Asm. Jacqui Irwin

This measure would, among other things, honor the late civil rights pioneer and icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

(1) Existing law sets out the various responsibilities of the Department of General Services and state agencies in overseeing and implementing state contracting procedures and policies. Existing law also provides that whenever any official advertising, notice, resolution, order, or other matter of any nature whatsoever is required by law to be published in a newspaper, the publication is required to be made only in a newspaper of general circulation, as specified. This bill would require the department to publish, on the department's internet website, an annual report by July 1 of each year containing specified information relating to payments for placement of marketing or outreach advertising material by each state agency. The bill would provide that these provisions are not intended to amend any of the above-described provisions relating to required publications of official advertising, notices, resolutions, orders, or other matters. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2023. (2) Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. This test is commonly known as the "ABC" test, as described above. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of Dynamex and the provisions described above. These exemptions include a temporary exemption for newspaper distributors working under contract with a newspaper publisher, and newspaper carriers working under contract either with a newspaper publisher or newspaper distributor, as those terms are defined, until January 1, 2021. This bill would expand the exemption applicable to newspaper carriers by deleting the condition that a newspaper carrier work under contract either with a newspaper publisher or newspaper distributor. The bill would extend the exemption period to January 1, 2022. (3) This bill would incorporate the changes to Section 2750.3 of the Labor Code proposed by this bill to Section 2783 of the Labor Code, as proposed to be added by AB 2257, to be operative only if this bill and AB 2257 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law defines persons employed in specified capacities to be peace officers in the state of California and authorizes certain entities to appoint and employ peace officers. Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training within the Department of Justice to perform various functions involving the training of peace officers. Existing law requires peace officers in this state to meet specified minimum standards, including, among other requirements, that peace officers be evaluated by a physician and surgeon or psychologist and found to be free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition that might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer. This bill would require that evaluation to include bias against race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. The bill would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to study, review, and update regulations and screening materials to identify explicit and implicit bias against race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation related to emotional and mental condition evaluations. This bill would also require every department or agency that employs peace officers to review the job descriptions used in the recruitment and hiring of those peace officers and to make changes that deemphasize the paramilitary aspects of the job and place more emphasis on community interaction and collaborative problem solving, as specified. By requiring local entities to review and rewrite these job descriptions, 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, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing by the Board of Registered Nursing. Existing law requires the board to appoint an executive officer to perform duties delegated by the board. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to have completed a nursing program at a school of nursing that is approved by the board. Existing regulatory law sets forth curriculum requirements for nursing programs, including preceptorships and clinical practice hours, and also requirements for clinical facilities that may be used for clinical experience. This bill would authorize an approved nursing program to submit a request to a board nursing education consultant to revise certain clinical experience requirements, including reducing the required direct patient hours and using preceptorships without maintaining specified written policies, for enrolled students until the end of the 2020–21 academic year and whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in the county where an agency or facility used by the approved nursing program is located, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the board nursing education consultant to approve the request if specified conditions are satisfied and to reject the request if the approved nursing program fails to meet the conditions or fails to submit information satisfactory to the board. The bill would require the board's executive officer to develop a uniform method for evaluating requests and granting approvals and would require the nursing education consultants to use the uniform method. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.