Asm. Jim Cooper

This measure would, among other things, honor the late civil rights pioneer and icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Existing law requests the Regents of the University of California to assemble a colloquium of scholars to draft a research proposal to analyze the economic benefits of slavery that accrued to owners and the businesses, including insurance companies and their subsidiaries, that received those benefits, and to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding those findings. Existing law requires the Insurance Commissioner to request and obtain information from insurers licensed and doing business in this state regarding any records of slaveholder insurance policies issued by any predecessor corporation during the slavery era. Existing law requires insurers to research and report to the commissioner on insurance policies that provided coverage for injury to, or death of, enslaved people. This bill would establish the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States, consisting of 9 members, appointed as provided. The bill would require the Task Force to, among other things, identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies. The bill would require the Task Force to recommend, among other things, the form of compensation that should be awarded, the instrumentalities through which it should be awarded, and who should be eligible for this compensation. The bill would require the Task Force to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature. The bill would authorize reimbursement of the members' expenses only to the extent an appropriation therefor is made in the Budget Act. The bill would state that any state level reparations authorized under these provisions are not to be considered a replacement for any reparations enacted at the federal level. The bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2023.

Existing law provides for various public social services programs, including, among others, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Existing law also provides for various funding programs under which state agencies allocate or grant funding to specified entities for purposes of addressing various issues relating to homelessness. This bill would require a recipient, as defined, that receives state funds for specified CalWORKs programs related to homeless assistance, the Housing and Disability Income Advocacy Program, or state funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2019 for a Whole Person Care pilot program, to submit a report containing specified information regarding the use of state funds to the appropriate agency. The bill would require the recipient to submit that report on a form and method provided by the agency annually. This bill would require every agency to post all reports received on its internet website within 30 days of receipt and provide notice of the posting to specified offices and committees of the Legislature. The bill would also require every agency to aggregate all reports received by October 1 of every year into one report and send the report to the Department of Finance by December 1 of every year, commencing with the year 2021. The bill would also require the Department of Finance to post the aggregated report on its internet website by December 31 of every year, commencing with the year 2021, in a manner that is easily accessible by the public and provide notice of the posting to the Legislature, as provided. By requiring counties to provide reports relating to CalWORKs, 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.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Route 50 in the County of El Dorado as the Deputy Sheriff Brian "Ish" Ishmael Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.

Under existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, the Governor is authorized to proclaim a state of emergency, as defined, under specified circumstances. The California Emergency Services Act also authorizes the governing body of a city, county, city and county, or an official designated by ordinance adopted by that governing body, to proclaim a local emergency, as defined. Under existing law, the Office of Emergency Services within the Governor's office is required to, among other things, develop curriculum for first responder training, and to adopt standards and procedures for training first responder instructors. A person who violates any provision of the act is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would, for purposes of the California Emergency Services Act, define "first responder" as an employee of the state or a local public agency who provides emergency response services, including a peace officer, firefighter, paramedic, emergency medical technician, public safety dispatcher, or public safety telecommunicator. The bill would provide that the definition of first responder described above does not confer a right to, or entitlement upon, an employee or prospective employee to obtain a retirement benefit formula for an employment classification that is not included in, or is expressly excluded from, that formula, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from offering, or indicating an ability to offer to an employee or prospective employee a retirement benefit formula for an employment classification that is not included in, or is expressly excluded from, that formula because of the definition of "first responder." 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.