Photo of Josh Becker
D California Senate · District 13

Sen. Josh Becker

Compare
Total votes
14,289
all sessions
Attendance
96%
411 missed
Near the chamber average
With party
99%
of cast votes
Near the chamber average
Bipartisan score
0%
crosses aisle rarely
Near the chamber average
Sponsored
499
bills & resolutions
Near the chamber average
Committees
9
assignments
499 bills and resolutions

Sponsored bills

Total
499
Primary
130
Co-sponsor
369
This page
499
matching current filters
Primary SB 893
Signed into law · California Senate · Lead sponsor
Community colleges: San Mateo County Community College District: California College Promise.

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 requires community college districts to charge students an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester. This bill would authorize the San Mateo County Community College District to adopt a policy that uses local unrestricted general funds to provide fee waivers to students with the greatest financial need when other fee waivers are not provided to those students, and would require the policy to include a requirement to prepare a fiscal impact statement, including a 3-year projection of the fiscal impact of the fee waiver on the community college district, as specified. Existing law establishes the California College Promise, to be administered by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Existing law requires the chancellor to distribute funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to community college districts to fund colleges that meet prescribed requirements. Existing law authorizes a community college that receives funding under the program to, among other things, waive some or all of the fees for up to 2 academic years for 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. This bill would authorize the San Mateo County Community College District to use local unrestricted general funds, in addition to funding received under the California College Promise, to provide assistance to students for the total cost of attendance. The bill would define total cost of attendance for a student attending a community college as including the student's tuition and fees, books and supplies, living expenses, transportation expenses, and any other student expenses used to calculate a student's financial need for purposes of federal Title IV student aid programs. This bill would require the San Mateo County Community College District to use local unrestricted general funds for the purposes of these provisions only for students who reside within the boundary of the community college district. This bill would require the governing board of the San Mateo County Community College District, on or before March 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, the Department of Finance, and the appropriate committees of the Legislature on the implementation of these provisions, as specified. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2028, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Mateo County Community College District.

Signed into law Sep 30, 2022 0 co-sponsors
Co-sponsor AB 2164
Signed into law · California House · Co-sponsor
Disability access: certified access specialist program: funding.

(1) The federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the California Building Standards Code require that specified buildings, structures, and facilities be accessible to, and usable by, persons with disabilities. Existing law establishes a Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, within the Division of the State Architect for purposes of increasing disability access and compliance with construction-related accessibility requirements and developing educational resources for businesses to facilitate compliance with federal and state disability laws, as specified. Existing law requires the State Architect to establish and publicize a program for voluntary certification by the state of any person who meets specified criteria as a certified access specialist (CASp) , as provided. Existing law, on and after January 1, 2018, and until December 31, 2023, inclusive, requires any applicant for an original or renewal of a local business license or equivalent instrument or permit to pay an additional fee of $4 for that license, instrument, or permit, or in any city, county, or city and county that does not issue a business license or an equivalent instrument or permit, existing law requires an applicant for a building permit to pay an additional fee of $4, to be collected by the city, county, or city and county that issued the license, instrument, or permit for specified purposes related to disability access, including the CASp program. Commencing January 1, 2024, that fee is reduced to $1. Existing law requires a portion of those fees to be deposited in the Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund. This bill would repeal the provision reducing the fee to $1 commencing January 1, 2024, thereby extending the operation of this fee at the amount of $4 indefinitely. By expanding the increased fee deposited into the Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law requires that the city, county, or city and county retain a specified percentage of the fees collected under the above-described provision, to fund administrative costs and the remainder to be deposited in a special fund, established by the city, county, or city and county to be known as the "CASp Certification and Training Fund," and used for increased CASp training and certification within that local jurisdiction. On and after January 1, 2018, and until December 31, 2023, the specified percentage to be retained is 90%. Commencing January 1, 2024, the percentage is reduced to 70%. Existing law requires that the remaining percentage of the fees be transmitted on a quarterly basis to the Division of the State Architect for deposit in the Disability Access and Education Revolving Fund. This bill would repeal the provision reducing the percentage to be retained, thereby allocating 90% of the fees to be retained by the city, county, or city and county indefinitely. The bill would expand the purpose for which the moneys in the special fund may be used to include providing financial assistance to small business owners for accessibility-related inspection, renovation, and construction and would rename the fund to be known as the "Accessibility Compliance Fund." (3) Existing law requires a city, county, or city and county to submit a report to the Division of the State Architect on the total fees collected in the prior calendar year and distribution of the proceeds, as specified. This bill would require a city, county, or city and county to include additional information in that report regarding financial assistance provided to small businesses for construction of physical accessibility improvements. By imposing an additional requirement on a local government, 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.

