Asm. Blanca Rubio

Existing law makes it a crime to solicit a person that the solicitor knows or should have known is a minor to commit an act of prostitution. Under existing law, this crime is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 2 days and not more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would remove the requirement that the person soliciting for prostitution knew or should have known that the person being solicited was a minor at the time of the offense. The bill would also authorize a person convicted of this crime to be punished either by the current punishment or by 16 months or 2 or 3 years in state prison, a fine not to exceed $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. By changing the definition of a crime and increasing the punishment for a crime, 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, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires that all meetings of a state body, as defined, be open and public, and that all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body, except as otherwise provided in that act. Existing law requires the state body to provide notice of its meeting, including specified information and a specific agenda of the meeting, as provided, to any person who requests that notice in writing and to make that notice available on the internet at least 10 days in advance of the meeting. This bill would require that notice to include all writings or materials provided for the noticed meeting to a member of the state body by the staff of a state agency, board, or commission, or another member of the state body that are in connection with a matter subject to discussion or consideration at the meeting. The bill would require those writings or materials to be made available on the state body's internet website, and to any person who requests the writings or materials in writing, on the same day as the dissemination of the writings and materials to members of the state body or at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting, whichever is earlier. The bill would prohibit a state body from discussing those writings or materials, or from taking action on an item to which those writings or materials pertain, at a meeting of the state body unless the state body has complied with these provisions.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, in an amount equal to the amount of sales tax collected from a qualified taxpayer during the first week of August of the taxable year for purchases of back-to-school items, as defined, not to exceed $2,500 per taxable year per household. The bill would define qualified taxpayer as a parent with a schoolchild, a student attending a postsecondary institution, or an educator. The bill would require a qualified taxpayer to have a household income at the time of filing that is at or below the federal poverty threshold, except as otherwise specified. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to submit a report by January 1, 2026, to the Legislature on the amount of credits used by qualified taxpayers, and would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals of this credit. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount to be paid as an earned income tax credit in excess of any tax liabilities. This bill would require the amount of the credit exceeding the taxpayer's liability to be credited against other amounts due, if any, and would require the balance to be paid from the Tax Relief and Refund Account and refunded to the taxpayer. By authorizing new payments from that account for additional amounts in excess of personal income tax liabilities, this bill would make an appropriation.

(1) Existing law requires each person who, after being employed for 2 complete consecutive school years by a county superintendent of schools in a teaching position in schools or classes maintained by the county superintendent of schools requiring certification qualifications, is reelected for the next succeeding school year to a teaching position to be classified as a permanent employee of the county superintendent of schools. This bill would instead authorize each person who, after being employed for 3 complete consecutive school years by a county superintendent of schools in a teaching position maintained by the county superintendent of schools requiring certification qualifications, is reelected for the next succeeding school year to a teaching position to be classified as a permanent employee of the county superintendent of schools. The bill would authorize the county superintendent of schools to offer an employee of the county superintendent of schools in a teaching position in schools or classes maintained by the county superintendent of schools requiring certification qualifications to continue for up to 5 complete consecutive school years as a probationary employee. (2) Existing law requires an employee of a school district with an average daily attendance of 250 or more who, after having been employed by the school district for 2 complete consecutive school years in a position or positions requiring certification qualifications, is reelected for the next succeeding school year to a position requiring certification qualifications, at the commencement of the succeeding school year, to be classified as a permanent employee of the school district. This bill would instead authorize an employee of such a school district who, after having been employed by the school district for 3 complete consecutive school years in a position or positions requiring certification qualifications, is reelected for the next succeeding school year to a position requiring certification qualifications, at the commencement of the succeeding school year, to be classified as a permanent employee of the school district. The bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to offer an employee of the school district in a position or positions requiring certification qualifications to continue for up to 5 complete consecutive school years as a probationary employee. The bill would require the governing board of a school district, before an employee of the school district in a position or positions requiring certification qualifications is classified as a permanent employee of the school district, to determine that the employee has demonstrated 2 complete consecutive school years of effective teaching, as provided. The bill would require the governing board of a school district to adopt rules and regulations for this purpose. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agency officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would provide that, to the extent these provisions conflict with any provision of a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, by a public school employer and an exclusive bargaining representative, these provisions shall not apply until the expiration or renewal of that collective bargaining agreement. 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 defines rape as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person not the spouse of the perpetrator under certain circumstances, including where the victim is incapable of giving legal consent because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, where the victim is not aware of the essential characteristics of the act due to the perpetrator's fraudulent representation that the act serves a professional purpose, and where the victim submits to the act under the belief that the perpetrator is someone known to the victim other than the perpetrator, and the perpetrator intentionally and fraudulently induces that belief. Existing law separately defines rape of a spouse as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with the spouse of the perpetrator under similar circumstances as nonspousal rape, except that spousal rape does not include acts of sexual intercourse accomplished under the specific circumstances described above. This bill would repeal the provisions relating to spousal rape and make conforming changes, thereby making an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a spouse punishable as rape if the act otherwise meets the definition of rape. By changing the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes an employer to request from the Department of Justice records of all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication for specified offenses for a person who applies for a license, employment, or volunteer position, in which the person would have supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor and requires the employer to notify the parent or guardian of a child if a person with specified convictions will have supervisory or disciplinary power over that child. Existing law exempts certain convictions, including spousal rape, from that notification requirement. This bill would remove the exemption for spousal rape or any other felony conviction and would instead exempt only misdemeanor convictions from that notification. The bill would make numerous conforming changes. 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.

