Asm. Cristina Garcia

The Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households or an emergency shelter or conditioning approval in a manner that renders the project infeasible unless the local agency makes specified written findings. The act authorizes an applicant or person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the development or emergency shelter to bring an action to enforce the act. This bill would, in addition, authorize a housing organization, as defined, to bring an action challenging the disapproval of a housing development pursuant to these provisions.

Existing law prohibits the Board of Directors of the Hastings College of the Law, the Trustees of the California State University, the governing boards of each community college district, and, if they adopt an appropriate resolution, the Regents of the University of California from collecting mandatory systemwide tuition and fees from any surviving spouse or surviving child of a deceased person who was a resident of the state and employed by or contracting with a public agency, whose principal duties consisted of active law enforcement service or active fire suppression and prevention, and who died as a result of his or her duties, as specified. This bill would extend the application of those provisions to the surviving spouse or surviving child of a person who died as a result of an industrial injury or illness arising out of and in the course of active law enforcement or fire suppression and prevention duties, and who otherwise met the above-referenced requirements. The bill would also make conforming changes. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on community college districts, the 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 these statutory provisions.

(1) Existing law requires the California State University and each community college district, and requests the University of California, with respect to each campus in their respective jurisdictions that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to foster youth or former foster youth, as defined. Existing law repeals these requirements on January 1, 2017. This bill would revise the definition of foster youth or former foster youth for these provisions. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions indefinitely. By extending the operation of requirements relating to student eligibility for priority registration at community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires each community college district, with respect to each campus in its jurisdiction that administers a priority enrollment system, to grant priority for registration for enrollment to students in the Community College Extended Opportunity Programs and Services program and to disabled students who are determined to be eligible for disabled student programs and services, as provided. Existing law repeals these requirements on January 1, 2017. This bill would extend the operation of those provisions indefinitely. By extending the operation of requirements relating to student eligibility for priority registration at community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 66025.9 of the Education Code, proposed by AB 801, to be operative only if AB 801 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last. (4) 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer the State Emergency Food Assistance Program (SEFAP) , to provide food and funding for the provision of emergency food to food banks, as provided. Existing law creates the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, allocates the moneys in the account to SEFAP and requires that those moneys be used for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California and for the department's administrative costs. This bill would rename the State Emergency Food Assistance Program as the CalFood Program and would rename the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account as the CalFood Account. The bill would make other conforming changes in this regard. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 18995 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 1747 that would become operative if this bill and AB 1747 are both enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to, on or before December 31, 2013, adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse for groundwater recharge and to investigate and, on or before December 31, 2016, report to the Legislature on the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse. Existing law transferred these powers and responsibilities to the State Water Resources Control Board on July 1, 2014. Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates water bottlers, distributors, and vendors. Existing law prescribes various quality and labeling standards for bottled water and limits the levels of certain contaminants that may be contained in those water products. Violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would authorize the operator of an advanced water purification facility to cause advanced purified demonstration water to be bottled and distributed as samples for educational purposes and to promote water recycling, as specified. The bill would prohibit the advanced purified demonstration water in each bottle from exceeding 8 ounces and would prohibit that water from being distributed unless the water, among other requirements, meets or exceeds all federal and state drinking water standards. The bill would authorize advanced purified demonstration water to be bottled at a licensed water-bottling plant in compliance with specified provisions. The bill would further establish bottling and labeling requirements for advanced purified demonstration water and would prohibit a facility from causing more than 1,000 gallons of the water to be bottled in a calendar year. The bill would require an operator of an advanced water purification facility seeking to bottle advanced purified demonstration water to establish a collection and recycling program for distributed bottles. The bill would require the operator to maintain a daily record of the number of individuals to whom the water is distributed, served, made available, or otherwise distributed and to submit a report based on those records, as specified and under penalty of perjury, to the state board. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require a bottler of advanced purified demonstration water to submit sample labels and specified analyses of the advanced purified demonstration water to the department and to conduct a full sanitation of the bottling and filling equipment immediately after bottling advanced purified demonstration water. 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.

Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. Existing law establishes within the department the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is vested with the general duty of enforcing labor laws, including those relating to wage claims and employer retaliation. This bill would require every employer subject to its provisions to keep accurate records of specific information regarding employees for 3 years. The bill would require the division to enforce its provisions and would authorize the Labor Commissioner, who is the chief of the division, to adopt any regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of the bill. The bill would require every employer, effective July 1, 2018, to register annually with the Labor Commissioner in accordance with prescribed procedures. The bill would prohibit an employer from conducting any business without registration as required by the bill and would authorize the commissioner to revoke a registration under certain circumstances. The bill would set application and renewal fees for registration. The bill would require an employer to include specific information in the registration application. The bill would prohibit the division from granting registration under specific circumstances. The bill would require the commissioner to maintain on the department's Internet Web site a public database of registered property service employers. The bill would require the division, by January 1, 2019, to establish a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement for employees and employers with the assistance of a prescribed advisory committee to be convened by the director. The bill would require employers, as of July 1, 2018, and until the division establishes that training requirement, to provide employees with a pamphlet of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing on sexual harassment. The bill would establish civil fines for specific violations of its provisions and vest in the commission the exclusive authority to enforce the civil fine provisions. The bill would require the deposit of registration fees and civil fines in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund and would direct that the moneys in the fund from those fees and fines be used only for the reasonable costs of administering the registration of janitorial contractors and the costs and obligations associated with the administration and enforcement of the bill by the division.

Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish a continuing education classroom training course related to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled persons and to make the course available to law enforcement agencies in California. This bill would require that the course be shared with the State Fire Marshal and would authorize him or her to revise the course, as specified. The bill would delete an obsolete reporting requirement and make a conforming change.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes. This bill, on and after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, tampons, sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. That law provides various exemptions from those taxes. This bill, until January 1, 2022, would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, diapers for infants and toddlers, designated size 3 or under. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.

Existing law requires that any woman inmate in state prison, or any female confined in a local detention facility, as defined, be allowed to continue to use materials necessary for (1) personal hygiene with regard to her menstrual cycle and reproductive system and (2) birth control measures as prescribed by her physician, upon her request. Existing law requires each and every woman inmate or female confined in a local detention facility to be furnished with information and education regarding the availability of family planning services by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the county, respectively. Existing law requires family planning services to be offered to each and every woman inmate or female confined in a local detention facility at least 60 days prior to a scheduled release date, as specified. Existing law also requires the department or county, respectively, to furnish any woman inmate or female confined in a local detention facility with the services of a licensed physician or with services necessary to meet her family planning needs at the time of her release, as specified, upon her request. This bill would provide that any person incarcerated in state prison who menstruates shall, upon request, have access to and be allowed to use materials necessary for personal hygiene with regard to their menstrual cycle and reproductive system. The bill would provide that any incarcerated person in state prison who is capable of becoming pregnant shall, upon request, have access to, and be allowed to obtain, contraceptive counseling and their choice of birth control method, as specified, unless medically contraindicated. The bill would require that all birth control methods approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) be made available to incarcerated persons who are capable of becoming pregnant, except as provided, and would require the California Correctional Health Care Services to establish a formulary that consists of all of these birth control methods. The bill would provide that if a birth control method has more than one FDA-approved therapeutic equivalent, only one version of that method shall be required to be made available, unless another version is specifically indicated by a prescribing provider and approved by the chief medical physician at the facility. The bill would require incarcerated persons to have access to nonprescription birth control methods without the requirement to see a licensed health care provider. The bill would require that any contraceptive service that requires a prescription, or any contraceptive counseling, provided to incarcerated persons capable of becoming pregnant, be furnished by a licensed health care provider who has been provided with training in reproductive health care and be nondirective, unbiased, and noncoercive. The bill would require health care providers furnishing contraceptive services to receive specified training. The bill would require a facility to furnish incarcerated persons who are capable of becoming pregnant with information and education regarding the availability of family planning services and their right to receive nondirective, unbiased, and noncoercive contraceptive counseling and services. The bill would require each facility to post this information in conspicuous places, as specified. The bill would require that contraceptive and family planning services be offered and made available to all incarcerated persons capable of becoming pregnant at least 60 days, but not longer than 180 days, prior to a scheduled release date.