Signed into law Sep 30, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor AB 1613
Signed into law · California House · Co-sponsor
Theft: jurisdiction.

Under existing law, when a public offense is committed in part in one jurisdictional territory and in part in another jurisdictional territory, or the acts constituting or requisite to the consummation of the offense occur in 2 or more jurisdictional territories, the jurisdiction for the offense is in any competent court within either jurisdictional territory. This bill would establish the jurisdiction of a criminal action brought by the Attorney General for theft, organized retail theft, or receipt of stolen property as including the county where an offense involving the theft or receipt of the stolen merchandise occurred, the county in which the merchandise was recovered, or the county where any act was done by the defendant in instigating, procuring, promoting, or aiding in the commission of the offense. The bill would also, if multiple offenses of theft or other specified crimes all involving the same defendant or defendants and the same merchandise, or the same defendant or defendants and the same scheme or substantially similar activity, occur in multiple jurisdictions, establish that any of those jurisdictions is a proper jurisdiction for all of the offenses. The bill would extend jurisdiction to all associated offenses connected together in their commission to the underlying theft offenses.

Signed into law Sep 30, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor AB 1416
Signed into law · California House · Co-sponsor
Elections: ballot label.

Existing law defines the ballot label as the portion of the ballot containing the names of the candidates or a statement of a measure. For statewide measures, existing law requires the Attorney General to prepare a condensed version of the ballot title and summary, including the fiscal impact summary prepared by the Legislative Analyst that is printed in the state voter information guide. This bill would additionally require the ballot label for statewide measures, and, at the option of a county, the ballot label or similar description on the ballot of county, city, district, and school district measures, to include a listing of nonprofit organizations, businesses, or individuals taken from the signers or the text of ballot arguments printed in the voter information guide that support and oppose the measure, as specified. The bill would require a nonprofit organization, business, or individual to meet certain criteria before being listed on the ballot label or similar description of the measure on the ballot. The bill would require the signers of the ballot arguments to submit the lists of supporters and opponents to the Secretary of State or the respective elections official and would require the Secretary of State or respective elections official to provide those lists to county elections officials as part of the ballot label. The bill would make conforming changes and related findings and declarations. 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. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local elections officials, and because it would expand the crime of perjury, it 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. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Signed into law Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor SB 731
Signed into law · California Senate · Co-sponsor
Criminal records: relief.

