Asm. Ed Chau

This measure would declare the month of January 2016 as Pet Care Education Month and would request Californians to observe the month by ensuring that their companion animals receive the proper preventative care by establishing a financial plan for pet health emergencies and by contributing to charitable organizations that provide low-cost spay and neuter services and vaccinations or funds to help low-income individuals pay for veterinary care.

Existing law imposes a 40-foot limitation on the length of vehicles that may be operated on the highways, with specified exemptions. Existing law exempts from this limitation a bus, except a schoolbus, operated by a public agency or a passenger stage corporation, as defined, used in transit system service if the bus is equipped with a folding device attached to the front of the bus that is designed and used exclusively for transporting bicycles, the device does not materially affect efficiency or visibility of vehicle safety equipment, and the length of the bus, exclusive of that device, does not exceed 40 feet in length. In addition, existing law prohibits, among other things, the above-described device from extending more than 40 inches from the front body of the bus when fully deployed. This bill would instead prohibit the above-described device from extending more than 40 inches from the front of the bus.

Existing law provides specified requirements in awarding certain public contracts. This bill would authorize the Governor to sign agreements required by the United States Olympic Committee as part of the bid process for the City of Los Angeles or the City and County of San Francisco to become the United States applicant city and candidate city for the 2024 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations that, among other things, the endorsing municipality, as defined, has developed a self-sufficient bid for financing the games. This bill would authorize the Governor to enter into an agreement for the state to be jointly liable, not to exceed a specified amount, with the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) , as specified, for obligations of the OCOG, and for any financial deficit relating to the games, as provided. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law authorizes a peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person to be arrested has committed a public offense to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that requires law enforcement agencies to develop written policies relating to the handling of incidents involving the use of deadly force by a peace officer that resulted in the death of a member of the public.

This measure would proclaim January 26, 2016, as India Republic Day, and would urge all Californians to join in celebrating India Republic Day.

Under existing law, there are programs providing assistance for, among other things, emergency housing, multifamily housing, farmworker housing, homeownership for very low and low-income households, and downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of bonds in specified amounts pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law. Existing law requires that proceeds from the sale of these bonds be used to finance various existing housing programs, capital outlay related to infill development, brownfield cleanup that promotes infill development, and housing-related parks. This bill would enact the Building Homes and Jobs Act. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the need for establishing permanent, ongoing sources of funding dedicated to affordable housing development. The bill would impose a fee, except as provided, of $75 to be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, per each single transaction per single parcel of real property, not to exceed $225. By imposing new duties on counties with respect to the imposition of the recording fee, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require that revenues from this fee, after deduction of any actual and necessary administrative costs incurred by the county recorder, be sent quarterly to the Department of Housing and Community Development for deposit in the Building Homes and Jobs Fund, which the bill would create within the State Treasury. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require that 20% of the moneys in the fund be expended for affordable owner-occupied workforce housing, 10% of the moneys for housing purposes related to agricultural workers and their families, and would authorize the remainder of the moneys in the fund to be expended to support affordable housing, homeownership opportunities, and other housing-related programs, as specified. The bill would impose certain auditing and reporting requirements and would establish the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund Governing Board that would, among other things, review and approve recommendations made by the Department of Housing and Community Development for the distribution of moneys from the fund. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would create the Secretary of Housing within state government to oversee all activities related to housing in the state. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Acupuncture Licensure Act provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of acupuncture by the Acupuncture Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act, until January 1, 2017, requires the board to establish standards for the approval of schools and colleges offering education and training in the practice of an acupuncturist, as specified. The act, commencing January 1, 2017, defines an "approved educational and training program," for purposes of licensure as an acupuncturist, as a school or college that: offers curriculum that has been submitted to and approved by the board and includes specified hours of didactic and laboratory training and supervised clinical instruction; is approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education or is the appropriate out-of-state governmental educational authority; and is accredited or granted candidacy status by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) , or has submitted a letter of intent to pursue accreditation to the ACAOM, as specified. The act, commencing January 1, 2017, requires the board, within 30 days of receiving curriculum submitted by a school or college pursuant to these provisions, to review the curriculum, determine whether the curriculum satisfies the board's requirements, and notify the school or college, the ACAOM, and the bureau of whether the board has approved the curriculum. This bill would include another accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education as an alternative to the ACAOM in the above provisions. The bill would require the board to conduct site visits to each site of a school or college of acupuncture to inspect or reinspect the school or college for purposes of approval or continued approval of its training program, and to impose a fee for the site visits in an amount to recover direct reasonable regulatory costs incurred by the board in conducting the inspection and evaluation of the school or college.

The Economic Revitalization Act establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as "GO-Biz," to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. The Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act establishes the Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank within GO-Biz to, among other things, assist in the promotion of economic development throughout the state. This bill would enact the Small Business Technical Assistance Act of 2015, within the bank under the direction of GO-Biz to, among other things, serve as the lead state entity for overseeing the state's participation with the federal California Small Business Development Center Program, the Women's Business Center program, the Veteran Business Outreach Center program, the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) , and the Procurement Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement program. The bill would also recognize those federal programs, and would authorize GO-Biz or any other state entity to contract with a federal small business technical assistance center. The bill would require the State Chair of the California Small Business Development Center Leadership Council, or the contract lead for any of the other federal small business technical assistance centers, to report specific information to GO-Biz relating to any year that state funds are appropriated to support the California Small Business Development Center Program or any of the other federal small business technical assistance center programs, and would, in turn, require the director of GO-Biz or the contract lead for any of the other small business technical assistance centers to provide that report to the Legislature and post the report on the GO-Biz's Internet Web site. The bill would also require the state chair, as a condition of accepting state funds, to allow access to other information about those federal programs under certain conditions. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations in this regard.

The Passenger Charter-Party Carriers' Act prohibits a transportation network company from disclosing personally identifiable information of a passenger, with certain exceptions, including when the passenger knowingly consents or pursuant to a legal obligation. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would modify the knowing consent exception to the prohibition against disclosure of personally identifiable information by requiring the affirmative consent of a passenger through an opt-in selection that is separate from and not conditioned on various other transactions between the passenger and the transportation network company. The bill would modify the legal obligation exception to the prohibition against disclosure of personally identifiable information by instead providing for disclosure pursuant to law, regulation, or court order. The bill would define personally identifiable information. By changing the definition of 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.

This measure would proclaim the month of January 2016 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, encourage all Californians to become educated about human trafficking and work to eradicate these criminal practices within and beyond our borders, and encourage Members of the Legislature, as well as organizations, businesses, and individuals, to host or sponsor and attend community events in order to bring visibility and support to efforts made by nongovernmental organizations to recognize and combat human trafficking.