Asm. Blanca Rubio

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law establishes the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, which requires state boards, commissions, and similar state-created multimember bodies to give public notice of meetings and conduct their meetings in public unless authorized to meet in closed session. This bill, the California Opportunity Act of 2017, would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to create a task force, as specified, to study and write a report of its findings and recommendations regarding the licensing of foreign-trained professionals with the goal of integrating foreign-trained professionals into the state's workforce, as specified. The bill would authorize the task force to hold hearings and invite testimony from experts and the public to gather information. The bill would require the task force to submit the report to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2019, as specified. The bill also would require the task force to meet at least once each calendar quarter, as specified, and to hold its meetings in accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The bill would require each member of the task force to receive per diem and reimbursement for expenses incurred, as specified, and would require the task force to solicit input from a variety of government agencies, stakeholders, and the public, including, among others, the Little Hoover Commission and the California Workforce Development Board.

Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services Domestic Violence Advisory Council, and requires the Office of Emergency Services and the council to collaboratively administer the Comprehensive Statewide Domestic Violence Program, through which the office provides financial and technical assistance to local domestic violence centers in implementing specified services for victims of domestic violence and their children. This bill would create the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Fund and require that moneys in the fund be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide grants to nonprofit organizations for the purpose of funding programs that incorporate comprehensive, evidence-based, and promising practices to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault. The bill would require grants to be awarded by the Office of Emergency Services according to criteria for funding that would be established by the office in consultation with practitioners and experts in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention. The bill would require grants to be 3 years in length and for a minimum amount of $150,000. The bill would create specified requirements for organizations receiving funds under its provisions. The bill would additionally direct these grants to be used for specified activities.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 680 in the City of San Ramon in the County of Contra Costa as the Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway. The measure would also request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 5 in the County of Los Angeles as the Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect those signs.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.

This measure would mark May 6, 2017, as the 135th anniversary of the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act in order to recognize the harm caused by racially discriminatory immigration measures, and to honor the contributions of all immigrants and refugees who have enriched our communities. The measure would also declare the opposition of the Legislature to recent executive orders signed by President Trump relating to immigration, call upon the President to revoke those orders, condemn the expansion of deportations being undertaken under the current presidential administration, and reaffirm that the state is open and welcoming to immigrants and refugees who are integral to life in our state.

(1) Existing law imposes various water use reduction requirements that apply to urban retail water suppliers, including a requirement that the state achieve a 20% reduction in urban per capita water use by December 31, 2020. This bill would require long-term standards for urban water conservation and water use to include a credit for recycled water, as specified. (2) Existing provisions of the California Constitution declare the policy that the water resources of the state be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable, that the waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of use of water be prevented, and that the conservation of these waters is to be exercised with a view to the reasonable and beneficial use of the waters in the interest of the people and for the public welfare. Existing law declares that the use of potable domestic water for certain nonpotable uses is a waste or an unreasonable use of water if recycled water is available, as determined by the State Water Resources Control Board, and other requirements are met. Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, sets forth the emergency powers of the Governor under its provisions and empowers the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency for certain conditions, including drought. Existing law authorizes the governing body of a distributor of a public water supply to declare a water shortage emergency condition to prevail within the area served by the distributor whenever it finds and determines that the ordinary demands and requirements of water consumers cannot be satisfied without depleting the water supply of the distributor to the extent that there would be insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation, and fire protection. Existing law provides for certain water conservation measures to be taken during prescribed periods, including when the Governor has proclaimed a state of emergency based on drought or when the governing body of a distributor of a public water supply has declared a water shortage emergency condition. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting this measure to, among other things, encourage continued investment in water reuse as a means to increase water supply reliability and diversification within the state. The bill would state that water conservation does not include curtailment of use of recycled water. The bill would prohibit an urban retail water supplier from being required to reduce the amount of recycled water it produces, sells, or distributes for beneficial potable or nonpotable uses during a period when water conservation measures are in effect.