Asm. Jim Patterson

This measure would designate the week of January 22, 2023, through January 28, 2023, as Data Privacy Week and January 28, 2023, as Data Privacy Day.

This measure would proclaim January 23, 2023, as Maternal Health Awareness Day.

The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, made various changes relating to theft and the possession of controlled substances, including by, among other things, generally reducing the penalty for those crimes, including reducing the penalty for possession of concentrated cannabis, establishing a procedure by which individuals convicted of those crimes prior to the passage of the act may petition for resentencing under the act, and creating the crime of shoplifting. The act also requires the Director of Finance to calculate the savings accruing to the state as a result of the implementation of the act and requires the Controller to transfer that sum from the General Fund to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund, which was created by the act. The act specifies the manner of distribution of those funds and the purposes for which they may be used. This bill would repeal the changes and additions made by Proposition 47, except those related to reducing the penalty for possession of concentrated cannabis. Existing law makes it a crime for a caretaker of an elder or a dependent adult, or a person who is not a caretaker and who knows or reasonably should know that the victim is an elder or a dependent adult, to violate specified laws proscribing theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, or identity theft with respect to the property or personal identifying information of that elder or dependent adult. Existing law makes a violation of those provisions punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony when the moneys, labor, goods, services, or real or personal property taken or obtained is of a value exceeding $950. This bill would reduce the value threshold for a violation of those provisions to be punishable as a felony from $950 to $400. Existing law defines grand theft as the wrongful taking of money, labor, or property of a value exceeding $950, except as specified. Existing law also makes it grand theft where the money, labor, or real or personal property is taken by a servant, agent, or employee from their principal or employer and aggregates $950 or more in any consecutive 12-month period. This bill would reduce the value threshold for committing grand theft under those provisions from $950 to $400. This bill would provide that it would become effective only upon approval of the voters, and would provide for the submission of this measure to the voters for approval at the next statewide general election.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) program to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law establishes 5 accounts, including the Broadband Adoption Account, within the CASF. Existing law provides that moneys in the Broadband Adoption Account are available to the commission to award grants to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion, such as grants for digital literacy training programs and public education to communities with limited broadband adoption, including low-income communities, senior communities, and communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband adoption. Existing law provides that eligible applicants for moneys from the Broadband Adoption Account are local governments, senior centers, schools, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations with programs to increase publicly available or after school broadband access and digital inclusion. This bill would expressly include nonprofit religious organizations as being within the nonprofit organizations that are eligible applicants for moneys from the Broadband Adoption Account. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 2749 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2749 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, under the direction of the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, which includes, among other departments, the State Department of Public Health and the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for various programs to reduce the use of, and harm caused by, controlled substances, including opioids. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, would require the agency to establish a grant program to reduce fentanyl overdoses and use throughout the state by giving out 6 one-time grants to increase local efforts in education, testing, recovery, and support services, as specified. The bill would require the participating entities to provide the agency with specified information on the results of the program and would require the agency to report those results to the Legislature and Governor's office on or before January 1, 2026.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies. Existing law authorizes the commission to impose a surcharge, until December 31, 2032, to collect up to $150,000,000 per year for deposit into the CASF. Existing law requires the commission to establish specified accounts within the CASF, including the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account to fund the deployment of broadband infrastructure and the Federal Funding Account to fund last-mile broadband projects, as specified. This bill would expressly authorize otherwise eligible wireless broadband service providers to receive funding from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account and the Federal Funding Account. The bill would, for purposes of the Federal Funding Account, require the commission to review completed applications within a review period, to document the basis for denial of an application, to authorize the amendment and resubmission of denied applications for consideration in a future review period, and to periodically establish an application deadline. The bill would, for purposes of the Federal Funding Account, authorize the commission to adopt affordability requirements for a recipient of a grant. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 281 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by AB 1426 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1426 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.