and Investment Program for the state and authorizes the director to establish and terminate international trade and investment offices outside of the United States as the director determines is appropriate, if specific requirements are met. This bill, no later than January 1, 2024, upon appropriation of sufficient funds for this purpose, would require GO-Biz to establish under its jurisdiction an international trade and investment desk in Tokyo, Japan, and makes related findings and declarations. The bill would require the trade and investment desk to have those powers and duties prescribed by the director to promote and facilitate the state's international trade activities and would require the trade and investment desk to, among other things, promote the export of California goods and services into Japan. The bill would also authorize GO-Biz to contract with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to provide office and meeting space, as specified. Existing law requires the director of GO-Biz to prepare and submit an annual budget and strategy and business plan for the International Trade and Investment Program that includes, among other things, a separately stated budget for each international trade and investment office. Existing law requires that budget and strategy and business plan to be submitted to specified legislative committees. This bill would require the director of GO-Biz to include information regarding the Japan trade and investment desk in that budget and strategy and business plan for the International Trade and Investment Program.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes the governing board of a community college district to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnership with the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve college and career readiness. This bill would require the State Department of Education and the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with experts in the field of CCAP partnerships, to identify best practices for CCAP partnerships and appropriate financial incentives for school districts and community college districts to participate in CCAP partnerships, and to distribute the best practices to school districts and community college districts on or before September 1, 2023. The bill would also require, on or before September 1, 2023, the department and the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with experts in the field of CCAP partnerships and other key stakeholders, to develop a statewide pupil- and parent-centered communication and marketing strategy that includes specified outreach and information, in order to increase the visibility of the CCAP partnerships for all secondary pupils in California.
The County Transportation Commissions Act provides for the creation of county transportation commissions in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura, with various powers and duties relative to transportation planning and funding, as specified. Existing law requires the county transportation commissions for the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino, upon the adoption of a resolution by each of those commissions, to jointly develop, in consultation with certain governmental agencies, a program for regional transit services, as defined, within the multicounty region. This bill would require the county transportation commissions in the Counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino to jointly develop, in consultation with certain governmental agencies, a funding and implementation program for regional transit services to include service to international airports within the multicounty region, as provided. The bill would require the initial regional transit services draft program under these provisions to be completed on or before December 1, 2022. The bill would require the county transportation commissions in the Counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino to hold a joint public hearing in each county in their jurisdiction on the draft program no earlier than 30 days after the draft has been completed. Following the public hearings, the bill would require the county transportation commissions in the Counties of Los Angeles and San Bernardino to adopt the regional transit services program. By imposing additional duties on county transportation commissions, 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, 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 California Constitution provisions grant the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. These provisions qualify this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. Existing law, upon the passage of a federal law that imposes sanctions on the government of Turkey for failure to officially acknowledge its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, prohibits the boards of administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System from making additional or new investments, or renewing existing investments, of public employee retirement funds in an investment vehicle in the government of Turkey that is issued by the government of Turkey or that is owned by the government of Turkey. Existing law repeals the above-described provision on January 1, 2025, or upon a determination by the board, the United States Department of State, the Congress of the United States, or another appropriate federal agency that the government of Turkey has officially acknowledged its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, whichever occurs first. This bill would, in addition, prohibit state trust moneys from being used to make additional or new investments or to renew existing investments in investment vehicles issued or owned by the government of Turkey, unless the government adopts a policy to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and embark on a path of affording justice to its victims. The bill would define "state trust moneys" to mean funds administered by specified state employee retirement funds, including the Public Employees' Retirement Fund and the Legislators' Retirement Fund.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate various care facilities that include, among others, residential care facilities for the elderly and child day care facilities. Existing law requires the department to obtain a criminal history record for all applicants for licenses for these facilities and specified individuals connected with these facilities, including employees, volunteers, and officers of these facilities. Existing law prohibits persons with certain criminal convictions from obtaining a license and further prohibits these specified individuals from being present in these care facilities before obtaining either a criminal record clearance or a criminal record exemption from the department. This bill would require the department, among other things, to convene a working group, with a specified membership, to make recommendations and propose revised regulations to change the criminal record exemption process in order to expedite the process for people who seek licensure from the department and have a criminal conviction. The bill would require the working group, on or before July 1, 2024, to propose revisions to the department's regulations, and further require the department to submit those proposed revisions to the Office of Administrative Law within one month of finalization by the working group. