Asm. Lorena Gonzalez

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA provides for limited CEQA review or exempts from its requirements transit priority projects meeting certain requirements, including the requirement that the project be within 12 mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor included in a regional transportation plan. CEQA specifies that a project is considered to be within 12 mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor if, among other things, all parcels within the project have no more than 25% of their area farther than 12 mile from the stop or corridor. This bill, for a transit priority project to meet the requirements for limited CEQA review, would increase that percentage to 50%.

The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and, among other things, authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities, to establish the manner and scope of review of commission action in a court of record, and to enable the commission to fix just compensation for utility property taken by eminent domain. The Public Utilities Act and other provisions of the Public Utilities Code set forth the structure, funding, and responsibilities of the commission. This measure would authorize the Legislature to reallocate or reassign all or a portion of the functions of the commission to other state agencies, departments, boards, or other entities, consistent with specified purposes. The measure would direct the Legislature to adopt appropriate structures to provide greater accountability for the public utilities of the state and provide the necessary guidance to the commission to focus its regulatory efforts on safety, reliability, and ratesetting and to implement statutorily authorized programs for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. This measure would repeal the provisions of the California Constitution pertaining to the commission effective January 1, 2019, while specifying that a statute that was valid at the time the statute was enacted is not invalid by virtue of the repeal of those constitutional provisions.

This act would commend the meaningful contributions that Latino customs, such as the celebration of La Virgen de Guadalupe, make to the diverse heritage of American society.

The California Constitution authorizes a United States citizen at least 18 years of age and a resident of the State to vote. This measure, in addition, would authorize a person who is at least 16 years of age and a resident of the state to vote in a school or community college district governing board election in which that person would be qualified to vote based on residence.

Existing law establishes and funds various research centers and programs in conjunction with the University of California. This bill would enact the California Firearm Violence Research Act. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the Regents of the University of California establish the California Firearm Violence Research Center to research firearm-related violence. The bill would declare legislative intent regarding the principles by which the university would administer the center and award research funds, as prescribed. The bill would require the university to report, on or before December 31, 2017, and every 5 years thereafter, specified information regarding the activities of the center and information pertaining to research grants. The bill would require the center and the grant recipients to provide copies of their research publications to the Legislature and specified agencies. The bill would specify that its provisions would apply to the university only to the extent that the regents, by resolution, make any of the provisions of the bill applicable to the university.