Asm. Cristina Garcia

This measure would designate a portion of State Route 119, between E Kern Street, postmile 0.34, and Cedar Street, postmile 1.300, in the County of Kern as the Corporal Luis Carlos Ruan Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

Existing law generally designates air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law establishes maximum civil penalties for any person for violations of air pollution laws from nonvehicular sources. A person who violates these laws and who acts negligently is liable for a civil penalty in a greater amount, as specified. Existing law annually adjusts the maximum penalties for violations of these laws based on the California Consumer Price Index. This bill would increase the maximum amount of those civil penalties and would subject those maximum amounts to the annual adjustment based on the California Consumer Price Index, as specified. This bill would also require any moneys, above the costs of prosecution and other specified costs, collected from penalties assessed by specified air pollution control districts and air quality management districts in excess of $10,000 for violations of air pollution control laws from nonvehicular sources that occurred in disadvantaged communities to be used to mitigate air pollution in the community or communities affected by the violation.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, creates, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies. Existing law generally provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund. Existing law requires the board to consist of 3 members, as specified. This bill would add a 4th member who as a public member with expertise in restorative justice. The bill would also specify that a person cannot be prohibited from serving on the board solely because of that person's prior criminal record. Existing law defines terms for purpose of determining the eligibility of victims of crime for compensation from the Restitution Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the California Victim Compensation Board. This bill would define "victim services provider" for purposes of these provisions. Existing law requires an application for compensation to be filed with the board in a manner determined by the board, authorizes the board to require submission of additional information, and requires the board to communicate any determination made with respect to the adequacy of the information received from the applicant, as specified. Existing law also requires the board to verify information with various entities, including hospitals and law enforcement officials, as specified. Existing law also creates a process for the board's verification of information, including by requiring the applicant to cooperate with the board, as specified. This bill would prohibit the board from requiring submission of additional information solely to verify that a crime occurred, as specified. The bill would also change how the board must communicate with the applicant about the adequacy of the information received from the applicant. The bill would also authorize the board to verify information, but not require the board to do so, and would prohibit the board from seeking or requiring additional information solely to verify that the crime occurred if the board has already received a valid form of verification, as specified. The bill would remove the requirement that an applicant cooperate with the board, and changes the verification procedure in various ways, as specified. The bill would also require the board to accept certain information as evidence to verify that a crime occurred, as specified. Existing law specifies how an emergency award may be made to a person eligible for compensation from the board. This bill would establish a presumption of substantial hardship for emergency award requests for relocation or funeral and burial expenses, as specified. Existing law authorizes the board to deny an application based on the nature of the victim's or other applicant's involvement in the events leading up to the crime, as specified, and requires the board to deny an application for compensation if it finds that the victim or derivative victim failed to cooperate reasonably with a law enforcement agency in the apprehension and conviction of a criminal committing the crime. Existing law also prohibits a person who is convicted of a violent felony to receive compensation, as specified. This bill would delete those provisions. Existing law authorizes the board to compensate for pecuniary loss, including compensation equal to the loss of income or loss of support, or both, that a victim or derivative victim incurs as a direct result of the victim's or derivative victim's injury or the victim's death, as specified. Existing law also provides limits on the compensation a victim and derivative victim may receive, and authorizes the board to establish service limitations for reimbursement of medical and medical-related services and for mental health and counseling services. This bill would authorize the board, in authorizing compensation for loss of income and support, to base the loss of income on the actual loss the victim sustains or the wages that an employee would earn, as specified, during the period that the victim is unable to work or seek work as a result of the injury for adult victims, and upon the loss the victim actually sustains for victims who are under 18 years of age at the time of the crime, as specified. The bill would also specify that an adult derivative victim and a derivative victim who was legally dependent on the victim at the time of the crime are also similarly eligible for compensation for loss of income, as specified. The bill would specify that if a victim is a minor at the time of the crime, the victim is eligible for future loss of income, calculated as specified. This bill would specify that if an adult victim or derivative victim was not employed or receiving earned income benefits at the time of the crime, the victim or derivative victim, as applicable, shall be eligible for loss of income if they were fully or partially employed or receiving income benefits for a total of at least 2 weeks in the 12 months preceding the qualifying crime, or had an offer of employment at the time of the crime and was unable to begin employment as a result of the crime, as specified. The bill would specify that if a derivative victim who is otherwise eligible for loss of support is eligible for loss of support if the deceased victim was not employed or receiving earned income benefits at the time of the crime, but the deceased victim was fully or partially employed or receiving earned income benefits for a total of at least 2 weeks in the 12 months preceding the qualifying crime, if the victim had an offer of employment at the time of the crime and was unable to begin employment as a result of the crime. This bill would require the board, by July 1, 2023, to adopt new guidelines to rely on a range of evidence in considering and approving claims for loss of income, as specified. The bill would also remove or raise various limits on the compensation a victim and derivative victim may receive, as specified, and would remove the board's authority to establish service limitations. By expanding the eligibility for, and by increasing or removing limits on, compensation from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the board to approve or deny applications within an average of 90 calendar days and no later than 180 calendar days, as specified. This bill would require the board to approve or deny applications within an average of 30 days and no later than 60 calendar days, as specified. The bill would also require the board to communicate