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would require the department to post information on its internet website concerning applications, including the total number of applicants who submitted fingerprints for the purpose of providing criminal record information, and the number of applicants who had a nonexemptible conviction or who were granted a clearance or a criminal record exemption, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish data in aggregate and without any personally identifying information. The bill would require the department to issue a report of its findings on or before January 1, 2023. The bill would prohibit the department, in the course of securing electronic fingerprint images and criminal history information from license applicants for specified residential facilities, child daycare facilities, and home health agencies, from requiring applicants to disclose their criminal history information, except that the department may inquire about out-of-state convictions for sex offense crimes that, if committed within California, would require a person to register with the Sex Offender Registration Act.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, mental condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status. This bill would provide that, under FEHA, it is not a violation of the rights of any individual who is not chosen for an employer to hire or promote a member of a protected group, if the employer determines that the individual hired or promoted is qualified for the job and the individual hired or promoted is a member of a protected group that is underrepresented in the type of job in question in the relevant general workforce. Under the bill, the violation exemption would not apply if the individual hired or promoted is a member of a protected group that, prior to the selection of the individual, was overrepresented in the type of job in the employer's workforce or an individual challenging the hire or promotion decision is a member of a protected group that is underrepresented in the type of job in the relevant general workforce and there is substantial evidence that the individual's protected status was a substantial factor in the hire or promotion decision. The bill would define terms for its purpose.
Existing law governs the operation of animal shelters by, among other things, setting a minimum holding period for stray dogs and cats and requiring animal shelters to ensure that dogs and cats, if adopted, are spayed or neutered. Existing law requires the word "VETERAN" to be printed on the face of a driver's license or identification card at the applicant's request, subject to certain requirements, including, among others, the verification of the applicant's veteran status, as specified, and payment of a fee. Existing law prohibits a public animal shelter from charging an adoption fee for a dog or cat if the person adopting the dog or cat presents to the public animal shelter a current and valid driver's license or identification card with the word "VETERAN" printed on its face pursuant to the above-described provision. Existing law authorizes a public animal shelter to limit the number of dogs and cats adopted from that public animal shelter by an eligible veteran to one dog and cat each 6-month period. This bill would further prohibit a public animal shelter from charging an adoption fee for a dog or cat if the person adopting the dog or cat is an active duty military service member who presents to the public animal shelter a current military identification card.
Existing law requires the Department of Technology to improve the governance and implementation of information technology by standardizing reporting relationships, roles, and responsibilities for setting information technology priorities. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians. Existing law provides that the goal of the program is to, no later than December 31, 2022, approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households, as provided. This bill would enact the Broadband for All Act of 2022, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to support the 2022 Broadband for All Program that would be administered by the department for purposes of providing financial assistance for projects to deploy broadband infrastructure and broadband internet access services. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 8, 2022, statewide general election.
Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides for the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution, which ends on the date they are no longer an inmate of a public institution or one year from the date they become an inmate of a public institution, whichever is sooner. Existing federal law prohibits a state from terminating Medi-Cal eligibility for an eligible juvenile if they are an inmate of a public institution, authorizes the suspension of Medicaid benefits to that eligible juvenile, and requires a state to conduct a redetermination of Medicaid eligibility or process an application for medical assistance under the Medicaid program for an eligible juvenile who is an inmate of a public institution. Under existing state law, the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is a juvenile, as defined in federal law, ends when the individual is no longer an eligible juvenile pursuant to federal law or one year from the date the individual becomes an inmate of a public institution, whichever is later. This bill would instead require the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is not a juvenile to end on the date they are no longer an inmate of a public institution or 3 years from the date they become an inmate of a public institution, whichever is sooner. The bill would also require the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution who is a juvenile on the date that the individual is no longer an inmate of a public institution or 3 years after the date the individual is no longer an eligible juvenile under federal law, whichever is sooner.
The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2022, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7,080,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, and workforce development programs. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the June 7, 2022, statewide primary election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.