Asm. Jim Cooper

Existing law, the California Beef Council Law, establishes the California Beef Council, comprised of 20 members and 20 alternate members appointed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to perform various advisory and other duties relating to the California beef industry. The California Beef Council Law establishes a $1 fee per head on each sale of cattle and calves to administer the California Beef Council Law, and requires the fee to be collected from the seller by the operator of the stockyard, live auction market, slaughterhouse, or feedlot, or from the seller along with brand inspection fees by the Bureau of Livestock Identification. Existing law also provides that the fee from the sale of calves exempt from brand inspection that is not collected in the manner specified above is required to be collected by the purchaser, for payment to the secretary. This bill would instead require the fee from the sale of cattle or calves exempt from a brand inspection that is not collected from the seller in the manner specified above to be charged and collected from the seller in a manner determined by the Department of Food and Agriculture. This bill would also establish the California Beef Commission Law (the law) to augment and support the work of the California Beef Council. The bill would create the California Beef Commission, which would be comprised of 11 members and 11 alternate members appointed by the secretary who may be members of the California Beef Council. The bill would provide for reimbursement of traveling and other expenses incurred by commission members in the performance of their duties, unless the expenses are incurred for discharging similar duties reimbursed by the California Beef Council. The bill would set forth the powers and duties of the commission, including administering any governmental program related to the California cattle, beef, and beef products industry, except for administering funds and performing acts under the jurisdiction of the California Beef Council. The bill would exempt the commission or any person acting pursuant to the law's provisions from various consumer protection laws, including the Cartwright Act and the Unfair Practices Act. The bill would provide for an assessment of $1 per head of cattle to be paid on each sale of cattle and calves to carry out the law's provisions. The bill would authorize the commission to expend those funds for purposes of implementing the bill, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the secretary to conduct an initial referendum of producers to approve a mandatory fee to implement the law's provisions and would make operation of the law's provisions contingent upon approval of producers by referendum, except as specified. The bill would require reapproval of the law's provisions by a referendum of producers every 5 years and would provide for suspension of the law if a majority of producers do not vote in favor of continuing the law's operation. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(1) The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to their employees. CERL defines a district for these purposes, includes specified county retirement systems within that definition, and permits a district to participate in CERL retirement systems. CERL generally provides that the personnel of a county retirement system are county employees, subject to county civil service provisions and salary ordinances, but also authorizes the boards of retirement in specified counties to adopt provisions providing for the appointment of personnel who are to be employees of the retirement system, as well as other administrative provisions that reflect the independence of the retirement system from the county. The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act and establishes new retirement formulas that a public employer offering a defined benefit pension plan for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2013, may not exceed. PEPRA authorizes individuals who were employed by any public employer before January 1, 2013, and who became employed by a subsequent public employer for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, to be subject to the retirement plan that would have been available to employees of the subsequent employer who were first employed by the subsequent employer on or before December 31, 2012, if the individual was subject to reciprocity, as specified. This bill would define the Sacramento County retirement system as a district under CERL. The bill would authorize the board to adopt, by resolution, specified administrative provisions that would classify various personnel of the retirement system as employees of the retirement system and not employees of the county. The bill would require the retirement system to notify, and to meet and discuss with, participating employers in the retirement system, the employees of the system, and specified employee organizations, regarding the retirement system's intent to exercise this authority at least 60 days before considering a resolution to make these provisions applicable. The bill would grant an employee organization representing people who work for the retirement system, and an unrepresented person who works for the retirement system, the right to elect to be employees of the retirement system, which would be irrevocable, except as specified, and the status of the affected employee positions would remain changed for successor employees. In regard to county employees who would become retirement system employees, the bill would prescribe requirements in connection with their compensation and employment benefits and status. These provisions would include maintaining their county retirement benefits that would otherwise be reduced under PEPRA, keeping their employment classifications, providing for the transfer of leave balances accrued as county employees to the retirement system, as specified, and affording employees the opportunity to continue participation in group health and dental plans, among other things. The bill would prescribe requirements regarding labor negotiations and the continuity of labor agreements. The bill would grant the retirement system the authority to adopt the regulations and enter into the agreements necessary to implement them. The bill would require counties to cooperate and act in a timely manner to establish and implement agreements in this regard. The bill would make technical and conforming changes. (2) Existing law permits a board of retirement operating under CERL to issue subpoenas and to compensate persons who are subpoenaed. Existing law permits a board to delegate its subpoena power to a referee or administrator who is appointed pursuant to specified authority. This bill would authorize specified retirement systems operating as districts to delegate the subpoena power, as described above.

The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 provides that a member who is permanently incapacitated shall be retired for disability despite age if, among other conditions, the member's incapacity is a result of injury or disease arising out of and in the course of the member's employment, and that employment contributes substantially to that incapacity or the member has completed 5 years of service and not waived retirement in respect to the particular incapacity or aggravation thereof, as specified. This bill would require, for purposes of determining permanent incapacity of certain members employed as peace officers, that those members be evaluated by the retirement system to determine if they can perform all of the usual and customary duties of a peace officer, as specified. The bill would apply to members who file applications for disability on or after the effective date of the act, except for cases on appeal at that time. The bill also would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

This measure would urge the state legislature and governor of each state to ratify the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote so that the President and Vice President of the United States are directly elected by the popular vote of all eligible citizens of the United States.

Existing law provides that in a civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of domestic violence, the time for commencement of the action shall be the later of within 3 years from the date of the last act of domestic violence by the defendant against the plaintiff or within 3 years from the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that an injury or illness resulted from an act of domestic violence by the defendant against the plaintiff. This bill would set the time for commencement of any civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of sexual assault, as defined, where the assault occurred on or after the plaintiff's 18th birthday, to the later of within 10 years from the date of the last act, attempted act, or assault with intent to commit an act, of sexual assault by the defendant against the plaintiff or within 3 years from the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that an injury or illness resulted from an act, attempted act, or assault with intent to commit an act, of sexual assault by the defendant against the plaintiff. Existing law establishes minimum standards for the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, including child molestation and the collection and preservation of evidence from those crimes. This bill, among other changes, would make changes relating to the conduct of sexual assault examinations. Existing law prohibits costs incurred by a qualified health care professional, hospital, or other emergency medical facility for the medical evidentiary examination portion of the examination of the victim of a sexual assault, as described in a specified protocol, when the examination is performed as specified, from being charged directly or indirectly to the victim of the assault. Existing law limits the amount that may be charged by a qualified health care professional, hospital, or other emergency medical facility to perform the medical evidentiary examination portion of a medical examination of a victim of a sexual assault to $300. This bill would make that prohibition on charging a victim of sexual assault applicable to costs incurred by a clinic or sexual assault forensic medical examination team, and would include nurse practitioners and physician's assistants as qualified health care professionals. The bill would repeal the provision limiting the amount that may be charged to $300. The bill would further require that the costs of the examination for a sexual assault victim who chooses not to participate in a criminal investigation to be reimbursed to the local law enforcement agency by the Office of Emergency Services at the locally negotiated rate in an amount not to exceed $1,000.

This measure would call on California's Representatives in Congress to vote against cuts to, and proposals to privatize, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and would call on the President of the United States to veto any legislation to cut or privatize these programs.

This measure would urge policymakers in federal, state, and local government to work in cooperation with one another to modernize and streamline the processes that will enable rapid deployment of the small cell wireless infrastructure that supports 5G wireless networks and that will bring the many benefits of this important new technology to communities across California.

This measure would declare June 6, 2017, as Secure Your Load Day in California.