a determination made to approve or deny an application in specified ways. The bill would also require the board to adopt guidelines governing the information to include in these communications, as specified. Existing law allows a person who was erroneously convicted of a felony and imprisoned in the state prison or a county jail to present a claim to the board for the injury sustained by the person through the erroneous conviction and imprisonment or incarceration. Existing law requires a person making a claim pursuant to these provisions to prove the injury sustained by them through their erroneous conviction and incarceration. Existing law requires the board to find that the claimant has sustained injury through their erroneous conviction and imprisonment. This bill would remove the requirement that the claimant prove, and that the board find, that the claimant sustained an injury through their erroneous conviction. Existing law requires the board to publicize the existence of the victim compensation program, and requires a local law enforcement agency to inform crime victims of these provisions, as specified. This bill would require the board to provide every general acute care hospital in the state that operates an emergency determent with specified information, and require the hospital to display the information, as specified. The bill would also require every local law enforcement agency to inform crime victims of the existence of specified trauma recovery centers. By requiring local law enforcement agencies to provide additional information to crime victims, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, as added by Proposition 9, the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law, at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate, provide or make available to the victim a "Marsy Rights" card that contains the constitutional rights of crime victims without charge or cost to the victim. This bill would require every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during follow-up investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, provide or make available to each victim of the criminal act without charge or cost a "Victim Protections and Resources" card and to provide other information, as specified. The bill would also require the Attorney General to design and make available in PDF or other imaging format to these agencies a "Victim Protections and Resources" card containing specified information. The bill would authorize the "Victim Protections and Resources" card to be designed as part of and included with the "Marsy Rights" card described above. By requiring these agencies to provide additional information to crime victims, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the board to provide a recommendation to the Legislature that an appropriation be made for the purpose of indemnifying the claimant for the erroneous conviction injury. Existing law requires that the amount of the appropriation recommended by the board be equivalent to $140 per day of incarceration served, as specified. This bill would require that the compensation recommendation for a claimant be equivalent to $70 per day served on parole or supervised release, as specified. The bill would allow recovery of reasonable attorney fees and costs, as specified, and would require that these amounts be updated annually to account for changes in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, West Region. This bill would allow a person who spent time on parole, or supervised release, as specified, prior to the effective date of the bill, or who had previously brought a claim prior to that date, to bring a petition or supplementary petition for compensation, as specified, within 3 years. By expanding the eligibility for compensation, and by increasing the amount a person may receive, from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide notice to specified persons as soon as placement of an inmate in any reentry or work furlough program is planned, as specified. This bill would require the department to provide a notice containing specified information to a victim or victim's next of kin if requested, as specified. 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.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with the act. The act requires the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its internet website the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants for each facility that reports to the state board, as provided. This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2024, to develop and adopt regulations requiring United States partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities with total annual revenues in excess of $1,000,000,000 and that do business in California, defined as "reporting entities," to publicly disclose to the emissions registry, as defined, and verify, starting in 2025 on a date to be determined by the state board, and annually thereafter, their greenhouse gas emissions, categorized as scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, as defined, from the prior calendar year, as provided. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2029, to review, and update as necessary, these deadlines to evaluate trends in scope 3 emissions reporting and to consider changes to the deadlines, as provided. The bill would require reporting entities to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions in a manner that is easily understandable and accessible to residents of the state. The bill would require reporting entities to ensure that their public disclosures have been independently verified by the emissions registry or a third-party auditor, approved by the state board, with expertise in greenhouse gas emissions accounting. The bill would require the state board, in developing these regulations, to consult with the Attorney General, other government stakeholders, stakeholders representing consumer and environmental justice interests, and reporting entities that have demonstrated leadership in full-scope greenhouse gas emissions accounting and public disclosure and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The bill would also require the state board to establish auditor qualifications and a process for approval of auditors that ensures sufficient auditor capacity, as well as timely reporting implementation, as required. The bill would further require the state board to contract with an emissions registry to develop a reporting and registry program to receive and make publicly available the required disclosures. This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2026, to contract with the University of California, the California State University, a national laboratory, or another equivalent academic institution to prepare a report on the public disclosures made by reporting entities to the emissions registry. The bill would require, in preparing the report, consideration to be given to, at a minimum, greenhouse emissions from reporting entities in the context of state greenhouse gas emissions reduction and climate goals. The bill would require the state board to provide the report to the emissions registry to post on a digital platform that would be required to be created by the emissions registry, and publicly accessible, to house the state board's report and the reporting entities' public disclosures. The bill would require the emissions registry to provide the state board's report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action against a reporting entity, in the name of the people of the State of California, seeking civil penalties for violations of these provisions. This bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for its purposes.

Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to consolidate the duties of various county offices in various combinations, including combining the duties of the sheriff and the coroner. Existing law also authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to separate the duties of consolidated offices. This bill would remove the board of supervisors' authority to combine the duties of the sheriff with the duties of the coroner. The bill would also remove the board of supervisors' authority to combine the duties of the tax collector with the duties of the coroner. The bill would require the board of supervisors of a county where the offices of sheriff and coroner were consolidated before January 1, 2023, to separate those offices, in which case the separation would become effective upon the conclusion of the term of the person elected or appointed, on or before January 1, 2023, to the consolidated offices of sheriff and coroner. By requiring counties to comply with these requirements, 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.

(1) Existing law provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of these provisions. This bill would define "law enforcement officer" consistently with specified provisions. The bill would define "victim services provider" to mean an individual, whether paid or serving as a volunteer, who provides services to victims under the supervision of either an agency or organization that has a documented record of providing services to victims, or a law enforcement or prosecution agency. (2) Existing law requires that a person be ineligible for compensation under specified conditions, including, among other things, if the board determines that denial of the claim for compensation is appropriate because of the nature of the victim's involvement in the events leading to the crime or the involvement of the person whose injury or death gives rise to the application. Existing law requires the board to deny an application if it finds that the victim failed to cooperate reasonably with a law enforcement agency in the apprehension and conviction of a criminal committing the crime. This bill, in the case of a claim based on a victim's serious bodily injury or death that resulted from a law enforcement officer's use of force, would prohibit the board from denying an application based on the victim's or other applicant's involvement in the crime, except as specified, or the victim's failure to cooperate. The bill would require the board, solely for the purposes of eligibility for compensation, to accept as sufficient evidence forms of documentation, as described, that describe or demonstrate a person suffered serious bodily injury or death as a result of a law enforcement officer's use of force. The bill, in the case of a claim based on a victim's death as a result of a crime, would prohibit the board from denying an application based on the deceased victim's involvement in the crime or the victim's or derivative victim's failure to cooperate, except as provided. By expanding the types of crime for which compensation can be paid from a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law requires that the California Victim Compensation Board be subrogated to the rights of the recipient to the extent of any compensation granted by the board. This bill would specify that the above-described subrogation of the board applies to compensation by the board for a claim based on serious bodily injury or death that resulted from a law enforcement officer's use of force, as specified.

