Sen. Scott Wiener

Existing law authorizes a party to appeal, among other things, an order dismissing or denying a petition to compel arbitration. Existing law generally stays proceedings in the trial court on the judgment or order appealed from when the appeal is perfected, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the general rule described above, trial court proceedings would not be automatically stayed during the pendency of an appeal of an order dismissing or denying a petition to compel arbitration.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information that is collected or sold by a business, including the right to request that a business disclose specified information that has been collected about the consumer, to request that a business delete personal information about the consumer that the business has collected from the consumer, and to direct a business not to sell or share the consumer's personal information, as specified. The CCPA defines various terms for these purposes. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA and establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency (agency) and vests the agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to enforce the CCPA. Existing law requires a data broker to register with the Attorney General, pay a registration fee, and provide specified information on or before January 31 following each year in which a business meets the definition of data broker. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes. Existing law establishes the Data Brokers' Registry Fund and requires that these registration fees be deposited into the fund, to be available for expenditure by the Department of Justice, upon appropriation, for specified purposes. Existing law provides that a data broker that fails to register as required by these provisions is liable for civil penalties, fees, and costs in an action brought by the Attorney General, as specified, and requires these moneys be deposited in the Consumer Privacy Fund with the intent that they be used to fully offset costs incurred in connection with these provisions. Existing law requires the Attorney General to create and maintain an internet website where specified information provided by data brokers is accessible to the public. This bill would incorporate the definitions from the CCPA into the data broker provisions described above. The bill would require a data broker to register with, pay a registration fee to, and provide information to, the agency instead of the Attorney General and would require the agency to maintain the informational internet website described above. The bill would require a data broker to compile and disclose specified information relating to requests received under the CCPA. The bill would also require, on or before July 1 following each year in which a business meets the definition of a data broker, that business to provide specified information described above and make related changes. The bill would make a data broker that fails to register as required by the provisions described above liable for administrative fines and costs in an administrative action brought by the agency, as specified, instead of in an action brought by the Attorney General. This bill would require the agency to establish, by January 1, 2026, an accessible deletion mechanism that, among other things, allows a consumer, through a single verifiable consumer request, to request that every data broker that maintains any personal information delete any personal information related to that consumer held by the data broker or associated service provider or contractor. The bill would specify requirements for this accessible deletion mechanism, and would, beginning August 1, 2026, require a data broker to access the mechanism at least once every 45 days and, among other things, process all deletion requests, except as specified. Beginning August 1, 2026, after a consumer has submitted a deletion request and a data broker has deleted the consumer's data pursuant to the bill's provisions, the bill would require the data broker to delete all personal information of the consumer at least once every 45 days, as specified, and would prohibit the data broker from selling or sharing new personal information of the consumer, as specified. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, and every 3 years thereafter, require a data broker to undergo an audit by an independent third party to determine compliance with these provisions and would require the data broker to submit an audit report to the agency upon the agency's written request, as specified. The bill would authorize the agency to charge a fee to data brokers for accessing the accessible deletion mechanism, as specified. This bill would provide that a data broker that fails to comply with the requirements pertaining to the accessible deletion mechanism described above is liable for administrative fines, fees, expenses, and costs, as specified. The bill would require that moneys collected or received by the agency and the Department of Justice under these provisions be deposited in the Data Brokers' Registry Fund, which the bill would require to be administered by the agency, instead of the Consumer Privacy Fund and would expand the specified uses of moneys in the Data Brokers' Registry Fund to include the costs incurred by the state courts and the agency in connection with enforcing these provisions and the costs of establishing, maintaining, and providing access to the accessible deletion mechanism described above. This bill would require a data broker to provide additional information to the agency, including information related to requests received under the CCPA, whether the data broker collects specified information, and specified information regarding an audit under the provisions described above. This bill would prohibit an administrative action pursuant to these provisions from being commenced more than 5 years after the date on which a violation occurred. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes and intent of the CPRA for specified reasons.

