Asm. Blanca Pacheco

Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs, among other things, the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law specifies which code sections constitute the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

Existing law requires the superintendent of each school district to submit 2 reports to the governing board of the school district during each fiscal year. Existing law requires the first report to cover the financial and budgetary status of the school district for the period ending October 31, and the second report to cover the period ending January 31. Existing law requires both reports to be approved by the governing board of the school district no later than 45 days after the close of the period being reported. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to hold an annual organizational meeting. In a year in which a regular election for governing board members is conducted, existing law requires the meeting to be held on a day within a 15-day period that commences with the 2nd Friday in December following the regular election. In years in which no regular election for governing board members is conducted, existing law requires organizational meetings to be held on any date in December, but no later than December 20. This bill would, for those years in which a regular election for members of the governing board of the school district is conducted, extend the deadline for the governing board of the school district to approve the report for the period ending October 31 to instead be no later than December 20.

Existing law establishes in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency a Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the direction of the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. Under existing law, the department has charge of the execution of specified laws relating to various financial institutions and financial products and services. This bill would enact the California Elder Financial Abuse Prevention Act, which would authorize a depository institution, as defined, to take specified actions when, based on their own observations or information received from a governmental or law enforcement agency, the institution believes that an eligible adult, as defined, is the victim or target of financial abuse, including delaying or refusing a transaction involving the eligible adult and preventing the transfer of funds from the eligible adult's account. The bill would authorize a depository institution to notify an associated third party, as defined, if the depository institution believes an eligible adult may be the victim of financial abuse, and would exempt that disclosure from state privacy laws or requirements.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions as the segments of postsecondary education in the state. This bill would prohibit an institution of higher education, as defined, from charging a higher tuition or fee on the grounds that a student owes an institutional debt, as defined. The bill would also prohibit an institution of higher education from preventing a current or former student from reenrolling or registering at the institution on those grounds unless the institution complies with specified conditions, including, among other conditions, that the institution grants a one-time exemption from the enrollment or registration hold and a specified opportunity for payment or entry into a payment plan, as provided. The bill would require an institution of higher education to establish a written policy defining standards and practices for the collection of institutional debt, as provided, and to provide the written policy to current or former students that owe an institutional debt. The bill would prohibit an institution of higher education from taking specified actions when collecting an institutional debt. The bill would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California State University, and request the office of the President of the University of California, to require each public institution to report, beginning on or before January 1, 2027, using a specified uniform format and on a biennial basis, specified information regarding the number and dollar amount of institutional debts at each institution. The bill would require, beginning on or before July 1, 2029, that biennial report to include additional specified information. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would make its provisions severable. 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, the State General Obligation Bond Law, generally sets forth the procedures for the issuance and sale of bonds governed by its provisions and for the disbursal of the proceeds of the sale of those bonds. Existing law requires any state bond measure approved on or after January 1, 2004, to be subject to an annual reporting process, with the head of the lead state agency administering the bond proceeds reporting certain information about the projects being funded to the Legislature and the Department of Finance. Existing law allows this information to be provided on the agency's internet website or the state's open data portal under certain circumstances. This bill would require a bond act for any state general obligation bond measure that is approved by voters on and after January 1, 2026, to include specified information about the objectives of the bond expenditure and related data. The bill would also require the head of the lead state agency administering the bond to post on its internet website a notification that contains, among other information, details about the programs and projects authorized to be funded by the bond. The bill would further require each state agency subject to these provisions to provide a written report to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, and specified legislative committees that contains certain information regarding the general obligation bond, in accordance with the above-described provision allowing this information to be provided on the agency's internet website or the state's online data portal. The bill would require the report to include, among other information, whether the project, grant, or other expenditure of bond proceeds has been done in a timely manner.

