Asm. Tasha Boerner

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law, enacted as part of the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to direct electrical corporations to file applications for programs and investments to accelerate widespread transportation electrification to reduce dependence on petroleum, meet air quality standards, achieve the goals set forth in the Charge Ahead California Initiative, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. That law requires that the programs proposed by electrical corporations seek to minimize overall costs and maximize overall benefits. The commission is required to approve, or modify and approve, programs and investments in transportation electrification, including those that deploy charging infrastructure, through a reasonable cost recovery mechanism, if they are consistent with the above-described purposes, do not unfairly compete with nonutility enterprises, include performance accountability measures, and are in the interests of ratepayers. This bill would require an electrical corporation to work with local agencies or regional planning agencies in its service territory with responsibility for planning electric vehicle deployment to determine where to install new electrical charging stations along local transit corridors. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to file an application with the PUC by December 31, 2020, with the support of the local or regional planning agency, for the infrastructure investments required to support electrical charging stations at transit corridor entry and exit points or other locations. The bill would require the application to prioritize the installment of charging stations in disadvantaged communities, as defined. The bill would require the PUC to review, modify, if appropriate, and decide whether to approve an application filed by an electrical corporation and supported by the local or regional planning agency. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to propose a cost allocation methodology that allocates costs in a reasonable manner and would require the PUC to approve the cost allocation methodology if the commission finds that the application would minimize overall costs and maximize overall benefits and is in the interests of ratepayers. The bill would require that the charging stations be installed by the utility workforce, or by workers who are paid the prevailing wage for all program-related work. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would therefore be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 requires specified persons to file informational returns with the Franchise Tax Board and authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to require persons that file specified federal returns to file copies of those returns with the state. This bill would require a person that files a Form 1099 with respect to a nonresident who performed services within the state and a person required to file a Form 6050W to file a duplicate of that form, respectively, with the Franchise Tax Board, under specified circumstances. The bill would additionally require a third-party settlement organization to report to the Franchise Tax Board, and any participating payee with an address within the state, any information required by Section 6050W of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the third-party network transactions related to that participating payee, as provided, and would lower the de minimis threshold for that information, as provided. The bill would authorize the Franchise Tax Board to accept electronic filing of those forms. Because the failure to provide information required under these provisions would be a crime, under specified conditions, 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 requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to disburse funds, appropriated to the department for the purpose of supporting county veterans service officers pursuant to the annual Budget Act, on a pro rata basis, to counties that have established and maintain a county veterans service officer in accordance with the staffing level and workload of each county veterans service officer under a formula based upon performance developed by the department. This bill would define a workload unit for purposes of these provisions to mean a specific claim activity that is used to allocate subvention funds to counties, which is approved by the department, and performed by county veterans service officers. The bill would appropriate on an annual basis the sum of $11,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Veterans Affairs to be available for allocation to counties to fund the activities of county veterans service officers, as specified. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions and would make conforming changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development within its boundaries that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law provides for various incentives intended to facilitate and expedite the construction of affordable housing. This bill would authorize a development proponent to submit an application for the construction of a small lot subdivision, as defined, that meets specified criteria. The bill would require a small lot subdivision to be located on a parcel zoned for multifamily residential use and consist of single-family housing units with a floorspace of 1,200 square feet or less. The bill would require that the units comply with existing height and setback requirements applicable to the presubdivided parcel. The bill would prohibit the total number of units created by the small lot subdivision from exceeding the minimum general plan density required for the presubdivided lot. The bill would require that the small lot subdivision comply with any local inclusionary housing ordinance. This bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing specified requirements on a small lot subdivision created pursuant to these provisions, including setback requirements between units within a subdivided parcel, except as specified, requirements on the minimum size of each subdivided parcel, and specified parking requirements. The bill would prohibit a development subject to these provisions from receiving a density bonus, concession, incentive, or waiver of development standards under the density bonus law. (2) The bill would make findings that ensuring access to affordable housing is a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, specify that the bill applies to all cities, including a charter city and a charter city and county. (3) By imposing requirements on local agencies relative to the development of small lot subdivisions, the bill imposes 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, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority, among other things, to establish training standards for emergency medical technicians (EMT) at various levels, including EMT-I, EMT-II, and EMT-P. Existing law requires each county that develops an emergency medical services program to designate a local emergency medical services agency to have primary responsibility for administration of emergency medical services in the county. This bill would require response time requirements in any contract for ground emergency medical transportation entered into, amended, or renewed, by a state or local entity on and after January 1, 2020, to be consistent with performance standards established by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. By increasing the duties of local entities, this bill would create 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.

