Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to establish an expedited utility distribution infrastructure undergrounding program for large electrical corporations. In order to participate in the program, existing law requires a large electrical corporation to submit to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan, as provided. Upon approval of the plan by the office, existing law requires the large electrical corporation to submit to the commission an application requesting review and conditional approval of the plan's costs and other specified information. This bill would specify that the approval of a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan is not a project for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, as specified.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, generally establishes the conditions under which a transfer made or obligation incurred by a debtor is voidable as to a creditor, and sets forth the remedies of a creditor with respect to a voidable transfer or obligation. Existing law specifies that a covered claim is governed by the local law of the jurisdiction in which the debtor is located when the transfer is made or the obligation is incurred. Existing law specifies, for purposes of these provisions, that a debtor's location, if the debtor is an individual, is the individual's principal residence. This bill would instead provide that a debtor's location, if the debtor is an individual, is the debtor's principal residence or domicile.
Existing law requires the Judicial Council to sponsor a pilot program for 2 fiscal years to study whether increases in juror compensation and mileage reimbursement rates increase juror diversity and participation. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to provide a report to the Legislature describing the findings of the pilot program and providing information for promoting juror diversity. This bill would require the Judicial Council to also make the report available to the public on its internet website.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, county sheriff, or director of the local department of corrections to give notice not less than 15 days prior to the release from the state prison or a county jail of any person who is convicted of specified crimes, including a felony offense involving domestic violence, or of any change in the parole status or relevant change in the parole location of the convicted person or if the convicted person absconds from supervision while on parole, to any person the court identifies as a victim of the offense, a family member of the victim, or a witness to the offense. This bill would require notice not less than 20 days prior to the release instead of 15 days.
Existing law requires a peace officer to hold property alleged to have been stolen or embezzled when the property comes into the custody of the officer. Existing law requires the clerk or person in charge of the property section for the police or sheriff's department to enter in a suitable book a description of every article of property alleged to be stolen or embezzled that has been brought into the office or taken from the person of a prisoner. This bill would state that the clerk or person in charge of the property section may enter that description in a computer database. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law prohibits local governments from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted. This bill would repeal that prohibition.
Under existing law, a vote-by-mail ballot is timely cast if it is postmarked or otherwise time-stamped on or before election day and received in the mail no later than 7 days after election day. This bill would instead require a vote-by-mail ballot to be returned to the applicable elections official no later than the close of the polls on election day, except that the bill would require a vote-by-mail ballot cast by a military or overseas voter to be counted if it is postmarked on or before election day and received no later than 7 days after election day.
Existing law generally authorizes a court to dismiss an action in the furtherance of justice. Existing law requires a court to dismiss an enhancement if it is in the furtherance of justice to do so, except if dismissal of that enhancement is prohibited by any initiative statute. This bill would make the provision relating to the dismissal of enhancements inapplicable to firearms-related enhancements, but would allow the court to dismiss these firearm-related enhancements pursuant to the court's general authority to dismiss an action, as specified.
Under existing law, a law enforcement official has limited discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities, and may only provide information regarding a person's release date or transfer an individual to immigration authorities without a judicial warrant or probable cause determination if the individual has been convicted of specified crimes, including, but not limited to, serious and violent felonies, as specified, and only if doing so would not violate any federal, state, or local law, or local policy. Notwithstanding those provisions, this bill would instead require law enforcement officials to cooperate with immigration authorities by detaining and transferring an individual and providing release information if a person has been convicted of a felony. By requiring local law enforcement to comply with requests from immigration authorities, 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 requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters. Existing law requires the department to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to a person's eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver's license or identification card or when the person notifies the department of an address change. Existing law requires that if this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, the Secretary of State must register or preregister the person to vote, as applicable, unless the person affirmatively declines to register or is ineligible to vote, as specified. This bill would prohibit the department from providing a person the opportunity to attest to meeting voter eligibility requirements when they submit a driver's license application if the person provides a document to the department during the transaction demonstrating that the person is not a United States citizen, and would prohibit the department from providing records of that person to the Secretary of State.