(1) 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. Existing law requires the commission, upon initiating a hearing, to assign one or more commissioners to oversee the case and an administrative law judge, when appropriate. Existing law requires the commission to adopt procedures on the disqualification of administrative law judges due to bias or prejudice similar to those of other state agencies and superior courts. This bill would require the commission to additionally adopt procedures on the disqualification of commissioners due to bias or prejudice similar to those of other state agencies and superior courts. For ratesetting or adjudicatory proceedings, the bill would require a commissioner or an administrative law judge to be disqualified for bias or prejudice based on specified criteria. The bill would prohibit commission procedures from authorizing a commissioner or administrative law judge to rule on a motion made by a party to a proceeding to disqualify the commissioner or administrative law judge due to bias or prejudice. (2) The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to determine whether a proceeding requires a hearing and, if so, to determine whether the matter requires a quasi-legislative, adjudication, or ratesetting hearing. Existing law regulates communications in matters before the commission and defines an "ex parte communication" as any oral or written communication between a decisionmaker and a person with an interest in a matter before the commission concerning substantive, but not procedural, issues that does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other public proceeding, or on the official record of the proceeding on the matter. Existing law requires the commission, by regulation, to adopt and publish any requirements for written reporting of ex parte communications and appropriate sanctions for noncompliance with any rule proscribing ex parte communications. The act provides that ex parte communications are prohibited in adjudication and ratesetting cases, with certain exceptions. The act requires that ex parte communications be permitted in quasi-legislative cases, without any restrictions. This bill would recast the laws relating to ex parte communications in regard to commission proceedings. (3) The Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA) provides for the regulation of the lobbying industry, including defining the term "lobbyist" and regulating the conduct of lobbyists. This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the commission, and any entity or person seeking to influence actions taken by the commission, be subject to all applicable ethical standards, including any applicable obligations under the PRA, including applicable lobbying obligations. (4) 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 the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the application of a crime. (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.
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Existing law imposes various requirements to be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. Existing law gives a borrower, as defined, various rights and remedies against a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, and authorized agent in regards to foreclosure prevention alternatives, as defined, including loan modifications, which is commonly referred to as being part of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. Existing law defines a mortgage servicer as a person or entity who directly services a loan, or is responsible for interacting with the borrower, and managing the loan account on a daily basis, as specified. This bill until January 1, 2020, would prohibit a mortgage servicer, upon notification that a borrower has died, from recording a notice of default until the mortgage servicer does certain things, including requesting reasonable documentation of the death of the borrower from a claimant, who is someone claiming to be a successor in interest, who is not a party to the loan or promissory note and providing a reasonable period of time for the claimant to present the requested documentation. The bill would deem a claimant a successor in interest, as defined, upon receipt by a mortgage servicer of the reasonable documentation regarding the status of the claimant as a successor in interest and the claimant's ownership interest in the real property. The bill would require a mortgage servicer, within 10 days of a claimant being deemed a successor in interest, to provide the successor in interest with information about the loan, as specified. The bill would require a mortgage servicer to allow a successor in interest to assume the deceased borrower's loan or to apply for foreclosure prevention alternatives on an assumable loan, as specified. The bill would authorize a mortgage servicer, when there are multiple successors in interest who do not wish to proceed as coborrowers or coapplicants, to require any nonapplicant successor in interest to consent in writing to the application for a loan assumption. The bill would provide that a successor in interest, as specified, who assumes an assumable loan and wishes to apply for a foreclosure prevention alternative has the same rights and remedies as a borrower under specified provisions of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. The bill would authorize a successor in interest to bring an action for injunctive relief to enjoin a material violation of specified provisions of law and would authorize a court to award a prevailing successor in interest reasonable attorney's fees and costs for the action. The bill would define terms for these purposes and make various findings and declarations. The bill would deem a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, or beneficiary of the deed of trust, or an agent thereof, to be in compliance with the above-described provisions if they comply with specified federal laws. The bill would exempt certain depository institutions and persons from these provisions, as specified.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages and the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. The act also provides for a limitation on the amount of on-sale general licenses that may be issued by the department based on the population of the county in which the licensed premises are located, as provided. Existing law also provides for various annual fees for the issuance of alcoholic beverage licenses, depending on the type of license issued. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2017, provide an exception to the license limitation for a county of the 6th class, as specified, for 5 new original neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses for premises located within specified census tracts in that county, subject to specified requirements. This bill would impose an original fee and annual renewal fee for the license, which would be deposited in the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, and would require an applicant for this license to submit a specified application, submitted under the penalty of perjury, to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. This bill would also require the applicant to submit a signed verification by the local government in which the licensed premises would be located stating that the applicant has completed certain preapplication requirements. By requiring an applicant to submit an application under penalty of perjury, thereby expanding the crime of perjury, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason and that no reimbursement shall be made pursuant to those statutory provisions for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act, but would recognize that local agencies and school districts may pursue any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San Francisco.
