Asm. Bill Essayli

Maddy summaryThis bill formally recognizes April 2024 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in California. It encourages communities, schools, and organizations to focus on youth-serving prevention activities during this time and throughout the year. The measure does not create new laws or funding but serves to raise public awareness about the issue.

This measure would designate the month of May 2024 as Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month in California and urge the Governor to declare a state of emergency due to the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people.

Maddy summaryThis bill is a House Resolution that formally recognizes National Maritime Day on May 22, 2024, and expresses the California Assembly's support for the state's maritime industry. The resolution highlights the economic importance of California's ports and the domestic shipping sector, noting that it supports over 51,000 jobs and contributes billions to the state economy. It also acknowledges the critical role of maritime workers in transporting goods and developing renewable energy, while citing recent maritime incidents to underscore the value of professional crews and well-maintained vessels. Ultimately, the bill serves as a commemorative statement rather than creating new laws or changing existing policies.

Existing law provides for the exclusion of a prospective juror from a trial jury by peremptory challenge. Existing law prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of an assumption that the prospective juror is biased merely because of the sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation of the prospective juror, or on similar grounds. Existing law presumes a peremptory challenge for specified reasons, including views related to law enforcement, to be invalid unless a party can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that an objectively reasonable person would view the rationale as unrelated to a prospective juror's race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national orientation, or religious affiliation, or perceived membership in any of those groups. This bill would remove a prospective juror's views related to law enforcement as a presumptively invalid basis for exercising a peremptory challenge.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 17, 2024, as Bike to School Day in California to encourage students to ride bicycles or electric bikes to their schools. The resolution highlights the environmental, health, and recreational benefits of cycling while acknowledging the state's existing bike-friendly infrastructure and recent cycling events. It serves as a commemorative measure rather than a law that changes regulations or funding, and it directs the Assembly's Chief Clerk to distribute copies of the text for public awareness.

Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California, including allocating every position to the appropriate class. Existing law requires the allocation of a position to a class be derived from, and determined by, ascertaining the duties and responsibilities of the position, and be based on the principle that all positions are to be included in the same class if certain qualifications apply, including, but not limited to, that the positions are sufficiently similar in respect to duties and responsibilities that the same descriptive title may be used, and substantially the same requirements as to education, experience, knowledge, and ability are demanded of incumbents. Existing law also prescribes a comprehensive civil service personnel system for the state and specifically provides certain preferences for veterans. Existing law grants to a person retired from the United States military, honorably discharged from active military duty with a service-connected disability, or honorably discharged from active duty eligibility for civil service examinations for which they meet the minimum qualifications for the classification. Existing law requires that, in evaluating minimum qualifications, related military experience be considered state civil service experience in a comparable class, based on the duties and responsibilities assigned. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2026, to review the department Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California and identify which classes are compatible with creating a waiver for a bachelor's degree requirement for a veteran, as defined, who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years. For a class identified by the department, where a bachelor's degree is required as a minimum qualification for a civil service examination, the bill would require the department to, commencing July 1, 2026, waive the bachelor's degree requirement for a veteran who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years.

Existing law authorizes the Attorney General or a district attorney to make an application, as specified, to a judge of a superior court, for an order authorizing the interception of wire or electronic communications. Existing law authorizes a judge, upon a finding of probable cause as that an individual is committing, has committed, or is about to commit offenses involving a substance containing fentanyl or its precursors or analogs that exceeds 10 gallons by liquid volume or 3 pounds of solid substance by weight, to issue an order authorizing the interception. This bill would reduce the above-described amounts for an order authorizing interception to 1.67 gallons by liquid volume and 8 ounces of solid substance by weight of a substance containing fentanyl or its precursors or analogs.

The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income for purposes of computing tax liability. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2035, would provide an exclusion from gross income for survivor benefits or payments, not to exceed $20,000 per taxable year, received during the taxable year under the federal Survivor Benefit Plan. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

The California Constitution entitles the victim of a crime to restitution. Existing law requires the court to order a person who is convicted of a crime to pay restitution to the victim or victims for the full amount of economic loss. Existing law also requires that order to include noneconomic losses, including, but not limited to, psychological harm, for felony violations of specified crimes relating to child sexual abuse. This bill would expand those provisions to also include noneconomic losses from felony violations of the crime of human trafficking, as specified.

Existing law requires a state agency, board, or commission that directly or by contract collects demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for each major Asian group and each major Pacific Islander group, as specified. Existing law requires these state entities to include the data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of Californians by these state entities published or released on or after July 1, 2012. Existing law further requires these state agencies to make the collected data available to the public pursuant to state and federal law, except for personal identifying information, which existing law deems confidential. This bill would require these state entities to use separate collection categories and tabulations for the Middle Eastern and North African group, as specified. The bill would require these state entities to include the data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of California by these state entities published or released on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would require these state entities to make the data available to the public, except as specified, including personal identifying information, which the bill would deem confidential. The bill would require these state entities to update their data collection to reflect additional Middle Eastern and North African groups as they are reported by the United States Census Bureau, as specified. Existing law establishes the state prisons under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law requires the department to collect voluntary self-identification demographic data on the race and ethnic origin of the people admitted, in custody, and released and paroled, as specified. Existing law requires the department to publish monthly the data, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, as specified. Existing law also requires the data be available on the department's internet website, except for personally identifying information, which existing law deems confidential. The bill would require the department to additionally collect demographic data for certain groups, including, among others, the Middle Eastern, North African, and Transnational Middle Eastern and North African groups. 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.