Existing law makes it a crime for a person to assault, among other people, a judge of any local, state, or federal court of record in retaliation for or to prevent the performance of their official duties, as specified. Existing law requires a county elections official to, upon application by a public safety officer, make confidential that officer's residence address, telephone number, and email address appearing on the affidavit of voter registration, as specified. Existing law requires, upon request of specified persons, including an active or retired judge, that the person's home address that appears in a record of the Department of Motor Vehicles be made confidential. This bill would additionally make it a crime for a person to assault a judge or former judge of a tribal court in retaliation for or to prevent the performance of their official duties, as specified. The bill would clarify that a tribal judge of a federally recognized California Indian tribe can request to make their records confidential pursuant to the above-described provisions. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. 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.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history/social science, and science, as specified. Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the state board and develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials. This bill would require the state board to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop and adopt academically rigorous content standards for ethnic studies instruction in high school. The bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to review and recommend to the state board curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for ethnic studies instruction in high school, as specified. The bill would require the state board to provide the commission with evaluation criteria to use in providing its review and recommendations. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to establish an advisory committee with a majority of the advisory committee's members being experts in African American studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, Native American studies, and Latino and Chicanx studies, to provide input to the state board on proposed content standards and to the commission on proposed curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for ethnic studies instruction in high school. Existing law requires a pupil to complete designated coursework while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. These graduation requirements include, commencing for pupils graduating in the 2029–30 school year, the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies meeting specified requirements. Under existing law, the requirement to complete an ethnic studies course may be fulfilled by the completion of, among others, a course based on the model curriculum developed by the Instructional Quality Commission, an ethnic studies course taught as part of a course that has been approved as meeting the A–G requirements of the University of California and the California State University, or a locally developed ethnic studies course approved by the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school. Existing law requires the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for these ethnic studies courses to meet specified requirements, including that they not reflect or promote any bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or group of persons on the basis of certain characteristics. Existing law makes these provisions relating to ethnic studies courses operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for purposes of these provisions. This bill would require the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for any high school ethnic studies course, including ethnic studies courses meeting high school graduation requirements, to meet the above-described requirements, and would require the curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials for all high school ethnic studies courses to additionally, among other things, foster multicultural respect and understanding and focus on the domestic experience and stories of historically marginalized peoples in American society. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to provide, on or before June 30, 2026, the State Department of Education with a copy of all curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies that schools offer or plan to offer to pupils in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, and the adoption calendar for curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies proposed for adoption by the governing board or body of the local educational agency for instruction to these pupils. The bill would require a local educational agency that does not have an ethnic studies course in place for its pupils in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, on or before June 30, 2026, to provide the department with a copy of all curricula, instruction, and instructional materials in ethnic studies that its schools seek to adopt at least 60 days before being first presented at a public meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency for instruction to these pupils. The bill would require the department to post the information received pursuant to these requirements on its internet website. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to monitor compliance with the requirements of this bill as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs and to provide a report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature summarizing the data collected through compliance monitoring, 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.

Maddy summarySCR 103 designates the week of July 20-26, 2025, as "Probation Services Week" in California. This concurrent resolution recognizes the work of probation services professionals across the state. It is a symbolic observance with no new laws, regulations, or direct impact on individuals or policies. The bill does not alter existing statutes or create obligations for any entity.

Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate (OSBA) within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to advocate for causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require OSBA to allocate 90% of the moneys appropriated to the Small Business Recovery Fund, which would be created within the State Treasury, for purposes of a small business recovery grant program to provide competitive grants to small businesses, as defined, that are directly impacted by a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor or other specified emergencies. The bill would require the funds to be used for, among other things, to support recovery and rebuilding efforts, and would require a grantee to match the amount of the grant awarded. The bill would require OSBA to award grants in amounts that range from $2,500 to $100,000, inclusive. This bill would require OSBA to allocate 5% of the moneys appropriated to the fund to the Small Business Technical Assistance Program administered by GO-Biz, for grants to small business technical assistance centers that provide direct service to disaster-affected areas, and 5% to the Capital Infusion Program administered by GO-Biz, to support increased demand for capital-related technical assistance in disaster areas. This bill would require the Director of the Office of Small Business Advocate to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the results of grant funds awarded for each state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor, as provided. This bill would repeal the Small Business Recovery Fund Act on January 1, 2032.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, to, by ordinance, make any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty. Existing law requires a local agency to set forth, by ordinance, the administrative procedures that govern the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of those administrative fines or penalties, as specified. This bill would, for specified administrative fines or penalties, authorize a local agency to, subject to specified requirements, file a certified copy of a final administrative order or decision that directs payment of the administrative fine or penalty with the clerk of the superior court of any county, as specified, and require the clerk to enter judgment immediately in conformity with the decision or order. The bill would also authorize a local agency to, by ordinance, establish a procedure to collect administrative fines or penalties by lien upon the parcel of land on which the violation occurred if the ordinance meets specified requirements. The bill would specify that the remedies or penalties provided by these provisions are cumulative of the remedies or penalties available under any other law.