Existing law, the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (act) , provides specified punishments for certain crimes committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a criminal street gang, as specified. The act defines a "shared gang database" as having various attributes, including, among others, that the database contains personal, identifying information in which a person may be designated as a suspected gang member, associate, or affiliate, or for which entry of a person in the database reflects a designation of that person as a suspected gang member, associate, or affiliate. Existing law requires a law enforcement agency, before designating a person as a suspected gang member, associate, or affiliate in the database, to provide a written notice to the person's parent or guardian, if the person is a minor. This bill would require the notice described above to be provided to an adult before designating a person as a suspected gang member, associate, or affiliate in the database. The bill would require these databases to comply with federal requirements regarding the privacy and accuracy of information in the database, and other operating principles for maintaining these databases. The bill would require local law enforcement, commencing January 15, 2018, and every January 15 thereafter to submit specified data pertaining to the database to the Department of Justice, and would require the Department of Justice, commencing February 15, 2018, and every February 15 thereafter, to post that information on the department's Internet Web site. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would establish a procedure for a person designated in a shared gang database who has contested that designation with the local law enforcement agency and whose challenge has been denied to appeal to the superior court. 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing federal law authorizes issuance of an immigration detainer that serves to advise another law enforcement agency that the federal department seeks custody of an alien presently in the custody of that agency, for the purpose of arresting and removing the alien. Existing federal law provides that the detainer is a request that the agency advise the department, prior to release of the alien, in order for the department to arrange to assume custody in situations when gaining immediate physical custody is either impracticable or impossible. Existing law, commonly known as the TRUST Act, prohibits a law enforcement official, as defined, from detaining an individual on the basis of a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold after that individual becomes eligible for release from custody, unless, at the time that the individual becomes eligible for release from custody, certain conditions are met, including, among other things, that the individual has been convicted of specified crimes. Existing law defines specified terms for purposes of these provisions. This bill, the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds (TRUTH) Act, would require a local law enforcement agency, prior to an interview between the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and an individual in custody regarding civil immigration violations, to provide the individual a written consent form, as specified, that would explain, among other things, the purpose of the interview, that it is voluntary, and that the individual may decline to be interviewed. The bill would require the consent form to be available in specified languages. The bill would require a local law enforcement agency to provide copies of specified documentation received from ICE to the individual and to notify the individual regarding the intent of the agency to comply with ICE requests. The bill would require that the records related to ICE access be public records for purposes of the California Public Records Act. The bill, commencing January 1, 2018, would require the local governing body of any county, city, or city and county in which a local law enforcement agency has provided ICE access to an individual during the last year, to hold at least one public community forum during the following year, as specified, to provide information to the public about ICE's access to individuals and to receive and consider public comment. By requiring these local agencies to comply with these requirements, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law allows every person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his or her liberty to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of his or her imprisonment or restraint. Existing law allows a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted for, but not limited to, false evidence that is substantially material or probative to the issue of guilt or punishment that was introduced at trial and false physical evidence which was a material factor directly related to the plea of guilty of the person. This bill would additionally allow a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted on the basis of new evidence that is credible, material, presented without substantial delay, and of such decisive force and value that it would have more likely than not changed the outcome at trial. Existing law requires the California Victim Compensation Board to recommend an appropriation be made by the Legislature for the purpose of indemnifying a person if the evidence shows that a crime with which the person was charged was either not committed at all, or, if committed, was not committed by that person. Existing law requires that the appropriation recommended shall be a sum equivalent to $140 per day of incarceration served. If a court grants a writ of habeas corpus or vacates a judgment on the basis of new evidence and finds that the new evidence points unerringly to innocence, existing law requires the board to recommend an appropriation to the Legislature pursuant to these provisions without a hearing. This bill would require the board, without a hearing, to recommend an appropriation to the Legislature if the court finds that the person is factually innocent. The bill would make additional clarifying and technical changes.
