Asm. Blanca Rubio

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of money, labor, or property petty theft punishable as a misdemeanor, whenever the value of the property taken does not exceed $950. Under existing law, if the value of the property taken exceeds $950, the theft is grand theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. Proposition 47 requires shoplifting, defined as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny if the value of the property taken does not exceed $950, to be punished as a misdemeanor. Under existing law, entering a commercial establishment with the intent to take property exceeding $950 is burglary, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would amend Proposition 47 by reducing the threshold amount for petty theft and shoplifting from $950 to $400. The bill would provide that it shall become effective only when submitted to, and approved by, the voters of California.

Existing law, the Credit Services Act of 1984, defines and regulates the activities of credit services organizations. Existing law generally defines a credit services organization as a person who, for payment, performs specified credit-related services, such as improving a buyer's credit record and obtaining loans, but excludes specified persons and institutions, including an attorney licensed to practice law in this state rendering services within the course and scope of the practice of law unless the attorney is an employee of, or otherwise directly affiliated with, a credit services organization. Existing law requires credit services organizations to obtain a surety bond, as specified, before conducting business and requires that they register with the Attorney General, subject to a fee of $100. Among other things, existing law prohibits a credit services organization from receiving money before full and complete performance of the service the organization has agreed to perform and from failing to perform services agreed upon within 6 months. Existing law requires that credit services be provided pursuant to a written contract, that is required to contain specified statements, and, before the execution of a contract, a credit services organization must provide a prescribed information statement. Existing law requires the contract to contain a notice informing the buyer that the contract can be canceled within 5 days from the date the contract is signed. Existing law makes a violation of these prohibitions and requirements a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes a buyer of services who is injured by a credit services organization's violation of the act, or its breach of contract, to bring an action for damages or injunctive relief, as specified. Existing law also authorizes any person, including a consumer credit reporting agency, to bring an action, as specified, for a violation of the act. This bill would replace the term "buyer" with the term "consumer" for purposes of describing a person utilizing the services of a credit services organization and would prescribe other definitions in this regard. The bill would require a credit services organization to provide a consumer a monthly statement detailing the services performed, and would require the organization to perform services agreed upon within 180 days of contracting for those services. Because the bill would expand the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the information statement and contract to inform the consumer that the contract can be canceled before midnight on the 5th working day after the consumer signs it. The bill would extend prohibitions on counseling a consumer to make untrue statements to other specified parties. Among other things, the bill would prohibit a credit services organization from submitting a dispute to a consumer credit reporting agency, creditor, debt collector, or debt buyer more than 180 days after the disputed account has been removed from the consumer's credit report or from failing to provide along with its first written communication to a credit reporting agency or data furnisher sufficient information to investigate a dispute of an account. The bill would also require a consumer credit reporting agency, creditor, debt collector, or debt buyer that knows that a consumer is represented by a credit services organization to communicate with the credit services organization, except as specified. Because the bill would expand the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a credit services organization to redact specified information in certain written communications. The bill would require a credit services organization to maintain certain information on file for 4 years. Because the bill would expand the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would revise information that must be provided before a credit services contract is executed, including a notice regarding the filing of complaints with the Attorney General. The bill would revise statements that a credit services contract must include. 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.

(1) The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. 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, beginning July 1, 2030, and annually thereafter, the State Department of Education or the State Department of Social Services, as applicable, to collect specified data on this information, as provided, and would require the departments to publish that information no later than January 1, 2031, and annually thereafter. The bill would require the respective departments, on or before December 31, 2023, to issue guidance for programs on implementing these requirements. The bill would also require those departments to create guidelines for offering additional support and requiring additional staff training for programs with exceptionally high numbers of suspension and expulsion, as specified. The bill would make the above-mentioned provisions on expulsions and suspensions inapplicable to licensed family childcare providers until a specified joint labor-management committee makes recommendations for potential changes related to suspensions and expulsions. The bill would also authorize a child daycare facility to appeal a citation or civil penalty issued by the State Department of Social Services that is related to the behavior of a child if the facility is in the process of complying with those provisions and would require the department to withdraw the citation or civil penalty upon presentation of evidence of that fact. The bill would make other conforming changes to related provisions. (2) 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 the consultation service is supervised and provided by specified mental health professionals. This bill would update the definition of early childhood 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 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 designates specific days as holidays in this state. Existing law requires the Governor annually to proclaim the date corresponding with the second new moon following the winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice should an intercalary month intervene, as the "Lunar New Year." Existing law entitles state employees, with specified exceptions, to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for "Native American Day," in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit, and to elect to use 8 hours of vacation, annual leave, or compensating time off, consistent with departmental operational needs and collective bargaining agreements, for "Native American Day," as specified. This bill would repeal provisions requiring the Governor to annually proclaim the "Lunar New Year," and would instead recognize the "Lunar New Year" as a state holiday. The bill would authorize state employees, with specified exceptions, to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for the "Lunar New Year" in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit, and to elect to use 8 hours of vacation, annual leave, or compensating time off, consistent with departmental operational needs and collective bargaining agreements, for "Lunar New Year," as specified. Existing law designates specific days designated as holidays in this state, every Saturday and the day after Thanksgiving Day as judicial holidays, except "Admission Day," "Columbus Day," and any other day appointed by the President, but not by the Governor, for a public fast, thanksgiving, or holiday. This bill would additionally exclude "Lunar New Year" from designation as a judicial holiday. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 1801 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1801 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 6700, 19853, and 19853.1 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1655 and AB 1801 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1655, AB 1801, or both are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

