Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion, for a period no longer than 2 years, to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law conditions eligibility on, among other criteria, a court finding that the defendant suffers from a mental disorder, as specified, and that the defendant's mental disorder played a significant role in the commission of the charged offense. Existing law makes defendants ineligible for the diversion program for certain offenses, including murder, voluntary manslaughter, and rape. This bill would change the eligibility criteria to include a diagnosis of a mental disorder instead of the court finding the defendant suffers from a mental disorder and would require that the diagnosis or treatment for a diagnosed mental disorder be within the last 5 years. The bill would define "qualified mental health expert" for these purposes. The bill would require the court, if a defendant has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, to find that the defendant's mental disorder was a significant factor in the commission of a charged offense unless there is clear and convincing evidence that it was not a motivating factor, causal factor, or contributing factor to the alleged offense. The bill would, for a defendant charged with a misdemeanor, limit the period of diversion to one year. The bill would permit a county mental health agency unable to provide services pursuant to these provisions to submit, and would require a court to accept, a declaration in lieu of testimony that the agency is unable to provide services to a defendant. The bill would make other conforming changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1370.01 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1338 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1338 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
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Existing law requires a court to order a defendant who is convicted of a crime in this state to pay full restitution to the victim and a separate restitution fine, as specified. Existing law, in specified cases, including when the defendant has successfully completed probation or successfully participated in the California Conservation Camp program, requires a court to dismiss the accusation, as described, thus releasing the person of any penalties and disabilities of conviction, except as otherwise provided. Existing law authorizes the court, in its discretion and in the interest of justice, in specified cases to provide that relief to a defendant who does not meet the stated requirements. This bill would prohibit a petition for relief, whether statutorily authorized or in the court's discretion, from being denied due to an unfulfilled order of restitution or restitution fine. Existing law prohibits a parolee or inmate from being released on parole to reside in another receiving state if the parolee or inmate is subject to an unsatisfied order for restitution to a victim or a restitution fine with the sending state, except as specified. This bill would remove that prohibition.
Existing law authorizes a person who is unlawfully imprisoned under specified circumstances, including, without limitation, conviction on the basis of false evidence or the existence of new exculpatory evidence, to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus ordering their release. Existing law also authorizes such a person who is no longer in custody to prosecute a motion to vacate a judgment. Under existing law, if the district attorney stipulates to, or does not contest the factual allegations underlying the application for such a writ or motion, the district attorney is required to provide notice to the Attorney General. This bill would require such notice to be given no less than seven days before entering a stipulation. Under existing law, if a writ of habeas corpus or motion to vacate a judgment is granted for specified reasons, the petitioner may move for a finding of factual innocence by a preponderance of the evidence for the purpose of obtaining compensation for the pecuniary injury sustained through the erroneous conviction and incarceration. This bill would authorize a person, if the court has granted specified writs of habeas corpus and the charges were subsequently dismissed, or the person was acquitted of the charges on a retrial, to move the court for a finding that they are entitled to compensation. The bill would require the court to grant that motion unless the district attorney can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the person committed the acts constituting the offense and is therefore not entitled to compensation, as specified. The bill would make other conforming changes.
Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law creates the Teachers' Retirement Fund and establishes within that fund a segregated account named the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account. Existing law continuously appropriates funds in the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account for expenditure for the purpose of restoring the purchasing power of the allowances of retired members and nonmember spouses, disabled members, and beneficiaries, and prescribes various schedules pursuant to which these allowances are augmented. This bill would prescribe additional benefits to be paid quarterly from the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account, beginning July 1, 2023, to retired members and nonmember spouses, disabled members, and beneficiaries, to be made pursuant to a specified schedule. By providing for additional payments to be made from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the amount of these increases to be determined on July 1, 2023, as specified, and would require that amount to be increased each year commencing on July 1, 2024, but not compounded. The bill would specify that these increases are not part of the base allowance, are payable only to the extent that funds are available from the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account, and would state the extent to which these payments would be vested. The bill would make additional conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish the Education and Employment Reentry Program within the corps to develop, partner with, and create opportunities for certain forestry corps program objectives, collaborate with the Employment Development Department to provide access to workforce services, collaborate with nongovernmental organizations dedicated to providing access to counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational opportunities, and employ collaborations and partnerships available to the corps, as specified. This bill would require the director, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to establish a forestry training center in northern California to provide enhanced training, education, work experience, and job readiness for entry-level forestry and vegetation management jobs. The bill would require the training center to include counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational services and authorize the training center to provide training modules on specified activities. The bill would require the director to enroll at the training center formerly incarcerated individuals and to prioritize enrollment for those formerly incarcerated individuals who have either successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew and were recommended by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as provided, or successfully served on a hand crew at the county level and were recommended for participation by the county probation and county fire departments. The bill would provide that successful completion of a training program at the training center constitutes qualifying experience for an entry-level forestry or vegetation management position at a state agency. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for northern California.
Existing law prescribes punishments, including incarceration, for various criminal offenses. Existing law provides guidelines for sentencing based on these prescribed punishments, including allowing a court to impose the highest term specified when a statute prescribes 3 possible terms of incarceration only if there are circumstances in aggravation. This bill would require a court to consider alternatives to incarceration, including, without limitation, collaborative justice court programs, diversion, restorative justice, and probation. The bill would additionally state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the disposition of any criminal case use the least restrictive means available.
Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to advocate for causes of small business and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establish the California Employee Ownership Hub within the Office of Small Business Advocate to increase awareness and understanding of employee ownership among stakeholders, assist business owners and employees in navigating available resources, and streamline and reduce barriers to employee ownership. The bill would require an Employee Ownership Hub Manager to administer the hub, and would authorize the manager to be responsible for prescribed duties, including partnering with specified state agencies and private entities to promote employee ownership transitions.
Existing law, the Cooperative Corporation Law, authorizes the formation of a corporation for any lawful purpose that is organized and conducts its business primarily for the mutual benefit of its members as patrons of the corporation. Existing law authorizes a corporation organized under those provisions to elect to be governed as a worker cooperative, as specified. Existing law creates the Labor and Workforce Development Agency within state government and places the agency under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, and provides that the agency consists of, among other entities, the California Workforce Development Board, the Employment Development Department, and the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law provides specified protections for employees in regard to payment of wages, hours, working conditions, and labor organizations, among other protections. This bill would enact the Promote Ownership by Workers for Economic Recovery Act. The act would establish a panel to conduct a study regarding the creation of an Association of Cooperative Labor Contractors for the purpose of facilitating the growth of democratically run high-road cooperative labor contractors. The bill would require the study to consider specified issues, including how to promote tenets of democratic worker control and ensure that the association's members offer high-road jobs. The bill would require the panel, in preparing the study, to engage in a stakeholder process by which it consults with, at a minimum, organized labor, worker cooperatives, and business groups that can assess the opportunities and challenges associated with expanding workplace democracy. The bill would require the panel to complete the study and make it publicly available on the internet by June 30, 2024.
Existing regulation requires that a state prison provide a prisoner with use of a telephone consistent with their assigned privilege group. Existing law provides that the sheriff of each county may maintain an inmate welfare fund to be kept in the treasury of the county into which, among other funds, any rebates or commissions received from a telephone company attributable to the use of pay telephones that are primarily used by inmates, is required to be deposited. Existing law contains numerous provisions governing the incarceration and detention of juveniles, including the right to maintain and continue frequent contacts with family members through telephone calls for those confined in a facility of the Division of Juvenile Facilities. This bill would require that a state prison, or a state, county, or city youth residential placement or detention center provide voice communication services to incarcerated persons free of charge to the person initiating and the person receiving the communication, subject to the operational discretion of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in a state-operated facility, as specified. The bill would prohibit a county, city, or state agency from receiving revenue for the provision of communication services to persons in its custody. To the extent this bill would mandate that a local government provide a new program or higher level of service, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to require telephone corporations to provide customer service to telecommunication customers that includes, but is not limited to, reasonable statewide service quality standards. This bill would require the commission to establish service quality standards for incarcerated persons calling services, as defined, to be adhered to by communication service providers rendering services to state or local correctional or detention facilities. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons. 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.
Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining with respect to wages, terms of employment, and other employment conditions, and authorizes employees to elect exclusive bargaining representatives for these purposes. Existing law creates the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and prescribes its composition, duties, and powers. Existing law authorizes the board to hold hearings and conduct investigations and requires that certain procedures be the exclusive method of redressing unfair labor practices. Under existing law, any person who willfully resists, prevents, or interferes with a member of the board or its agents or agencies in the performance of their duties is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law requires the board to certify the results of an election conducted by secret ballot of employees in a collective bargaining unit to designate a collective bargaining representative, unless the board determines there are sufficient grounds to refuse to do so. Existing law further provides that if the board refuses to certify an election because of employer misconduct that would render slight the chances of a new election reflecting the free and fair choice of employees, the labor organization shall be certified as the bargaining representative for the bargaining unit. This bill would refer to the election by secret ballot process as a polling place election. The bill would establish alternative procedures to the polling place election and authorize a labor organization to be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit through either a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election, as prescribed, dependent on whether an employer enrolls and agrees to a labor peace election for labor organization representation campaigns. The bill would provide that a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election permits a bargaining unit to summarily select a labor organization as its representative for collective bargaining purposes without using the existing polling place process. Under the bill, a labor peace election would be a mail ballot election and a non-labor peace election would establish a process for the submission of a petition with proof of majority support, subject to certification by the board. Among other provisions, the bill would require for both alternative procedures that an employer respond to the board with regard to a petition, including providing a specified list of employees to the board. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would establish a schedule for agricultural employers to indicate to the board whether they agree to a labor peace compact, defined to mean an agreement by the employer to, among other things, make no statements for or against union representation to its employees or publicly, in any written or oral form, at any time during employee hire, rehire, or orientation, or after certain documents regarding organization are filed with the board. The bill would prohibit a labor peace compact from prohibiting an employer from communicating truthful statements to employees regarding workplace policies or benefits, as specified. The bill would require the board to develop an online web-based labor peace election process that will allow employers to indicate their labor peace choice online, and that will allow labor organizations to see whether a specific agricultural employer has agreed to a labor peace election campaign. This bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2028. This bill would prescribe civil penalties to be imposed upon an agricultural employer who commits an unfair labor practice in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each violation, and would increase that sum to an amount not to exceed $25,000 for specified violations. The bill would require the board to consider specified factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also authorize the board to impose personal liability for these penalties upon a director or officer of an employer in certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes a person aggrieved by the final order of the board granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought for an unfair labor practice, to obtain a review of the order in a specified court of appeal by filing in the court a written petition requesting that the order of the board be modified or set aside. This bill would require an employer who appeals or petitions for a writ of review of any order of the board involving make-whole, backpay, or other monetary awards to employees, to post an appeal bond in the amount of the entire economic value of the order, as specified, and would provide for the bond to be forfeited under specified conditions. This bill would state that its provisions are severable. 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.