Existing law prohibits local governments from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted. This bill would repeal that prohibition.
Under existing law, a vote-by-mail ballot is timely cast if it is postmarked or otherwise time-stamped on or before election day and received in the mail no later than 7 days after election day. This bill would instead require a vote-by-mail ballot to be returned to the applicable elections official no later than the close of the polls on election day, except that the bill would require a vote-by-mail ballot cast by a military or overseas voter to be counted if it is postmarked on or before election day and received no later than 7 days after election day.
Existing law authorize a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system that is capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to file with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission an application for certification for the site and related facility, as provided. Existing law provides that the certification issued by the commission is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by a state, local, or regional agency for the use of the site and related facility. This bill would exclude energy storage facilities that use batteries as a storage medium from the above-described provisions. This bill would prohibit, until January 1, 2028, a public agency from authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, as defined. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt guidelines and minimum standards for the construction of a battery energy storage facility to prevent fires and protect nearby communities from any fire hazard posed by the facility. The bill would require a public agency, when authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility on or after January 1, 2028, to require the facility to meet the guidelines and minimum standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal or more stringent guidelines and minimum standards as determined appropriate by the public agency. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local agencies in authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, 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.
Existing law authorizes the State Air Resources Board to designate public fire protection agencies or other equivalent agencies to issue permits, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board, for agricultural burning, which includes wildland vegetation management burning, as specified. This bill would revise those provisions to also require the state board to designate those agencies to oversee agricultural burning activities and to adopt rules and regulations to ensure those activities are conducted safely and effectively. The bill would exempt wildland vegetation management burning from the above-described permit requirement if that activity is conducted by, or under the supervision of, the applicable agency designated by the state board. The bill would require the state board to develop guidelines and best practices for wildland vegetation management burning to ensure public safety and environmental protection. By expanding the duties of local agencies, 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, 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.
(1) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to adopt new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing electrical service to residential customers. Under existing law, the commission may authorize fixed charges for any rate schedule applicable to a residential customer account. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2024, to authorize a fixed charge for default residential rates on an income-graduated basis, as provided. Existing law requires increases to electrical rates and charges in rate design proceedings to be reasonable and subject to a reasonable phase-in schedule relative to the rates and charges in effect before January 1, 2014. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to fixed charges and rate increases. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various deductions in computing income that is subject to tax under that law. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income in connection with health savings accounts in modified conformity with federal law. In general, the deduction would be an amount equal to the aggregate amount paid in cash during the taxable year by, or on behalf of, an eligible individual, as defined, to a health savings account of that individual, as provided. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, would also provide related conformity to that federal law with respect to the allowance of rollovers from Archer Medical Savings Accounts, health flexible spending arrangements, or health reimbursement accounts to a health savings account, and penalties in connection therewith.
(1) Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires a person convicted of one of certain crimes, as specified, to register with law enforcement as a sex offender while residing in California or while attending school or working in California, as specified. A willful failure to register, as required by the act, is a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the underlying offense. Existing law exempts a person convicted of certain offenses involving a minor from mandatory registration under the act if, at the time of the offense, the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register. This bill would repeal that exemption. (2) Existing law, as amended by Proposition 57, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, removed the requirement that a person 14 years of age or older who commits certain severe crimes be automatically tried in adult court and requires that specified youth have a transfer hearing in juvenile court before they can be transferred to adult court. Proposition 57 also limited the criteria for which a juvenile transfer hearing may occur, including a youth committing specified crimes when they were 14 or 15 years of age or a felony when they were 16 or 17 years of age. This bill would repeal the changes enacted by Proposition 57. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. (3) Existing law defines a sexually violent predator as a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger to others in that they are likely to engage in sexually violent criminal behavior. Existing law provides for the civil commitment of a person who is determined to be a sexually violent predator. Existing law establishes a procedure by which a person committed as a sexually violent predator may petition for conditional release and requires the court, if it makes a specified determination, to place the person on conditional release. Existing law generally requires that a person released on conditional release pursuant to these provisions be placed in the person's county of domicile prior to their incarceration unless extraordinary circumstances exist requiring placement outside the county, as specified. Existing law also prohibits the placement of a person released on conditional release within 14 mile of any public or private school, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals to ensure department vendors consider public safety as the overriding consideration in the placement of a conditionally released sexually violent predator and approve a potential placement before a department employee or vendor signs a lease or rental agreement for the placement of a sexually violent predator, as specified. The bill would prohibit the placement of a person released on conditional release within an area zoned for residential use in the general plan of a city or county and within 3 miles of tribal land, except as specified. The bill would require the department to have proof of housing before conditionally releasing a sexually violent predator. (4) This bill would require the Secretary of State to submit the provisions of the bill that amend the initiative statute to the electors for their approval at the next statewide primary election.