Existing law requires the electronic recording of the entire custodial interrogation of a minor who is in a fixed place of detention, as defined, and who, at the time of the interrogation, is suspected of committing or accused of committing murder. Existing law sets forth various exceptions from this requirement, including if the law enforcement officer conducting the interrogation or his or her superior reasonably believes that electronic recording would disclose the identity of a confidential informant or jeopardize the safety of an officer, the individual being interrogated, or another individual. Existing law requires the prosecution to show by clear and convincing evidence that an exception applies to justify the failure to make that electronic recording. Existing law requires the interrogating entity to maintain the original or an exact copy of an electronic recording made of the interrogation until the final conclusion of the proceedings, as specified. Existing law additionally requires the court to provide jury instructions developed by the Judicial Council if the court finds that a defendant was subjected to a custodial interrogation in violation of the above-mentioned provisions. This bill would make this electronic recording requirement applicable to the custodial interrogation of any person suspected of committing murder. By imposing new requirements on local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt from the electronic recording requirement the interrogation of a person who is in custody on a charge of murder if the interrogation is not related to the commission of murder, as specified. Existing law defines "electronic recording" for these provisions as a video recording that accurately records a custodial interrogation. This bill would specify that the above definition applies only to the custodial interrogation of a minor. The bill would expand the definition to include a video or audio recording in the case of the custodial interrogation of an adult and would express the Legislature's encouragement that law enforcement agencies use video recording when available. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to the above provisions. 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified powers and duties relative to the development and implementation of a high-speed train system. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion for high-speed train capital projects and other associated purposes. The bond act requires the authority to expend the proceeds of the bond act pursuant to certain planning and reporting requirements, which require the authority to approve that the corridor or usable segment would be suitable and ready for high-speed train operations. This bill would provide for the purposes of a certain required funding plan that a corridor or usable segment thereof would be "suitable and ready for high-speed train operation" if specified conditions are met. The bill would also require the authority to include in its business plan and project update report information describing the use of these bond proceeds demonstrating that the investments made are consistent with the authority's current business plan and advance the development of the Phase I blended system as described in the business plan.
Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board in the Department of Industrial Relations and authorizes the board to adopt, amend, or repeal employment safety and health standards and orders. Existing law authorizes the board, upon the application of an employer, to grant a permanent variance from an occupational standard or order after specified notice and hearing requirements regarding employees or employee representatives are met. This bill would, when the request for a permanent variance pertains to a conveyance covered by the elevator safety orders, require the applicant to provide the required notice regarding the hearing to the local union representing elevator workers and to those workers who will be performing the tasks pursuant to the proposed variance, or their authorized representative. The bill would grant party status at the hearing to those workers or their authorized representative upon their request to the board.
Existing law provides that a minor may be adjudged a dependent child or a ward of the juvenile court under specified circumstances. Existing law authorizes the court to place a minor who has been removed from the custody of his or her parent or guardian in foster care, among other placements. Existing law allows, in an adoption proceeding, for continuing contact between the birth relatives and a child if a postadoption contact agreement is entered into voluntarily and is in the best interests of the child at the time the adoption petition is granted. Existing law requires, if parental rights are terminated and the court orders a dependent child or ward to be placed for adoption, the county adoption agency or the State Department of Social Services to take specified steps, with exceptions, to facilitate ongoing sibling contact, including the encouragement of prospective adoptive parents to make a plan for facilitating postadoptive contact, as specified. This bill would instead require the county placing agency, as part of the above steps, to the extent practicable, to convene a meeting with the child, the sibling or siblings of the child, the prospective adoptive parent or parents, and a facilitator for the purpose of deciding whether to voluntarily execute a postadoption sibling contact agreement. The bill would provide that the county placing agency is not required to convene a meeting to decide whether to voluntarily execute a postadoption sibling contact agreement if specified circumstances occur. The bill would authorize the child to petition the court for an order requiring the county placing agency to convene a meeting to decide whether to voluntarily execute a postadoption sibling contact agreement. The bill would provide that the meeting is not required to occur if the court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that a postadoption sibling contact agreement or a meeting for the purpose of deciding whether to voluntarily execute such an agreement is contrary to the safety and well-being of the child and notes the determination in the court order. By requiring new duties on a county placing agency relating to meetings on postadoption sibling contact agreements, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the court, at least every 6 months, to review the status of a dependent child for whom the court has ordered parental rights terminated and who has been ordered placed for adoption. This bill would require the court to inquire into the status of the development of a voluntary postadoption sibling contact agreement at the time of the first review hearing conducted pursuant to the above-described provision. Existing law requires a juvenile court, in the case of a minor declared a ward and ordered to be placed in foster care, and where the minor has continuing involvement with his or her parents or legal guardians, to include in its order placing the minor in a permanent placement a specification of the nature and frequency of visiting arrangements with the parents or legal guardians. This bill would expand this provision to also apply to visiting arrangements with siblings of the minor. This bill would also make conforming changes to related provisions. 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.