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 establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA and a procedure for the preparation and certification of the record of proceedings upon the filing of an action or proceeding challenging a lead agency's action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA. This bill would authorize a public university, as defined, carrying out a project to certify the project as a student housing development project if the project meets certain requirements. This bill would authorize an applicant, as defined, proposing a project within 2 miles of the main campus of a public university to apply to the public university for a determination that the project qualifies as a student housing development project. If the public university determines that the project proposed by the applicant qualifies as a student housing development project, the bill would require the public university to notify the lead agency of that qualification. The bill would encourage the Regents of the University of California to implement these provisions. The bill would authorize the public university to charge a fee on the applicant to recover its reasonable costs incurred in making the determination and providing the notification. The bill would require the lead agency to certify the project as a student housing development project if the lead agency makes a certain determination. This bill would authorize an applicant of a project that is within 2 miles of the main campus of a private not-for-profit university and not within 2 miles of the main campus of a public university to apply to the lead agency for certification of the project as a student housing development project. The bill would require the lead agency to certify the project if the project meets certain requirements. This bill would, if a project is certified as a student housing development project, require the public university or lead agency, as appropriate, to provide a specified notice. The bill would require a public university or an applicant proposing a project certified as a student housing development project to comply with certain labor requirements. The bill would require the lead agency, if it determines that a student housing development project is exempt from CEQA, to provide a notice of exemption, as provided. This bill would require the lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings concurrent with the administrative process for the environmental review of a certified student housing development project and to certify the record of proceedings, as specified. Because the bill would impose additional duties on the California community colleges and lead agencies regarding the certification of projects proposed by applicants as student housing development projects and would require lead agencies to file a notice of exemption if they determine that the student housing development projects are exempt from CEQA, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2022, to adopt rules of court establishing procedures requiring actions or proceedings seeking judicial review challenging the lead agency's action regarding a project certified as a student housing development project pursuant to CEQA and certain other actions related to the student housing development project, or the granting of project approvals, including any appeals to the court of appeal or the Supreme Court, to be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 business days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court. 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 a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion unless the school district's superintendent or the school principal in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed a specified act, including an act of sexual harassment, hate violence, or harassment, threats, or intimidation, as provided. Existing law prohibits a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or grades 1 to 5, inclusive, or, until July 1, 2025, a pupil enrolled in grades 6 to 8, inclusive, from being suspended for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. This bill, until January 1, 2027, would prohibit the suspension of a pupil in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, except as specified. The bill, until January 1, 2027, would also prohibit the suspension of a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, if an assessment shows that the pupil performs below their grade level in English language arts or English literacy, except as specified.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including enteral nutrition products, pursuant to a schedule of benefits. Under existing law, these health care services are provided through various delivery systems, including fee-for-service and managed care. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into various types of contracts for the provision of services to beneficiaries, including contracts with a Medi-Cal managed care plan. Existing law imposes various requirements on managed care plan contractors, including network adequacy standards relating to time and distance, and requires the department to ensure that specified benefits, such as mental health, are provided by the contractors in compliance with prescribed federal law. Existing federal law authorizes specified managed care entities that participate in a state's Medicaid program to cover, for enrollees, services or settings that are in lieu of services and settings otherwise covered under a state plan. Existing law requires the department to establish a Medically Tailored Meals Pilot Program to operate for a period of 4 years from the date the program is established, or until funding is no longer available, whichever date is earlier, in specified counties to provide medically tailored meal intervention services to Medi-Cal participants with prescribed health conditions, such as diabetes and renal disease. Effective for contract periods commencing on or after January 1, 2022, this bill would authorize Medi-Cal managed care plans to provide medically tailored meals to enrollees. The bill would authorize the department to implement this provision by various means, including plan or provider bulletins, and would require the department to seek federal approvals. The bill would condition the implementation of this provision on the department obtaining federal approval and the availability of federal financial participation.

