Asm. Freddie Rodriguez

This measure would declare that the Legislature strongly supports, and would respectfully urge the President of the United States and Members of the United States Congress to continue to protect, net neutrality, open Internet access, the federal Lifeline program's discounted telephone service for qualifying low-income consumers, and the E-rate program's discounted telecommunication and Internet access services for schools and libraries. The measure would declare that the Legislature views these as high priorities for California and the country, and opposes any federal efforts to rescind or block them.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to members of the system, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. PERL vests the Board of Administration of PERS with management and control of the system, and authorizes the board to employ certain managerial staff including an executive officer. PERL authorizes a public agency and a school employer to contract to make their employees members of PERS. PERL establishes the compensation earnable by members of the system, defined as the member's payrate and special compensation, which includes out-of-class pay for state members. Existing law requires fees and other amounts received by the Board of Administration of PERS pursuant to PERL to be credited to the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would prohibit an out-of-class appointment by a contracting agency or school employer from exceeding 960 hours each fiscal year. The bill would define "out-of-class appointment" to mean an appointment to an upgraded position or higher classification by an employer or governing board or body in a vacant position for a limited duration. The bill would require employers to track hours worked in these positions and report them to the system within 30 days after the end of the fiscal year. The bill would specify that compensation for a limited duration position under these circumstances would be pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement or publicly available pay schedule. The bill would require an employer who violates this provision to make payments to the system for treble the amount of money that otherwise would have been paid in the form of employee and employer contributions, as specified, and to provide reimbursement for administrative expenses, as determined by the executive officer. By depositing new moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

This measure would request the Governor to designate specified departments to accelerate the planning, creation, and completion timelines for a California Nonmotorized Trails Master Plan for urban and rural regions to expand specified opportunities for Californians. The measure would request the Governor to request the President of the United States, Members of Congress, and the Federal Highway Administration to dedicate increased funding to California to accelerate and support the planning and development of the plan and to accelerate the completion of existing nonmotorized recreational trails.

This measure would proclaim June 21, 2017, as Asking Saves Kids Day.

This measure would recognize the month of August 2017 as Opportunity Youth Reengagement Month, and state the intent of the Legislature to encourage the expansion of schools authorized to specifically reengage "opportunity youth" 16 to 24 years of age by developing recommendations for a statewide student reengagement strategy and identifying the cost of the strategy compared to the cost of inaction; authorizing systems for accountability to students, parents, and families through transparency, active engagement, and outreach strategies; and highlighting, promoting, and uplifting evidence-based practices for successful student reengagement efforts that maintain multiple measures for evaluation of student success.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to support S. 349, the Access to Counsel Act, which would ensure that those persons held or detained while attempting to enter the United States, whether at a border crossing or a port of entry, would be guaranteed access to legal counsel.

This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to continue to place an emphasis on increasing funding to NASA's budget and encouraging the expansive use of public-private partnerships to propel the industry forward into the next generation of advancement.

This measure would recognize adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) , also known as post-traumatic "street" disorder in communities of color, as having lasting negative outcomes to both physical and mental health with growing implications for our state.

(1) Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, requires the Governor to coordinate the State Emergency Plan and any programs necessary for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency in this state, as specified. The act authorizes the Governor, with advice of the Office of Emergency Services, to divide the state into mutual aid regions for the more effective application, administration, and coordination of mutual aid and other emergency-related activities. The act requires the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with relevant local and state agencies, to develop and adopt a state fire service and rescue emergency mutual aid plan as an annex to the State Emergency Plan. This bill would require a nonprofit or public fire department that has volunteer firefighters and receives reimbursement from the federal, state, or local government through a mutual aid request, if the applicable fire agreement is intended to reimburse for personnel costs for work performed associated with firefighting in which the volunteer firefighters of the fire department have participated, to pass through to those volunteers specific reimbursement. The bill would require a fire department that utilizes the services of volunteer firefighters to maintain documentation of reimbursements and allow access to those records as prescribed. The bill would require a fire department to cease using the services of any volunteer firefighter to provide mutual aid response pursuant to the fire agreement who has received pass-through reimbursements that exceed during the fiscal year 20% of the statewide average amount that otherwise would be required to hire a permanent employee to provide the same services and would prohibit such a volunteer from engaging in mutual aid response for the fire department until the following fiscal year. The bill would authorize a volunteer to pursue reimbursement in a civil action if the fire department fails to reimburse the volunteer firefighter in accordance with the bill. By increasing the duties of local officials, 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, 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.