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. This bill would additionally make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 5 days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event, as defined. The bill would require that leave be taken within 3 months of the event, except as described, and pursuant to any existing leave policy of the employer. The bill would provide that if an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, the employer is not obligated to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period. Under the bill, in the absence of an existing policy, the reproductive loss leave may be unpaid. However, the bill would authorize an employee to use certain other leave balances otherwise available to the employee, including accrued and available paid sick leave. The bill would make leave under these provisions a separate and distinct right from any right under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to retaliate against an individual, as described, because of the individual's exercise of the right to reproductive loss leave or the individual's giving of information or testimony as to reproductive loss leave, as described. The bill would require the employer to maintain employee confidentiality relating to reproductive loss leave, as specified. 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 Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law provides for various annual fees for the issuance of alcoholic beverage licenses, depending upon the type of license issued. Existing law authorizes the department to issue a music venue license, as defined, that allows the licensee to sell beer, wine, and distilled spirits at retail for consumption on the premises in a music entertainment facility, as defined. Existing law makes selling, giving, delivering, or purchasing an alcoholic beverage between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. of the same day a misdemeanor. Existing law further limits a music venue licensee's authorization to sell, serve, and permit consumption of alcoholic beverages to the time period from 2 hours before a live performance until one hour after the live performance. Existing law authorizes the department to make any examination of the books and records of any licensee and makes any person who fails to preserve the books for inspection guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would authorize a licensee under a music venue license to apply to the department for a duplicate license or licenses, as prescribed. The bill would also authorize a music venue licensee to sell, serve, and permit consumption of alcoholic beverages during private events or private functions not open to the general public within any hours of operation permitted by its license, regardless of whether any live performance occurs. The bill would exempt the licensee from having to meet certain requirements generally imposed on a music entertainment facility in connection with and during a private event or private function if specified conditions are met. The bill would require the licensee to keep records demonstrating compliance with these provisions for the preceding 3 calendar years and to provide these records to the department upon request. The bill would make a licensee's failure to keep the required records or provide them to the department grounds for disciplinary action punishable as a misdemeanor and would, therefore, expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (2) Under existing law, any person possessing an open container of an alcoholic beverage in any city, county, or city and county-owned public place, as specified, or any regional park or recreation and park district, is guilty of an infraction if the city or county has enacted an ordinance that prohibits the possession of those containers or the consumption of alcoholic beverages in those areas, except as specified. Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes the legislative body of any city or county to adopt ordinances regulating zoning within its jurisdiction, as specified. Existing law authorizes a licensed beer manufacturer, a licensed winegrower, and any on-sale licensee to sell certain alcoholic beverages for consumption on or off the premises, as specified. This bill, additionally, would authorize a licensed beer manufacturer, a licensed winegrower, and any on-sale licensee to permit consumers to leave the premises with open containers of alcoholic beverages for consumption off the premises within an entertainment zone, subject to certain conditions. The bill would define "entertainment zone" for purposes of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act as a zone created by ordinance on or after January 1, 2024, in the City and County of San Francisco, that authorizes consumption of one or more types of alcoholic beverages on public streets, sidewalks, or public rights-of-way adjacent to and during a special event permitted or licensed by the department. The bill would require the City and County of San Francisco, if it establishes an entertainment zone, to provide specified information relating to the entertainment zone to the department and establish a process or procedure by which persons in possession of alcoholic beverages in the entertainment zone may be readily identifiable as being 21 years of age or older. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for City and County of San Francisco. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 23357 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 788 to be operative only if this bill and SB 788 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 23358 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1704 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1704 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (4) 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, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for the involuntary commitment and treatment of a person who is a danger to themselves or others or who is gravely disabled. Existing law, for purposes of involuntary commitment, defines "gravely disabled" as either a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter or has been found mentally incompetent, as specified. This bill expands the definition of "gravely disabled" to also include a condition in which a person, as a result of a severe substance use disorder, or a co-occurring mental health disorder and a severe substance use disorder, is, in addition to the basic personal needs described above, unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care, as defined. The bill would also expand the definition of "gravely disabled," as it applies to specified sections, to include, in addition to the basic needs described above, the inability for a person to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care as a result of chronic alcoholism. The bill would authorize counties to defer implementation of these provisions to January 1, 2026, as specified. The bill would make conforming changes. To the extent that this change increases the level of service required of county mental health departments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law also authorizes the appointment of a conservator, in the County of Los Angeles, the County of San Diego, or the City and County of San Francisco, for a person who is incapable of caring for the person's own health and well-being due to a serious mental illness and substance use disorder. Existing law establishes the hearsay rule, under which evidence of a statement is generally inadmissible if it was made other than by a witness while testifying at a hearing and is offered to prove the truth of the matter stated. Existing law sets forth exceptions to the hearsay rule to permit the admission of specified kinds of evidence. Under this bill, for purposes of an opinion offered by an expert witness in any proceeding relating to the appointment or reappointment of a conservator pursuant to the above-described provisions, the statements of specified health practitioners or a licensed clinical social worker included in the medical record would not be made inadmissible by the hearsay rule under specified conditions. The bill would authorize the court to grant a reasonable continuance if an expert witness in a proceeding relied on the medical record and the medical record has not been provided to the parties or their counsel. Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to collect data quarterly and publish, on or before May 1 of each year, a specified report that includes, among other things, the number of persons for whom temporary conservatorship are established in each county and an analysis and evaluation of the efficacy of mental health assessments, detentions, treatments, and supportive services provided, as specified. This bill would, beginning with the report due May 1, 2024, require the report to also include the number of persons admitted or detained, as specified, for conditions that include, among others, grave disability due to a mental health disorder, severe substance use disorder, or both a mental health disorder and a severe substance use disorder. 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.

