Asm. Jesse Gabriel

Existing law establishes the Domestic Violence Prevention Act for the purpose of preventing acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse and providing for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to enable those persons to seek a resolution of the causes of the violence. Existing law authorizes a court to issue an ex parte order enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts against another party, including threatening or harassing that party or disturbing their peace, and, in the discretion of the court, against other named family or household members. A violation of this court order constitutes contempt of court, which is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would define "disturbing the peace of the other party" as conduct that destroys the mental or emotional calm of the other party, as specified. The bill would provide that disturbing the peace of the other party includes coercive control, which is a pattern of behavior that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty and includes, among other things, unreasonably isolating a victim from friends, relatives, or other sources of support. Existing law requires a family court to determine the best interests of a child in deciding child custody in specified proceedings and establishes a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a person who has perpetrated domestic violence is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Existing law defines "perpetrated domestic violence" to mean, among other things, that the person engaged in behavior for which the court may issue an ex parte order to protect the child or the person seeking custody of the child. By adding coercive control to the bases for the ex parte orders described above, the bill would, for purposes of a family court determining child custody in those proceedings, create a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a party who has engaged in coercive control is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Because a violation of a court order constitutes contempt of court and is therefore a crime, by expanding the bases for the issuance of these ex parte orders, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law, subject to exceptions, generally makes it an offense to manufacture or sell an unsafe handgun, as defined, and requires the Department of Justice to compile a roster listing all of the handguns that have been tested and determined not to be unsafe handguns. Existing law establishes criteria for determining if a handgun is an unsafe handgun, including, for firearms manufactured after a certain date and not already listed on the roster, the lack of a chamber load indicator, magazine disconnect mechanism, and technology that transfers a microscopic array of characters from the firearm to the cartridge case when the firearm is fired, known as a microstamp. Existing law requires the microstamp to be transferred to the cartridge upon firing and to be imprinted in 2 or more places on the internal working parts of the handgun. This bill, effective July 1, 2022, would revise the criteria for unsafe handguns by requiring the microstamp to be imprinted in one place on the interior of the handgun, and would require the department, for every new firearm added to the roster, to remove, as specified, 3 firearms from the roster that are not compliant with current requirements. By expanding the number of firearms the sale or manufacture of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to adopt emergency regulations, as specified, to implement the provisions of this bill. 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, 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.

Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas in the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on specified criteria and the severity of the fire hazard. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as designated by a local agency, or a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining those areas or lands within a state responsibility area, to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, as specified. A violation of these requirements is a crime. This bill would require a person described above to use more intense fuel reductions between 5 and 30 feet around the structure, and to create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, as provided. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime or expand the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require each local agency having jurisdiction of property upon which conditions that are regulated by the defensible space provisions described above apply and, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to make reasonable efforts to provide notice to affected residents of the above requirements before imposing penalties for a violation of those requirements. By expanding the duty of a local agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would prohibit the requirement for an ember-resistant zone from taking effect for new structures until the state board updates the regulations, as specified, and the guidance document described below, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from changing defensible space inspection practices and forms or enforcement to implement the requirement for an ember-resistant zone until the director makes a written finding that the Legislature has appropriated sufficient resources to do so. Existing law requires the department to develop, periodically update, and post on its internet website a guidance document on fuels management, as provided. This bill would instead require the state board, in consultation with the department, to develop, periodically update, and post on its internet website the guidance document. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2023, the state board, in consultation with the department, to update the guidance document to include suggestions for creating an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of a structure, as provided. The bill would make the requirement that the state board update the guidance document and promulgate certain regulations contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes. This bill would also make conforming changes and nonsubstantive changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 51182 and 51189 of the Government Code and Section 4291 of Public Resources Code proposed by SB 1348 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1348 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law provides for various public social services programs, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Existing law also provides for various funding programs under which state agencies allocate or grant funding to specified entities for purposes of addressing various issues relating to homelessness. This bill would require a recipient, as defined, that receives state funds for specified CalWORKs programs related to homeless assistance, the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program, or state funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2019 for a Whole Person Care pilot program, to submit a report containing specified information regarding the use of state funds to the appropriate agency. The bill would require the recipient to submit that report on a form and method provided by the agency annually. This bill would require every agency to post all reports received on its internet website within 30 days of receipt and provide notice of the posting to specified offices and committees of the Legislature. The bill would also require every agency to aggregate all reports received by October 1 of every year into one report and send the report to the Department of Finance by December 1 of every year, commencing with the year 2021. The bill would also require the Department of Finance to post the aggregated report on its internet website by December 31 of every year, commencing with the year 2021, in a manner that is easily accessible by the public and provide notice of the posting to the Legislature, as provided. By requiring counties to provide reports relating to CalWORKs, 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 California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards and to protect employees. Under the act, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the division is authorized to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. This bill would require the division to disseminate, in both English and Spanish, information on best practices for COVID-19 infection prevention, as specified, consistent with the Guidance Documents available on the division's internet website, including, but not limited to, the Guidance Document entitled, "Cal/OSHA Safety and Health Guidance: COVID-19 Infection Prevention for Agricultural Employers and Employees." The bill would also require the division to work collaboratively with community organizations and organizations representing employees and employers to conduct a statewide outreach campaign, targeted at agricultural employees, to assist with the statewide dissemination of the best practices information and to educate employees on any COVID-19-related employment benefits to which they are entitled, including access to paid sick leave and workers' compensation. The bill would require the campaign to include public service announcements on local Spanish radio stations and the distribution of workplace signs. The bill would require the division to routinely compile and report, via its internet website, information relating to the subject matter, findings, and results of any investigation by the division relating to practices or conditions prescribed in the Guidance Documents or a COVID-19 illness or injury at a workplace of agricultural employees, as specified. The bill would repeal these provisions when the state of emergency has been terminated by proclamation of the Governor or by concurrent resolution of the Legislature, as specified. The bill would also direct the division to enforce the Guidance Documents to the extent any specific Guidance Document applies to any specific workplace and to the extent the division has existing regulatory authority. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Teacher Housing Act of 2016 authorizes a school district to establish and maintain programs, as provided, that address the housing needs of teachers and school district employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing and requires a program established by the act to be restricted to teachers and school district employees. The act creates a state policy supporting housing for teachers and school employees, as provided, and permits school districts and developers in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to teachers and school district employees on land owned by school districts. This bill would specify that the state policy created by the act includes permitting school districts to restrict occupancy on land owned by school districts to teachers and school district employees of the school district that owns the land, including permitting school districts and developers in receipt of tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to retain the right to prioritize and restrict occupancy on land owned by school districts to teachers and school district employees of the school district that owns the land, so long as that housing does not violate any other applicable laws. The bill would specify that a school district may allow local public employees or other members of the public to occupy housing created through the act, and would provide that the school district retains the right to prioritize school district employees over local public employees or other members of the public to occupy housing.

