Asm. Isaac Bryan

Existing law authorizes the California Horse Racing Board to approve minisatellite wagering sites, as defined, under specified conditions. Existing law requires an organization formed by associations or fairs to operate the audiovisual signal system to execute a specified agreement with the association conducting a racing meeting and the minisatellite wagering facility that specifies, among other things, the components of its racing program, including live, out-of-zone, out-of-state, and out-of-country races, that an association or fair will make available to the site. This bill would explicitly require the agreement to specify which live in-state races would be provided by the association or fair to the site. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes, including deleting obsolete language.

(1) Existing law establishes various public social services programs, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, CalFresh, and the Medi-Cal program. Existing law defines "public social services" to mean activities and functions of state and local government administered or supervised by the State Department of Social Services or the State Department of Health Care Services and involved in providing aid or services, or both, to those people of the state who, because of their economic circumstances or social condition, are in need of and may benefit from the aid or services. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to convene a workgroup comprised of, among others, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, to develop recommendations to allow data from Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications to be released to county welfare departments to authorize students to apply to receive public social services based on data collected pursuant to information from their FAFSA application. The bill would require those recommendations to be submitted to the Legislature by December 31, 2024. The bill would, upon the submission of those recommendations, require the department and the workgroup to begin to pursue administrative and statutory changes to make it possible for data from the FAFSA application, or any other student aid application administered by the Student Aid Commission, to be prepopulated into applications for students to receive public social services. (2) Existing law requires the Office of Systems Integration within the California Health and Human Services Agency to implement a statewide automated welfare system, known as the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) , for various public assistance programs, including the CalWORKs program, CalFresh, and the Medi-Cal program. Under existing law, among other duties, the state is consolidating existing consortia systems into the single CalSAWS. Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing law requires the department to convene a workgroup to identify the steps necessary to establish a CalFresh application submission process that accommodates the large influx of CalFresh applications during the beginning of a school term, as specified, and to submit a report, on or before April 1, 2023, to the Legislature on the necessary steps identified by the workgroup and any estimates of costs associated with implementing those steps. This bill would require the department to ensure that CalSAWS allows all county office eligibility workers, regardless of county, to view, transfer, and process all CalFresh applications via CalSAWS to allow students to be able to apply for benefits in their home county before moving, or, in the county of their school.

Existing law requires the Secretary of State to establish a statewide system to facilitate removal of duplicate or prior voter registrations to facilitate the reporting of election results and voter and candidate information and to otherwise administer and enhance election administration. Existing law also requires that certain voter registration information be provided to, among others, any person for election, scholarly, journalistic, or political purposes, or for governmental purposes, as determined by the Secretary of State. This bill would require the Secretary of State to apply for membership with the Electronic Registration Information Center and, if that application is approved, require the Secretary of State to execute a membership agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center on behalf of the state. The bill would require the Secretary of State to ensure that any confidential information or data provided by another state remains confidential, and would authorize the Secretary of State to transmit confidential information or data pursuant to that agreement. The bill would prohibit the disclosure of any information or data related to citizenship and certain types of driver's licenses and identification cards, as specified. The bill would also authorize the Secretary of State to adopt regulations necessary to implement these provisions and would require the Secretary of State to receive a certification from the Department of Technology that all proper cybersecurity protections are in place prior to sending any data or information to the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to develop a model environmental justice mission statement for boards, departments, and offices within the agency, and defines environmental justice for these purposes. This bill would provide that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation relating to environmental justice.

Existing law authorizes a peace officer to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance of an individual. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a policy on the use of force. Existing law prohibits the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse any assembly, protest, or demonstration, except in compliance with specified standards. This bill would prohibit the use of an unleashed police canine by law enforcement to apprehend a person unless the person is being pursued for a felony that threatened or resulted in the death of or serious bodily injury to another person and the person poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or to another person and any use of a police canine for crowd control. The bill would prohibit a police canine from being used to bite unless there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person by the person against whom the canine is used. The bill would attribute the death of or serious bodily injury to a person caused by a police canine to the canine's handler as constituting deadly force. The bill would prohibit law enforcement agencies from authorizing any use or training of a police canine that is inconsistent with this bill.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a single statewide Child Welfare Services Case Management System to administer and evaluate the state's child welfare services and foster care programs. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature for the department to enhance the statewide child welfare information system to include information concerning the level of care required, educational accomplishments, and health history of children placed in foster care. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

The California Constitution requires the Legislature to provide for the disqualification of electors while serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony. ACA 4 of the 2023–24 Regular Session, if approved by the voters, would repeal that requirement, thereby authorizing an otherwise qualified elector serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony to vote. This bill would remove statutory references to the disqualification of electors while serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony, would allow an elector currently serving in a state or federal prison to vote based on their last voluntary residence in the state, would require an elections official to provide the incarcerated elector with the voting materials required to be sent to a vote by mail voter to the location where the elector is incarcerated, and would make other conforming changes. By imposing new duties on local officers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would become operative only if ACA 4 of the 2023–24 Regular Session is approved by the voters and takes effect. 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 prohibits discrimination in any program or activity that is conducted, operated, or administered by the state, or by any state agency, that is funded directly by the state, or that receives any financial assistance from the state, based upon specified personal characteristics. This bill would also prohibit discrimination based upon housing status, as defined.