(1) Existing law establishes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other things, issue teaching and services credentials. Existing law requires the commission to appoint a Committee of Credentials and requires allegations of acts or omissions for which adverse action may be taken against applicants or holders of teaching or services credentials to be reported to the committee, including conviction for a controlled substance offense, as defined. Existing law requires the commission to deny an application for the issuance of a credential or the renewal of a credential for a person who has been convicted of a controlled substance offense. This bill would prohibit the record of a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances that is more than 5 years old and for which relief was granted from being presented to the committee or from being used to deny a credential. (2) Existing law authorizes a defendant who was sentenced to a county jail for the commission of a felony and who has met specified criteria to petition to withdraw their plea of guilty or nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty after the completion of their sentence, as specified. Existing law requires the court to dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant and release them from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense, except as specified. This bill would make this relief available to a defendant who has been convicted of a felony, as long as that conviction does not require registration as a sex offender. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, on a monthly basis, to review the records in the statewide criminal justice databases and identify persons who are eligible for records of arrest relief without requiring the filing of a petition or motion. Under existing law, a person is eligible for arrest record relief if they were arrested on or after January 1, 1973, and the arrest was for a misdemeanor and the charge was dismissed or criminal proceedings have not been initiated within one year after the arrest, or the arrest was for a felony punishable in the county jail and criminal proceedings have not been initiated within 3 years after the date of the arrest. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2023, generally make this arrest record relief available to a person who has been arrested for a felony, including a felony punishable in the state prison, as specified. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2022, and subject to appropriation, requires the Department of Justice, on a monthly basis, to review the records in the statewide criminal justice databases and identify persons who are eligible for automatic conviction record relief. Under existing law, a person is eligible for automatic conviction record relief if, on or after January 1, 1973, they were sentenced to probation, and completed it without revocation, or if they were convicted of an infraction or a misdemeanor, and other criteria are met, as specified. The bill, commencing July 1, 2023, would additionally make this conviction record relief available for a defendant convicted, on or after January 1, 2005, of a felony for which they did not complete probation without revocation if the defendant appears to have completed all terms of incarceration, probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community supervision, and parole, and a period of 4 years has elapsed during which the defendant was not convicted of a new felony offense, except as specified. The bill would specify that conviction record relief does not release the defendant from the terms and conditions of unexpired criminal protective orders. This bill would state that conviction record relief does not affect the authority to receive, or take adverse action based on, criminal history information for purposes of teacher credentialing or employment in public education, as specified. The bill would prohibit disclosure of information relating to a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances when the conviction is more than 5 years old and when relief has been granted under these provisions. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain state summary criminal history information, as defined, and to furnish this information to various state and local government officers, officials, and other prescribed entities, if needed in the course of their duties. Existing law requires the department to provide the Commission on Teacher Credentialing with every conviction rendered against an applicant, retroactive to January 1, 2020, regardless of relief granted. Existing law makes it a crime for a person authorized by law to receive state summary criminal history information to knowingly furnish that information to a person who is not authorized to receive it. This bill would require the department to also provide that information to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, private schools, state special schools for the blind and deaf, or any other entity required to have a background check because of a contract with any of those entities. The bill would prohibit the department from disseminating information for a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances if that conviction is more than 5 years old and relief has been granted. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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.

Signed into law Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor AB 2841
Signed into law · California House · Co-sponsor
Disqualification from voting.

Existing law requires a county elections official to cancel a person's voter registration in certain circumstances, including when a person is deemed mentally incompetent, upon proof that the person is presently imprisoned for conviction of a felony, and when a person fails to respond to an address verification mailed by the elections official and does not attempt to vote at the next two federal general elections. Existing law also sets forth criteria and procedures for a person's right to vote to be restored. This bill would require the clerk of the superior court of each county to notify the Secretary of State each month of findings made by the court regarding a person's competency to vote and the number of court proceedings related to the determination of a person's competency to vote, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of State, upon receipt of identifying information for the affected persons, to send this information to the appropriate county elections official, who must proceed to cancel the person's registration or notify the person that their right to vote has been restored, as applicable. The bill would require the elections official to provide notice of the intent to cancel the person's registration between 15 and 30 days before the cancellation. The bill would require the Secretary of State to post a report on their internet website each month showing the number of disqualifications and restorations of voting rights that occurred in each county, and to deliver a training to court officers and elections officials regarding the aforementioned requirements. The bill's provisions would become operative on January 1, 2024. By imposing additional duties on county elections officials, 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, 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.

Signed into law Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Primary SB 1112
Signed into law · California Senate · Lead sponsor
Energy: building decarbonization: notice and recordation of a decarbonization charge.

