Asm. Blanca Pacheco

Maddy summaryThis bill designates the week of October 6 through October 12, 2024, as National 4-H Week throughout California. It directly affects the nearly 6 million young people participating in the 4-H youth development program and the volunteers who support them. The resolution formally recognizes the organization's role in fostering leadership skills and encourages the celebration of 4-H's contributions to health, science, and civic engagement during that specific week.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates September 2024 as Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month in California to highlight the disease's impact, particularly on African American communities. It encourages the state to allocate funds for outreach, education, research, and treatment while also calling for the development of chronic kidney disease screening programs with genetic testing referrals. The resolution aims to raise public knowledge about the condition and support better care outcomes for those affected.

Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to provide by rule of court for racial, ethnic, and gender bias, and sexual harassment training and training for any other bias based on sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, mental disability, physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation for judges and subordinate judicial officers. This bill would require the Judicial Council, when developing any training on gender bias, to consider the role of gender in court proceedings and meeting the needs of litigants in unique situations of vulnerability. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates specific periods in 2024 as Boat People Awareness Week and Month to honor Vietnamese refugees who fled their country by sea after the Vietnam War. The resolution highlights the historical hardships these individuals faced, including dangerous voyages and high mortality rates, while acknowledging their significant contributions to communities across California. It does not create new laws or funding but serves as a commemorative measure to recognize the resilience and spirit of the Vietnamese refugee community. The text is intended to be shared with the bill's author for public distribution to raise awareness about this historical event.

Maddy summaryThis bill recognizes August 15, 2024, as India's Independence Day and encourages all Californians to participate in celebrations honoring the occasion. It directly affects the residents of California, particularly the state's large Indian American community, by formally acknowledging the historical significance of the date when India gained independence from British rule. The measure does not create new laws or change government operations; instead, it serves as a symbolic gesture to highlight the cultural contributions of Indian Americans and the shared values of democracy and nonviolence between the two nations.

This measure would declare the month of June 2024 to be Portuguese Heritage Month and would recognize June 10 as the Day of Portugal and May 20 as the Day of the Azores.

Maddy summaryThis bill officially recognizes June 21, 2024, as the 2024 International Day of Yoga within the state of California. It does not create new laws or change existing regulations but serves as a formal acknowledgment of the global event. The measure is intended to highlight the history and benefits of yoga as a wellness practice.

This measure would designate the week of June 23, 2024, to June 29, 2024, inclusive, and every third week of June thereafter, as Roadside Assistance Worker Appreciation Week.

