Asm. Blanca Rubio

Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and sets forth its powers and duties, including promoting the development of affordable housing in the state. Existing law creates the California Housing Finance Agency within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and authorizes the agency to make loans to finance affordable housing. Existing law establishes the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee to allocate specified federal low-income housing tax credits. Existing law also establishes the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee for the purpose of implementing the volume limit for the state on private activity bonds established pursuant to federal law. Under existing law, the committee's duties include annually determining a state ceiling on the aggregate amount of private activity bonds that may be issued, and allocating that amount among state and local agencies. This bill would require specified reviewing entities, as defined as the above-described entities, to jointly convene an Affordable Housing Finance Workgroup to develop recommendations for state-administered programs to utilize a consolidated application for multifamily affordable rental housing developers to use to obtain grants, soft loans, low-income housing tax credits, tax exempt bonds, federal funds, as applicable, and other types of subsidies for building affordable housing, and develop a coordinated review process for the application, as described. The bill would require the workgroup to include representatives of the reviewing entities, nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing developers, and local and tribal governments. The bill would require the workgroup to identify specified information, including any state-administered program that may utilize the consolidated application and coordinated review process, and a timeline for developing a single consolidated application and coordinated review process. On or before, July 1, 2026, the bill would require the workgroup to report recommendations on implementing a single consolidated application and coordinated review process to the reviewing entities, the Legislature, and certain committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the reviewing entities to develop and report to the Legislature a plan to update state-administered programs that may utilize the consolidated application and coordinated review process based on the recommendations of the workgroup on or before January 1, 2027, as specified.

Existing law establishes the California Statewide Housing Plan, developed in cooperation with the private housing industry, regional and local housing and planning agencies, and other agencies of the state, to serve as a state housing plan. Existing law requires the plan to incorporate specified segments, including, among others, a housing strategy that coordinates the housing assistance and activities of state and local agencies, including the provision of housing assistance for various population groups, including, but not limited to, elderly persons, persons with disabilities, and other specific population groups as deemed appropriate by the department. Existing law, to the extent possible, requires the department to consult with various state departments, including the California Department of Aging and the State Department of Social Services, in developing that housing strategy. This bill would add veterans to the list of population groups included in the housing strategy described above. The bill would require the department to also consult with the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing the housing strategy, to the extent possible. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 50423 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 1764 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1764 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law requires the Arts Council to establish criteria and guidelines for certification of state-designated cultural districts and collaborate with other public agencies and private entities to maximize the benefits of state-designated cultural districts. The Planning and Zoning Law imposes various requirements on cities and counties with regard to their review and approval of certain housing developments. This bill would authorize a city or county that requires, as a condition of approval, that a certain percentage of units of a residential development be affordable housing, as specified, to reserve for artists up to 10% of those required affordable housing units, except as provided, if certain conditions are met, including that the units reserved are located within or within one-half mile from a state-designated cultural district or within a locally designated cultural district, as specified. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.

Existing law, known as the State Capitol Building Annex Act of 2016, authorizes the Joint Rules Committee to pursue the construction of a State Capitol Building Annex or the restoration, rehabilitation, renovation, or reconstruction of the existing State Capitol Building Annex. Existing law requires any construction, restoration, rehabilitation, renovation, or reconstruction work undertaken pursuant to the act to incorporate specified elements. This bill would require any construction, restoration, rehabilitation, renovation, or reconstruction work undertaken pursuant to the act to also incorporate a mural honoring Native Americans in California in one of the main hearing rooms in the newly constructed State Capitol Building Annex or the restored, rehabilitated, renovated, or reconstructed State Capitol Building Annex. The bill would require the mural to be designed in consultation with the Native American Heritage Commission.

