Existing law requires, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018, a direct contractor, as defined, making or taking a contract in the state for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work, to assume, and be liable for, any debt owed to a wage claimant or third party on the wage claimant's behalf, incurred by a subcontractor at any tier acting under, by, or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant's performance of labor included in the subject of the original contract. Existing law limits the direct contractor's liability under those provisions to extend only to any unpaid wage, fringe or other benefit payment or contribution, including interest owed and provides that liability does not extend to penalties or liquidated damages. This bill would extend, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, the direct contractor's liability to penalties, liquidated damages, and interest owed by the subcontractor on account of the performance of the labor, except as provided. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to enforce against a direct contractor the liability for unpaid wages pursuant to specified provisions, or through a civil action, and limits the direct contractor's liability to unpaid wages, including any interest owed. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to notify, as specified, the direct contractor and subcontractor at any tier on a private works project at least 30 days prior to taking certain actions for the failure of a subcontractor on that private works project to pay the specified wage, fringe, or other benefit due to workers. The bill would remove, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, the limitation of liability. Existing law requires, prior to commencement of an action against a direct contractor, a joint labor-management cooperation committee to provide the direct contractor and subcontractor that employed the wage claimant with at least 30 days' notice, as provided. This bill would, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, require the notice to include the project name and name of the employer and provide that any liquidated damages awarded by the Labor Commissioner or the court shall be payable to the aggrieved employee. The bill would make conforming changes.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act, the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act, provisions commonly referred to as the Educational Employment Relations Act, and the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, among others, regulates the labor relations of the state, the courts, and specified local public agencies and their employees. Existing law requires these public employers to provide certain labor representatives with the names and home addresses of newly hired employees, as well as their job titles, departments, work locations, telephone numbers, and personal email addresses, within 30 days of hire or by the first pay period of the month following hire. Existing law also requires the public employers to provide this information for all employees in a bargaining unit at least every 120 days, except as specified. Existing law requires the Public Employment Relations Board to have jurisdiction over violations of these requirements and to have certain powers and duties related to enforcement of these requirements, except as specified. This bill, commencing July 1, 2022, would authorize an exclusive representative to file a charge of an unfair labor practice with the board, as specified, alleging a violation of the above-described requirements only if specified conditions are met, including that the exclusive representative gives written notice of the alleged violation and that the public employer fails to cure the violation, as specified. The bill would limit a public employer's opportunity to cure certain violations. This bill would subject a violator to a penalty, not to exceed $10,000, to be determined by the board based on specified criteria, and would require the penalty to be deposited in the General Fund. The bill would require the board to award a party who prevails in these circumstances attorney's fees and costs, as specified. The bill would require a superior court to award the board attorney's fees when the board initiates court proceedings to enforce a board order, or is required to defend a decision of the board involving these provisions after a party seeks judicial review, if the board is the prevailing party.
The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring elected officials, candidates for elective office, committees formed primarily to support or oppose a candidate for public office or a ballot measure, and other entities to file periodic campaign statements and reports concerning campaign finances. This bill would require a limited liability company that qualifies as a committee or a sponsor of a committee under the act, as specified, to file a statement of members with the Secretary of State. The bill would require the statement of members to include certain information about the limited liability company, including a list of all persons who have a membership interest in the limited liability company of at least 10% or who made a cumulative capital contribution of at least $10,000 to the limited liability company after it qualified as a committee or sponsor of a committee, or within the 12 months before it qualified. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law requires county elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter for all elections proclaimed or conducted prior to January 1, 2022. Existing law requires county elections officials to use a specified Secretary of State vote by mail tracking system or a system that meets the same specifications. This bill would extend the requirements to mail a ballot to every registered voter to all elections and apply them to all local elections officials. This bill would require a vote by mail tracking system to be accessible to voters with disabilities. The bill would also make various conforming and technical changes. Existing law requires county elections officials to permit voters with a disability, and military or overseas voters, to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system, and required county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for the November 3, 2020, statewide general election. This bill would require county elections officials to permit any voter to cast a ballot using a certified remote accessible vote by mail system for any election. Under existing law, a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received by the voter's elections official via the United States Postal Service, or a bona fide private mail delivery company, no later than 3 days after election day. This bill would provide instead that a vote by mail ballot is timely cast if it is voted on or before election day and, if returned by mail, received no later than 7 days after election day. This bill would authorize an elections official to consider any information from the United States Postal Service or a bona fide private mail delivery company that indicates the date on which the ballot was mailed, in order to determine whether a vote by mail ballot was timely cast. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction in which vote by mail ballots are cast to begin processing vote by mail ballot return envelopes 29 days before the election. Existing law authorizes a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots on the 15th business day before the election, except, for the statewide general election held on November 3, 2020, these jurisdictions were authorized to start processing the ballots on the 29th day before the election. Existing law authorizes all other jurisdictions to start processing vote by mail ballots at 5 p.m. on the day before the election. Existing law authorizes a county elections official to establish vote by mail ballot drop-off locations, as defined. Existing law authorizes a county to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election under certain specified conditions. This bill would require any county that does not conduct an all-mailed ballot election to provide at least two vote by mail ballot drop-off locations within the jurisdiction where the election is held, or at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location for every 30,000 registered voters within the jurisdiction where the election is held, whichever results in more vote by mail ballot drop-off locations. In a jurisdiction with fewer than 30,000 registered voters, the bill would require at least one vote by mail ballot drop-off location, and would require the elections official to make a reasonable effort to provide a ballot drop-off location in the jurisdiction where the election is held. This bill would require the operation of vote by mail ballot drop-off locations to meet certain specified criteria. This bill would authorize a jurisdiction having the necessary computer capability to start processing vote by mail ballots the 29th day before any election. By requiring local elections officials to mail a ballot to every registered voter, and to take other actions, 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.
Existing federal law, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requires a state to, among other things, establish procedures to register a person to vote for federal office by an application made simultaneously with a driver's license application. Existing state law requires, in conformance with federal law, that the Secretary of State and the Department of Motor Vehicles establish and implement the California New Motor Voter Program for the purpose of increasing opportunities for voter registration for qualified voters. Existing state law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit to the Secretary of State specified information related to the person's eligibility to vote, which the person provides when applying for a driver's license or identification card. Existing state law provides that this information transmitted to the Secretary of State constitutes a completed affidavit of registration, and the Secretary of State is required to register the person to vote, unless the person affirmatively declines to register to vote or the person is ineligible to vote, or other specified conditions exist. This bill would require a driver's license or identification card application, renewal, or change of address notification, as specified, to include a voter registration application and would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to transmit the application to the Secretary of State according to specified deadlines. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to monitor the timeliness of its transmittals to the Secretary of State, and to provide the Secretary of State information regarding delays and irregularities in its ability to do so. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Secretary of State each to designate an employee to undertake specified responsibilities to ensure compliance with the California New Motor Voter Program and the National Voter Registration Act. The bill would require the Secretary of State to convene a task force that would provide advice and perform other duties with respect to implementing the California New Motor Voter Program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 5100 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 446 to be operative only if this bill and AB 446 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law regulates the payment of wages and benefits in the state. Existing law makes violation of specified wage and gratuity provisions a misdemeanor and provides for civil penalties and remedies for the recovery of wages. Existing law defines the crime of grand theft as theft committed when the money, labor, or real or personal property taken is of a value exceeding $950. Under existing law, grand theft is generally punishable either as a misdemeanor by imprisonment in a county jail for up to 1 year or as a felony by imprisonment in county jail for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. This bill would make the intentional theft of wages, including gratuities, in an amount greater than $950 from any one employee, or $2,350 in the aggregate from 2 or more employees, by an employer in any consecutive 12-month period punishable as grand theft. The bill would specifically authorize wages, gratuities, benefits, or other compensation that are the subject of a prosecution under these provisions to be recovered as restitution in accordance with existing provisions of law. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of these provisions, independent contractors are included within the meaning of employee and hiring entities of independent contractors are included within the meaning of employer. By increasing the penalty for a crime and by creating a new crime, 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.