Asm. Heath Flora

Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state that no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home. Existing law also declares that it is the policy of the state that no treatable animal should be euthanized.. This bill, Bowie's Law, would require all animal shelters, as defined, to provide public notice on their internet website at least 72 hours before euthanizing any dog, cat, or rabbit, except as provided. The bill would require that notice to indicate that the animal is subject to euthanasia and to include information about the animal and its availability for adoption. The bill would authorize an animal shelter to provide this public notice for less than 72 hours if the animal shelter makes certain determinations. The bill would, for each instance where the animal shelter provides public notice for less than 72 hours, require the animal shelter to document the reason and to keep it on file and available for public inspection, as provided. By imposing new requirements on a public animal control agency or shelter, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the Department of Food and Agriculture to conduct a study on the overcrowding of California's animal shelters, the ways in which the state might address animal shelter overcrowding, and the feasibility of a statewide database of dogs and cats that provides public notice and information at the statewide level, as specified. The bill would require the department to, on or before January 1, 2026, submit a report on its study findings to the Legislature, as provided. The bill would repeal these study and reporting requirements on January 1, 2027. 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 prohibits an act of sexual intercourse accomplished against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another. Existing law provides a greater punishment for this offense if the victim is a minor, as specified. Existing law also prohibits an act of sexual intercourse with a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the act. This bill would impose a greater punishment for prohibited acts of sexual intercourse, as defined, if the victim is a developmentally disabled minor, as specified and defined, and the person committing the prohibited acts knows or should have known that the person is developmentally disabled. The bill would specifically require a person who commits these offenses upon a person who is 10 years of age or younger to be prosecuted pursuant to another statute providing even greater punishment. By increasing the punishment for crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to issue a park pass for free use of all park facilities in the state park system to a veteran of war in which the United States has been, or may be, engaged, who is a resident of this state, who presents to the department proof of a disability, proof of being held captive as a prisoner of war, or proof of being a recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor, and proof of an honorable discharge from service. This bill would require a pass for free day use of any unit of the state park system that is operated by the state to be issued to Gold Star Family members, as provided.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that the statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. This bill would require the state board to include greenhouse gas emissions from wildlands and forest fires in the scoping plan.

This measure would condemn and decry the Hamas terrorist organization in the harshest terms for its premeditated, coordinated, and barbaric attacks on Israel, acts of sexual violence, hostage taking, and theft of relief supplies intended for the civilian population of Gaza, and demand the release of all hostages held by Palestinian terrorists. The measure would condemn and denounce in the strongest possible terms all instances of anti-Semitism occurring in California, the United States, and globally.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors in the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of property that does not exceed $950 in value petty theft and makes that crime punishable as a misdemeanor, with certain exceptions. The initiative statute defines shoplifting as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed $950. The initiative statute requires that shoplifting be punished as a misdemeanor. Existing law, as amended by Proposition 47, provides that a registered sex offender or a person with a prior conviction for certain serious or violent felonies, such as a sexually violent offense, who commits petty theft is subject to imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or in the state prison for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. This bill would reinstate a provision of law that was repealed by Proposition 47 that provides that a person who has been convicted 3 or more times of petty theft, grand theft, or other specified crimes and who is subsequently convicted of petty theft is subject to imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in a county jail for 18 months or 2 or 3 years. The bill would also make this provision and the provision relating to a person with serious, violent, or sexual prior offenses applicable to a person whose prior or current conviction is for shoplifting. This bill would require the Secretary of State to place the provisions of the bill that amend the initiative statute on the ballot for the November 5, 2024, statewide general election.

Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, establishes the Veterinary Medical Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of veterinarians and the practice of veterinary medicine. Existing law makes a violation of the act a crime. The act prohibits any person from practicing veterinary medicine, as defined, without a license. This bill would authorize a veterinarian to allow a registered veterinary technician to act as an agent of the veterinarian for the purpose of establishing the veterinarian-client-patient relationship to administer preventive or prophylactic vaccines or medications for the control or eradication of apparent or anticipated internal or external parasites by satisfying specified criteria. Because a violation of the bill's provisions would be a crime under the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, 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.

Existing law requires the coroner to inquire into and determine the manner, circumstances, and cause of all violent, sudden, or unusual deaths. Existing law authorizes a county board of supervisors, by ordinance, to abolish the office of coroner and provide instead for the office of medical examiner, to be appointed by the board and to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the coroner. This bill would require a coroner or medical examiner who evaluates an individual who died, in the coroner or medical examiner's expert opinion, as the result of an overdose to report the data gathered pursuant to the bill to the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program managed by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. By imposing new duties on coroners and medical examiners, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt a coroner or medical examiner from civil or criminal liability for making a report in good faith. The California Constitution provides for the Right to Truth-in-Evidence, which requires a 23 vote of the Legislature to exclude any relevant evidence from any criminal proceeding, as specified. This bill would prohibit overdose information reported by a coroner or medical examiner from being used in a criminal investigation or prosecution, thereby requiring a 23 vote. 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.