(1) Existing law provides that the application by a service member for, or receipt by a service member of, a stay, postponement, or suspension in the payment of any tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium, or other civil obligation or liability of that person does not itself, without regard to other considerations, provide the basis for, among other things, a determination by any lender or other person that the service member is unable to pay any civil obligation or liability or the denial or revocation of credit by the creditor. This bill would additionally provide that an application or receipt under these provisions does not provide a basis for an annotation in a service member's record by a creditor or a person engaged in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information identifying the service member as a member of the active militia, or an active or reserve component of the Armed Forces. The bill would prohibit a person, in connection with the collection of any obligation, from falsely claiming to be a member or civilian employee of, among other things, the Armed Forces or of a component of the active militia or identifying himself or herself through the use of any military rank, rating, or title. The bill would additionally prohibit a person, in connection with the collection of any obligation from a member of the active militia or a member of the active or reserve components of the Armed Forces, from contacting the member's military unit or chain of command without the written consent of the member given after the obligation becomes due and payable. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Under existing law, in any action or proceeding commenced in any court, if there is a default of any appearance by the defendant, the plaintiff, before entering judgment, is required to file in the court a declaration under penalty of perjury setting forth facts showing that the defendant is not in the military service. Under existing law, if the defendant is in the military service, a court may not make an order until after the court appoints an attorney to represent the defendant and protect his or her interests, and the court is required to make that appointment on application. This bill, among other things, would, if an attorney appointed under this section to represent a service member cannot locate the service member, prohibit actions by the attorney in the case from waiving any defense of the service member or otherwise binding the service member. Existing law provides that, at any stage in any action or proceeding in which a service member is involved, during the period of military service or 60 days thereafter, the court may, in its discretion, and is required to, on application by the service member, stay an action or proceeding unless, in the opinion of the court, the ability of the plaintiff to prosecute the action or the defendant to conduct his defense is not materially affected by reason of his or her military service. This bill would extend these protections to 120 days after the period of military service. The bill would additionally authorize a service member who is granted a stay of a civil action or proceeding under these provisions to apply for an additional stay based on continuing material effect of military duty on the service member's ability to appear, and require the court, if it refuses to grant an additional stay of proceedings, to appoint counsel to represent the service member in the action or proceeding. (3) Existing law prohibits an obligation or liability bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6% per year incurred by a service member before that person's entry into service from bearing interest at a rate in excess of 6% per year during any part of the period of military service. Under existing law, for an obligation or liability consisting of a mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, this prohibition extends to one year after the period of military service. This bill would extend this prohibition, for an obligation or liability consisting of a student loan, to one year after the period of military service. This bill would extend this prohibition, for an obligation that does not consist of a student loan, mortgage, trust deed, or other security in the nature of a mortgage, to 120 days after the period of military service. Existing law authorizes a member of the United States Military Reserve or the National Guard who is called to active duty, as specified, to defer payments on specified obligations, including credit cards and vehicle loans, while serving on active duty. This bill would include student loans under these provisions. (4) Existing law authorizes a person to terminate a lease covering premises occupied for dwelling, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purposes in any case in which the lease was executed by or on the behalf of the person who, after the execution of that lease, entered military service, as specified. This bill would recast those provisions, and extend them to additionally authorize a person to terminate a lease of a motor vehicle, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) This bill would additionally require any person who receives a good faith request from a service member for relief pursuant to any of the provisions described above and who believes the request is incomplete or otherwise not legally sufficient or that the service member is not entitled to the relief requested, to, within 30 days of the request, provide the service member with a written response acknowledging the request, as specified. The bill would provide that if the person fails to make such a response in the timeframe above, the person waives any objection to the request, and the service member shall be entitled to the relief requested. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 800 of the Military and Veterans Code proposed by AB 2521 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2521 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law, the Davis-Sterling Common Interest Development Act, limits the personal liability of a volunteer officer or director of an association of a common interest development in excess of the coverage of specified insurance if certain conditions are met. This bill would require the association to maintain fidelity bond coverage, as specified. (2) The act requires a managing agent of a common interest development who accepts or receives funds belonging to the association to, upon written request by the board, deposit those funds into an interest-bearing account in a bank, savings association, or credit union in this state, provided certain requirements are met. This bill would prohibit transfers greater than $10,000 or 5% of an association's total combined reserve and operating account deposits, whichever is lower, without prior written approval from the board. (3) The act requires, unless the governing documents impose more stringent requirements, the association board to review various financial documents and statements on at least a quarterly basis. This bill would require those reviews on a monthly basis. The bill would also require monthly reviews of the check register, monthly general ledger, and delinquent assessment receivable reports and would authorize these requirements to be met when every member of the board, or a subcommittee of the board including the treasurer and at least one other board member, reviews these documents and statements independent of a board meeting if the review is ratified at the board meeting subsequent to the review and that ratification is reflected in the minutes of that meeting.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to support the retention of, and investment in, the Amtrak National Network of passenger trains, specifically the California Zephyr, the Coast Starlight, the Southwest Chief, and the Sunset Limited, as vital components of the state's rail program and would also urge Congress to reject President Trump's proposed Fiscal Year 2019 federal budget cuts to Amtrak and restore full funding for the Amtrak National Network through the appropriations process.
Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs and designates the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as the chief administrative officer of the department. Existing law also establishes the California Veterans Board, and requires the board to advise the department and the secretary on policies for operations of the department. Existing law provides for veterans programs, including the veterans farm and home purchase programs, and provides for veterans homes. This bill would create the office of Internal Audits for Veterans Affairs, the chief auditor of which would be subject to the direction of the secretary within the department. The bill would require the chief auditor to be appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation. The chief auditor would be responsible for reviewing and investigating, at the request of the secretary or other members of senior management of the department, the operations and financial condition of each California veterans home, each veterans farm and home purchase program, and other department programs and functions. Beginning January 1, 2020, and each year thereafter, the bill would require the chief auditor to submit a summary report to the board and the appropriate committees of the Legislature providing information about the office's activities and recommendations that lead to departmental efficiencies and improvements. The bill would authorize the chief auditor to receive communications from any individual who believes he or she may have information that warrants a review or investigation of a veterans program. The bill would require the chief auditor to establish a toll-free telephone number to report alleged wrongdoing regarding veterans programs. The bill would prohibit the chief auditor from disclosing the identity of a person reporting information pursuant to these provisions without that person's written permission, except as specified. The bill would repeal the provisions described above on January 1, 2025. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
This measure would urge the federal government and the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission to take immediate action to adequately address cross-border pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.
This measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to rename any federal buildings, parks, roadways, highway markers, landmarks, or other federally owned property, such as United States military bases, that bear the names of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of America and would urge the Congress that statues or busts of elected or military leaders of the Confederate States of America in the United States Capitol be removed and placed in museums where they can be viewed in proper historic context.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the PUC to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail sellers, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieve 25% of retail sales by December 31, 2016, 33% by December 31, 2020, 40% by December 31, 2024, 45% by December 31, 2027, and 50% by December 31, 2030. The program additionally requires each local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources to achieve the procurement requirements established by the program. The Legislature has found and declared that its intent in implementing the program is to attain, among other targets for sale of eligible renewable resources, the target of 50% of total retail sales of electricity by December 31, 2030. This bill would revise the above-described legislative findings and declarations to state that the goal of the program is to achieve that 50% renewable resources target by December 31, 2026, and to achieve a 60% target by December 31, 2030. The bill would require that retail sellers and local publicly owned electric utilities procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieve 44% of retail sales by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030. Under existing law, a local publicly owned electric utility is not required to procure more than a specified minimum quantity of eligible renewable energy resources under the program if it receives more than 50% of its retail sales from hydroelectric generation, as specified. This bill would revise those provisions, limit the applicability of this exception to large hydroelectric generation, and reduce that threshold to 40%. (2) Existing law establishes the California Environmental Protection Agency, establishes the State Air Resources Board within the agency as the entity with responsibility for control of emissions from motor vehicles, and designates the state board as the air pollution control agency for all purposes set forth in federal law. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the state board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and requires it to conduct an ongoing assessment of the opportunities and constraints presented by all forms of energy, to encourage the balanced use of all sources of energy to meet the state's needs, and to seek to avoid possible undesirable consequences of reliance on a single source of energy. This bill would state that it is the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. The bill would require that the achievement of this policy for California not increase carbon emissions elsewhere in the western grid and that the achievement not allow resource shuffling. The bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission, in consultation with the state board, to take steps to ensure that a transition to a zero-carbon electric system for the State of California does not cause or contribute to greenhouse gas emissions increases elsewhere in the western grid. The bill would require the PUC, Energy Commission, state board, and all other state agencies to incorporate that policy into all relevant planning. The bill would require the PUC, Energy Commission, state board, and all other state agencies to ensure actions taken in furtherance of these purposes achieve specified objectives. The bill would require the PUC, Energy Commission, and state board to utilize programs authorized under existing statutes to achieve that policy and, as part of a public process, issue a joint report to the Legislature by January 1, 2021, and every 4 years thereafter, that includes specified information relating to the implementation of the policy. (3) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because certain of the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the PUC implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By expanding the requirements placed upon a local publicly owned electric utility, 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 specified reasons.
This measure would express the support of the Legislature for the 23 Asilomar AI Principles as guiding values for the development of artificial intelligence and of related public policy.
This measure would proclaim the week of September 9, 2018, through September 15, 2018, as Suicide Prevention Week in California.
This measure would proclaim November 2018 as Epilepsy Awareness Month and call for a recommitment to increasing awareness and understanding of those living with epilepsy.