Asm. Phillip Chen

Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish contracts for electronic programs that allow qualified private industry partners to provide services that include processing and payment programs for vehicle registration and titling transactions. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into a partnership with an interstate carrier partner to provide electronic vehicle registration services and to enter into contractual agreements with interstate carrier partners, if certain criteria are met. This bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to explore ways to increase its partnerships with motor clubs, qualified private industry partners, and others to provide services traditionally provided by the department and would authorize those partners to provide specified services. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature every 2 years beginning January 1, 2022, on its progress to expand and increase those partnerships.

Existing law encourages the establishment of local and regional task forces for law enforcement purposes, including, among others, the county sexual assault felony enforcement (SAFE) team program, and county task forces on violent crimes against women. This bill would establish the Orange County Property Crime Task Force, whose mission would be to identify, arrest, and prosecute the criminals who participate in property crime, and to also increase prevention methods and diversion. The bill would specify the membership of the task force, specify the tasks that the task force would be required to complete, and require the task force to report to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would authorize implementation of these provisions only to the extent that funding is provided by an appropriation from the General Fund.

Existing law generally requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, as specified, be paid to workers employed on a public works project that exceeds $1,000. Existing law sets forth the penalties for a violation of this requirement. This bill would increase the threshold to require the payment of a prevailing rate of per diem wages to $100,000.

Existing law establishes within the Department of Housing and Community Development the California Housing Finance Agency and provides that the primary purpose of the agency is to meet the housing needs of persons and families of low or moderate income. Existing law requires the California Housing Finance Agency administer the Roberti-Greene Home Purchase Assistance Program, to provide home purchase assistance to low- and moderate-income homebuyers to qualify for the purchase of owner-occupied homes. Existing law authorizes the agency, pursuant to specified objectives, to create its own home purchase assistance programs, home purchase assistance products, or both, on terms and conditions as the agency deems prudent. Existing law requires the agency to provide to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst an annual report containing information concerning all units produced, assisted, or insured using agency funds. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst to conduct a study, and present the findings thereof to the Legislature, to inform the creation of a low-interest loan program for first responders. The bill would require the report to be submitted on or before January 1, 2024. The bill would require the report to include a recommendation as to which state department is best suited to administer the program, an estimation of the amount of funding that would be necessary to conduct the program, and recommendations for qualifications for participation in the program.

Existing law requires electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to construct, maintain, and operate their electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment. Existing law requires electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to prepare annually a wildfire mitigation plan. This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to direct each electrical corporation and gas corporation to file an application for programs to provide financial assistance to owners of residential properties in fire-prone areas within their respective service territories to install improvements to reduce or eliminate wildfire impacts on those properties or to purchase emergency equipment or supplies for use in case of a deenergization event. The bill would require that the programs be funded through voluntary contributions from customers of the corporations. The bill would require the governing board of a local publicly owned electric or gas utility to implement analogous programs to provide financial assistance to owners of residential properties in fire-prone areas within the service territory of the utility. Because this bill would impose additional duties on the governing boards of local publicly owned electric or gas utilities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any rule, order, decision, or direction of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of an order of the commission implementing these requirements would be 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 specified reasons.

Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , administered in California as CalFresh, under which each county distributes nutrition assistance benefits provided by the federal government to eligible households. Existing state law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits through the use of an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) acceptance system. Existing law, until January 1, 2022, encourages the Regents of the University of California, requires the Trustees of the California State University, and authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, to designate as a "hunger-free campus" each of the institutions' respective campuses that meet specified criteria, including having a campus employee designated to help ensure that students have the information they need to enroll in CalFresh. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Education, and the Department of Food and Agriculture, to develop a plan to end hunger. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to serve as the lead agency for the development of the plan. The bill would require the plan to be distributed to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2021, and would establish criteria for the plan, including that the plan establish a budget of $11,500,000, contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other measure, for the Department of Food and Agriculture to support local food hub efforts. The bill would also require the plan to request the Regents of the University of California, and direct the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, to develop systems that allow EBT cards to be used on their respective campuses, and present a report to the Assembly Select Committee on Campus Climate on the progress that has been made, by July 1, 2020.

This measure would name the public street, circle, and plaza at 914 and 915 Capitol Mall in the City of Sacramento as the Willie L. Brown, Jr. Circle and Plaza. The measure would request the Department of General Services to determine the cost of erecting the appropriate signage commemorating this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources, to cover that cost to erect that signage.

Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and charges it with certain duties and powers, including, among other things, the operation of prisons and other specified institutions. This bill would require the department to establish a Peace Officer Peer Support Labor Management Committee tasked with crafting, updating, and monitoring the implementation of a standardized statewide peace officer policy for the department's peer support program to provide substantive assistance to the peace officers employed by the department. The bill would require the committee to be composed of an equal number of representatives of the employer and peace officer employees, and would require the members of the committee to be selected and hold their first meeting on or before July 1, 2020. The bill would require the policy to address, among other things, the selection process and training for peer support team members, and guidelines for the types of communication that would remain confidential within the peer support program. The bill would require the policy to be fully implemented by January 1, 2022. The bill would require the department to submit, beginning July 1, 2020, an annual report to the Legislature that contains data pertaining to the utilization rates of the peace officer peer support program statewide.

Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies as of February 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies to wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies. Existing law requires revenues equivalent to those that would have been allocated to each redevelopment agency, had the agency not been dissolved, to be allocated to the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund of each successor agency for making payments on the principal of and interest on loans, and moneys advanced to or indebtedness incurred by the dissolved redevelopment agencies. Existing law requires, from February 1, 2012, to July 1, 2012, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the county auditor-controller, after deducting administrative costs, to allocate property tax revenues in each Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund in a specified manner. Existing law requires certain revenues attributable to a property tax rate approved by the voters of a city, county, city and county, or special district to make payments in support of pension programs or in support of capital projects and programs related to the State Water Project to be allocated to, and when collected to be paid into, the fund of that taxing entity instead of the Redevelopment Property Tax Fund of each successor agency, unless the revenues are pledged as security for the payment of any indebtedness, as provided. Existing law requires all allocations of revenues derived from the imposition of that property tax rate made by any county auditor-controller prior to July 1, 2015, to be deemed correct, and prohibits any city, county, county auditor-controller, successor agency, or affected taxing entity from being subject to any claim, as specified. This bill would additionally require certain revenues attributable to a property tax rate approved by the voters of a city, county, city and county, or special district to make payments in support of a mobile intensive care program in the City of Brea called "Paramedics" to be allocated to, and when collected to be paid into, the fund of that taxing entity instead of the Redevelopment Property Tax Fund of each successor agency, unless the revenues are pledged as security for the payment of any indebtedness, as provided. The bill would require all allocations of revenues derived from the imposition of that property tax rate made by any county auditor-controller prior to January 1, 2020, to be deemed correct, and would prohibit any city, county, county auditor-controller, successor agency, or affected taxing entity from being subject to any claim, as specified. By adding to the duties of local government officials, 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. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Brea.