The Unfair Competition Law (UCL) makes various unfair competition practices unlawful, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice. Existing law regulates consumer refunds specific to certain industries under specified circumstances. This bill would require a hotel, third-party booking service, hosting platform, or short-term rental, as defined, to allow a reservation for a hotel accommodation or a short-term rental located in California to be canceled without penalty for at least 24 hours after the reservation is confirmed if the reservation is made 72 hours or more before the time of check-in. This bill would require, if a consumer cancels a reservation pursuant to that provision, the hotel, third-party booking service, hosting platform, or short-term rental to issue a refund to a consumer for all amounts paid to the hosting platform, hotel, third-party booking service, or short-term rental to the original form of payment within 30 days of the cancellation of the reservation. This bill would authorize certain public attorneys, including the Attorney General, to bring an enforcement action, as provided. The bill would require a court to impose a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each violation pursuant to consideration of specified factors. The bill would exempt certain types of reservations from its provisions, including a reservation made for a negotiated rate that was not advertised, or otherwise made available, for booking by the general public.

Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation and vests the department with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law requires the department to improve and maintain state highways. This bill would require the department, beginning January 1, 2026, to annually prepare and make available on its internet website information and data about projects on the state highway system from the prior fiscal year, as specified, and to present this information and data to the California Transportation Commission at a regularly scheduled commission meeting on or before April 1 of each year. The bill would require the department to prepare and make available on its internet website, no later than January 1, 2025, data and information about projects on the state highway system covering the period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023, inclusive. The bill would require the department to prepare and make available on its internet website, no later than January 1, 2025, data and information on planned, pending projects on the state highway system. The bill would require the department to present this data and information to the commission at a regularly scheduled commission meeting on or before April 1, 2025.

Existing law, the Compassionate Access to Medical Cannabis Act or Ryan's Law, requires specified types of health care facilities to allow a terminally ill patient's use of medicinal cannabis within the health care facility, as defined, subject to certain restrictions. Existing law requires that health care facilities permitting patient use of medicinal cannabis comply with other drug and medication requirements, as specified, and makes those facilities subject to enforcement actions by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law authorizes a health care facility to suspend compliance with these provisions if a regulatory agency, the United States Department of Justice, or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services takes specified actions, including initiating an enforcement action against a health care facility related to the facility's compliance with a state-regulated medical marijuana program. This bill would expand those provisions to a patient who is over 65 years of age with a chronic disease. The bill would expand the definition of health care facility to also include a home health agency, as defined. The bill would additionally require a health care facility permitting patient use of medicinal cannabis, as specified, to ensure a denial of admission to the health care facility is not because of the patient's use of medicinal cannabis. The bill would also authorize a health care facility to suspend compliance with these provisions if a regulatory agency, the United States Department of Justice, or the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services makes an inquiry about the health care facility's activities.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain canteens at its facilities, as specified. Existing law requires the sale prices of the articles offered for sale to be fixed by the Director of Corrections at the amounts that will, as far as possible, render each canteen self-supporting. This bill would instead require the department to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, as specified. The bill would, until January 1, 2028, prohibit the sale prices of the articles offered for sale from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. The bill would, commencing on January 1, 2028, require the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting.

Existing law authorizes a person who is a firefighter, retired firefighter, or a surviving family member of a firefighter or retired firefighter to apply for special license plates for their vehicle. The special license plates, which contain the words "California Firefighter" and run in a regular numerical series, are issued upon application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, presentation of proof of certain facts, and payment of certain fees, including $35 for a renewal of registration that includes the continued display of the special license plate. This bill would increase the fee to $40 for a renewal of registration that includes the continued display of the special license plate.