(1) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to undertake various actions in furtherance of meeting the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to assess the potential for the state to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from the state's residential and commercial building stock by at least 40% below 1990 levels by January 1, 2030. This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before December 31, 2023, to identify state and federal financing or investment solutions, as defined, that will enable electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, or other eligible entities to provide zero-emission, clean energy, or decarbonizing building upgrades. The bill would also require the Energy Commission to apply for federal financing or investment solutions, where applicable, and provide technical assistance to certain entities to apply for state and federal financing or investment solutions. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before December 31, 2023, to prepare and submit a report to the relevant committees of the Legislature that describes any statutory changes necessary to improve access to federal funding for financing or investment solutions. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028. (2) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities and electrical cooperatives are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law requires the commission, in consultation with the Independent System Operator, to establish resource adequacy requirements for all load-serving entities, defined to include electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires the commission to establish a renewables portfolio standard requiring all retail suppliers, defined as including electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, and electric service providers, to procure a minimum quantity of electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources, as defined, so that the total kilowatthours of those products sold to their retail end-use customers achieves 33% of retail sales by December 31, 2020, 44% by December 31, 2024, 52% by December 31, 2027, and 60% by December 31, 2030. This bill would require the commission, or the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, to require an energy supplier, defined as an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, electric service provider, community choice aggregator, or electrical cooperative, administering a decarbonization upgrade program or initiative, to record, no later than 30 days after funding a decarbonization upgrade, a notice of decarbonization charge, as defined, with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located. The bill would require an energy supplier, within 30 days of full cost recovery of the outstanding charges related to the recorded notice of decarbonization charge, to record a notice of the full cost recovery and removal of the decarbonization charge with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located. The bill also would require an energy supplier, within 30 days of a decision by the energy supplier to cease collection of the charge, to record a notice of removal of the decarbonization charge with the county recorder of the county where the property subject to the decarbonization charge is located. If the subscriber's property is not owner-occupied, the bill would require the energy supplier to incorporate in a written agreement between the energy supplier and the property owner related to installation of a decarbonization upgrade, a requirement that the property owner shall cause the obligation to pay the decarbonization charge to appear in the terms through which the property owner leases or licenses the property for occupancy. (3) Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of an order by the commission implementing the above provisions would be a crime, 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 specified reasons.

Signed into law Sep 29, 2022 0 co-sponsors
Co-sponsor AB 2632
Vetoed · California House · Co-sponsor
Segregated confinement.

Existing law establishes the state prisons under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law places county jails under the jurisdiction of the sheriff for the confinement of persons sentenced to imprisonment for the conviction of a crime. This bill would require every jail, prison, public or privately operated detention facility, and a facility in which individuals are subject to confinement or involuntary detention to develop and follow written procedures governing the management of segregated confinement, as specified. The bill would require those facilities to document the use of segregated confinement by, among other things, providing written orders of that confinement to the individual confined, as specified. The bill would prohibit those facilities from involuntarily placing an individual in segregated confinement if the individual belongs to a special population, including, among others, that the individual has a mental or physical disability or that the individual is under 26 years of age or over 59 years of age. The bill would require the facility to periodically check on the individual and have a medical or mental health professional periodically assess the individual. This bill would require a facility to offer out-of-cell programming to individuals in segregated confinement for at least 4 hours per day, not including time spent on housekeeping or in paid employment. The bill would also authorize a facility to use segregated confinement to help treat and protect against the spread of communicable disease, under certain circumstances. This bill would prohibit a facility from holding an individual in segregated confinement for more than 15 consecutive days and no more than 45 days in a 180-day period, as specified. This bill would also prohibit a facility from imposing limitations on services, treatment, or basic needs; conducting out-of-cell programming opportunities in a smaller cage or therapy module; placing an individual in segregated confinement on the basis of confidential information, as specified; using specified restraints when an individual is in segregated confinement; and using segregated confinement as a means of protecting an individual. This bill would require a facility administrator or chief physician to conduct a secondary review of a person in segregated confinement's dispute regarding qualification in the special populations category. This bill would require facilities to create and publish monthly, semiannual, and annual reports, as specified. The bill would require the Office of the Inspector General and the Board of State and Community Corrections to assess each facility's compliance with the act, as specified. This bill would require local and state authorities to promulgate regulations or directives to implement the act, where applicable. The bill would declare these provisions to be severable. By imposing additional duties on county jails, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vetoed Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor SB 1468
Vetoed · California Senate · Co-sponsor
Factual innocence.

Existing law requires the court and the California Victim Compensation Board to grant specified relief if a person is found to be factually innocent, including the sealing of records of arrest and detention and recommending that the Legislature make an appropriation to indemnify the person for injury suffered through their erroneous conviction and imprisonment, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Justice in those circumstances to issue to the person a certificate of innocence, annotate the person's state summary criminal history information, and request the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the offense underlying the conviction at issue and any local, state, or federal agency or entity to which the department provided that criminal record information to also annotate their records, as specified. The bill would require any state or local agency or entity within the State of California that receives notice of this request from the department to annotate any local summary criminal history information for the person and to request that any local, state, or federal agency or entity to which the law enforcement agency provided that criminal offender record information annotate its records, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require courts to order that relief to be granted when a person is found to be factually innocent, and would require the court to report those proceedings to the Department of Justice. The bill would require the California Victim Compensation Board, when it makes a determination or finding of innocence, to report, among other information, a description of those proceedings to the Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would, in certain circumstances, extend the deadline from 30 days to 90 days from the filing of a claim for the California Victim Compensation Board to calculate the compensation for the claimant and approve payment to the claimant. The bill would additionally require the Department of Justice to send notice of findings of innocence to all agencies and officers that it had previously notified of the arrest or other proceedings against the person. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 4900, 4903, and 4904 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 993 to be operative only if this bill and SB 993 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 1485.55 and 4902 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 981 to be operative only if this bill and SB 981 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, 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.

Vetoed Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Co-sponsor SB 1295
Signed into law · California Senate · Co-sponsor
Oil and gas: hazardous or deserted wells and facilities: labor standards: expenditure limits: reports.

Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil or gas wells in the state. Existing law establishes the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund in the State Treasury for expenditure by certain public entities in connection with various activities relating to oil and gas operations, as specified. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to order certain operations to be carried out on any property in the vicinity of which, or on which, is located any well or facility that the supervisor determines to be a hazardous well, an idle-deserted well, a hazardous facility, or a deserted facility, as specified. Existing law also establishes and requires the division to administer and manage the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account in the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund. Existing law requires moneys in the account to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to plug and abandon oil and gas wells, decommission attendant facilities, or otherwise remediate sites that the supervisor determines could pose a danger to life, health, water quality, wildlife, or natural resources, as specified. Existing law prohibits the division from expending more than $3,000,000 in any one fiscal year, for the 2018–19 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, and, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, no more than $5,000,000 in any one fiscal year from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund for those purposes related to hazardous wells, idle-deserted wells, hazardous facilities, and deserted facilities. This bill would instead prohibit the division from expending, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, more than $5,000,000, and, in addition, (1) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2022–23 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation, and (2) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year, only if there is a dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation. The bill would also require the Controller, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, in any fiscal year that the division makes expenditures that are less than the amount appropriated, to transfer from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund to the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account an amount equal to the difference between what was appropriated and what was expended by the division for that fiscal year, unless there is more than $200,000,000 in the account. The bill would also provide that the expenditure limits in these provisions do not apply to funds received by the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund pursuant to a federal grant authorized under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Existing law defines "public works," for purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law further requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement. This bill would deem all work to plug and abandon wells, decommission production facilities, or otherwise remediate well sites that is undertaken, funded, or financed by the division, as specified, and performed by outside contractors to be public work for which prevailing wages are required to be paid. The bill would require, not later than June 30, 2024, the California Workforce Development Board to consult with the division in developing and implementing the Oil and Gas Well Capping Pilot initiative established pursuant to the Budget Act of 2022 to assist state-registered apprenticeship programs in creating curriculum for training apprentices and to upskill journeypersons on well capping projects. The bill would require the division, when contracting on or after January 1, 2028, for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or work to ensure that all entities selected for these projects enter into a project labor agreement, as defined, that will bind all of the contractors performing work on the project. The bill would also require, for contracts that are awarded, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2028, and for specified work performed by contractors licensed by the Contractors State License Board, including the plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of production facilities, or otherwise remediating well sites, that contractors and any subcontractors at every tier use a skilled and trained workforce, as defined, to perform all work within an apprenticeable occupation, as defined, in the building and construction trades, as defined. The bill would require the division to develop a procurement process to group multiple projects, as specified. The bill would also make other changes relating to workforce development. Because the willful violation of prevailing wage requirements when engaged in these public works projects would result in the imposition of misdemeanor penalties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the supervisor to make public, on or before the first day of October of each year, a report in writing showing, among other things, the total amounts of oil and gas produced in each county in the state during the previous calendar year and the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year. This bill would also require the supervisor to include in the report on the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year an accounting of any General Fund moneys appropriated and used for plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of facilities, and site remediation, or appropriated and used to facilitate those activities. Existing law requires the supervisor, only until July 1, 2026, to prepare and transmit to the Legislature a comprehensive report on the status of idle and long-term idle wells for the preceding calendar year, as specified. This bill would instead make that requirement operative indefinitely. 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.

Signed into law Sep 29, 2022 1 co-sponsor
Showing 341 to 350 of 499 bills
Previous 1 34 35 36 50 Next