Asm. Randy Voepel

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, makes specified employment and housing practices unlawful, including discrimination against or harassment of employees and tenants, among others. Existing law authorizes a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing within one year from the date upon which the unlawful practice occurred, unless otherwise specified. This bill would extend the above-described period to 3 years for complaints alleging employment discrimination, as specified. The bill would make conforming changes in provisions that grant a person allegedly aggrieved by an unlawful practice who first obtains knowledge of the facts of the alleged unlawful practice after the expiration of the limitations period, as specified. This bill would state that its changes shall not be interpreted to revive lapsed claims.

Existing law, until January 1, 2019, establishes the Revenue Recovery and Collaborative Enforcement Team as a pilot program consisting of a team of agencies charged with specified duties that include developing a plan to document, review, and evaluate data and complaints, evaluating the benefits of a processing center to receive and analyze data, share complaints, and research leads, and providing agencies with investigative leads, as specified, to combat criminal tax evasion associated with the underground economy. This bill would establish the Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement (TRaCE) Task Force in the Department of Justice to combat underground economic activities through a multiagency collaboration to, among other things, pool resources, collaborate and share data, including confidential tax and fee information, prosecute violations, and recover state revenue lost to the underground economy, as specified. This bill would require TRaCE Task Force investigative teams to be located in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, and Fresno, under the direct oversight of the Department of Justice. The bill would establish a TRaCE Task Force executive board and TRaCE Task Force investigative team committees to ensure multiagency collaboration. The bill would require that information exchanged pursuant to these provisions retain its confidential status, as specified. The bill would require the TRaCE Task Force to develop a data analytics system that enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the multiagency collaboration to the extent the Legislature appropriates funds for these purposes. The bill would require the Department of Justice, in consultation with the executive board of the TRaCE Task Force, to submit an annual report to the Legislature that includes specified information.

Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of federal, state, and county funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. The CalWORKs program also provides a nonrecurring special needs benefit for permanent housing assistance to pay for last month's rent and security deposits, up to 2 months of rent arrearages, or standard costs of deposits for utilities, as specified. Existing law requires payments to providers for temporary shelter and permanent housing and utilities to be made on behalf of the families requesting these payments. Existing law prohibits payments from being made to a housing provider unless it is a commercial establishment, shelter, or person in the business of renting properties who has a history of renting properties. This bill, commencing July 1, 2019, would remove the requirement that a person in the business of renting properties have a history of renting properties in order to receive payments and would additionally authorize payments to a housing provider with which the families requesting assistance have executed a valid lease, sublease, or shared housing agreement. Because this bill would increase the administrative duties of counties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement these provisions through an all-county letter or similar instruction from the Director of Social Services until final regulations are adopted, and would require the department to adopt emergency regulations on or before July 1, 2020. 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 continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would, instead, provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.

Existing law generally provides for the adoption of a child native to a foreign country by a prospective adoptive parent or parents who are California residents that is either finalized in another country or this state. A licensed adoption agency facilitating an intercountry adoption that will be finalized in a foreign country is required to provide specific services that include certification to the federal government whether this state's intercountry adoption requirements have been met. Existing law requires each resident of the state who adopts a child through an intercountry adoption that is finalized in a foreign country to readopt the child in this state if it is required by the United States Department of Homeland Security, and requires this readoption to include at least one postplacement in-home visit, a home study report, and final adoption order. Existing law also authorizes a resident of the state who adopts a child through an intercountry adoption that is finalized in a foreign country to readopt the child in this state. This bill would repeal these readoption provisions and would instead require an adoptive parent, or if an adoptive parent fails to do so, then the adoption agency that facilitated the adoption, to file a petition to readopt within specified deadlines to establish a record by which an adoptee can prove the facts of the foreign adoption. The bill would require the petition to include, among other things, a report from at least one postplacement home visit by an intercountry adoption agency or a contractor of that agency licensed to provide intercountry adoption services in the state. The bill would require the clerk of the court to submit an order granting the petition to the State Registrar, and would require the State Registrar to issue a delayed registration of birth, as specified. This bill would require a court that finds a child may be the subject of human trafficking or specified types of abuse to notify all appropriate authorities. This bill would, if a licensed adoption agency has a written agreement for which postadoption services have been paid, require the licensed adoption agency to provide those services, and would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the other services a licensed adoption agency facilitating an intercountry adoption is required to provide.