(1) Existing law requires the Governor to create a California Interagency Council on Homelessness for specified purposes, including to create partnerships among various entities, like participants in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Program, and to identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. This bill would enact the HELP (Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations) Act. The bill would require cities, counties, and continuums of care receiving state funding to address homelessness, on or after January 1, 2024, to include families, people fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, and unaccompanied women within the vulnerable populations for whom specific system supports are developed to maintain homeless services and housing delivery. The bill would also impose other homelessness planning and data analysis requirements on these cities, counties, and continuums of care. The bill would prohibit victim service providers, as defined, from being required or expected to enter client-level data into specified homeless data systems and would permit any funding provided to cities, counties, and continuums of care, consistent with authorized program uses and limitations, to be used to support the development and the maintenance of comparable databases, as specified. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women in California, as described. The bill would require initial goals to be established by January 1, 2025, and those goals to be evaluated at least every 2 years to determine whether updated goals are needed. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. (2) 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.

(1) Existing law authorizes the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and requires that they be made in accordance with regulations of the Director of Employment Development. Existing law generally requires the Employment Development Department to promptly pay benefits if claimants are eligible or to promptly deny benefits if they are ineligible. Existing law prohibits payment of unemployment compensation benefits for services performed by a person who is not a citizen or national of the United States, unless that person is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed, as specified. This bill would establish, until January 1, 2026, the Excluded Workers Pilot Program, to be administered by the Employment Development Department upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of providing income assistance to excluded workers who are ineligible for the existing state or federal benefits administered by the department and who are unemployed. The bill would make individuals eligible to receive $300 per week for each week of unemployment, if the Director of Employment Development makes certain findings, as defined and specified. The bill would require the department to promulgate regulations to implement the program, including regulations providing for an application process, as specified. The bill would prohibit the department from requesting or compelling certain information from individuals in connection with administering the program and would prohibit the department from retaining specified documents for longer than necessary to administer benefits. The bill would also prohibit, except as specified, disclosures of personal information, as defined. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2025, to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature that makes recommendations for establishing a permanent unemployment insurance benefit program for workers excluded from the unemployment insurance system based on their immigration status, as specified. (2) 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.

