The California Constitution requires the Legislature to convene in regular session on specified dates and provides that a majority of the membership constitutes a quorum, although a lesser number may recess from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members. The California Constitution requires the proceedings of each house of the Legislature to be open and public and recognizes the right of the public to attend, record, and broadcast those proceedings. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to provide for the convening of the Legislature to meet the needs resulting from a war-caused or enemy-caused disaster in the state. This measure would permit Members to remotely attend and vote in a legislative proceeding, or to vote by proxy in a legislative proceeding if permitted by their house, during the pendency of a state of emergency declared by the Governor or the President of the United States, under specified conditions. The measure would provide, among other conditions, that a Member may remotely attend and vote, or vote by proxy as authorized, in a proceeding only if the state of emergency prevents the Member from safely attending the proceeding in person. The measure would also provide that a Member attending remotely would be included in the determination of a quorum. The measure would provide that if 15 or more of the Members of a house cannot attend a proceeding during a state of emergency because they are deceased, disabled, or missing, a quorum may be established by a majority of those Members able to attend. The measure would specify that the Legislature may provide by statute for temporarily filling the vacant offices of Members with pro tempore members in the event that 15 or more of the Members of a house are deceased, disabled, or missing during a state of emergency. The measure would require the Legislature by concurrent resolution, or each house by separate resolutions, 23 of the membership concurring, to adopt rules to implement this provision no later than the end of the biennial legislative session in which this measure takes effect, except as specified.
Sponsored bills
This measure would designate Monday, May 4, 2020, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
This measure would proclaim March 15, 2020, to March 22, 2020, as California Down Syndrome Awareness Week and March 21, 2020, as California Down Syndrome Day, and would encourage all Californians to support and participate in related activities.
Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county to administratively approve an application to install an electric vehicle charging station through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit subject to a limited review by the building official of that city, county, or city and county. Existing law allows the building official to require the applicant to apply for a use permit if the official finds that the station could have a specific adverse impact upon the public health or safety and prohibits the city, county, or city and county from denying the application for a use permit to install an electric vehicle charging station unless it makes written findings that the proposed installation would have a specific adverse impact upon the public health or safety, and there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific adverse impact. Existing law requires every city, county, and city and county to create an expedited, streamlined permitting process for electric vehicle charging stations and to adopt a checklist pursuant to which an applicant that satisfies the information requirements shall be deemed complete and therefore eligible for expedited review. This bill would require an application to install an electric vehicle charging station to be deemed complete if, 5 business days after the application was submitted, the building official of the city, county, or city and county has not deemed the application complete, as specified, and if the building official has not issued a one-written correction notice, as specified. The bill would require an application to install an electric vehicle charging station to be deemed approved if 15 business days after the application was deemed complete certain conditions are met, including that the building official of the city, county, or city and county has not approved the application, as specified, and the building official has not made findings that the proposed installation could have an adverse impact, as described above, and required the applicant to apply for a use permit. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the Department of General Services, under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of General Services, in the Government Operations Agency and vests the department with specified powers and duties pertaining to state-owned real property and state buildings. This bill, no later than March 1, 2021, would require the department to prepare and submit to the Joint Rules Committee a report summarizing current building safety guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or similar building safety guidelines, relating to the integration of shelter-in-place facilities in public buildings.
The California Constitution provides that the civil service includes every officer and employee in the state except as otherwise provided in the Constitution, and existing statutory law, the State Civil Service Act, prescribes a comprehensive civil service personnel system for the state. Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law authorizes the board, upon a finding by the board that necessary investment expertise is not available within existing civil service classifications, and with approval of the State Personnel Board, to contract with qualified investment managers, as provided. This bill would additionally authorize the board to contract with investment advisers, as defined, upon the same finding by the board and approval by the State Personnel Board. The bill would, pursuant to a policy adopted by the board, authorize the board to establish a competitive bidding process and to specify the contract terms and conditions the board solely deems necessary and prudent to contract with qualified investment managers and investment advisers.
This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Existing law provides that a child may be adjudged to be a dependent of the juvenile court because of abuse or neglect, and that after this determination, the court is required to hear evidence on the question of the proper disposition to be made of the child. Existing law requires that before determining the appropriate disposition, the court receive in evidence, among other things, the social study of the child made by the social worker and evaluation made by a child advocate appointed by the court. Existing law further prescribes the information that is required to be included in that social study or evaluation, including the appropriateness of any relative placement. Existing law gives preferential consideration to a request by a relative of a dependent child for placement of the child with the relative, and requires the county social worker and the court to consider certain factors in determining whether placement with a relative is appropriate, including, among others, the best interest of the child and the safety of the relative's home. Existing law prohibits the consideration and investigation of a relative placement from being good cause for continuance of the dispositional hearing. Existing law defines relative for these purposes to mean an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the 5th degree of kinship, among others. This bill would, among other things, extend the definition of relative to include caregivers of minor siblings who are in a permanent plan of adoption, legal guardianship, or placement with a fit and willing relative, and would delete that provision prohibiting the consideration and investigation of a relative placement from being a cause for continuance of the dispositional hearing. The bill would also require, if a relative or any party requests a hearing regarding a request for relative placement, the court to set a hearing within 15 court days from the request for a hearing. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2021, the Judicial Council to develop and implement standards, and develop and adopt appropriate forms, necessary to implement that provision. To the extent that the bill imposes new requirements on county officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature for siblings to be placed in foster care together, unless it has been determined that placement together is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling, and requires the responsible local agency to make a diligent effort in all out-of-home placements of dependent children and wards in foster care, including those with relatives, to place siblings together in the same placement, and to develop and maintain sibling relationships. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to implement a resource family approval process, and directs counties and foster family agencies to approve resource families in lieu of licensing and certifying foster homes. Existing law requires the department to adopt standards pertaining to the home environment assessment, including a requirement that the total number of children residing in the home of a resource family shall be no more than the total number of children the resource family can properly care for, and not to exceed 6 children, unless exceptional circumstances exist to permit a resource family to care for more children, including the need to place siblings together. This bill would provide that the size and space of the placement home shall not be the sole reason to find that placement of siblings together is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that siblings should be placed together regardless of the size and space of the placement home, and would require the department, on or before July 1, 2021, to update the written directives and any other regulation that administers the approval of a resource family home or foster family home to reflect this intent. The bill would also require that a resource family be determined to have the size and space to care for more than the number of children described above when necessary to place siblings together. 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.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, and additionally amended by statute, imposes duties on the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health with respect to the creation, issuance, denial, suspension and revocation of commercial cannabis licenses, and imposes an excise tax commencing January 1, 2018, on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products at the rate of 15% of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. Commencing January 1, 2018, AUMA also imposes a cultivation tax upon all cultivators on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market, at specified rates per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flowers and leaves. Existing law requires the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to administer those taxes, and requires the revenues from those taxes to be deposited into the California Cannabis Tax Fund and to be continuously appropriated for specified purposes pursuant to a specified schedule. AUMA requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2020, with recommendations for adjustments to the tax rate to achieve the goals of undercutting illicit market prices and discouraging use by persons younger than 21 years of age while ensuring sufficient revenues are generated for specified programs. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent. This bill would reduce that excise tax rate to 11% on and after the operative date of this bill until July 1, 2023, at which time the excise tax rate would revert back to 15%. The bill would suspend the imposition of the cultivation tax on and after the operative date of this bill until July 1, 2023. The bill would require the bureau, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to provide the Legislature with reports measuring the success of this bill, as specified. This bill would make specified findings and declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the AUMA. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.