(1) Existing law, the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, prohibits debt collectors from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the collection of consumer debts and defines "consumer debt" and "consumer credit" for purposes of that act. This bill would include placing a telephone call without disclosing the caller's identity, as specified, and sending digital or written communications that do not display the license number of the debt collector in at least 12-point type as prohibited debt collection practices. Existing law establishes the Department of Business Oversight headed by the Commissioner of Business Oversight, who, among other things, generally provides for licensure and regulation of persons who are engaged in various consumer financial businesses. This bill would enact the Debt Collection Licensing Act which would, beginning on January 1, 2022, provide for licensure, regulation, and oversight of debt collectors by the commissioner, define terms for its purposes, and make other conforming changes. The bill would prohibit a person from engaging in the business of debt collecting in this state without a license and would also require the person to comply with reporting, examination, and other oversight by the commissioner. The bill would require a person applying for a license to, among other things, pay an application fee, sign the application under penalty of perjury, and submit to a criminal background check by the Department of Justice. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require each licensee to, among other things, file reports with the commissioner under oath, maintain a surety bond, and pay to the commissioner its pro rata share of all costs and expenses reasonably incurred in the administration of these provisions, as estimated by the commissioner. The bill would authorize the commissioner to enforce these provisions by, among other things, adopting regulations, performing investigations, suspending a license, issuing orders and claims for relief, and enforcing the provisions, as specified. This bill would authorize the commissioner to use the authority to issue orders and claims for relief in connection with a violation of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or provisions regulating debt buyers, by insured depository institutions and persons who are licensed and regulated pursuant to various provisions of law, including the California Financing Law, the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, and the Real Estate Law, as specified. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2021, require the commissioner to take all action necessary in order to be prepared to perform these duties commencing January 1, 2022, including, but not limited to, the adoption of necessary regulations. The bill would prohibit the public disclosure of specific information provided by a licensee to the commissioner. The bill would establish the Debt Collection Advisory Committee, consisting of 7 members appointed by the commissioner, within the Department of Business Oversight to advise the commissioner on matters relating to debt collection, as specified. (2) 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. (3) 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Student Loan Servicing Act, prohibits a person from engaging in the business of servicing a student loan in California without first obtaining a license. Existing law commits the administration of these provisions to the Commissioner of Business Oversight and grants the commissioner various powers in this regard, including the authority to conduct investigations of applicants and licensees. The act requires an applicant for a license to submit audited financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and acceptable to the commissioner that indicate a net worth of at least $250,000 and requires a licensee to maintain a minimum net worth of $250,000. Existing law, the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, regulates the collection of consumer debts by debt collectors, as defined. Under existing law, a debt collector who violates the act is liable to a debtor for actual damages resulting from the violation, and is subject to additional civil penalties for any willful or knowing violation of the act, and other specified remedies. This bill would authorize the commissioner to allow a licensee that is a wholly owned subsidiary of a public holding company required to comply with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission to satisfy the requirement to submit audited financial statements with an application for a license and to maintain a minimum net worth of $250,000 by submitting the annual consolidated audited financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as specified. This bill would impose new requirements on a student loan servicer, defined as any person engaged in the business of servicing student loans in the state. These requirements would include the timely posting, processing, and crediting of student loan payments within certain timeframes, applying overpayments consistent with the best financial interest of a student loan borrower, as defined, applying partial payments to minimize late fees and negative credit reporting, maintaining records, timely processing of paperwork, and diligently overseeing service providers. The bill would require a student loan servicer to provide specialized training for customer service personnel that advises military borrowers, borrowers in public service, borrowers with disabilities, and older borrowers. The bill would prohibit a student loan servicer from engaging in unfair or deceptive practices, or abusive acts or practices in connection with the servicing of a student loan, as specified. The bill would authorize a consumer who suffers damages as a result of a person's failure to comply with these provisions as well as all applicable federal laws relating to student loan servicing to bring an action for actual damages, injunctive relief, restitution, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and other relief, including treble damages in certain circumstances. The bill would require a consumer to give specified notice to a person before bringing an action