The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process and not subject to a conditional use permit if the development satisfies specified objective planning standards. This bill would create the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, which would authorize a development proponent to submit an application for a housing development that meets specified objective standards and affordability and site criteria, including being located within a zone where office, retail, or parking are a principally permitted use, and would make the development a use by right and subject to one of 2 streamlined, ministerial review processes. The bill would require a development proponent for a housing development project approved pursuant to the streamlined, ministerial review process to require, in contracts with construction contractors, that certain wage and labor standards will be met, including a requirement that all construction workers be paid at least the general prevailing rate of wages, as specified. The bill would require a development proponent to certify to the local government that those standards will be met in project construction. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the obligation to pay prevailing wages. The bill would require a development proponent for a development of 50 or more housing units approved by a local government pursuant to the above-described provisions to require construction contractors to participate in an apprenticeship program or request dispatch of apprentices from a state-approved apprenticeship program, and to make specified health care expenditures for construction craft employees. The bill would require the development proponent to certify compliance with those requirements to the local government and to report monthly to the local government that they are in compliance with those requirements. The bill would subject the development proponent and the construction contractors and subcontractors to specified civil penalties for failing to comply with those requirements, and would require the penalty funds to be deposited in the State Public Works Enforcement Fund. The bill would prohibit a local government from imposing any requirement, including increased fees, on the basis that the project is eligible to receive ministerial or streamlined approval. Because the bill would impose new duties on local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to undertake specified studies of the outcomes of the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, to publish reports on the findings of those studies, to post the reports on its internet website, and to submit the reports to the Legislature. This bill would repeal the provisions of the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 on January 1, 2033. The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. The law also requires a planning agency to provide a specified annual report after the legislative body has adopted all or part of a general plan. This bill would require the annual report to include specified information about applications for housing developments submitted pursuant to the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022. The Planning and Zoning Law also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to notify the city, county, or city and county, and authorizes the department to notify the Attorney General, that the city, county, or city and county is in violation of state law if the department finds that the housing element or an amendment to that element, or any specified action or failure to act, does not substantially comply with the law as it pertains to housing elements or that any local government has taken an action in violation of certain housing laws. This bill would add the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022 to that list of housing laws. 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 does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. This bill would define "use by right" for purposes of the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, in part, as a development project that is not a project for purposes of CEQA, and the approval process established by this bill would be ministerial in nature, thereby exempting the approval of development projects subject to that approval process from CEQA. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65400 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1743, AB 2094, and AB 2653, to be operative only if this bill and any one or a combination of AB 1743, AB 2094, and AB 2653, are enacted, and this bill is enacted last, as described. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65585 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2097 and AB 2653 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of AB 2097 and AB 2653 are enacted, and this bill is enacted last, as described. 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. This bill would make its provisions operative on July 1, 2023.

Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, establishes the California Department of Aging in the California Health and Human Services Agency, and sets forth its mission to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the department to administer and implement the Aging and Disability Resource Connection program, in collaboration with the Department of Rehabilitation and the State Department of Health Care services. This bill would establish the Dementia Care Navigator Grant Pilot Program, to be administered by the California Department of Aging, in partnership with organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators. The bill would provide that the purpose of the pilot program is to incentivize organizations that provide services to local communities to provide dementia care navigation training services, as defined. The bill would authorize organizations with expertise using community health workers, promotores, and health navigators to apply for a grant. The bill would require the department to award grants on a competitive basis. The bill would require an organization that receives a grant pursuant to these provisions to provide to the department an annual report on the services provided on or before December 31 of the year the grant is received, as specified. The bill would make those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027. The bill would also require the department to provide a report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature on or before December 1, 2027. Implementation of these provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation and the provisions would repeal on January 1, 2028. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, makes certain persons, including teachers and social workers, mandated reporters. Under existing law, mandated reporters are required to report whenever the mandated reporter, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. Existing law generally requires prosecution of a misdemeanor to commence within one year after commission of the offense. Under existing law, a case involving the failure to report an incident known or reasonably suspected by the mandated reporter to be sexual assault may be filed at any time within 5 years from the date of occurrence of the offense. This bill would allow a case involving the failure to report an incident known or reasonably suspected by the mandated reporter to be child abuse or severe neglect, as defined, to be filed within one year of the discovery of the offense, but in no case later than 4 years after the commission of the offense.

Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to, among other things, plan and evaluate strategies for overcoming poverty in the state, mobilize resources in support of antipoverty and community services programs, and administer public and private funds designed to support antipoverty programs that are not currently administered by other departments. Existing law establishes the Cradle-to-Career Data System for the purpose of connecting individuals and organizations to trusted information and resources, as a source for actionable data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities, and to provide for expanded access to tools and services that support the education-to-employment pipeline, as specified. This bill, the It Takes a Village Act of 2022, subject upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes, would establish the California Coordinated Neighborhood and Community Services Grant Program to be administered by the State Department of Social Services or another department within the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would require the department to grant awards on a competitive basis to eligible entities that are Promise Neighborhoods, other community-based networks, or multineighborhood regional cradle-to-career networks, as those terms are defined, to either implement a comprehensive, integrated continuum of cradle-to-career solutions at the neighborhood level or support the civic infrastructure and backbone of cradle-to-career networks that support their network partners to accomplish systems change. The bill would define "cradle-to-career" to mean a system of integrated services that begins before birth and leads to appropriate postsecondary success, including academic, occupational, and independent living, that benefits the individual and community as a whole. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to develop an application process and would require the department to establish performance standards to measure progress on indicators and results relevant to the evaluation of the grant program. The bill would require grant recipients to contribute matching funds and prepare and submit an annual report to the department, as specified.