Existing law authorizes the Department of General Services to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts on a bid or negotiated basis with manufacturers and suppliers of single-source or multisource drugs. Existing law authorizes the department to obtain from those manufacturers and suppliers discounts, rebates, or refunds based on quantities purchased, as permissible under federal law. Existing law authorizes those contracts to include price discounts, rebates, refunds, or other strategies aimed at managing escalating prescription drug prices. Existing law requires certain state agencies to participate in that prescription drug bulk purchasing program, including the State Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Developmental Services. Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, which includes departments charged with the administration of health, social, and other human services. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA) to enter into partnerships, in consultation with other state departments as necessary to, among other things, increase patient access to affordable drugs. The bill would require CHHSA to enter into partnerships to produce or distribute generic prescription drugs and at least one form of insulin, provided that a viable pathway for manufacturing a more affordable form of insulin exists at a price that results in savings. The bill would, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, require CHHSA to submit a report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2023, that, among other things, assesses the feasibility and advantages of directly manufacturing generic prescription drugs and selling generic prescription drugs at a fair price. The bill would require CHHSA to report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2022, a description of the status of the drugs targeted for manufacture and an analysis of how CHHSA's activities have impacted competition, access, and costs for those drugs. The bill would exempt all nonpublic information and documents relating to this program from disclosure under the California Public Records Act in order to protect proprietary, confidential information regarding manufacturer or distribution costs and drug pricing, utilization, and rebates. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. 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.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party a customer's electrical or gas consumption data, as defined, except as specified. This bill would prohibit an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any immigration authority a customer's electrical or gas consumption data without a court-ordered subpoena or judicial warrant.

Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, provides various protections to a consumer with respect to a business that collects the consumer's personal information, including biometric information such as the consumer's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) . The act requires a business that collects a consumer's personal information to, at or before the point of collection, inform the consumer as to the categories of personal information to be collected and the purposes for which the information will be used, and grants to a consumer the right to opt-out of the sale of the consumer's personal information by the business to a third party. Existing law also prohibits the disclosure by a health care service plan of the results of a test for a genetic characteristic to a third party in a manner that identifies or provides identifying characteristics of the person to whom the tests results apply, except pursuant to a written authorization. This bill would establish the Genetic Information Privacy Act, which would require a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, as defined, or any other company that collects, uses, maintains, or discloses genetic data collected or derived from a direct-to-consumer genetic testing product or service, or provided directly by a consumer, to provide a consumer with certain information regarding the company's policies and procedures for the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure, as applicable, of genetic data, and to obtain a consumer's express consent for collection, use, or disclosure of the consumer's genetic data, as specified. This bill would require a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, or other company as described above, to honor a consumer's revocation of consent in accordance with certain procedures and to destroy a consumer's biological sample within 30 days of revocation of consent. The bill would further require a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, or other company as described above, to comply with all applicable laws for disclosing genetic data to law enforcement without a consumer's express consent, implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect a consumer's genetic data against unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure, and develop procedures and practices to enable a consumer to access their genetic data and to delete their account and genetic data, as specified. The bill would exclude the California newborn screening program from its provisions. This bill would impose civil penalties for a violation of those provisions, as specified. The bill would require actions for relief pursuant to these provisions to be prosecuted exclusively by the Attorney General, a district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor, as specified, in the name of the people of the State of California upon their own complaint or upon the complaint of a board, officer, person, corporation, or association. Because the bill would require local officials to perform additional duties, 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.