Existing law provides that libel is a false and unprivileged written publication that injures the reputation and that slander is a false and unprivileged publication, orally uttered, that injures the reputation, as specified. Existing law makes certain publications and communications privileged and therefore protected from civil action, including complaints of sexual harassment by an employee, without malice, to an employer based on credible evidence and communications between the employer and interested persons regarding a complaint of sexual harassment. This bill would include among those privileged communications a communication made by an individual, without malice, regarding an incident of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination, as defined, and would specify the attorney's fees and damages available to a prevailing defendant in any defamation action brought against that defendant for making that communication.

Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion to a defendant in specified cases, including when the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder, specified controlled substances crimes, and when the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military. This bill would, until July 1, 2029, authorize the Counties of Sacramento and Yolo to offer secured residential treatment pilot programs, known as Hope California, for individuals suffering from substance use disorders (SUDs) who have been convicted of qualifying drug-motivated felony crimes, as specified. The bill would require the program to meet certain conditions relating to, among other things, a risk, needs, and biopsychosocial assessment, a comprehensive curriculum, a determination by a judge of the length of treatment, data collection, licensing and monitoring of the facility by the State Department of Health Care Services, and reporting to the department and the Legislature. The bill would require the judge to offer the defendant voluntary participation in the pilot programs, as an alternative to a jail or prison sentence otherwise imposed, if the defendant's crime was caused, in whole or in part, by the defendant's SUD, the crime was not a sex crime, serious or violent felony, nonviolent drug possession, domestic violence, or driving under the influence, and the judge makes their determination based on the recommendations of the treatment providers, on a finding by the county health and human services agency that the defendant's participation would be appropriate, and on a specified report prepared with input from interested parties. Under the bill, the defendant would be eligible to receive credits for participation in the program, as specified. The bill would set forth a procedure for the transfer of a participant out of the secured residential treatment program based on the recommendations of the treatment providers or program administrators or based on the participant's request, as specified. If the participant successfully completes the court-ordered drug treatment, as determined by treatment providers pursuant to the pilot program, the bill would require the court to set aside the conviction and to dismiss the accusation or information against the defendant and would authorize the court to set aside the conviction and to dismiss the accusation or information of any previous drug possession or drug use crimes on the participant's record. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain state summary criminal history information, as defined, and to furnish this information to various state and local government officers, officials, and other prescribed entities, if needed in the course of their duties. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, as part of the state summary criminal history information, to disseminate every conviction rendered against an applicant unless the conviction falls within an exception. This bill would exempt from dissemination a conviction that has been set aside pursuant to the above provisions. Existing law establishes 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 mental health and substance use disorder services, pursuant to a schedule of benefits. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law, with certain exceptions based in part on the type and location of the service, provides for the suspension of Medi-Cal benefits to an inmate of a public institution. This bill would, to the extent permitted under federal and state law, make treatment provided to a participant during the program reimbursable under the Medi-Cal program, if the participant is a Medi-Cal beneficiary and the treatment is a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program. If treatment services are not reimbursable under the Medi-Cal program or through the participant's personal health care coverage, the bill would authorize funds allocated to the state from the 2021 Multistate Opioid Settlement Agreement, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, to be used to reimburse those treatment services to the extent consistent with the terms of the settlement agreement and the court's final judgment, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Sacramento and Yolo.

Existing law authorizes victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and elder or dependent adult abuse, and members of their households, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purpose of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's changed name or location, subject to specified conditions. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any person to make a false statement in an application. This bill, beginning on July 1, 2024, would make victims of child abduction, as defined, and members of their households eligible for the protections of this address confidentiality program. By expanding the scope of the program to include victims of child abduction and their household members, this bill would impose new duties on local public officials and expand the scope of an existing crime, thereby imposing 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 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.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to direct a business that collects sensitive personal information about the consumer to limit its use of the consumer's sensitive personal information to that use which is necessary to perform the services or provide the goods reasonably expected by an average consumer who requests those goods or services, to perform certain other services, and as authorized by certain regulations. The CCPA defines "sensitive personal information to mean personal information that reveals, among other things, a consumer's racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or union membership. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. This bill would define "sensitive personal information" for purposes of the CCPA to additionally include personal information that reveals a consumer's citizenship or immigration status. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.

