Rep. Kate Sanchez

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution officially designates September as Black Music Month to honor the significant contributions of Black artists to American culture. The measure recognizes a wide range of musical genres, including jazz, blues, gospel, and hip-hop, by highlighting their historical origins and influential figures. While the text celebrates these artistic achievements, it does not impose any new legal requirements or funding mandates.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit of $227 for each dependent, as defined, of a taxpayer for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 1999, as adjusted for inflation, and which may be reduced if a taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income exceeds a threshold amount. This bill would allow a credit against the taxes imposed by the Personal Income Tax Law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, to a qualified taxpayer in an amount equal to $1,500 per qualified dependent, as defined. The bill would define "qualified taxpayer" for these purposes to mean a taxpayer who is or would have been, or whose spouse is or would have been, as applicable, 65 years of age or older as of the last day of the taxable year and for whom no part of their adjusted gross income for the taxable year consists of earned income, as defined. 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 also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and existing law establishes courses of study for those pupils. This bill would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to integrate outdoor learning into standards-aligned instruction across all grades and subject areas, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns the department numerous duties relating to the governance and funding of local educational agencies. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to curate and maintain on its internet website resources for educators on outdoor learning. The bill would also encourage the department, in carrying out these provisions, to consult with county offices of education, classroom educators, tribal partners, mental and physical health professionals and researchers, environmental literacy experts, and community organizations with experience in outdoor learning. The bill would authorize the department to provide resources to address the particular needs of each local educational agency. The bill would authorize the department to accept voluntary contributions to be deposited into the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Account, which the bill would create in the State Treasury, to fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the costs of these provisions.

Existing law, the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act (CARE Act) , authorizes specified persons, including a person with whom the respondent resides, family members, and first responders, among others, to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan and implement services, to be provided by county behavioral health agencies, to provide behavioral health care, including stabilization medication, housing, and other enumerated services, to adults who are currently experiencing a severe mental illness and have a diagnosis identified in the disorder class schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, or bipolar I disorder with psychotic features, and who meet other specified criteria. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to develop a mandatory form for use to file a CARE process petition with the court and any other forms necessary for the CARE process, to be signed under the penalty of perjury, and requires the form to contain certain information, including either a specified affidavit of a licensed behavioral health professional or evidence the respondent was detained for a minimum of two intensive treatments pursuant to specified provisions of law. Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) , generally provides for the evaluation, treatment, and civil commitment of persons with mental health disorders and other specified persons. Existing law authorizes, under a superior court order, an evaluation of a person alleged, as a result of mental disorder, to be a danger to themselves or others or to be gravely disabled, and provides the forms to use for these evaluations. The CARE Act authorizes a court to terminate a respondent's participation in the CARE process if the court determines that the respondent is not participating in the CARE process or is not adhering to their CARE plan, as specified, and authorizes the court to order the court-ordered evaluation under the LPS Act. If the court finds the petitioner has made a prima facie showing that the respondent is, or may be, a person eligible for the CARE program, the court is required to order the county behavioral health agency, or their designee, as specified, to submit a written report to the court with specified information, including, but not limited to, a determination whether the respondent meets, or is likely to meet, the criteria for the CARE process and conclusions and recommendations about the respondent's ability to voluntarily engage in services. Existing law requires the court to, within 5 days of receiving the report, take one of several actions, including dismissing the petition if the court determines that voluntary engagement with the respondent is effective and the individual has enrolled, or is likely to enroll, in behavioral health treatment. This bill would require the written report to include conclusions about whether the respondent is likely to need a higher level of care than is available under the CARE Act and, if so, recommendations about the appropriate level of care and the necessary steps to obtain that level of care for the respondent and remove the authorization for a court to dismiss the petition if the respondent is only likely to enroll in behavioral health treatment. If the court intends to dismiss a petition because the respondent needs a higher level of services, the bill would authorize the court to order the county to conduct a prepetition screening and hold the CARE petition open until the screening is complete. The bill would also make other technical and conforming changes. By requiring a higher level of service on the county, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires all hearings regarding these provisions to occur in person unless the court, in its discretion, allows a party or witness to appear remotely. This bill would require the court to allow the hearings to be held remotely, unless otherwise ordered by the court or demanded by the respondent. 