Asm. Autumn R. Burke

This measure would designate that January 16, 2017, be observed as the official memorial of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birth and commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the work of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.

Existing law prohibits an employer from refusing to allow a female employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition to take a leave for a reasonable time of up to 4 months before returning to work. Existing law also prohibits an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes that leave, as specified. This bill would prohibit an employer, as defined, from refusing, as specified, to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, and who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, to take up to 6 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child's birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The bill would also prohibit an employer from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes this leave. The provisions of the bill would become operative on January 1, 2018.

Existing law, the Gambling Control Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of various legalized gambling activities and establishments by the California Gambling Control Commission and the investigation and enforcement of those activities and establishments by the Department of Justice. A willful violation of the act is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires every person who is required to hold a state license to obtain the license prior to engaging in the activity or occupying the position with respect to which the license is required, except as specified. Existing law also requires every person who, by order of the commission, is required to apply for a gambling license or a finding of suitability to file an application within 45 calendar days after receipt of the order. This bill would instead require the application described above to be filed within 60 calendar days after receipt of an order of the commission. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person who deals, plays, or carries on, opens, or causes to be opened, or who conducts, either as owner or employer, whether for hire or not, any of a list of specified gambling games, or any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device, for money, checks, credit, or any representative of value. Existing law generally requires a person to be deemed unsuitable to hold a state gambling license under the California Gambling Control Act to own a gambling establishment if the person, or any partner, officer, director, or shareholder of that person, has any financial interest in any business or organization that is engaged in any form of gambling prohibited under the provision described above, whether within or without this state. Existing law exempts from these provisions a person who meets specified criteria, including a person who is licensed or had an application to be licensed on file with the commission on or before February 1, 2013. Existing law requires a person exempt under this provision, within 3 years of the date the closed business or organization reopens or becomes engaged in any form of gambling prohibited under the provision described above, to either divest that person's interest in the business or organization or divest that person's interest in the gambling enterprise or gambling establishment for which the person is licensed or has applied to be licensed by the commission. During this 3-year divestment period, existing law makes it unlawful for any cross-promotion or marketing, as defined, to occur between the business or organization that is engaged in any form of gambling prohibited under the provision described above, and a gambling enterprise or gambling establishment. This bill would instead require an exempt person, within 6 years of the date the closed business or organization reopens or becomes engaged in any form of gambling prohibited under the provision described above, to either divest that person's interest in the business or organization or divest that person's interest in the gambling enterprise or gambling establishment for which the person is licensed or has applied to be licensed by the commission. The bill would also make conforming changes. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the City of Inglewood, by July 1, 2018, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on the progress of the construction of the City of Champions Revitalization Project and its impact on the divestment requirement described above. By imposing a reporting requirement on the City of Inglewood, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Inglewood. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Outdoor Advertising Act, provides for the regulation by the Department of Transportation of advertising displays, as defined, within view of public highways. The act regulates the placement of off-premises advertising displays along highways that generally advertise business conducted or services rendered or goods produced or sold at a location other than the property upon which the display is located. A violation of the act is a crime. The act also provides that an advertising display advertising businesses and activities developed within the boundary limits of, and as a part of, an individual redevelopment agency project, as those project boundaries existed on December 29, 2011, may remain and be considered an on-premises display, until January 1, 2023, if the advertising display meets specified criteria. The act further authorizes, on and after January 1, 2022, the applicable city, county, or city and county to request from the department an extension for good cause, as specified, beyond January 1, 2023, not to exceed the expiration of the redevelopment project area. This bill would authorize under similar provisions the advertising of businesses or activities operating outside a redevelopment project area but within the boundaries of the City of Inglewood. The bill would impose certain duties on the City of Inglewood regarding advertising displays. By increasing the level of service provided by the city, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make findings and declarations as to the need for a special statute relating to the City of Inglewood. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons. This bill would require a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, except as specified, to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. The bill would also establish the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations and, among other things, to identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California.

Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families using federal, state, and county funds. Existing law establishes a 48-month lifetime limit of CalWORKs benefits for eligible adults, as specified. Existing law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for 24 cumulative months, as specified, and to meet other federal requirements, as specified. Existing law provides that participation in certain activities is not counted against that 24-month period. Existing law requires the county to assign a CalWORKs recipient who lacks a high school diploma or its equivalent to participate in adult basic education, if the recipient has completed job search activities but did not find employment and the education is needed to become employed. Existing law also requires, in order for a recipient to engage in adult basic education in satisfaction of welfare-to-work requirements, the county to perform an assessment and develop a welfare-to-work plan that includes participation in the educational activity. This bill would instead provide that if the county determines that a CalWORKs recipient has not received his or her high school diploma or its equivalent, the recipient may participate in a high school equivalency program in order to complete a high school equivalency test recognized by the State Department of Education, and that a specified amount of time participating in that activity would not count against the 24-month period described above for certain recipients. The bill would authorize a recipient to participate in a high school equivalency program in lieu of participating in a job search or job club, as specified, and would prohibit a county from requiring the recipient to participate in an assessment before the recipient may engage in a high school equivalency program in satisfaction of welfare-to-work requirements.