Existing law establishes the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency in state government, consisting of, among other entities, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) . Existing law requires HCD to administer various programs intended to promote the development of housing, including the Multifamily Housing Program, pursuant to which HCD provides financial assistance in the form of deferred payment loans to pay for the eligible costs of development for specified activities. Existing law also establishes the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) within HCD with the primary purpose of meeting the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law also establishes the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) , composed of specified members, and requires that CTCAC, among other things, allocate specified federal low-income housing tax credits, as provided. This bill would enact the State of California Housing Allocation Act, which would require the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, HCD, CalHFA, and CTCAC, no later than January 1, 2023, to jointly establish and operate a single, centralized housing funding allocation committee, which would be within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and comprised of representatives of those entities. The bill would require the committee to be responsible for allocating state controlled financing to housing developments and to serve as the point of contact for developers seeking to build affordable housing in California. The bill, no later than December 31, 2023, would require the committee to create a unified application and award process for the allocation of state-controlled affordable housing funds and, to the extent permitted by any applicable law governing the allocation and use of those state-controlled affordable housing funds, make applications and awards at least twice per calendar year. The bill would authorize the committee to exclude state-controlled affordable housing funds from this unified application and award process for specified reasons. The bill would require the Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing to develop a new organizational plan for the housing departments in the agency to streamline processes and eliminate redundant tasks between departments, as provided, and to submit a report on that plan to the Legislature no later than December 31, 2022.

(1) The Child Care and Developmental Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, provides for a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of childcare and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs, which includes general childcare programs, family childcare home education network programs, and the California state preschool program. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2021, transfers responsibility for the administration of specified childcare and development services programs from the State Department of Education to the State Department of Social Services. Existing law requires statutory references to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for purposes of the programs transferred to the State Department of Social Services on July 1, 2021, to instead be construed to mean the State Department of Social Services. The act prohibits a contracting agency, as part of the state preschool program, from expelling or unenrolling a child because of a child's behavior, except as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to consider, in determining whether to issue a citation or impose a civil penalty to a state preschool program, whether the program is in the process of complying with the above law relating to expulsion or unenrollment. This bill would revise and recast the above provisions relating to the expulsion or unenrollment of a child from the state preschool program and would include a general childcare and development program and family childcare home education network program as part of those provisions, as provided. The bill would also establish requirements for the use of suspensions in the programs described above. The bill would require these programs to maintain records on expulsion and suspension, as provided. The bill would require, no later than January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services to collect and publish aggregate data on this information, as provided. The bill would require those departments, on or before July 1, 2022, to issue guidance for programs, within their respective jurisdictions, on implementing these requirements. The bill would also require those departments to collaborate to create guidelines for offering additional support and additional staff training for programs with exceptionally high numbers of suspension and expulsion, as specified. The bill would also prohibit the State Department of Social Services from issuing a citation or imposing a civil penalty to a child daycare facility if the facility is complying with specified standards. (2) The California Child Day Care Facilities Act generally requires the State Department of Social Services to license, inspect, and regulate various types of child daycare facilities, defined to include, among others, family daycare homes and daycare centers. A person who willfully or repeatedly violates any provision of the act or any rule or regulation promulgated under the act is guilty of a crime. The bill would also require a licensed child daycare facility, as specified, to utilize positive, age-appropriate behavior management strategies, as specified, and would require those licensed child daycare facilities to develop guidelines for expulsion and suspension. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2022, the State Department of Social Services to issue guidance to implement those requirements. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the cost to a childcare provider agency of providing an early childhood mental health consultation service, as defined, to be reimbursable if certain requirements are met, including that the consultation service is provided on a schedule of sufficient and consistent frequency and that is supervised and provided by specified mental health professionals. This bill would update the definition of mental health consultation service, revise the requirements relating to the nature and frequency of the consultation service provided, and expand the types of mental health care professionals who can provide the consultation service, as specified. The bill would require, among other things relating to the consultants, the contracting agency to ensure, within the first 30 days upon hire or start of consultation service, that a consultant have specified training. Existing law requires, in order to reflect the additional expense of serving children who meet specified criteria, the provider agency's reported child days of enrollment for these children be multiplied by specified adjustment factors. Existing law requires the adjustment factor for specified children who are served in the state preschool program, in general childcare and development programs, or in a family childcare home education network setting funded by a general childcare and development program, where early childhood mental health consultation services are provided, to be 1.05. This bill would increase that adjustment factor to 1.1. (4) 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.