for damages against that person for a violation of the bill's provisions and would provide that person an opportunity to cure the alleged violation, as specified. The bill would prohibit an attempt to cure a violation by a person who receives a notice of that violation from being admissible in court against that person but would authorize the attempt to cure to be admitted as evidence by that person, as specified. The bill would define terms for purposes of its provisions. The bill would require, beginning on July 1, 2021, the commissioner, as specified, to designate a Student Loan Ombudsman to work within the department and to hire additional staff, as needed to implement these provisions. The bill would require the Student Loan Ombudsman to receive and review complaints, to refer complaints to an appropriate unit within the department that would be authorized to investigate the complaint, and to refer complaints regarding servicers not subject to licensing under the Student Loan Servicing Act to the Department of Justice, which would be permitted to investigate those complaints. The bill would require complaints regarding any private postsecondary educational institution licensed by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education to be referred to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education's Office of Student Assistance and Relief. The bill would require the Student Loan Ombudsman to confer with the Department of Justice and the Office of Student Assistance and Relief regarding the student loan servicing complaints, the proper referral processes for those complaints, and the reporting requirements imposed by the bill. The bill would require the Student Loan Ombudsman not later than 18 months after the operative date of the bill, and no less than once yearly thereafter, to submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature regarding the implementation of these provisions, the types of complaints received, and other data and analysis on student loan issues. The bill would also, beginning July 1, 2021, authorize the Commissioner of Business Oversight to monitor for risks to consumers in the provision of student loan servicing and would authorize the commissioner to gather information regarding the organization, business conduct, and activities of student loan services. The bill would authorize the commissioner to gather and compile information from student loan servicers and to develop and publicize metrics based on the data collected. Among other actions, the bill would authorize the commissioner to require student loan servicers to file, under oath or otherwise, annual or special reports or answers in writing to specific questions. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include related legislative findings and would make conforming and nonsubstantive changes to provisions in the Student Loan Servicing Act. 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 identifies various types of property of a judgment debtor that are exempt from the enforcement of a money judgment. Existing law provides that property described in statute as exempt may be claimed within the time and in the manner prescribed in the applicable enforcement procedure, and property described in statute as exempt without making a claim is not subject to any procedure for enforcement of a money judgment. These general exemptions are available to a debtor in a federal bankruptcy case, whether a money judgment is being enforced by execution sale or other procedure, unless the debtor elects certain alternative exemptions that are applicable only in the bankruptcy case. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to, every 3 years, adjust the amount of the exemptions applicable to exempt property based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Existing law, the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act, establishes the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust for the purpose of administering funds contributed by participants as a means of paying for postsecondary education costs. This bill would increase the statutory amounts of various exemptions to reflect the amounts of the exemptions as adjusted by the Judicial Council effective April 1, 2019. The bill would provide that money held in an account owned by the judgment debtor and established pursuant to the Golden State Scholarshare Trust Act is exempt for the purposes described above, subject to specified limits.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, including, among other solid waste, single-use plastic straws. The Sustainable Packaging for the State of California Act of 2018 prohibits a food service facility located in a state-owned facility, operating on or acting as a concessionaire on state property, or under contract to provide food service to a state agency from dispensing prepared food using a type of food service packaging unless the type of food service packaging is on a list that the department publishes and maintains on its internet website that contains types of approved food service packaging that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Existing law makes a legislative declaration that it is the policy goal of the state that not less than 75% of solid waste generated be source reduced, recycled, or composted by 2020. This bill would enact the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which would impose a comprehensive regulatory scheme on producers, retailers, and wholesalers of single-use packaging, as defined, and priority single-use products, as defined, made partially or entirely of plastic, to be administered by the department. As part of that regulatory scheme, the bill would require producers, as defined, (A) to source reduce, to the maximum extent feasible, single-use packaging and priority single-use products, and (B) to ensure that all single-use packaging and priority single-use products that are manufactured on or after January 1, 2032, and that are offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state are recyclable or compostable. The bill would require the department to achieve and maintain, by January 1, 2032, a statewide 75% reduction of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single-use products offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2025, to adopt regulations to implement the act and, before adopting the regulations, to conduct extensive outreach, as prescribed, and to identify and evaluate specified provisions for potential inclusion in the regulations. The bill would require the department to establish a Circular Economy and Waste Pollution Reduction Panel for the purpose of identifying barriers and solutions to creating a circular economy consistent with the act. The regulatory scheme would include, among other requirements, registration, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. The bill would require reports and data provided to the department pursuant to the act to be accurate and attested to under penalty of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by expanding the crime of perjury. The bill would prohibit a retailer or wholesaler, as defined, from offering for sale or selling single-use packaging, products packaged in single-use packaging, or priority single-use products if the producer of the single-use packaging or priority single-use product is listed as noncompliant for that packaging or product category on the department's internet website on a list that the bill would require the department to post, as specified. The bill would prohibit certain online marketplaces, upon notification from the department, from allowing on the online marketplaces the offering for sale, sale, or distribution into the state of single-use packaging, a product packaged in single-use packaging, or a priority single-use product if the product or packaging is identified as noncompliant with the act in the notice provided by the department. The bill would require the department to develop criteria to determine whether the packaging or priority single-use products are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. The bill would authorize local governments, solid waste facilities, recycling facilities, and composting facilities to provide information requested by the department for purposes of developing that criteria. The bill would require single-use packaging and priority single-use products offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state by a producer to meet specified recycling rates that are based on date of manufacture and that increase over a prescribed timeframe, and would authorize the department to impose a higher or lower recycling rate for packaging or product categories, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish and post on its internet website a list of packaging and product categories, and current recycling rates being achieved in the state for those packaging and product categories, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations containing specified provisions authorizing the establishment of a stewardship program. The bill would authorize producers to collectively form one or more stewardship organizations that adopt a stewardship plan as an alternative to individually complying with the above-referenced comprehensive regulatory scheme. The bill would require the department to establish, and a producer to remit to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the California circular economy regulatory fee. The bill would require the department to set the amount of the regulatory fee at no more than is necessary to cover the reasonable regulatory costs of the above-referenced comprehensive regulatory scheme and stewardship program, and would authorize a stewardship organization to pay the regulatory fee on behalf of its member producers, as specified. The bill would require the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to collect the regulatory fee in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law, as prescribed. The bill would require the regulatory fees to be deposited into the California Circular Economy Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department to fund the regulatory activities of the act and to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for expenses incurred in the collection of the regulatory fee. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature every 2 years its progress in implementing the act. The bill would provide for exceptions to, and enforcement of, the act, including authorizing the department to impose an administrative civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $50,000 per day per violation, except as specified, on an entity that is not in compliance with the act's requirements. The bill would require the department to deposit collected penalties into the Circular Economy Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that moneys in the account shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes that further the act. (2) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires each city and county, and each regional agency formed pursuant to the act, to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan to divert 50% of all solid waste, through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. This bill would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or other local public agency from requiring a grocery store, as defined, to use a certain type of food packaging for any food sold in the grocery store unless the majority of residential households within the jurisdiction of the local agency have access to a curbside program, as defined, that accepts the material from which that food packaging is made. The bill would also prohibit those local agencies from requiring a grocery store to use a food packaging container that does not meet specified criteria. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2032. (3) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. The act requires an out-of-state vendor shipping beer into the state to hold a certificate of compliance granted by the department, as prescribed. The act authorizes the department to suspend or revoke the certificate of compliance, as specified, if an out-of-state vendor, after obtaining the certificate, fails to submit a certain monthly report or fails to comply with a particular provision of the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act. This bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke the certificate of compliance of an out-of-state vendor that fails to comply with the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. (4) 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. (5) 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 measure would extend to the people of the regional states of Amhara, Oromia, Somali, the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, and Tigray an invitation to join with California in sister state relationships.
Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The California Constitution grants to the regents all the powers necessary or convenient for the effective administration of this public trust. Pursuant to the California Constitution, there are 7 ex officio members of the regents and 18 appointive members appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate, a majority of the membership concurring. This measure would enact the University of California Equal Employment Opportunity Standards Act, which would, effective January 1, 2021, except as specified, require the regents to ensure that all contract workers, as defined, who are paid to perform support services for students, faculty, patients, or the general public at any campus, dining hall, medical center, clinic, research facility, laboratory, or other university location, are at all times subject to and afforded the same equal employment opportunity standards, as defined, as university employees performing similar services. The measure would authorize the regents, or any campus or other entity of the University of California, to contract for, or otherwise arrange to use, contract labor, as defined, to perform support services only under specified conditions, only if authorized to do so by statute, and only to the extent necessary to address one or more of prescribed needs. The measure would authorize the Legislature to enact statutes to further the purposes of, and to aid the enforcement of, this measure.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, including, among other solid waste, single-use plastic straws. The Sustainable Packaging for the State of California Act of 2018 prohibits a food service facility located in a state-owned facility, operating on or acting as a concessionaire on state property, or under contract to provide food service to a state agency from dispensing prepared food using a type of food service packaging unless the type of food service packaging is on a list that the department publishes and maintains on its internet website that contains types of approved food service packaging that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Existing law makes a legislative declaration that it is the policy goal of the state that not less than 75% of solid waste generated be source reduced, recycled, or composted by 2020. This bill would enact the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, which would impose a comprehensive regulatory scheme on producers, retailers, and wholesalers of single-use packaging, as defined, and priority single-use products, as defined, made partially or entirely of plastic, to be administered by the department. As part of that regulatory scheme, the bill would require producers, as defined, (A) to source reduce, to the maximum extent feasible, single-use packaging and priority single-use products, and (B) to ensure that all single-use packaging and priority single-use products that are manufactured on or after January 1, 2032, and that are offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state are recyclable or compostable. The bill would require the department to achieve and maintain, by January 1, 2032, a statewide 75% reduction of the waste generated from single-use packaging and priority single-use products offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state through source reduction, recycling, or composting. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2025, to adopt regulations to implement the act and, before adopting the regulations, to conduct extensive outreach, as prescribed, and to identify and evaluate specified provisions for potential inclusion in the regulations. The bill would require the department to establish a Circular Economy and Waste Pollution Reduction Panel for the purpose of identifying barriers and solutions to creating a circular economy consistent with the act. The regulatory scheme would include, among other requirements, registration, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements. The bill would require reports and data provided to the department pursuant to the act to be accurate and attested to under penalty of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by expanding the crime of perjury. The bill would prohibit a retailer or wholesaler, as defined, from offering for sale or selling single-use packaging, products packaged in single-use packaging, or priority single-use products if the producer of the single-use packaging or priority single-use product is listed as noncompliant for that packaging or product category on the department's internet website on a list that the bill would require the department to post, as specified. The bill would prohibit certain online marketplaces, upon notification from the department, from allowing on the online marketplaces the offering for sale, sale, or distribution into the state of single-use packaging, a product packaged in single-use packaging, or a priority single-use product if the product or packaging is identified as noncompliant with the act in the notice provided by the department. The bill would require the department to develop criteria to determine whether the packaging or priority single-use products are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. The bill would authorize local governments, solid waste facilities, recycling facilities, and composting facilities to provide information requested by the department for purposes of developing that criteria. The bill would require single-use packaging and priority single-use products offered for sale, sold, distributed, or imported in or into the state by a producer to meet specified recycling rates that are based on date of manufacture and that increase over a prescribed timeframe, and would