(1) Existing federal law, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, regulates, among other things, the quality and packaging of foods introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce and generally prohibits the misbranding of food. Existing federal law, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, governs state and local labeling requirements, including those that characterize the relationship of any nutrient specified in the labeling of food to a disease or health-related condition. Existing state law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, generally regulates misbranded food and provides that any food is misbranded if its labeling does not conform with the requirements for nutrient content or health claims as set forth in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the regulations adopted pursuant to that federal act. Existing law requires that a food facility, as defined, make prescribed disclosures and warnings to consumers. Existing law makes a violation of these requirements a crime. Existing state law, the Pupil Nutrition, Health, and Achievement Act of 2001, prohibits the sale of specified beverages to pupils at schools, except for vegetable-based drinks, drinking water with no added sweetener, milk, and in high schools, an electrolyte replacement beverage if those beverages meet certain nutritional requirements. This bill would establish the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Safety Warning Act, which would prohibit a person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale a sugar-sweetened beverage in a sealed beverage container, a multipack of sugar-sweetened beverages, or a concentrate, as those terms are defined, in this state unless the sealed beverage container, multipack, or packaging of the concentrate bears a safety warning. The bill also would require every person who owns, leases, or otherwise legally controls the premises where a vending machine or beverage dispensing machine is located, or where a sugar-sweetened beverage is sold in an unsealed container, to place a specified safety warning in certain locations, including on the exterior of any vending machine that includes a sugar-sweetened beverage for sale. (2) Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health, upon the request of a health officer, as defined, may authorize the local health department of a city, county, city and county, or local health district to enforce the provisions of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to assess a civil penalty against any person for a violation of that law in an amount not to exceed $1,000 per day, except as specified. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General or any district attorney, on behalf of the State Department of Public Health, to bring an action in a superior court to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining a person from violating the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law. This bill, commencing July 1, 2021, would make the first violation of that law or regulations adopted pursuant to that law result in a notice of violation that would inform the recipient that they have an opportunity to remedy the violation without penalty, and a second or subsequent violation punishable by a civil penalty of not less than $50, but no greater than $500. This bill would also create the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Safety Warning Fund for the receipt of all moneys collected for violations of those requirements, and would allocate moneys in this fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the purpose of enforcing those provisions. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, obesity, and dental disease.
Sponsored bills
Existing law prohibits the use of a voting system unless it has been certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State, or approved by the Secretary of State as part of a pilot program, prior to the election at which it is to be used. This bill, the Secure the VOTE Act, would authorize the Secretary of State to award up to $16,000,000 in matching funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to counties for the development of open-source paper ballot voting systems.
This measure would recognize June 6, 2019, as the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day. This measure would express the gratitude and appreciation of the Legislature to the members of the United States Armed Forces who participated in D-Day, and would call upon the people of California to observe the anniversary with appropriate reflections and recognition.
This measure would recognize June 21, 2019, as the 2019 International Day of Yoga in California.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to provide instruction at the campuses they operate and maintain. Existing law establishes the California College Promise, under the administration of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to provide funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each community college meeting prescribed requirements. Existing law authorizes a community college to use that funding to waive some or all of the fees for one academic year for certain first-time students who are enrolled in 12 or more semester units or the equivalent at the college and complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application. The bill would establish the California Community College Student Financial Aid Program, to provide need-based grant awards to eligible community college students who attend a California community college voluntarily designated by its district governing board to participate in the program, as specified. Subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, the bill specifies that the program shall be administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and implemented by the eligible California community colleges.
This measure would designate Monday, May 6, 2019, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
This measure would proclaim April 29, 2019, as California Holocaust Memorial Day, and would urge all Californians to observe this day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust in an appropriate manner.
The California Constitution requires that all statutes of this state in effect on February 17, 1972, requiring, authorizing, imposing, or relating to the death penalty are in full force and effect, subject to legislative amendment or repeal by statute, initiative, or referendum. The California Constitution requires that the death penalty not be deemed to be, or to constitute, the infliction of cruel or unusual punishment. This measure would amend the California Constitution to delete that provision and instead would prohibit the death penalty from being imposed as a punishment for any violation of law.