Existing law authorizes a claimant to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of property taxes that are due on the residential dwelling of the claimant pursuant to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, the Senior Citizens Tenant-Stockholder Property Tax Postponement Law, and the Senior Citizens Possessory Interest Holder Property Tax Postponement Law. Existing law, for purposes of these laws, defines a "residential dwelling" to mean a dwelling occupied as the principal place of residence of the claimant and owned by the claimant, the claimant and spouse, or by the claimant and another individual, as specified, including condominiums that are assessed as realty for local property tax purposes. Existing law continuously appropriates revenues in the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund for, among other things, disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes pursuant to these laws. Existing law authorizes the postponement of the payment of property taxes of a claimant who is the owner of a mobilehome for loans established prior to February 20, 2009, pursuant to the Senior Citizens Mobilehome Property Tax Postponement Law. This bill would expand the definition of a "residential dwelling" to include a manufactured home, thereby authorizing a claimant who is the owner of a manufactured home to postpone the payment of property taxes. The bill, on July 1, 2019, and on July 1 each year thereafter, would require up to 1% of the amount available in the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund for disbursements relating to postponement of property taxes to be available for residential dwellings that are manufactured homes. Because this bill would provide for an additional category of expenditures from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. The bill would repeal the Senior Citizens Mobilehome Property Tax Postponement Law and would, instead, enact the Senior Citizens Manufactured Home Property Tax Postponement Law, which would, commencing July 1, 2019, establish a procedure for the postponement of the payment of property taxes of a claimant who is the owner of a manufactured home, as defined. The bill would require a claimant applying for postponement under this law to file a claim under penalty of perjury, as provided. The bill would also make related conforming changes. By requiring a claim for postponement to be filed under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires all sums paid by the Controller to be secured by a lien in favor of the state when funds are transferred to the county by the Controller upon the real property for which property taxes have been postponed. Existing law also requires the Controller to maintain a record of all properties against which a notice of lien for postponed property taxes has been recorded. This bill would additionally require all sums paid by the Controller to be secured by a lien in favor of the state when funds are transferred to the county by the Controller upon a manufactured home situated on real property owned by the claimant for which property taxes have been postponed, as provided. The bill, in the case of a manufactured home situated on real property not owned by the claimant, would require the state's interest to be secured by a security agreement in favor of the State of California, as provided. The bill would also require the Controller to maintain a record of all properties against which the Department of Housing and Community Development has been notified to withhold the transfer of title or permit for transport. The bill would require the Controller, or authorized delegate of the Controller, if at any time the amount of the obligation secured by the lien or security agreement for postponed property taxes is paid in full or otherwise discharged in the case of a manufactured home, to direct certain local tax officials to remove specified information from the secured roll or assessment records, as provided. By imposing new duties upon local tax officials with respect to the removal of information from the secured roll and assessment records, 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 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.