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 establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires the operator of a well to file a written notice of intention to commence drilling or written notice of intention to abandon a well with, and prohibits any drilling or abandonment, respectively, until approval is given by, the supervisor or district deputy. Under existing law, if the supervisor or district deputy fails to give the operator written response to the notice of intention to commence drilling or to the notice of intention to abandon a well within 10 working days from the date of receipt, that failure to respond is considered an approval, as specified. Under existing law, if operations to commence drilling or to abandon a well have not commenced within 24 months of receipt of the notice by the supervisor or the district deputy, the notice is deemed canceled, as provided. This bill would instead require the supervisor or district deputy to provide the operator, within 10 working days of the receipt of notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, a written determination stating whether the notice of intention is complete. The bill would provide that if a supervisor or district deputy fails to provide this written determination the notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, is required to be deemed complete. The bill would require, if the supervisor or the district deputy determines the notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, is not complete, the supervisor or the district deputy to provide a written list that specifically identifies each item that is missing or deficient and to make a good faith effort to provide that information in a single document, as specified, in addition to the written determination that the notice of intention is not complete. The bill would authorize the operator to cure any deficiencies and to resubmit the notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, and would require the supervisor or deputy to provide a written determination stating whether the resubmitted notice of intention is complete within 10 working days. The bill would require, if the supervisor or district deputy provides a written determination that a notice of intention or a resubmitted notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, is complete, or if a notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, is deemed complete due to a failure of the supervisor or district deputy to provide the written determination of completeness within 10 working days as described above, the supervisor or the district deputy to approve or deny the notice within 30 working days from the date of the determination of completeness. The bill would provide that if the supervisor or district deputy fails to approve or deny a notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, within 30 working days, that failure is to be considered an approval, provided that all necessary environmental and technical reviews by the supervisor or district deputy are complete. The bill would also require, if the notice of intention to commence drilling or notice of intention to abandon a well, respectively, is denied by the supervisor or district deputy, within 30 working days from the date of a written determination of completion, the supervisor or the district deputy to include in the denial a rationale for why the notice was denied. The bill would instead provide that if operations to commence drilling or to abandon a well, respectively, have not commenced within 24 months of receipt of approval of the notice by the supervisor or the district deputy, the notice is deemed canceled, as provided.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts from its requirements certain projects. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, exempt from CEQA critical fuels reduction projects that address extremely flammable species, are conducted in communities located in high fire threat districts or very high fire hazard severity zones, and remove specified nonnative species or common species. The bill would require projects exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption to comply with the best management practices under the 2025 Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency carrying out a project exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption to consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, as provided, and to, within 90 days of project completion, submit a notice of project completion and a final compliance determination regarding the 2025 Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and the Secretary for Environmental Protection, as provided. The bill would require, on or before March 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, submit a report to the Legislature with specified information summarizing the implementation of these provisions during the preceding calendar year. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, the 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) , governs the proceedings for determining the placement of an Indian child when that child is removed from the custody of the child's parent or guardian. Existing law specifies that the state is committed to protecting the essential tribal relations and best interest of an Indian child by promoting practices in accordance with ICWA. Existing law also provides for the state and an Indian tribe to enter into an agreement regarding the care and custody of Indian children and jurisdiction over Indian child custody proceedings. Existing law establishes, in order to provide additional funds to eligible Indian tribes that have entered into an agreement with the state pursuant to those provisions, the Tribally Approved Homes Compensation Program to provide funds to recruit and approve homes for the purpose of foster or adoptive placement of an Indian child and the Tribal Dependency Representation Program to provide funds to pay for legal counsel to represent the Indian tribe in a California Indian child custody proceeding. This bill would establish the Tribal Foster Care Prevention Program to provide funding to assist any federally recognized Indian tribe located in California, or with lands that extend into California, in funding the costs associated with services aimed at preserving families and preventing the entry of children into foster care. The bill would require an Indian tribe that seeks funding for this purpose to submit an annual letter of interest to the department. The bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, to provide each Indian tribe that enters into a specified agreement and submits a letter of interest an annual allocation. The bill would require an Indian tribe that receives funds to submit a progress report regarding the number of Indian children and their families served to the department on or before September 30 following the close of the fiscal year in which funding was received. This bill would authorize the department to issue written guidance to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions without taking any regulatory action.

