Asm. Chad Mayes

This measure would proclaim the month of May 2022 as California Tourism Month and would urge the citizens of this great state to support tourism and local businesses by traveling in state as an act of civic pride.

This measure would recognize the essential role that museums have in California as educational institutions and would proclaim May 2022 as Museum Month in California.

This measure proclaims the week of May 15, 2022, to May 21, 2022, to be Special Districts Week.

(1) Existing law makes it unlawful to deposit, permit to pass, or place where it can pass, specified pollutants into the waters of this state, including any substance or material deleterious to fish, plant life, mammals, or bird life. A violation of this provision is a crime under the Fish and Game Code. Existing law also subjects a violation of that provision to a civil penalty of no more than $25,000 for each violation and an additional civil penalty of no more than $10 for each gallon or pound of material discharged, and requires the civil action to be brought by the Attorney General upon complaint by the Department of Fish and Wildlife or by the district attorney or city attorney in the name of the people of the State of California. Existing law provides that a specified affirmative defense to a violation of the criminal provision does not apply to an action for civil penalties or injunctive relief pursuant to that civil provision. This bill would provide that the specified affirmative defense to a violation of the criminal provision also does not apply in any other civil action that alleges a violation resulting from unlicensed cannabis cultivation. The bill would delete the requirement that the Attorney General only bring that civil action upon complaint by the department and would authorize, for a violation resulting from unlicensed cannabis cultivation, the civil action to be brought by a county counsel in the name of the people of the State of California. (2) Existing law generally requires 12 of all fines and forfeitures imposed or collected in any court of this state for violations of the Fish and Game Code or any other law providing for the protection or preservation of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibians to be deposited in the county treasury of the county in which the violation was committed. Existing law requires those funds and other specified funds to be deposited in a county fish and wildlife propagation fund and authorizes the county board of supervisors to expend those funds for specified purposes. This bill would additionally authorize expenditures from the fish and wildlife propagation fund of a county for costs incurred by a county counsel in investigating and prosecuting the civil actions specified in paragraph (1) for violations resulting from unlicensed cannabis cultivation. (3) Under existing law, the diversion or use of water other than as authorized by specified provisions of law is a trespass, subject to specified civil liability and injunctive relief imposed in the superior court in actions brought by the Attorney General upon request of the State Water Resources Control Board. Existing law requires funds recovered pursuant to that provision to be deposited in the Water Rights Fund, which is available upon appropriation by the Legislature for specified purposes. This bill would authorize, for a violation resulting from unlicensed cannabis cultivation, the civil action to be brought by a county counsel or city attorney in the name of the people of the State of California, as specified. The bill would delete the requirement that the Attorney General only bring the civil action upon request of the board. The bill would require funds recovered pursuant to that provision to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, first be used to reimburse the Attorney General, city attorney, or county counsel for costs of bringing the action, including reasonable attorney's fees.

(1) Existing law requires all California state-owned or state-run institutions, except public universities and colleges and school districts, to purchase agricultural products 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 products are comparable. Existing law establishes within the Department of Food and Agriculture a public and private collaboration known as the "Buy California Program" to encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural products. This bill would require a grower or producer that sells a listed agricultural product, as defined, to a distributor, as defined, to attest to the distributor under penalty of perjury, using a self-attestation form developed by the department, whether the listed agricultural product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws, as defined. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in another state of the United States to a retailer, as defined, unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws. The bill would also prohibit a distributor from selling a listed agricultural product produced in the state or outside of the country to a retailer unless the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws and specified California labor laws. The bill would require a distributor that sells a listed agricultural product to a retailer to provide to the retailer the self-attestation form received from a grower or producer, and would provide that the provision of the attestation form showing compliance with specified California health and environmental protection laws or specified California labor laws creates a rebuttable presumption that the distributor reasonably believes that the product was produced in compliance with those laws. The bill would provide that these requirements only apply to a listed agricultural product during the California growing season for the product. The bill would provide that these requirements are not operative until the department adopts the regulations described below. This bill would require, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, the department to adopt regulations to administer and enforce these requirements, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from imposing additional fees on growers or producers to meet the requirements of this bill. The bill would provide that a violation of these requirements is subject to a $500 civil penalty that is required to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General at the request of the department. The bill would require any funds recovered to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be used for the administration and enforcement of these requirements, as specified. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would designate May 10, 2022, as National Fentanyl Awareness Day.

This measure would declare May 2, 2022, as CASA Appreciation Day in California.