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health (department) to implement various programs throughout the state relating to public health, including licensing and regulating health facilities and control of infectious diseases. Existing law requires the department and the Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with other state agencies, to, upon appropriation and as necessary, establish a personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpile. Existing law requires the department to establish guidelines for the procurement, management, and distribution of PPE, taking into account, among other things, the amount of each type of PPE that would be required for all health care workers and essential workers, as defined, in the state during a 90-day pandemic or other health emergency. This bill would specifically include wildfire smoke events among health emergencies for these purposes. The bill would include agricultural workers, as defined, in the definition of essential workers. Existing law also establishes the Personal Protective Equipment Advisory Committee (committee) , consisting of representatives from, among other groups, an association representing skilled nursing facilities, a statewide association representing physicians, 2 representatives of labor organizations that represent health care workers, and 2 representatives of labor organizations that represent essential workers, as defined, to make recommendations to the department for the development of guidelines for the procurement, management, and distribution of PPE, as specified. This bill would require the committee to include a representative of a labor organization representing agricultural workers and a representative of an organization that represents agricultural employers. The bill would also require the department to report to the Legislature regarding the PPE stockpile within 6 months of the effective date of these provisions. (2) Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations and sets forth their powers and duties relating to the adoption of health and safety standards for workers. Under existing law, certain violations of a standard, order, or special order pursuant to these provisions are crimes. Existing regulations of the division protect employees exposed to wildfire smoke and include control by respiratory protective equipment among the methods to control harmful exposure. This bill would require the division to review and update the contents of the protection from wildfire smoke training and thereafter post it on its internet website. The bill would require that training provided by the employer is required to be in a language and manner readily understandable by employees, taking into account their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and education levels, including the use of pictograms, as necessary. Because a violation of certain safety and health standards or orders constitutes a crime, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law provides procedures for the election or appointment of members of county central committees of the Democratic Party. Existing law provides that a person is not eligible for appointment or election to a committee if the person is not registered as affiliated with the party at the time of the appointment or election. Existing law requires an elections official to attach a certificate to the declaration of candidacy for a person who seeks membership on a county central committee that certifies the person's eligibility for such membership. This bill would instead provide that a person is not eligible for election to a county central committee if the person's affidavit of registration does not state a political party preference for the Democratic party. The bill would make a person who is not a United States citizen, but who would be able to register to vote if the person were a United States citizen, eligible for election to a county central committee if the person meets all other specified eligibility requirements, the committee's bylaws permit such a person to be elected to the committee, the committee notifies the county elections official that its bylaws permit such a person to be elected, and the committee provides the county elections official with a copy of the eligibility requirements specified in its bylaws. The bill would require a candidate to complete a declaration of eligibility, which the county elections official would attach to the candidate's declaration of candidacy in lieu of the certificate described above. By increasing the duties of local elections officials relative to determining the eligibility of candidates for county central committees, 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 designates state holidays, including, among others, the 4th Friday in September, known as "Native American Day," and the 2nd Monday in October, known as "Columbus Day." Existing law adopts those state holidays as judicial holidays, with certain exceptions, including Native American Day. This bill would remove Native American Day from the list of holidays that are excluded from designation as a judicial holiday. The bill would add Columbus Day to the list of excluded judicial holidays.
Existing law provides for various memorials and monuments on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, subject to the approval of the Capitol Building and Planning Commission, to acquire and do all acts necessary to erect and maintain a monument to Father Junípero Serra on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to maintain state buildings and grounds. This bill would delete the requirement relating to the monument to Father Junípero Serra. The bill would authorize tribal nations in the Sacramento, California, region, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a monument to the California Native people of the Sacramento, California, region on the grounds of the State Capitol. The bill would require the tribal nations to submit the plan for the monument to the Joint Rules Committee for its review and approval. The bill would prohibit the tribal nations from beginning construction of the monument until the Joint Rules Committee approves and adopts the plan and the Joint Rules Committee and the Department of Finance determine that sufficient private funding is available to construct and maintain the monument. The bill would require the planning, construction, and maintenance of the monument to be funded exclusively through private funding from the tribal nations in the Sacramento, California, region.