(1) Under existing law, as amended by Proposition 35, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election, a person who deprives or violates another person's personal liberty with the intent to obtain forced labor or services or who deprives or violates another person's personal liberty with the intent to obtain forced labor or services or for the purpose of prostitution or sexual exploitation is guilty of human trafficking, a felony. Proposition 35 provides that it may be amended by a statute in furtherance of its objectives by a majority of the membership of each house of the Legislature concurring. This bill would require a peace officer to determine whether a suspect of a crime is a minor who is a human trafficking victim, and whether any other crime that person is suspected of was committed as a direct result of being trafficked. The bill would require the peace officer to make a record of this determination and provide the district attorney with the record for an independent review. Upon making this determination, unless the minor is otherwise arrested, the bill would require the peace officer to report suspected abuse or neglect of the minor to the county child welfare agency and consult with a child welfare worker regarding safe placement for the minor and would require the peace officer to transport the minor to that placement. The bill would allow the minor to be adjudged a dependent subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and would allow the minor to be taken into temporary custody to protect the minor from his or her human trafficker. By imposing new duties on local peace officers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to implement a course of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers in California in the handling of human trafficking complaints and to develop guidelines for law enforcement response to human trafficking. This bill would require the commission to update its training to conform with changes in law that this bill would make regarding minors who are victims of human trafficking. (3) Existing law allows a child who is sexually trafficked, or who receives food or shelter in exchange for, or who is paid to perform, sexual acts, and whose parent or guardian has failed or was unable to protect the child, to be adjudged a dependent of the juvenile court. This bill would additionally allow a child who was deprived of his or her personal liberty with the intent to obtained forced labor or services, and whose parent or guardian has failed or was unable to protect the child, to be adjudged a dependent of the juvenile court. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the California Child Welfare Council, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Children and Family Services Division of the State Department of Social Services, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, and the State Department of Education, as well as specified stakeholders, to submit a report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018, on efforts already underway to address labor trafficking of minors and a detailed plan for how the State Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the California Health and Human Services Agency, will address labor trafficking of minors, as provided. (4) Existing law requires the administrator certification program for group homes, the administrator certification program for short-term residential treatment centers, mandatory training for licensed or certified foster parents, and training for mandated child abuse reporters and child welfare personnel to include cultural competency and sensitivity and related best practices for children across diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds as well as children identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. This bill would require that the administrator certification program for group homes, the administrator certification program for short-term residential treatment centers, mandatory training for licensed or certified foster parents, and training for mandated child abuse reporters and child welfare personnel include instruction on cultural competency and sensitivity and related best practices for providing adequate care to child trafficking victims. (5) 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.
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The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the Department of Finance to annually submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature on the status of the projects funded with moneys in the fund. This bill would require the department to include additional data in that annual report, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the enforcement of labor laws, and establishes certain obligations on an employer, including, requiring an employer to post specified wage and hour information in a location where it can be viewed by employees. Under existing law, any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services is guilty of the crime of human trafficking. This bill would require a private or public employer that provides mass transportation services, as specified, in the state to train its employees, who are likely to interact or come into contact with victims of human trafficking, in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The bill would require the Department of justice to develop guidelines for the training, including, but not limited to, guidance on how to report human trafficking. The bill would require that, by January 1, 2018, the training be incorporated into the initial training process for all new employees and that all existing employees receive the training.
Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services, which is required to, among other things, allocate and award funds to communities developing and providing ongoing citizen involvement and crime resistance programs. This bill would require the office, to the extent funds are available for this purpose and until January 1, 2021, to allocate and award funds to up to 11 district attorney offices that employ a vertical prosecution methodology for the prosecution of human trafficking crimes and that meet other specified criteria, including minimum staffing levels for the program. The bill would require the office, on or before January 1, 2019, to submit to the Legislature and the Governor's Office a report that describes the counties that received funding pursuant to this program, the number of prosecutions for human trafficking cases filed by the counties receiving funding, the number of human trafficking convictions obtained by those counties, and the sentences imposed for human trafficking crimes in those counties. The bill would also appropriate $2,600,000 from the General Fund to the office for this program.
Existing law creates the California Environmental Protection Agency, consisting of various boards, offices, and departments, including the State Air Resources Board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities and requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would establish the Green Assistance Program within the California Environmental Protection Agency to, among other things, assist small businesses and small nonprofit organizations in applying for moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This bill would also establish the California Green Business Program within the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide support and assistance to green business certification programs operated by local governments that certify small- and medium-sized businesses that voluntarily adopt environmentally preferable business practices, including, but not limited to, increased energy efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation, and waste reduction, as specified. The bill would delete an existing authorization for the Department of Toxic Substances Control to create a similar program. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount annually to each program from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency overseen by the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and provides that the agency consists of, among other entities, the California Workforce Investment Board, the Employment Development Department, and the Employment Training Panel. The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to, among other things, carry out analyses of the economic conditions in the local region. This bill would enact the Removing Barriers to Employment Act, which would establish the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The bill would require the initiative to be led by the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and authorizes the secretary to assign all or part of the administration of the initiative to one or more entities within the agency's oversight, or to authorize another state agency, under specified conditions, to administer a portion of the initiative. The bill would specify that the purpose of the initiative is to create a grant program to assist individuals who have multiple barriers to employment to receive the remedial education and work readiness skills that will help those individuals to successfully participate in training, apprenticeship, or employment opportunities that enhance skill development that will lead to self-sufficiency and economic stability, and would set forth the goals of the initiative. The bill would require the secretary to develop criteria for the selection of grant recipients, as specified, and would require the secretary, by January 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, to post a report on the agency's Internet Web site that provides a status report on the implementation of the initiative and aggregates information provided by grant recipients. The bill would authorize the secretary, when implementing the initiative, to fund a project that uses a model that was previously funded as a pilot project under certain programs if specified criteria are met. The bill would make the funding of the initiative subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose and would make implementation of the initiative contingent on the secretary notifying the Department of Finance that sufficient moneys have been appropriated.
Existing law requires certain business establishments to post a notice in a conspicuous place, as specified, regarding human trafficking. Existing law prescribes a civil penalty for a failure to comply with these requirements of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Under existing law, any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services is guilty of the crime of human trafficking. This bill would require a hotel or motel that provides lodging services in the state to train employees who are likely to interact or come into contact with victims of human trafficking in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would require that, by January 1, 2018, the training be incorporated into the initial training process for all new employees and that employees who do not receive an initial training also receive the training. The bill would require the Department of Justice to, by July 1, 2017, develop guidelines for the training and to post them on its Internet Web site. The bill would define an offense in this context, with regard to the civil penalty provisions described above.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, requires a tissue bank operating in California to have a current valid license issued by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law defines a tissue bank as a place, establishment, or institution that collects, processes, stores, or distributes tissue for transplantation into human beings. Existing law defines tissue to include human bodily fluids, and defines transplantation to include by ingestion. The department may suspend or revoke a tissue bank license for specified reasons. A violation of the provisions regulating tissue banks is a misdemeanor. This bill would require a tissue bank licensed by the department that collects, processes, stores, or distributes human milk to, among other things, work with lactation support groups to provide breastfeeding education and lactation support for a mother, from whom the tissue bank procures human milk, as provided. The bill would prohibit these tissue banks from, among other things, providing payment to a mother for human milk the tissue bank procures from her within her first 90 days postpartum. The bill would require the department to adopt, on or before January 1, 2018, rules and regulations governing these tissue banks that, at a minimum, are substantially based upon the guidelines of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America for safely procuring, processing, storing, and distributing human milk, and would require these tissue banks to comply with the latter guidelines until the department adopts those rules and regulations. The bill would provide that a violation of its provisions is not punishable as a misdemeanor under existing law. The bill would provide that its provisions remain in effect only until January 1, 2022.
This measure would proclaim the month of April 2016 as Black April Memorial Month.