(1) Existing law divides theft into grand theft and petty theft. Existing law punishes petty theft as a misdemeanor while grand theft is punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Existing law lists specific types of theft which are grand theft and all other cases of theft as petty theft. Existing law authorizes a person to be charged with grand theft if the property taken exceeds $950 over the course of distinct but related acts. This bill would clarify that those related acts include acts committed against multiple victims or in counties other than the county of the current offense. The bill would also clarify that evidence that distinct acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan may include, but is not limited to, evidence that the acts involve the same defendant or defendants, are substantially similar in nature, or occur within a 90-day period. (2) Existing law prohibits the possession or receipt of stolen property, as specified. A violation of this prohibition is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the value of the property and whether the offender has certain prior convictions. This bill would make it a crime for any person to possess property unlawfully that was acquired through one or more acts of shoplifting, theft, or burglary from a retail business, if the property is not possessed for personal use and the person has intent to sell, exchange, or return the merchandise for value, or the intent to act in concert with one or more persons to sell, exchange, or return the merchandise for value, and the value of the possessed property exceeds $950. The bill would, for the purpose of determining the value of the property, aggregate the property with any other property possessed by the person with that intent within the prior 2 years and with any property possessed by another person acting in concert with the first person to sell, exchange, or return the merchandise for value, if that property was also acquired unlawfully. The bill would make this crime punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits shoplifting, defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit theft while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed $950. Existing law requires an act that falls within this definition to be charged as shoplifting and not as burglary or theft. Under existing law, shoplifting is punishable as a misdemeanor, except when the defendant has prior convictions, as specified. Existing law authorizes a peace officer to make a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor when the officer has probable cause to believe the person to be arrested has committed the misdemeanor in the officer's presence. Existing law also authorizes a private person to make an arrest for a misdemeanor committed in their presence, and requires the person to deliver the arrested person to a peace officer or magistrate. Existing law additionally authorizes a merchant to detain a person for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner to determine if a person has unlawfully taken merchandise. Existing law authorizes a peace officer to make a warrantless arrest for specified misdemeanors relating to domestic violence, violation of a restraining order, and carrying a concealed firearm at an airport that did not occur in the officer's presence. This bill would authorize a peace officer to make a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor shoplifting offense not committed in the officer's presence if the officer has probable cause to believe that person has committed shoplifting, as specified. The bill would clarify that local law enforcement or a local jurisdiction is prohibited from bringing a nuisance action against a business solely for the act of reporting retail crime, unless the report is knowingly false. (4) Existing law requires a peace officer to release upon a signed promise to appear any person arrested for a misdemeanor, unless the person demands to be taken before a magistrate. Existing law provides certain reasons a person arrested for a misdemeanor shall not be released including that the person is intoxicated or in need of medical attention, the person is unable to provide satisfactory proof of identification, or there are outstanding arrest warrants for the person. Additionally, existing law exempts from this provision persons arrested for specified crimes including domestic violence, stalking, threatening a witness, and, until January 1, 2026, organized retail theft. This bill would extend that exemption for organized retail theft until January 1, 2031. (5) Existing law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a city or county prosecuting authority or county probation department to create a diversion or deferred entry of judgment program for persons who commit a theft offense or repeat theft offenses, as specified. This bill would extend that authorization until January 1, 2031. (6) Existing law authorizes the court to suspend a criminal sentence and make and enforce terms of probation for a period not to exceed 2 years, and in misdemeanor cases, for a period not to exceed one year. Existing law authorizes the court to make and enforce the terms of probation for specified theft cases for a period not to exceed 3 years. This bill would, for an offense of shoplifting or petty theft, authorize the court to make and enforce the terms of probation for a period not to exceed 2 years. The bill would require a court that imposes a term longer than one year to consider referring the defendant to a collaborative court or rehabilitation program that is relevant to the underlying factor or factors that led to the commission of the offense, as specified. For a defendant under 25 years of age, the bill would require the court, to the extent such a program is available, to refer the defendant to a program modeled on healing-centered, restorative, trauma-informed, and positive youth development approaches that is provided in collaboration with community-based organizations. By increasing the period of probation, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (7) 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 defines types of theft, including petty theft, grand theft, and shoplifting. Existing law also defines the crimes of robbery and burglary. Existing law sets forth specific rules relating to the jurisdiction for the prosecution of theft by fraud, organized retail theft, and receiving stolen property, including that the jurisdiction for prosecution includes the county where an offense involving the theft or receipt of the stolen merchandise occurred, the county in which the merchandise was recovered, or the county where any act was done by the defendant in instigating, procuring, promoting, or aiding or abetting in the commission of a theft offense or other qualifying offense. Existing law jurisdictionally limits prosecution of each of the above to criminal actions brought by the Attorney General. This bill would no longer limit the jurisdictional rules for the above crimes to criminal actions brought by the Attorney General. If a case is brought by someone other than the Attorney General and multiple offenses are committed by the same defendant in multiple jurisdictions, the bill would allow a criminal action to be brought in any of those jurisdictions subject to a hearing on consolidation of the offenses, as specified. The bill would require the prosecution to present written evidence at the hearing that all district attorneys in counties with jurisdiction over the offenses agree to the venue. The bill would require charged offenses from jurisdictions where there is not a written agreement from the district attorney to be returned to that jurisdiction.