Existing law makes certain business practices in insurance unlawful, including, but not limited to, an insurer requiring an auto body repair shop, as a condition of participation in the insurer's direct repair program, to pay for the cost of an insured's rental vehicle that is replacing an insured vehicle damaged in an accident, or to pay for the towing charges of the insured with respect to that accident. Existing law also requires any insurer that conducts an auto body repair labor rate survey to determine and set a specified prevailing auto body repair labor rate in a specific geographic area to report the results of that survey to the Department of Insurance, which is required to make the information available upon request. This bill would require an auto body repair shop participating in an auto body repair labor rate survey to declare specified information, including, among other things, that it meets specified equipment requirements and has proof of insurance, as specified. The bill would require an auto body repair labor rate survey to meet specified standards, including that it randomly surveys the number of shops necessary to obtain responses that achieve a minimum confidence level of 90% and a standard error of no more than 10%. The bill would eliminate a rebuttable presumption that the insurer has attempted, in good faith, to effectuate a fair and equitable labor rate or adjustment of the labor rate component of a written estimate, as specified, if the survey complies with specified regulations. The bill would permit an insurer or auto body repair shop to negotiate a labor rate that is higher or lower than the prevailing auto body repair labor rate. This bill would clarify its intent to supplement, and not to supersede, Department of Insurance regulations regarding methods for an insurer to conduct an auto body repair labor rate survey. The bill would also clarify that an insurer is not required to conduct an auto body repair labor rate survey, and that an insurer may use other methodologies to determine a prevailing auto body repair labor rate, as specified.
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This measure would designate August 16, 2018, as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness Day in California to enhance public awareness of comprehensive human immunodeficiency virus prevention strategies.
Existing law establishes a presumption that a person who willfully and intentionally fails to return a leased or rented vehicle to its owner within 5 days of the expiration of the agreement has embezzled the vehicle. Existing law requires every peace officer, upon receiving a report based on reliable information that a registered vehicle has been stolen, or that a leased or rented vehicle has not been returned within 5 days after its owner has made written demand for its return, by certified or registered mail, following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, to report the information to the Department of Justice Stolen Vehicle System. Except as otherwise provided, a failure to comply with the Vehicle Code is punishable as an infraction. This bill would reduce the 5-day period following the expiration of the vehicle lease or rental agreement to 48 hours for the presumption of embezzlement to apply. The bill would require the lease or rental agreement to disclose that failure to return the vehicle within 48 hours after expiration of the lease or rental agreement may result in the vehicle being reported stolen. The bill would require the lease or rental agreement to require the lessee or renter to provide a method to contact him or her if the vehicle is not returned as required. The bill would require the owner of an embezzled vehicle to attempt to contact the other party to the lease or rental agreement who has failed to return the vehicle using the contact method specified in the lease or rental agreement. If the owner is able to contact the party, the bill would require the owner to inform the party that if arrangements for the return of the vehicle that are satisfactory for the owner are not made, the owner may report the vehicle stolen to law enforcement. If the owner is not able to contact the other party after a reasonable number of attempts, or if upon contacting the other party, the owner is not able to arrange for the return of the vehicle, the bill would authorize the owner to report the vehicle stolen to a peace officer. With regard to a leased or rented vehicle procured by fraud, the bill would specify that the owner is not required to wait until the expiration of the lease or rental agreement to inform law enforcement of the theft. The bill would except an owner that fails to comply with these requirements from the crime described above. The bill would make conforming changes.
This measure would declare July 27, 2018, as California Bullying Prevention Day, also to be known as Rosie's Day.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the person's property in compliance with existing laws relating to defensible space, as provided, and requires the board to adopt regulations to implement this exemption no later than January 1, 2016. Existing law requires the department evaluate the effects of this exemption and report its recommendations to the Legislature based on that evaluation, as provided. Existing law makes the exemption inoperative 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board or no later than January 1, 2019. This bill would extend the inoperative date to January 1, 2022, and would delete the reporting requirement.
This measure would recognize the month of June 2018 as California's Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month and Thursday, June 21, 2018, as The Longest Day in California, and would urge all Californians to wear purple on this day to help spread global awareness of the Alzheimer's Association's vision of a world without Alzheimer's disease.
Existing law recognizes certain animals, plants, towns, museums, and memorials as official state emblems, including, among others, the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial as the official state Vietnam veterans war memorial and the California State Military Museum and Resource Center as the official state military museum. This bill would recognize the LGBTQ Veterans Memorial at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City as the official state LGBTQ veterans memorial.