Existing law requires all state and local agencies with an aggregate spending of $50,000,000 or more annually to consider establishing an ongoing audit function. This bill would instead provide that all state agencies with an aggregate spending of $50,000,000 or more annually may consider establishing an ongoing audit function. Existing law generally requires all internal auditor operations of state agencies to meet specified criteria. If a state agency does not report to a governing body, existing law requires the internal auditor operations to, among other things, report audit findings and recommendations to the head or deputy head of the state agency and to the general counsel of the state agency, if applicable. If a state agency is overseen by a governing body, existing law requires the internal audit operations to, among other things, report audit findings and recommendations to the audit committee and general counsel of the governing body. This bill would require a state agency to post any audit findings and recommendations on its internet website within 14 days of reporting audit findings.
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Existing law finds and declares that voluntary water transfers between water users can result in a more efficient use of water, benefiting both the buyer and the seller. Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to implement the various state laws that pertain to water transfers and to prepare a water transfer guide that includes, among other things, a review of existing and appropriate state and federal laws that pertain to water transfers, water markets, or water rights. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the Legislative Analyst, in collaboration with the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and other state agencies, as described, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report analyzing the water market, including background information regarding the sale of water and water rights, trends in the water market, barriers to entering the water market or effectively trading in the market, and proposals for improving the regulatory framework to make the water market more market friendly and to encourage growth.
Existing law requires the Governor to establish the Interagency Council on Homelessness, and requires the council to have specified goals, including, to identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California, and to report to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the Legislature on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness. This bill would require the council to report annually to the Governor, federal Cabinet members, and the Legislature, commencing June 30, 2026, on homelessness and work to reduce homelessness, and would require the report to include the cost per person and distribution of funding within United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care program by city and census-designated area.
Existing law establishes the California Department of Aging within the California Health and Human Services Agency to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Director of the California Department of Aging, to lead the development and implementation of the Master Plan for Aging established pursuant to Executive Order N-14-19. Existing law also establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of the dependent child's parent or guardian and establishes procedures to determine the placement of a dependent child. Existing law requires foster care placement, if possible, to be made in the home of a relative unless the placement would not be in the best interest of the child. Existing law establishes the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP) , which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative guardian, and the Kinship Support Services Program to provide community-based support services to relative caregivers and children placed in their homes. This bill would require the California Department of Aging, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the State Department of Social Services, to conduct a study to examine the issues faced by grandparents who are 60 years of age or older and are primary caregivers for their grandchildren, and requires the California Department of Aging to report the findings of the study to the Legislature.
Existing law directs the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish training and guidelines for law enforcement officers, as defined, in the handling of domestic violence complaints, such as how to respond to domestic violence incidents, the legal duties imposed on law enforcement officers to make arrests and offer assistance, and techniques to promote the safety of the victim, as specified. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to develop and implement written policies for officer responses to domestic violence incidents, including furnishing written notice to victims at the scene in the form of a Victims of Domestic Violence card that contains, among other information, telephone numbers for local hotlines, shelters, and counseling centers. This bill would add the issuance of Victims of Domestic Violence cards as a topic in the course of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers. This bill would additionally require the Victims of Domestic Violence card to be a different color than other cards issued by officers, to include a disclaimer, to be available in languages other than English, and to include various information such as the definition of domestic violence and the statute of limitations for domestic violence. This bill would make these changes operative on January 1, 2025. Because this bill would expand an existing local program, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services and makes it responsible for providing assistance such as financial, technical, and educational support, as specified, on the topic of domestic violence to local entities including domestic violence support centers and law enforcement. This bill, commencing January 1, 2025, would require the office to develop a model Victims of Domestic Violence card that can be modified by cities and counties. The bill would also require the office to publish on an internet website maintained by the office specified information and resources to assist victims of domestic violence, including, among other things, a summary of state mandatory arrest policies for domestic violence crimes. 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 establishes various commissions within state government. This bill would, until January 1, 2029, establish the California Commission on the United States Semiquincentennial in state government to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America. The bill would require the commission to plan and coordinate commemorations and observances of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. The bill would require the commission to be solely supported by private or federal funds made available for the purpose of supporting the commission. The bill would require that these funds be deposited in the Semiquincentennial Fund, and would create that fund in the State Treasury. The bill would require funds in the Semiquincentennial Fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the records, files, and other memoranda of the commission, other than any private possessions, to be deposited and filed with the State Archives before January 1, 2029, and would require the State Archives to receive those materials.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. That law, in modified conformity to federal income tax law, authorizes a credit for household and dependent care expenses necessary for gainful employment, as provided. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to childcare costs, as defined, paid or incurred by the qualified taxpayer in this state. The bill would limit the total credit for each taxable year, as specified. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure, as defined, to include tax credits, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include findings and reporting requirements in compliance with this requirement. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
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 (EIR) on a project that the lead agency 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 establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA. The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2024, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified requirements for certain streamlining benefits related to CEQA. The act, among other things, requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for an environmental leadership development project, as provided, and to include a specified notice in the draft EIR and final EIR. The act is repealed by its own term on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the application of the act to water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects that provide public benefits and drought preparedness. The bill would authorize the Governor, until January 1, 2025, to certify water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects as environmental leadership development projects. The bill would make other conforming changes. Because a lead agency would be required to prepare the record of proceedings for water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects pursuant to the act, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under existing law, it is an infraction for a person to drive a motor vehicle while holding and operating a handheld wireless telephone or electronic wireless communications device, unless the device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation, and it is used in that manner while driving. Notwithstanding those provisions, existing law makes it an infraction for a person under 18 years of age to drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device, even if equipped with a hands-free device. This bill would instead make it an infraction for a person under 21 years of age to drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device, even if equipped with a hands-free device. The bill would create an exception to that prohibition for a person 18 to 20 years of age, inclusive, who is using a wireless telephone or an electronic wireless communications device, as defined, while driving, when the telephone or device is used exclusively as required by, and in the course and scope of, the person's work activities. By expanding the scope of an existing 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.
Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to enter into an agreement with an existing nonprofit corporation with broad experience as the trustee of public funds, court-ordered mitigation funds, or other funds used to assist public agencies in carrying out their responsibilities to establish a nongovernmental trust, to be known as the California Ocean Science Trust. Existing law requires the trust to do certain things, including report in writing annually to the Legislature and the Chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture on certain financial matters. This bill would require the secretary to post on the Natural Resources Agency's internet website the above described report. The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.