Existing law requires the officer of each local agency, who has charge of the financial records of the local agency, to furnish to the Controller a report of all the financial transactions of the local agency during the next preceding fiscal year within a specified amount of time of the close of each fiscal year. Existing law requires the report to include, among other things, the aggregate amount of taxes levied, as specified, and the total expenditures made by administrative departments during the preceding fiscal year. This bill would require a local government by September 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, to submit a written report to the State Controller's office on how it plans to spend any of its budget reserves, as defined, on specified priorities over a 5-year fiscal period, including, among others, mental and behavioral health services and affordable housing. The bill would provide this reporting requirement only applies to a local government if the local government's budget reserve in the immediately preceding fiscal year was in excess of 30 percent of the total expenditures of the local government in that fiscal year. By placing new reporting requirements on local governments, 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.

Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) , governs collective bargaining between the state and recognized state public employee organizations. Existing law excludes certain employees from coverage under the Dills Act, including, among others, managerial employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees, as defined. Existing law creates the Public Employment Relations Board and authorizes it, among other things, to determine appropriate state employee bargaining units, as specified. This bill would enact the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act, to provide employees of the Legislature, including some supervisory and managerial employees, the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The bill would prescribe rights, duties, and prohibitions in this context that parallel those in the Dills Act. The bill would prohibit the Public Employment Relations Board from including employees of the Legislature in a bargaining unit that includes employees other than those of the Legislature. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person to willfully resist, prevent, impede, or interfere with any member of the board, or any of its agents, in the performance of duties pursuant to its provisions. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide that the provisions of the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act are severable. 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 establishes the State Coastal Conservancy with prescribed powers and responsibilities relating to the acquisition, protection, preservation, and enhancement of coastal lands within the coastal zone, as defined. Existing law, for purposes of those provisions, defines a "nonprofit organization" to mean any private, nonprofit organization, that qualifies as a nonprofit organization under a specified provision of the Internal Revenue Code, and whose purposes are consistent with those provisions governing the conservancy. This bill would revise that definition by eliminating the requirement that a nonprofit organization have purposes that are consistent with those provisions governing the conservancy. This bill would create the Explore the Coast Program in the conservancy to expand opportunities for all Californians to access and enjoy the state's coastal resources, as provided. The bill would authorize the conservancy to award grants to public agencies, including federally recognized Indian tribes and other nonfederally recognized California Native American tribes listed on a certain list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission, and nonprofit organizations to carry out projects, as provided, that help achieve the goals of the program, which are to increase the recreational, educational, and stewardship opportunities for people to explore California's coastal resources, especially people from communities that face barriers to accessing and enjoying coastal resources. The bill would require the conservancy, when awarding grants under the program, to prioritize projects that provide students and youth with an opportunity to visit the coast for the first time.

Under existing law, a party to a civil action may file a motion to strike any irrelevant, false, or improper matter inserted in a pleading, or all or any part of a pleading not drawn or filed in conformity with California law, a court rule, or an order of the court. This bill would permit a railroad owner or operator, or a government entity through which a railroad passes, to file a special motion to strike a cause of action seeking damages for an incident occurring in a portion of a railroad right-of-way open to the public. The court would be required to grant the special motion to strike unless the plaintiff establishes that there is a probability that the plaintiff will overcome all defenses asserted by the defendant and prevail on the claim. The bill would permit an appeal to be taken from an order granting or denying the special motion to strike.

Existing law establishes the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. This bill would establish the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of all retail sales of electricity to state and local government buildings by December 31, 2030, and to all California end-use customers by December 31, 2045.