authorize the department to impose a higher or lower recycling rate for packaging or product categories, as specified. The bill would require the department to establish and post on its internet website a list of packaging and product categories, and current recycling rates being achieved in the state for those packaging and product categories, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations containing specified provisions authorizing the establishment of a stewardship program. The bill would authorize producers to collectively form one or more stewardship organizations that adopt a stewardship plan as an alternative to individually complying with the above-referenced comprehensive regulatory scheme. The bill would require the department to establish, and a producer to remit to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the California circular economy regulatory fee. The bill would require the department to set the amount of the regulatory fee at no more than is necessary to cover the reasonable regulatory costs of the above-referenced comprehensive regulatory scheme and stewardship program, and would authorize a stewardship organization to pay the regulatory fee on behalf of its member producers, as specified. The bill would require the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to collect the regulatory fee in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law, as prescribed. The bill would require the regulatory fees to be deposited into the California Circular Economy Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that moneys in the fund shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department to fund the regulatory activities of the act and to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for expenses incurred in the collection of the regulatory fee. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature every 2 years its progress in implementing the act. The bill would provide for exceptions to, and enforcement of, the act, including authorizing the department to impose an administrative civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $50,000 per day per violation, except as specified, on an entity that is not in compliance with the act's requirements. The bill would require the department to deposit collected penalties into the Circular Economy Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would provide that moneys in the account shall be available upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes that further the act. (2) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires each city and county, and each regional agency formed pursuant to the act, to develop a source reduction and recycling element of an integrated waste management plan to divert 50% of all solid waste, through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities. This bill would prohibit a city, county, city and county, or other local public agency from requiring a grocery store, as defined, to use a certain type of food packaging for any food sold in the grocery store unless the majority of residential households within the jurisdiction of the local agency have access to a curbside program, as defined, that accepts the material from which that food packaging is made. The bill would also prohibit those local agencies from requiring a grocery store to use a food packaging container that does not meet specified criteria. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2032. (3) The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. The act requires an out-of-state vendor shipping beer into the state to hold a certificate of compliance granted by the department, as prescribed. The act authorizes the department to suspend or revoke the certificate of compliance, as specified, if an out-of-state vendor, after obtaining the certificate, fails to submit a certain monthly report or fails to comply with a particular provision of the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act. This bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke the certificate of compliance of an out-of-state vendor that fails to comply with the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. (4) 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. (5) 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 California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission and authorizes the commission to exercise ratemaking and rulemaking authority over all public utilities, as defined, subject to control by the Legislature. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission to supervise and regulate every public utility, including electrical corporations, and to do all things that are necessary and convenient in the exercise of that power and jurisdiction. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law authorizes the commission, in a proceeding on an application by an electrical corporation to recover costs and expenses arising from a catastrophic wildfire occurring on or after January 1, 2019, to allow cost recovery if the costs and expenses are just and reasonable, after consideration of the conduct of the utility, including consideration of specified factors. Existing law establishes the Wildfire Fund to pay eligible claims arising from a covered wildfire, as provided. Existing law requires the commission to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider using its existing authority to require certain electrical corporations to collect a nonbypassable charge from its ratepayers to support the Wildfire Fund, and requires the commission to direct those electrical corporations to collect that charge if the commission determines that the imposition of the charge is just and reasonable and that it is an appropriate exercise of its authority, as specified. This bill would enact the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Act of 2020 and would require the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the commission, to adopt an interim expenditure plan and an expenditure plan that are focused on reducing wildfire risk on the ground and in communities through activities such as defensible space implementation, home hardening, improved public safety, including expenditures to add trained emergency medical technicians to the workforce, and other authorized activities, as well as to prepare residents for wildfires through public education and outreach, as provided. The bill would establish the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require moneys in the fund be used for the implementation of those plans. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, upon the adoption of the interim plan, to notify the State Controller of the adoption. The bill would require, within 30 days of the notification, the transfer of $500,000,000 from the Surplus Money Investment Fund to the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund, and would appropriate the money to the Natural Resources Agency for the implementation of the interim expenditure plan. The bill would provide for the repayment of the moneys transferred from the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund to the Surplus Money Investment Fund, as provided. The bill would require the commission to require large electrical corporations, as defined, to collect, on and after a specified time, a nonbypassable charge from their ratepayers, as provided, to finance the bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund, as described below. Existing law, until January 1, 2003, authorizes the Department of Water Resources to enter into contracts for the purchase of electric power. Existing law authorizes the department to sell power to retail end use customers and local publicly owned electric utilities under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes the department to issue revenue bonds and entitles the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds and purchase electric power pursuant to these provisions. Existing law authorizes the department to issue Wildfire Fund bonds on and after either the date on which the department legally defeases all of its remaining bonds under the provisions described above or the date on which it pays those obligations in full at maturity, whichever is earlier, to support the Wildfire Fund. Existing law entitles the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds in support of the Wildfire Fund. Existing law requires those bond proceeds and revenues received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Fund and repayment of the bonds issued in support of the Wildfire Fund. This bill would authorize the department to issue bonds, in an aggregate amount of up to $3,000,000,000, the repayment of which, including interest, commences on the date on which the department has paid in full, at maturity, or legally defeases any outstanding bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Fund or on January 1, 2036, whichever is later, to support the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. The bill would entitle the department to recover, as a revenue requirement, amounts necessary to enable it to finance the bonds in support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. The bill would require those bond proceeds and revenues received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund and repayment of the bonds issued for the support of the Wildfire Prevention and Community Resilience Fund. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because certain of the above provisions would be codified in the act and would require action by the commission, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3289 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by SB 350 to be operative only if this bill and SB 350 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 prescribes various requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. Existing law requires that a notice of default and a notice of sale be recorded and that specified periods of time elapse between the recording and the sale. Existing law establishes certain requirements in connection with foreclosures on mortgages and deeds of trust, including restrictions on the actions mortgage servicers may take while a borrower is attempting to secure a loan modification or has submitted a loan modification application. Existing law applies certain of those requirements only to a first lien mortgage or deed of trust that is secured by owner-occupied residential real property containing no more than four dwelling units. This bill, the Tenant, Homeowner, and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020, would, among other things, until January 1, 2023, additionally apply those protections to a first lien mortgage or deed of trust that is secured by residential real property that is occupied by a tenant, contains no more than four dwelling units, and meets certain criteria, including that a tenant occupying the property is unable to pay rent due to a reduction in income resulting from the novel coronavirus. The bill would also enact the COVID-19 Small Landlord and Homeowner Relief Act of 2020 (Homeowner Act) , which would require a mortgage servicer, as defined, to provide a specified written notice to a borrower, as defined, if the mortgage servicer denies forbearance during the effective time period, as defined, that states the reasons for that denial if the borrower was both current on payments as of February 1, 2020, and is experiencing a financial hardship that prevents the borrower from making timely payments on the mortgage obligation due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency. The Homeowner Act would also require a mortgage servicer to comply with applicable federal guidance regarding borrower options following a COVID-19 related forbearance. Existing law provides that a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord after the tenant defaults on rent or fails to perform a condition or covenant of the lease under which the property is held, among other reasons. Existing law requires a tenant be served a 3 days' notice in writing to cure a default or perform a condition of the lease, or return possession of the property to the landlord, as specified. Existing law, the Mobilehome Residency Law, prohibits a tenancy from being terminated unless specified conditions are met, including that the tenant fails to pay rent, utility charges, or reasonable incidental service charges, and 3 days' notice in writing is provided