The San Diego Regional Transportation Consolidation Act reorganizes the transportation responsibilities in the San Diego region by consolidating the San Diego Association of Governments and the transit operations of 2 specified transit boards. Existing law establishes a 21-member board of directors to govern the consolidated agency that includes, among others, 2 members of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County. This bill, the Give San Diego Rural Communities a Voice Act, would instead require the board of directors to include, among others, one member of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County from an unincorporated area of the county and one representative from the Association of Planning Groups - San Diego County to be selected by their respective governing bodies. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local agencies, 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, 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.
(1) Existing law establishes a system of elementary and secondary education in this state. This system consists of the public and private schools that provide instruction in kindergarten and in grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes a system of higher education in this state, consisting of 4 segments: the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California; the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University; the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges; and independent institutions of higher education. This bill would enact the Education Choice and Parental Empowerment Act of 2025 and establish the Education Savings Account (ESA) Trust, to be known as the ESA Trust, as a fund within the State Treasury to be administered by the ESA Trust Board. For the 2027–28 to 2030–31, inclusive, school years, the bill would authorize certain children eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an ESA, based on parent or guardian income. The bill, beginning with the 2031–32 school year, would authorize every child eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an ESA. The bill would credit a deposit amount to the account of every eligible student enrolled in an eligible school for tuition, elementary and secondary eligible education expenses, and undergraduate or graduate eligible education expenses, as defined. The bill would specify the deposit amounts for the 2027–28 school year, and would require the Department of Finance, beginning on July 1, 2028, to determine the ESA deposit amount annually for the upcoming school year, as provided. The bill would require the Controller to transfer an amount of money from the General Fund to the ESA Trust in those amounts. The bill would specify the membership of the ESA Trust Board and would vest the ESA Trust Board with certain powers and duties. The bill would establish 2 accounts within the ESA Trust, the ESA Trust Program Account and the ESA Trust Administrative Account, and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the program account to the ESA Trust Board for purposes of the bill, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a procedure for the parents and legal guardians of eligible students to apply to establish an ESA and submit an executed participation agreement. The bill would authorize the ESA Trust Board to disburse funds from ESAs to eligible schools. The bill would define "eligible school" as a campus of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, a full-time private school accredited by, or, except as provided, awaiting accreditation from, a regional accrediting agency recognized by the state or the United States Department of Education, a private college or university, a public college or university, or a vocational educational or training institution, as specified. The bill would specify the procedures for participating eligible schools to receive funds disbursed by the ESA Trust Board. Once an eligible student graduates from high school or obtains a high school equivalency certification, the bill would impose a $50,000 cap on the balance in any ESA available for an eligible student's use for tuition, undergraduate or graduate eligible education expenses, or expenses associated with vocational education. The bill would require the Department of Finance to adjust this limit annually for inflation using the California Consumer Price Index. (2) The Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, an initiative approved by the voters as Proposition 98 at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, amended the California Constitution to, among other things, set forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts based on one of 3 tests in any given fiscal year, one of which is based on the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts, respectively, in the 1986–87 fiscal year, and 2 of which are based on, among other things, changes in enrollment. This bill would require the Legislature to recalculate that minimum education funding guarantee by including eligible students not enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school before the operative date of the act in those minimum funding guarantee calculations based on average daily attendance, as provided. The bill would also require the costs of providing ESA deposit amounts for eligible students to be apportioned between the General Fund and the public school district in which those eligible students reside in the same ratio of General Fund and local property tax revenue that would have been used to educate those eligible students in their public school district. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income, and deductions from income, for purposes of computing tax liability. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, would exclude from gross income any amounts received as distribution from an Education Savings Account, as defined, as part of a participation agreement, as defined. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, would also allow a deduction in an amount equal to the amount contributed by a taxpayer to an Education Savings Account. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (4) These provisions would become operative on January 1, 2027, only if Assembly Constitutional Amendment ____ of the 2025–26 Regular Session is approved by the voters at the statewide general election on November 3, 2026.
Existing law prescribes the procedures for circulating an initiative, referendum, or recall petition for signature by voters. This bill would require the Secretary of State to develop a system that allows a proponent of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition to have the petition posted on the Secretary of State's internet website where a voter can electronically sign the petition. The bill would require the Secretary of State and elections officials to perform specified tasks in connection with the electronic circulation of petitions, including verifying the electronic signatures, as specified. By imposing additional duties on elections officials, 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, 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, generally allows various deductions in computing the income that is subject to tax imposed under that law. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2030, allow a deduction in computing income for out-of-pocket medical costs, as defined. The bill would limit the deduction to $5,000 per taxable year. 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. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