The California Constitution provides that all property is taxable and requires that it be assessed at the same percentage of fair market value, unless otherwise provided by the California Constitution or federal law. The California Constitution and existing property tax law provide various exemptions from taxation, including, among others, a disabled veterans' exemption. Under existing law, the disabled veterans' exemption exempts from taxation part of the full value of property that constitutes the principal place of residence of a veteran, the veteran's spouse, or the veteran and veteran's spouse jointly, and the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran, as provided, if the veteran incurred specified injuries or died while on active duty in military service, as described. Existing law exempts that part of the full value of the residence that does not exceed $100,000, or $150,000 if the household income of the claimant does not exceed $40,000, as adjusted for inflation, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2037, exclude service-connected disability payments from the definition of "household income" for purposes of the disabled veterans' exemption. The bill would also correct an erroneous cross-reference in the above-described provisions. By imposing additional duties on local tax officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. 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 the state to reimburse local agencies annually for certain property tax revenues lost as a result of any exemption or classification of property for purposes of ad valorem property taxation. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse local agencies for property tax revenues lost by them pursuant to the bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Existing law provides for the regulation of various chemicals, including chemicals contained in drugs, dietary supplements, and food products. This bill would prohibit an entity, as defined, from manufacturing, distributing, or offering for sale in this state a product that contains tianeptine or that is marketed as containing tianeptine. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for a first violation and not to exceed $5,000 for each subsequent violation, upon an action brought by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel. The bill would entitle a prevailing plaintiff to an award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

(1) Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of various specified personal characteristics, including disability. Existing law imposes minimum statutory damages for construction-related accessibility claims if the violation of a construction-related accessibility standard denied the plaintiff full and equal access to the place of public accommodation on a particular occasion, as specified. Existing law provides that a plaintiff demonstrates that the plaintiff was deterred from accessing a place of public accommodation on a particular occasion only if both (1) the plaintiff had actual knowledge of a violation, as specified, and (2) the violation would have actually denied the plaintiff full and equal access, as specified. Existing law authorizes the assessment of statutory damages under these provisions based on each particular occasion that the plaintiff was denied full and equal access, as specified, not upon the number of violations of construction-related accessibility standards. Existing law prohibits a defendant from being liable for minimum statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim, with respect to a violation noted in a report by a certified access specialist (CASp) , for a period of 120 days following the date of the inspection if the defendant demonstrates compliance with each of specified requirements. Existing law includes in these specified requirements that the inspection predates the filing of the claim by, or receipt of a demand letter from, the plaintiff, as specified, and that the defendant was not on notice of the alleged violation before the CASp inspection. This bill would establish, until January 1, 2034, the Small Business Right to Cure Program and would prohibit a defendant who qualifies for the program from being liable for minimum statutory damages for any construction-related accessibility claim for a period of 6 years following a CASp report, as provided. To qualify for the program, the bill would require the defendant to demonstrate specified conditions, among others, that the defendant has posted, as provided, both the CASp inspection notice and a Notice of Participation in the Small Business Right to Cure Program, as defined. The bill would authorize the State Architect to develop, as specified, a form Notice of Participation in the Small Business Right to Cure Program, and would authorize a business to satisfy any requirement to provide the notice by providing a specified written statement until and unless the State Architect promulgates the form. The bill would require a public accommodation that participates in the program to make available specified documents for public inspection, including the CASp report that is the basis for the public accommodation asserting that it qualifies for the program. The bill would provide that no provision of the program applies under any of specified conditions, including that the plaintiff or prospective plaintiff alleges an intentional violation of any state or federal disability rights law, a violation related to policies, practices, or procedures, or seeks special damages that arise from physical personal injuries or damage to personal property. Existing law establishes the California Commission on Disability Access for purposes of developing recommendations to enable persons with disabilities to exercise their right to full and equal access to public facilities and facilitating business compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Existing law requires an attorney who sends or serves a complaint on the basis of one or more construction-related accessibility claims, as specified, to notify the commission, as provided, of specified information, including, among other requirements, the date of the judgment, settlement, or dismissal. Existing law requires the commission to make an annual report to the Legislature of tabulated data relating to the various types of construction-related physical access violations alleged in demand letters and complaints by January 31 of each year. This bill would, until January 1, 2034, additionally require an attorney to include in the above-described notification to the commission whether the defendant qualified for and used the Small Business Notice and Right to Cure Program. The bill would require the commission, beginning on or before July 1, 2027, and until January 1, 2034, to include in the above-described annual report information about the number of businesses that participate in the Small Business Notice and Right to Cure Program. (2) The Unfair Competition Law makes various practices unlawful and provides that a person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in unfair competition is liable for a civil penalty, as specified. This bill would provide that a person who posts a specified notice, including a Notice of Participation in the Small Business Right to Cure Program on the premises of a place of public accommodation, or authorizes the document to remain posted on the premises, and knows or should know that the document is inauthentic, materially inaccurate, or that the place of public accommodation does not qualify for the applicable program or other limitation on liability provided by law shall be subject to enforcement under the Unfair Competition Law. (3) Existing law requires a property owner or lessor to state on every lease form or rental agreement whether the subject premises have undergone inspection by a CASp. Existing law provides that making repairs or modifications necessary to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards that are noted in a CASp report is presumed to be the responsibility of the property owner or lessor unless otherwise mutually agreed upon by the commercial property owner or lessor and the lessee or tenant, as prescribed. This bill would extend the above-described presumption to include repairs or modifications necessary to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards in the common area of a commercial property. In the event that a commercial property owner fails to comply with specified requirements in relation to certain lease agreements, the bill would make void and unenforceable an indemnity provision or contractual agreement that seeks to shift the financial responsibility for construction-related accessibility violations from the commercial property owner or lessor to the lessee or tenant within a lease for a commercial property.