(1) Existing law, known commonly as the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, authorizes a public agency, by making specified findings, to authorize public agency officials and property owners to enter into voluntary contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to real property. Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL) , requires a program administrator who administers a PACE program on behalf of, and with the written consent of, a public agency to comply with specified requirements relating to the PACE program, including requiring, commencing on January 1, 2019, a program administrator to be licensed by the Commissioner of Business Oversight under the California Financing Law. The CFL, commencing on January 1, 2019, requires a program administrator to establish and maintain a process for the enrollment, and for the cancellation of that enrollment, of a PACE solicitor and a PACE solicitor agent. The CFL defines the term "PACE solicitor" and "PACE solicitor agent" to not include specified persons. This bill would clarify that the term "PACE solicitor" and "PACE solicitor agent" does not include a person who only solicits a property owner to enter into an assessment contract with a person who is not considered a program administrator within the meaning of the CFL. The bill would prohibit a person from engaging in the business of a PACE solicitor unless that person is enrolled with a program administrator. The bill would also require the program administrator to maintain the processes described above in a manner that is acceptable to the commissioner. (2) The CFL requires a program administrator who administers a PACE program on behalf of, and with the written consent of, a public agency to comply with specified requirements relating to the PACE program, including requiring a program administrator to ensure criteria related to the assessment contract are satisfied before the contract is approved for recordation, including ensuring that the property owner has not been a party to any bankruptcy proceedings within the last 7 years and that the property owner is current on all mortgage debt on the subject property and has had no more than one late payment during the 12 months immediately preceding the application date, as provided. This bill would, instead, prohibit a program administrator from executing an assessment contract, and would prohibit any work from commencing under a home improvement contract that is financed by that assessment contract and would prohibit that home improvement contract from being executed, unless the program administrator ensures that certain criteria related to that assessment contract are satisfied. The bill would revise the two criteria described above to require the program administrator to ensure that the property owner has not been a party to any bankruptcy proceeding within the last 4 years and to require the program administrator to ensure that the property owner is current on all mortgage debt on the subject property and has had no more than one late payment during the 6 months immediately preceding the application date. (3) The CFL prohibits a program administrator from approving an assessment contract for funding and recording by a public agency unless the program administrator makes a reasonable good faith determination that the property owner has a reasonable ability to pay the PACE assessment, and requires that determination to include specified factors, including household income. Existing law requires a public agency that administers a voluntary contractual assessment program under the PACE program to, with respect to each real property subject to an assessment, record a document that contains specified information related to the assessment, including, the names of all current owners of the real property subject to the assessment. This bill would, instead, prohibit a program administrator from executing an assessment contract, and would prohibit any work from commencing under a home improvement contract that is financed by that assessment contract and would prohibit that home improvement contract from being executed, unless the program administrator makes a reasonable good faith determination that the property owner has a reasonable ability to pay the PACE assessment. The bill would authorize a program administrator when conducting this determination to utilize the income of a property owner's legal spouse through marriage or domestic partnership who is not on title to the property, provided that person consents, in writing, to that effect. The bill would also provide that if the property owner's legal spouse through marriage or domestic partner is used to determine the property owner's income in that manner, then the public agency that administers the PACE assessment is required to include that person's name in the document recorded related to that assessment described above. (4) The CFL requires the program administrator to be responsible for the difference between the determination of the property owner, who is obligated on the underlying home improvement contract, ability to pay the annual PACE obligations and the actual amount financed for the property owner, provided certain requirements are met. This bill would require the program administrator in that instance to provide to the property owner a written disclosure of the methodology that the program administrator used to determine whether there was a difference between the property owner's ability to pay the annual PACE obligation and the actual amount financed for the property owner. The bill would also provide that this requirement only applies to an assessment contract executed between April 1, 2018, and January 1, 2019. (5) The CFL requires a program administrator to submit to the commissioner information beneficial to evaluating various aspects of the PACE program to be included in a specified annual report, and requires the commissioner to file an annual report with the department as a public record that is a composite of the annual reports and any comments on that report that the commissioner determines to be in the public interest. The CFL requires a program administrator to report annually to the commissioner all PACE assessments that were funded and recorded. This bill would require the commissioner to include information on all PACE assessments that were funded and recorded into the annual composite report described above. (6) This bill would make other clarifying changes to the provisions of the CFL relating to program administrators, PACE solicitors, and PACE solicitor agents. (7) Existing law requires a program administrator to provide an oral confirmation of the key terms of an assessment contract with the property owner on the call, or his or her authorized representative, and to retain a copy of a recording of that confirmation for a period of 5 years after the recording is made. Existing law requires that oral confirmation to contain specified information. This bill would also require the program administrator to include in the oral conformation that it is the responsibility of the property owner to contact the property owner's home insurance provider to determine whether the efficiency improvement to be financed by the PACE assessment is covered by the property owner's insurance plan.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as a part of the market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, with additional moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that may be appropriated to the department, to administer a grant program to provide financial assistance, in the form of grants, incentive payments, contracts, or other funding mechanisms, to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by promoting the in-state development of infrastructure, food waste prevention, or other projects to reduce organic waste or to process organic and other recyclable materials into new value-added products. Existing law specifies eligible uses that qualify for in-state infrastructure projects or other projects that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases as part of these funding mechanisms. Existing law specifies eligible infrastructure projects that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. This bill would additionally specify as an eligible use for in-state infrastructure projects or other projects that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases activities that expand and improve waste diversion and recycling, including the recovery of food for human consumption and food waste prevention. The bill would additionally specify that eligible infrastructure projects that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases include the expansion of facilities for the processing of recyclable materials and projects to improve the quality of recycled materials.

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts professions, including, but not limited to, physicians and surgeons, by various boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law imposes certain fines and other penalties for, and authorizes these boards to take disciplinary action against licensees for, violations of the provisions governing those professions. This bill would require, by July 1, 2019, a licensed health care practitioner who provides prenatal or postpartum care for a patient to offer to screen or appropriately screen a mother for maternal mental health conditions. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of that act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies that provide hospital, medical, or surgical coverage to provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, as defined, of a person of any age. This bill would require health care service plans and health insurers, by July 1, 2019, to develop, consistent with sound clinical principles and processes, a maternal mental health program, as specified. Because a willful violation of the bill's requirement by a health care service plan would be a crime, 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.