to the tenant, as specified. This bill would, until February 1, 2025, enact the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 (Tenant Act) . The Tenant Act would require that any 3 days' notice that demands payment of COVID-19 rental debt that is served on a tenant during the covered time period meet specified criteria, including that the notice include an unsigned copy of a declaration of COVID-19-related financial distress and that the notice advise the tenant that the tenant will not be evicted for failure to comply with the notice if the tenant delivers a signed declaration of COVID-19-related financial distress to the landlord, as specified. The Tenant Act would define "covered time period" for purposes of these provisions to mean the time between March 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021. The Tenant Act would deem a 3 days' notice that fails to comply with this criteria void and insufficient to support a judgment for unlawful detainer or to terminate a tenancy under the Mobilehome Residency Law. The Tenant Act would prohibit a tenant that delivers a declaration, under penalty of perjury, of COVID-19-related financial distress pursuant to these provisions from being deemed in default with regard to the COVID-19 rental debt, as specified. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The Tenant Act would prohibit a court from finding a tenant guilty of an unlawful detainer before February 1, 2021, subject to certain exceptions, including if the tenant was guilty of the unlawful detainer before March 1, 2020. The bill would prohibit, before October 5, 2020, a court from taking specified actions with respect to unlawful detainer actions, including issuing a summons on a complaint for unlawful detainer in any action that seeks possession of residential real property and that is based, in whole or in part, on nonpayment of rent or other charges. The Tenant Act would also authorize a landlord to require a high-income tenant, as defined, to additionally submit documentation supporting the claim that the tenant has suffered COVID-19-related financial distress if the landlord has proof of income showing the tenant is a high-income tenant. The Tenant Act would preempt an ordinance, resolution, regulation, or administrative action adopted by a city, county, or city and county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect tenants from eviction based on nonpayment of rental payments, as specified. The bill would require the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency to, in consultation with the Department of Finance, engage with residential tenants, landlords, property owners, deed-restricted affordable housing providers, and financial sector stakeholders about strategies and approaches to direct potential future federal stimulus funding to most effectively and efficiently provide relief to distressed tenants, landlords, and property owners, as specified. Existing law prohibits a landlord from taking specified actions with intent to terminate the occupancy under any lease or other tenancy or estate at will, however created, of property used by a tenant as the tenant's residence. Existing law makes a violator of those provisions subject to certain damages in a civil action. This bill would, until February 1, 2021, make a violator of those provisions whose tenant has provided to that violator the declaration of COVID-19-related financial distress described above liable for damages in an amount between $1,000 and $2,500. Existing law, The Small Claims Act, grants jurisdiction to a small claims court in cases where the amount demanded does not exceed $5,000, as specified, and prohibits a person from filing more than 2 small claims actions in which the amount demanded exceeds $2,500 anywhere in the state in any calendar year. This bill would instead, until February 1, 2025, provide that a small claims court has jurisdiction in any action for recovery of COVID-19 rental debt, as defined, regardless of the amount demanded and would provide that a claim for recovery of a COVID-19 rental debt is exempt from the prohibition on filing more than 2 small claims actions described above. Existing law, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, prohibits, with certain exceptions, an owner of residential real property from increasing the gross rental rate for a dwelling or unit more than 5% plus the "percentage change in the cost of living," as defined, or 10%, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for the immediately preceding 12 months, subject to specified conditions. The act exempts certain types of residential real properties, including dormitories constructed and maintained in connection with any higher education institution within the state for use and occupancy by students in attendance at the institution and housing that has been issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years. This bill would revise and recast those exemptions to exempt dormitories owned and operated by an institution of higher education or a kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, school. The bill would also make clarifying changes to the definition of "percentage change in the cost of living." This bill would also make clarifying and conforming changes. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law also prohibits the use of tobacco products in county offices of education, on charter school or school district property, or near a playground or youth sports event, as specified. This bill would prohibit a tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer's agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product flavor enhancer, as those terms are defined, except as specified. The bill would make a violation of this prohibition an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 for each violation. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that these provisions do not preempt or prohibit the adoption and implementation of local ordinances that impose greater restrictions on the access to tobacco products than the restrictions imposed by the bill, as specified. The bill would state that its provisions are severable. By creating a new crime, 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.