(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state. This system is composed of local educational agencies throughout the state that provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at schoolsites operated by these agencies. Existing law, commencing with the 2022–23 school year, requires each school district and county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and each charter school to provide 2 nutritiously adequate school meals free of charge during each schoolday, regardless of the length of the schoolday, to any pupil who requests a meal without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as specified, with a maximum of one free meal for each meal service period. Existing law requires the department to develop and maintain nutrition guidelines for school lunches and breakfasts, and for all food and beverages sold on public school campuses. Existing law requires a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, except as provided. This bill would revise and recast provisions regarding school meals for needy pupils by, among other things, instead requiring each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available a nutritionally adequate breakfast, as defined, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, free of charge during each schoolday, as defined, to any pupil who requests a meal, without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as provided. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, or charter school that offers independent study to meet the above meal requirements for any pupil on any schoolday that the pupil is scheduled for educational activities, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education to submit a waiver request to the United States Department of Agriculture to allow for one meal to be provided during a schoolday lasting 4 hours or less to be served in a noncongregate manner. The bill would authorize each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available either a nutritionally adequate breakfast or a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, in a noncongregate manner, as provided, if the State Department of Education receives approval for the federal noncongregate waiver. The bill would require each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to provide pupils with adequate time to eat, as determined by that school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school in consideration of the recommendations provided by the department. The bill would require a chartering authority, among other things, to provide technical assistance to a charter school to meet these meal requirements, as provided. If the federal School Breakfast Program and federal National School Lunch Program allow more added sugar or sodium than is recommended by the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as described, the bill would require the department to convene representatives from specified entities to work in partnership to provide maximum daily added sugar and sodium intake recommendations for each grade level, as provided. The bill also would make conforming changes to related provisions of law. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies and officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish rules to determine which pupils are needy and authorizes a nominal cash payment for school meals to be collected from pupils that are not eligible for free meals and requires the State Department of Education to determine the amount of cash payment that may be required of those pupils. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reimburse school districts for free and reduced-price meals served or sold based on the median statewide meal costs. This bill would delete those provisions. (3) Existing federal law provides for the permanent and nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month during summer months for grocery benefits. This bill would require the State Department of Education to work in partnership with the State Department of Social Services to maximize participation in the federal Summer EBT program, as provided. (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, 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 requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires the schoolsite council or school safety planning committee, before adopting the plan, to hold a public meeting at the schoolsite in order to allow members of the public the opportunity to express an opinion about the plan. Existing law requires the plan to include specified components, including, among other components, disaster procedures, routine and emergency, including adaptations for pupils with disabilities in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Existing law requires a petition to establish a charter school to include, among other things, a reasonably comprehensive description of the procedures that the charter school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, including requiring the development and annual update of a school safety plan that includes specified comprehensive school safety plan topics and procedures, including the disaster procedures. This bill would require those disaster procedures to also include adaptations for pupils with disabilities in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and would require the annual evaluation of the comprehensive school safety plan and the annual review of a charter school's school safety plan to also include ensuring that the plan includes appropriate adaptations for pupils with disabilities, as specified. The bill would expressly authorize a school employee, a pupil's parent, guardian, or educational rights holder, or a pupil, after the first evaluation or review for those purposes is conducted, to bring concerns about an individual pupil's ability to access disaster safety procedures described in the comprehensive school safety plan or the school safety plan to the school principal, and would require the school principal, if they determine there is merit to a concern, to direct the schoolsite council, school safety planning committee, or charter school, as applicable, to appropriately modify the comprehensive school safety plan or school safety plan, as applicable, as specified. The bill would also expressly provide that its provisions do not prohibit a school employee, a pupil's parent, guardian, or educational rights holder, or a pupil themselves from bringing their concerns to the school principal before an evaluation or review for those purposes. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 32282 of the Education Code proposed by SB 10 and SB 671 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills 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, 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.