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 state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill, the California Climate Crisis Act, would declare the policy of the state both to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter, and to ensure that by 2045, statewide anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 90% below the 1990 levels. The bill would require the state board to work with relevant state agencies to ensure that updates to the scoping plan identify and recommend measures to achieve these policy goals and to identify a variety of policies and strategies that support carbon dioxide removal solutions, carbon capture and storage technologies, and nature-based climate solutions in California, as specified. The bill would require the state board to work with relevant agencies to establish criteria for the use of carbon dioxide removal technologies and carbon capture and storage technologies for purposes of achieving these policy goals. The bill would require the state board to identify interim 5-year greenhouse gas emission reduction goals that begin on January 1, 2025, and submit an annual report, as specified. The bill would impose other requirements on state agencies, as specified.

Existing law, the California Values Act, prohibits a California law enforcement agency from providing a person's release date, or responding to a request for notification of a release date, unless that information is available to the public, and prohibits the transfer of an individual to immigration authorities, as specified, unless the person has been convicted of specified crimes or arrested for a serious or violent felony. This bill would prohibit any state or local agency from arresting or assisting with the arrest, confinement, detention, transfer, interrogation, or deportation of an individual for an immigration enforcement purpose, except as specified. The bill would additionally prohibit state or local agencies or courts from using immigration status as a factor to deny or to recommend denial of probation or participation in any diversion, rehabilitation, mental health program, or placement in a credit-earning program or class, or to determine custodial classification level, to deny mandatory supervision, or to lengthen the portion of supervision served in custody. The bill would authorize a person to bring an action for equitable or declaratory relief in a court of competent jurisdiction against a state or local agency or state or local official that violates these provisions, and would make those agencies or officials liable for actual and general damages and reasonable attorney's fees. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement and maintain procedures to identify inmates serving terms in state prison who are undocumented felons subject to deportation. Existing law requires the department to annually report to the Legislature the number of persons identified as undocumented aliens, as specified. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires all basic information stored in state or local criminal offender record information systems to be recorded in the form of specified standard data elements, including, among other things, place of birth. This bill would no longer require that information to include place of birth.

Existing law establishes the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, to award competitive grants for the purpose of violence intervention and prevention. Existing law imposes various taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Act, would, commencing July 1, 2023, impose an excise tax in the amount of 10% of the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of a handgun and 11% of the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of a long gun, rifle, firearm precursor part, and ammunition, as specified. The tax would be collected by the state pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law. The bill would require that the revenues collected be deposited in the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury. The bill would require that 12 of the moneys received in the fund be used to fund gun violence prevention programs, gun violence prevention education, and gun violence prevention research, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and would continuously appropriate the other 12 of the moneys received in the fund to the Board of State and Community Corrections for the CalVIP Grant Program, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Director of Finance to transfer, as a loan, $2,400,000 from the General Fund to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to implement these provisions, as specified. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. Because this bill would expand the scope of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law governs the determination of child custody and visitation in contested proceedings. Existing law requires the court, for purposes of deciding custody, to determine the best interests of the child based on certain factors, including the nature and amount of contact with both parents, and consistent with specified findings, including that the court's primary concern must be to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the child. Existing law prohibits the ordering of family reunification services as part of a child custody or visitation rights proceeding. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to establish judicial training programs with instruction in all aspects of family law for those who perform duties in family law matters and in domestic violence for those who perform duties in domestic violence matters. This bill would specify that prohibited ordered family reunification services include reunification therapy, treatments, programs, workshops, or camps that are predicated on cutting off a child from a parent with whom the child is bonded or to whom the child is attached. The bill would require the Judicial Council's family law training program to be designed to improve the ability of judges and others who perform duties in family law matters to recognize and respond to child abuse, domestic violence, and trauma in all family victims and to make appropriate custody decisions that prioritize child safety and well-being and are culturally responsive. The bill would require the Judicial Council's domestic violence training program to include child abuse, and would include those who perform duties in child custody and visitation matters in the target audience for that training. The bill would require a judge assigned to family law matters involving child custody proceedings, as well as a judge, referee, commissioner, mediator, child custody recommending counselor, and evaluator involved in child custody proceedings, to participate in a program of continuing instruction in domestic violence, including child abuse.