Asm. Luz Rivas

Maddy summaryThis bill officially designates May 2024 as Lyme Disease Awareness Month in California. It does not create new laws or change government programs but serves to highlight the importance of recognizing Lyme disease, which is a bacterial infection spread by ticks and can cause serious health issues if not treated promptly. The measure aims to increase public awareness about the disease's symptoms, risks, and the challenges patients face in getting accurate diagnoses.

This measure would recognize May 14, 2024, and that date annually thereafter, as Hmong American Day to recognize Hmong Americans for their notable accomplishments and continued contributions to California and the United States of America.

Maddy summaryThis bill officially designates the week of May 19 to May 25, 2024, as Special Districts Week in California. It aims to raise public awareness about special districts, which are local government entities that provide essential services like water, fire protection, and parks to millions of residents. The resolution encourages Californians to learn more about and engage with these community-based organizations that are owned and governed by the people they serve.

Maddy summaryThis resolution officially designates the week of May 19 to May 25 as Firefighter Suicide Awareness and Prevention Stand Down Week. It encourages California fire departments to pause regular drills and instead hold informal meetings to discuss behavioral health, suicide prevention, and available support resources. The measure aims to help firefighters and emergency medical personnel build stronger support networks by addressing the stigma surrounding mental health struggles in the profession.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts from its requirements a residential project on an urbanized infill site that meets certain requirements, including that the site of the project is not more than 4 acres in total area. This bill would expand the exemption by increasing the size of a residential project that would qualify for the exemption to include a project of not more than 5 acres in total area. The bill would require a lead agency approving an exempt residential project on an urbanized infill site to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research, as specified. Because the bill would increase the number of residential projects that would qualify for the exemption and would require lead agencies to file notices of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research, thereby increasing the duties of a local agency, it 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 a specified reason.

Existing law prohibits any person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any food packaging that contains regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) , as defined, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when replacing regulated PFAS in food packaging to comply with this requirement. Existing law similarly prohibits, beginning January 1, 2025, a person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any new, not previously owned, textile articles that contain regulated PFAS, except as specified. This bill would enact the Reducing Toxics in Packaging Act, which would prohibit, beginning January 1, 2026, a person from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, or distributing in the state plastic packaging that contains certain chemicals, as specified. The bill would exclude from that prohibition packaging used for certain medical, drug, and federally regulated products. The bill would authorize the imposition of a civil penalty for a violation of that prohibition, as specified.

This measure would designate the portion of Interstate Highway 405 from Bolsa Chica Road in the County of Orange to Magnolia Street in the County of Orange as the Little Saigon Freeway. The measure also would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing that special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs.

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. These provisions grant the regents all the powers necessary or convenient for the effective administration of its trust. This measure would require employees of the Regents of the University of California to have the right to, and be covered by, certain basic state labor standards, as provided. The measure would require individuals who perform certain work for the regents to have the right to the payment of a prevailing wage. The measure would authorize the Legislature to enact laws that further these rights, establish, define, or specify the basic state labor standards applicable to the regents, or establish other health, safety, and labor protections for individuals performing work for the regents.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the week of September 22 to September 29, 2024, as Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week. It directly affects the state by officially recognizing this specific time period to highlight awareness for the condition. The primary mechanism is a formal proclamation that establishes these dates for public and governmental acknowledgment. This measure does not create new laws or funding but serves to bring attention to the disease during a designated week.

This measure would resolve that the Legislature recognizes Girl Scouts of the United States of America on their 112th anniversary and its 107th anniversary of their beloved cookies.