Asm. Sebastian Ridley-Thomas

This measure would recognize and commend the Maritime Museum of San Diego for its continuing dedication to preserving, interpreting, and teaching the rich maritime history of California while upholding a worldwide reputation for excellence with regard to the restoration, maintenance, and operation of historic vessels, particularly the San Salvador replica.

This measure would urge the United States Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, and the Office of Management and Budget to expedite the rulemaking and implementation processes for federal safety regulations governing the transport by rail of flammable and combustible liquids, including crude oil, and would also urge the President and the Congress of the United States to pass specified federal legislation mandating public safety measures regulating the transport by rail of those liquids.

Existing law provides for a system of postsecondary education in this state. This system includes the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education. Existing law establishes a Student Athlete Bill of Rights, which, among other things, provides for the protection of athletic scholarships for student athletes and requires certain institutions of higher education to pay the premiums for specified student athletes for insurance claims resulting from their participation in those institutions' athletic programs. Existing law repeals the provisions granting these rights to student athletes on January 1, 2021. This bill would delete the repeal date for these provisions, thereby extending the operation of these rights for student athletes indefinitely.

Existing law creates the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) , with various powers and duties with respect to transportation planning, programming, construction, and operations. Existing law authorizes LACMTA to provide for a small business preference of 5% of the lowest responsible bidder meeting specifications, with respect to contracts in construction, the construction component of a design-build team, the procurement of goods, or the delivery of services. Existing law also authorizes LACMTA to establish a subcontracting participation goal for small businesses on certain contracts financed with nonfederal funds and to grant a preference of 5% to the lowest responsible bidders that meet that goal. This bill would also authorize LACMTA to establish disabled veteran business enterprise participation goals, and would define "disabled veteran business enterprise" for these purposes. Existing law imposes various requirements on bidders relative to contracts involving small business enterprise goals. This bill would delete those requirements and instead authorize LACMTA to require bidders to comply with small business enterprise and disabled veteran business enterprise goals and requirements established by LACMTA relative to contracts financed with nonfederal funds. The bill would also authorize LACMTA to award contracts under certain circumstances to small business enterprises with respect to work that is set aside for competition among certified small business enterprises, and would require the authority to report to the Legislature by December 31, 2017, regarding any contracts awarded in this regard.

This measure would proclaim April 12, 2016, as Equal Pay Day in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.

This measure would encourage teaching sun safety practices to children to enable them to identify the importance of sun safety, practice strategies to protect against the harmful effects of the sun, and understand why and how to stay safe from overexposure to the sun.

This measure would recognize the month of June 2016 as Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, would recognize June 21, 2016, as The Longest Day in California, and would urge all residents to wear purple on this day to help spread global awareness of the Alzheimer's Association's vision of imagining a world without Alzheimer's disease.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 imposes various limitations on contributions that may be made to, or accepted by, candidates for elective office and campaign committees that support or oppose candidates and ballot measures. The act prohibits a foreign government or principal, as defined, from making a contribution or expenditure in connection with a ballot measure. The act also prohibits a person or committee from soliciting or accepting a contribution from a foreign government or principal for this purpose. This bill would expand the scope of these prohibitions by also prohibiting a foreign government or principal from making a contribution or expenditure, and a person or committee from soliciting or accepting this type of contribution, in connection with an election. A violation of the act's provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would recognize the year of 2016 as the 50th anniversary of California's community-based developmental services system, and would reaffirm the commitment of the Legislature to support this system. This measure would declare the importance of ensuring a sustainable system that protects the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities.