(1) Existing law makes certain publications and communications, including certain communications in a legislative proceeding, judicial proceeding, any other official proceeding authorized by law, or in the initiation or course of any other proceeding authorized by law and reviewable pursuant to a writ of mandate, privileged, and therefore protected from civil action, subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions include any communication made in a judicial proceeding knowingly concealing the existence of an insurance policy or policies. This bill would additionally create an exception to the privilege provisions for any communication between a person and a law enforcement agency in which the person knowingly or recklessly makes a false report that another person has committed, or is in the act of committing, a criminal act or is engaged in an activity requiring law enforcement intervention. (2) Existing law, the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of political affiliation, or on account of position in a labor dispute, or sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status, or because another person perceives them to have one or more of those characteristics. Existing law provides civil remedies for violations of those provisions. This bill would provide that intimidation by threat of violence includes knowingly or recklessly making or threatening to make a false claim or report to a peace officer or law enforcement agency alleging that another person has engaged in unlawful activity or in an activity that requires law enforcement intervention. (3) Existing law makes it an infraction for a person to knowingly allow the use of or use the 911 emergency system for any reason other than because of an emergency. A violation of this prohibition is punishable by a warning for a first violation and specified, graduated fines for subsequent violations, including a fine of up to $250 for a 4th or subsequent violation. This bill would increase the penalty for a violation of that provision if a person knowingly allows the use of or uses the 911 emergency system for the purpose of harassing another. The bill would make a first violation of that prohibition an infraction punishable by a $250 fine or a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in a county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both that imprisonment and fine. The bill would make a 2nd or subsequent violation a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in a county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both that imprisonment and fine. The bill would also provide that if a person knowingly allows the use of or uses the 911 emergency system for the purpose of harassing a person and that act is a hate crime or other, specified crime committed against another person on the basis of the other person's actual or perceived characteristics, including race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, the crime would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in a county jail, a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000, or both that imprisonment and fine. By increasing the penalty for certain crimes to make them punishable by imprisonment in a county jail, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, no later than the close of the 2019 calendar year, requires a publicly held domestic or foreign corporation whose principal executive office is located in California to have a minimum of one female director on its board. Existing law, no later than the close of the 2021 calendar year, additionally requires such a corporation with 5 directors to have a minimum of 2 female directors and such a corporation with 6 or more directors to have a minimum of 3 female directors. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to impose fines for violations of these provisions, as specified, and requires the moneys from these fines to be available, upon appropriation, to offset the cost of administering these requirements. This bill would require, no later than the close of the 2021 calendar year, such a corporation to have a minimum of one director from an underrepresented community, as defined. The bill would require, no later than the close of the 2022 calendar year, such a corporation with more than 4 but fewer than 9 directors to have a minimum of 2 directors from underrepresented communities, and such a corporation with 9 or more directors to have a minimum of 3 directors from underrepresented communities. Existing law requires, on or before specified dates, the Secretary of State to publish various reports on its internet website documenting, among other things, the number of corporations in compliance with these provisions. This bill would require, on or before specified dates, the Secretary of State to include in those reports certain information, including, among other things, the number of corporations in compliance with the bill's provisions. The bill would authorize the Secretary of State to impose fines for violations of the bill's provisions, as specified, and would require the moneys from these fines to be available, upon appropriation, to offset the cost of administering these requirements. This bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based on specified characteristics or status. The DFEH has specified powers, including the power to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute certain complaints. Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is vested with the general duty of enforcing various labor laws, including provisions prohibiting wage rates that discriminate on the basis of gender or race. This bill would authorize the DFEH to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging practices unlawful under those discriminatory wage rate provisions. The bill would require the DFEH, in coordination with the division, to adopt procedures to ensure that the departments coordinate activities to enforce those provisions. Existing federal law requires specified companies to file with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission an annual Employer Information Report (EEO-1) that contains specified data regarding demographics of the employer's workforce. This bill would require, on or before March 31, 2021, and on or before March 31 each year thereafter, a private employer that has 100 or more employees, and that is required to file an annual Employer Information Report under federal law, to submit a pay data report to the DFEH that contains specified wage information. The bill would require that the information be made available in a prescribed format. The bill would require the DFEH to make the reports available to the division upon request. The bill would authorize the DFEH, if it does not receive the required report from an employer, to seek an order requiring the employer to comply, as specified. The bill would require the DFEH to maintain the pay data reports for a minimum of 10 years and would make it unlawful for any officer or employee of the DFEH or the division to make public in any manner whatever any individually identifiable information obtained from the report prior to the institution of certain investigation or enforcement proceedings, as specified. The bill would require the Employment Development Department to provide DFEH, upon its request, as specified, with the names and addresses of all businesses with 100 or more employees. The bill would make legislative findings in support of these provisions. The California Public Records Act requires a public agency to make public records available for inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. This bill would provide that any individually identifiable information submitted to the department pursuant to this bill be considered confidential information and not subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act, except as specified. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a policy on the use of force, as specified. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to implement courses of instruction for the regular and periodic training of law enforcement officers in the use of force. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice, as specified, any incident in which a peace officer is involved in a shooting or use of force that results in death or serious bodily injury. This bill would create a division within the Department of Justice to, upon the request of a law enforcement agency, review the use-of-force policy of the agency and make recommendations, as specified. This bill would require a state prosecutor to investigate incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian, as defined. The bill would make the Attorney General the state prosecutor unless otherwise specified or named. The bill would authorize the state prosecutor to prepare a written report, and would require the state prosecutor to post any reports made on a public internet website. The bill would require, commencing July 1, 2023, the Attorney General to operate a Police Practices Division within the department to review, upon the request of a local law enforcement agency, the use of deadly force policies of that law enforcement agency and make recommendations, as specified. The bill would require the department to implement these provisions subject to an appropriation for this purpose.
The Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Act of 2016 prohibits a person from disposing, or attempting to dispose, of a lead-acid battery at a solid waste facility or on or in any land, surface waters, watercourses, or marine waters, and authorizes a person to dispose of a lead-acid battery only at certain locations. The act imposes a manufacturer battery fee on a manufacturer of lead-acid batteries for each lead-acid battery it sells at retail to a person in California, or that it sells to a dealer, wholesaler, distributor, or other person for retail sale in California. The act creates in the State Treasury the Lead-Acid Battery Cleanup Fund and requires that the fees collected pursuant to the act, except for specified administrative expenses, be deposited into the fund. The act provides that moneys in the fund are available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the Department of Toxic Substances Control for specified activities relating to lead-acid battery recycling facilities, including for specified activities relating to the former Exide Technologies lead-acid battery recycling facility in the City of Vernon, as provided, for repayment of a loan made for one of those activities, and for repayment of another loan made before September 26, 2016. Existing law authorizes moneys to be expended for the repayment of those loans only after certain other activities for which expenditure from the fund is authorized have been fully funded in a given fiscal year. The act defines "lead-acid battery recycling facility" for purposes of the act. This bill would exclude from the definition of "lead-acid battery recycling facility" a facility that incidentally processes lead-acid batteries. The bill would authorize moneys in the fund to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for the repayment of loans made for additional specified activities for which direct expenditure from the fund is authorized under existing law, as provided. The bill would require that moneys be expended for the repayment of those loans only after additional specified activities related to the former Exide Technologies lead-acid battery recycling facility in the City of Vernon, for which expenditure from the fund is authorized under existing law, have been fully funded in a given fiscal year. The bill would revise to apply retroactively to September 26, 2016, the authorization to expend moneys in the fund for those activities related to the former Exide Technologies lead-acid battery recycling facility in the City of Vernon. Existing law requires the department to establish a Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program to identify areas of the state that are eligible for expenditure of moneys from the fund. Existing law requires the program to provide public notice of the initiation of the investigation or site evaluation of any area reasonably suspected to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. Existing law requires the department to accept and review comments or information submitted from the public on the public notice until the department completes its investigation. This bill would revise the public notice and public comment requirements to, among other things, require the department to accept comments and information from the public that are submitted within 90 days after the issuance of the public notice and to review, and respond in writing to, the comments and information before the department completes its investigation. Existing law requires the department, upon completion of an investigation or site evaluation, to provide notice and an opportunity to comment on the proposed designation of a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by releases from the operation of a facility known to have been a lead-acid battery recycling facility. Existing law requires the department to investigate and respond to any reasonable information provided by the public that might suggest the area was not contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility or that the facility in question was not involved in the recycling of lead-acid batteries. This bill would instead require the department to evaluate, investigate, if appropriate, and respond to any reliable information provided by the public that indicates either of the two circumstances described above. The bill would make other changes relating to that proposed designation, as provided. Existing law provides that expenditure from the fund for purposes of further investigation or evaluation for a site is no longer authorized if, within 2 years of the public notice of the initiation of the investigation or site evaluation, the department is unable to designate a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. Existing law authorizes the department to extend the deadline for the completion of an investigation to no more than 3 months after the original 2-year deadline, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to extend the deadline for the completion of an investigation additional times in increments of up to 3 months, not to exceed one year after the original 2-year deadline in total.
(1) Existing law provides that the Department of Toxic Substances Control regulates the handling and management of hazardous substances, materials, and waste. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, issue hazardous waste facilities permits to facilities handling hazardous waste and to enforce the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws. This bill would create the Board of Environmental Safety in the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would provide requirements for the membership of the board and would require the board to conduct no less than 6 public meetings per year. The bill would provide for the duties of the board, which would include, among others, reviewing specified policies, processes, and programs within the hazardous waste control laws; proposing statutory, regulatory, and policy changes; and hearing and deciding appeals of hazardous waste facility permit decisions and certain financial assurance decisions. The bill would establish an office of ombudsperson in the board to receive complaints and suggestions, to evaluate complaints received, to report findings and make recommendations to the Director of Toxic Substances Control and the board, and to render assistance. (2) Existing law requires the department to prepare and adopt a state hazardous waste management plan with certain elements, to be reviewed annually and revised at least every 3 years. Existing law requires the plan to be prepared in conjunction with, and to take into account, hazardous waste management plans adopted by counties and regional councils of governments. Existing law requires the department to conduct at least 2 public workshops, as provided, as part of the preparation and adoption of the plan. This bill would repeal those requirements and instead require the department, by March 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare and present to the board for approval a state hazardous waste management plan containing certain information, goals, and recommendations. The bill would require the department, by March 1, 2022, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare a report containing an analysis of available data related to hazardous waste and hazardous waste management facilities, and would require the state hazardous waste management plan to be based on the information contained in that report and any other relevant source of information. The bill would require the board, before approving the plan, to conduct at least 3 public hearings to receive comments from the public and would require the board and department to consider the comments received and revise the plan as they deem appropriate. (3) Existing law imposes various fees, including a disposal fee, generator fee, and facility fee, that are deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and that, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department, are authorized to be expended for, among other things, the administration and implementation of the hazardous waste control laws. Existing law establishes the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund and requires that specified funds be deposited in that account, including the charge imposed on organizations that use, generate, store, or conduct activities in this state related to hazardous materials, and penalties imposed pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws or the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act. Existing law authorizes the appropriation of funds from the Toxic Substances Control Account to the department for specified purposes, including, among other things, site remediation and response costs. This bill would require the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene a fee task force with specified membership to review the existing fee structure supporting the Hazardous Waste Control Account and the funding structure supporting the Toxic Substances Control Account. The bill would require the Secretary to provide recommendations to the Legislature by January 10, 2022, as part of the Governor's Budget, on a fee system for the Hazardous Waste Control Account and a funding structure for the Toxic Substances Control Account, as provided. (4) Existing law requires a person who disposes of hazardous waste in this state to pay a disposal fee for the disposal of hazardous waste to land, based on the type of waste placed in the disposal site. Existing law imposes, except for certain specified exceptions, a manifest fee for each California Hazardous Waste Manifest form or electronic equivalent used by a person. Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control to impose an annual verification fee on certain generators, transporters, and facility operators that possess a valid identification number issued by the Department of Toxic Substances Control or by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This bill would repeal the provisions establishing the disposal fee, manifest fee, and verification fee. (5) Existing law requires specified money to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, including money from the disposal fee, generator fee, facility fee, and manifest fee, from specified fees for the oversight of corrective action, and from the federal government pursuant to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. Existing law authorizes funds deposited in the account to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes, including for the administration and implementation of the hazardous waste control laws, including, but not limited to, for programs regulating specific products, including, among others, metal-containing jewelry, lead wheel weights, and consumer products. This bill, on January 1, 2022, would revise those provisions to require the generation and handling fee to be deposited in the account, as discussed in paragraph (6) , and to authorize other money to be deposited in the account only if that money is for costs at sites that are not operated by authorized hazardous waste facilities, as provided. The bill would prohibit expenditure from the account for hazardous waste regulatory activities at sites operated by an authorized hazardous waste facility and for other specified programs regulating specific products under the hazardous waste control laws. The bill would additionally authorize expenditure from the account to the department for costs incurred by the Board of Environmental Safety, as provided. The bill would make other conforming changes. The bill, on January 1, 2022, would establish the Hazardous Waste Facilities Account in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, to be administered by the Director of Toxic Substances Control. The bill would require specified money for costs at sites operated by authorized hazardous waste facilities to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Facilities Account, as provided. The bill would authorize expenditure from the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes relating to hazardous waste regulatory activities at sites operated by an authorized hazardous waste facility or related to the owner or operator of an authorized hazardous waste facility, as provided. (6) Existing law requires a generator of hazardous waste who generated 5 or more tons of hazardous waste in the prior calendar year to pay a generator fee, pursuant to a tiered payment structure, based on a specified base rate. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to annually adjust the base rate to reflect the increase or decrease in the cost of living, as provided. Existing law provides certain exemptions to the generator fee. Existing law requires the generator fee to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay refunds to generators from surplus funds in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, as provided. This bill would repeal the generator fee and would instead require a generator to pay to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration a generation and handling fee of $35.50 for each ton of hazardous waste generated. The bill would require the generation and handling fee to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account. The bill would not extend certain generator fee exemptions to the generation and handling fee. The bill would repeal the provision requiring the department to provide refunds to generators from surplus funds in the Hazardous Waste Control Account. Because the failure to pay the generation and handling fee would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (7) Existing law requires an operator of a hazardous waste facility to pay a facility fee for each reporting period, or any portion of a reporting period, to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration based on the size and type of the facility. Existing law sets the amount of the facility fee in a flat amount for facilities with a postclosure permit or a standardized permit and sets the facility fee for all other facilities pursuant to a tiered payment structure, based on a specified base rate. Existing law requires the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to annually adjust the base rate to reflect the increase or decrease in the cost of living, as provided. Existing law provides certain exemptions to the facility fee, including, among others, for household hazardous waste collection facilities and facilities operated by a local government agency. Existing law requires the facility fee to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account. This bill would increase the base rate and revise the tiered payment structure for the facility fee, as provided. The bill would require the facility fee to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Facilities Account, instead of the Hazardous Waste Control Account. The bill would eliminate certain exemptions to the facility fee, as provided. By eliminating certain exemptions to the facility fee, of which the failure to pay would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) Existing law requires a facility handling hazardous waste to obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit from the department. Existing law requires the department to impose certain conditions on each hazardous waste facilities permit and authorizes the department to impose other conditions on a hazardous waste facilities permit, as specified. Existing law prohibits the department from issuing or renewing a permit to operate a hazardous waste facility unless the owner or operator of the facility establishes and maintains financial assurances. This bill would require the department to review, at least once every 5 years, the financial assurances required to operate a hazardous waste facility and the cost estimates used to establish the amount of financial assurances required. If the department's review finds that the cost estimates forming the basis for the financial assurances for a facility are inadequate, the bill would require the department to notify the owner or operator of the facility and would require the owner or operator to provide an updated cost estimate and establish financial assurance mechanisms for the approved revised cost estimate amounts within 60 days of the department's approval of the revised cost estimate. (9) Existing law requires an owner or operator of a facility intending to renew the facility's permit to submit a complete Part A application for a permit renewal before the expiration of the permit. Existing law requires the owner or operator to submit a complete Part B application when requested by the department. Existing law, when a complete Part A renewal application, and any other requested information, has been submitted before the end of a permit's fixed term, deems the permit extended until the renewal application is approved or denied and the owner or operator has exhausted all applicable rights of appeal. Existing law requires the department to issue a permit if the facility meets specified requirements. Existing law provides for the issuance of standardized hazardous waste facilities permits in lieu of other specified permit procedures under prescribed circumstances. This bill would require the department to issue a permit decision within specified deadlines, as discussed below. If the department has not issued a final permit decision by the applicable deadline, the bill would require the department to, among other things, issue a report, to be released publicly, that includes the reasons why the final permit decision was not made on time and a proposed schedule for issuing the final permit decision. The bill would require the department, after preparation of a report, to do certain things, including requesting that the board schedule a hearing for the department to present the report. The bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire before January 1, 2024, the owner or operator of a facility intending to extend the term of that permit to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 180 days before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire on or after January 1, 2024, the owner or operator to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 2 years before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would provide that, if a Part A and Part B renewal application and any other requested information has been submitted in accord with these requirements, the permit is deemed extended until the application is approved and the new permit is effective or denied and all parties have exhausted all applicable rights of appeal. The bill would require the department, no later than 90 days after receiving an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit, to post on its internet website a timeline with the estimated dates of key milestones in the application review process, to note on its internet website that these dates are estimates, and to update the dates as needed. The bill would require the department, on or before March 31, 2021, to post a timeline with those estimated dates for a hazardous waste facility permit application under review as of January 1, 2021. (10) Existing law requires an applicant for a final hazardous waste facilities permit who receives a notice of deficiency from the department concerning the permit application to submit the information specified in the notice of deficiency by a specified date. The bill would require that an applicant not be required to submit a full application, but only that information that is required within the department's notice of deficiency, when submitting information pursuant to a notice of deficiency. The bill would require the department to review the information and determine if it is complete within 60 days of receipt of the information. (11) Existing law requires the department, in the case of a release of hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents into the environment from a hazardous waste facility that is required to obtain a permit, to pursue available remedies, including the issuance of an order for corrective action, before using available legal remedies, except in specified circumstances. A violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime. This bill would require the department, under specified circumstances, to request an owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility to submit to the department for review and approval a written cost estimate to cover activities associated with a corrective action based on available data, history of releases, and site activities, as specified. The bill would require the owner or operator to submit the corrective action cost estimate within 60 days of the department's request. The bill would require the owner or operator, within 90 days of the approval of a corrective action cost estimate, as specified, to fund the cost estimate or enter into a schedule of compliance for assurances of financial responsibility for completing the corrective action. The bill would establish procedures for an owner, operator, or responsible party to demonstrate and maintain financial assurance under specified circumstances. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (12) Existing law requires a person who applies for, or requests, among other things, a hazardous waste facilities permit or a renewal of an existing hazardous waste facilities permit, to enter into a written agreement with the department to reimburse the department for the costs incurred by the department in processing the application or responding to the request, as provided. Existing law requires that agreement, except for an agreement entered into by a facility owned by a federal agency, to provide for at least 25% of the reimbursement to be made in advance of the processing of the application or the response to the request. This bill would additionally exempt from that requirement relating to advanced reimbursement an agreement entered into by a facility operated by a federal agency. (13) 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 Domestic Violence Prevention Act for the purpose of preventing acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse and providing for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to enable those persons to seek a resolution of the causes of the violence. Existing law authorizes a court to issue an ex parte order enjoining a party from engaging in specified acts against another party, including threatening or harassing that party or disturbing their peace, and, in the discretion of the court, against other named family or household members. A violation of this court order constitutes contempt of court, which is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would define "disturbing the peace of the other party" as conduct that destroys the mental or emotional calm of the other party, as specified. The bill would provide that disturbing the peace of the other party includes coercive control, which is a pattern of behavior that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty and includes, among other things, unreasonably isolating a victim from friends, relatives, or other sources of support. Existing law requires a family court to determine the best interests of a child in deciding child custody in specified proceedings and establishes a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a person who has perpetrated domestic violence is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Existing law defines "perpetrated domestic violence" to mean, among other things, that the person engaged in behavior for which the court may issue an ex parte order to protect the child or the person seeking custody of the child. By adding coercive control to the bases for the ex parte orders described above, the bill would, for purposes of a family court determining child custody in those proceedings, create a rebuttable presumption that an award of child custody to a party who has engaged in coercive control is detrimental to the best interests of the child. Because a violation of a court order constitutes contempt of court and is therefore a crime, by expanding the bases for the issuance of these ex parte orders, 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.
Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. A portion of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, known as the Equity in Higher Education Act, declares, among other things, that it is the policy of the State of California that all persons, regardless of their sex, should enjoy freedom from discrimination of any kind in the educational institutions of the state. Existing law provides that a party to a written complaint of prohibited discrimination at certain public postsecondary educational institutions may appeal the action to specified bodies. Existing law also requires that persons who have filed a complaint of prohibited discrimination be advised by the educational institution that civil law remedies may also be available to the complainant. This bill would require, no later than January 1, 2022, except as specified, a postsecondary institution that receives state financial assistance to comply with requirements relating to the protection of students from, and providing students with procedural protections relating to complaints of, sexual harassment. In particular, the bill would require the governing board or body of each of these institutions to (1) disseminate a notice of nondiscrimination to each employee, volunteer, and individual or entity contracted with the institution, (2) designate at least one employee of the institution to coordinate its efforts to comply with its responsibilities specified in this act, (3) adopt rules and procedures for the prevention of sexual harassment, (4) adopt and publish on its internet website grievance procedures providing for the prompt and equitable resolution of sexual harassment complaints, (5) publish on the institution's internet website the name, title, and contact information for the Title IX coordinator or other employee designated to coordinate the institution's efforts to comply with and carry out the responsibilities specified in this act and any individual official with the authority to investigate complaints or to institute corrective measures, as specified, (6) include specified training to each employee engaged in the grievance procedure, (7) include annual training for residential life student and nonstudent staff for the trauma-informed handling of reports regarding incidents of sexual harassment or violence at an institution with on-campus housing, (8) notify employees of the obligation to report sexual harassment to appropriate school officials, and (9) provide training to all employees on the identification of sexual harassment. The bill would authorize enforcement of these provisions through a civil action brought pursuant to existing law, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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.
Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, regulates the manufacturing, distribution, and labeling of various drugs and cosmetics, including requiring that cosmetics manufacturers provide the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control within the State Department of Public Health with a complete and accurate list of its cosmetic products that, as of the date of submission, are sold in the state and that contain any ingredient that is a chemical identified as causing cancer or reproductive toxicity. Violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would require a package or box containing menstrual products that was manufactured on or after January 1, 2023, for sale or distribution in this state to have printed on the label a plain and conspicuous list of all ingredients, as defined, in the product, by weight. The bill would require the same information to be posted on an internet website, as specified. The bill would prohibit the sale of a menstrual product in the state unless the menstrual product and the manufacturer of the menstrual product comply with the specified labeling requirements. By creating a new 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.
Existing law makes it a crime to commit various acts of sexual assault, including sexual battery and rape. Existing law makes it a crime to possess or use various controlled substances or for a person who is under 21 years of age to purchase or consume alcohol, as specified. Existing law provides, with respect to specified proceedings or investigations regarding felony offenses, that if a person refuses to answer a question or produce evidence on the ground that the person may be incriminated and if the person is ordered to comply but would have been privileged to withhold the answer given or the evidence produced except for the order, the person shall not be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for, or on account of, any fact or act concerning which the person was required to answer or produce evidence, except as specified. Under existing law, a district attorney or other prosecuting agency may request an order granting use immunity or transactional immunity to a witness compelled to give testimony or produce evidence. This bill would make the testimony of a victim or witness in a felony prosecution for a violation or attempted violation of specified crimes of sexual assault that states that the victim or witness, at or around the time of the violation or attempted violation, unlawfully possessed or used a controlled substance or alcohol inadmissible in a separate prosecution of that victim or witness to prove illegal possession or use of that controlled substance or alcohol. The bill would specify that evidence that the testifying witness unlawfully possessed or used a controlled substance or alcohol is not excluded from use in the felony prosecution for a violation or attempted violation of specified crimes of sexual assault. The bill would specify that evidence that a witness received use immunity for testimony is not excluded in the felony prosecution of a violation or attempted violation of specified crimes of sexual assault. The California Constitution provides for the Right to Truth-In-Evidence, which requires a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature to exclude any relevant evidence from any criminal proceeding, as specified. Because this bill would exclude from a criminal action a person's statement regarding their use of controlled substances or alcohol that would otherwise be admissible, it requires a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature.