Existing law authorizes a city, county, or city and county to impound a shopping cart that has a specified permanently affixed sign if certain conditions are satisfied, including that the city, county, or city and county provides 3-day advance actual notice of the shopping cart's discovery and location to the owner of the shopping cart or their agent, except as specified. This bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county, pursuant to an ordinance, to retrieve and return a shopping cart to the parking area or premises of the owner or retailer identified on the affixed sign, as specified, and to recover its actual costs for the retrieval and return, not to exceed $100 per shopping cart. The bill would also require actual notice for purposes of these provisions to include proof that the notice was delivered to the owner or their agent, as specified, and require the city, county, or city and county to maintain a record of that proof of delivery. Existing law authorizes the city, county, or city and county to fine the owner of a shopping cart in an amount not to exceed $50 for each occurrence in excess of 3 during a specified 6-month period for failure to retrieve shopping carts in accordance with specified law. The bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to fine the owner of a shopping cart in an amount not to exceed $100 instead of $50 for each occurrence pursuant to the provisions described above.
Sponsored bills
Existing law prohibits the prosecuting attorney, attorney for the defendant, or investigator for either the prosecution or the defendant from interviewing, questioning, or speaking to a victim or witness whose name has been disclosed pursuant to existing law without first clearly identifying themselves and identifying the full name of the agency by whom they are employed, and identifying whether they represent, or have been retained by, the prosecution or the defendant. Under existing law, if an interview takes place in person, the party is also required to show the victim or witness a business card, official badge, or other form of official identification before commencing the interview or questioning. This bill would require a peace officer, as defined, or a prosecuting attorney, before any initial formal interview of an immediate family member of a person who has been killed or seriously injured by a peace officer, to clearly identify themselves and if the interview takes place in person, to show identification, to inform the person of the status of their family member, to inform the person that they are conducting a formal interview for the purposes of an investigation, as specified, and to inform the person that they have a choice to come to the station for the formal interview if they are asked to go and can have a trusted support person with them. The bill would provide that its provisions do not apply if the immediate family member is under custodial interrogation, as specified, or if the delay would result in the loss or destruction of evidence or pose an imminent threat to public safety. By increasing duties on local law enforcement, 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, 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.
Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in accordance with policies established by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, to assist local governments in preventing future high-intensity wildland fires and instituting appropriate fuels management by making its wildland fire prevention and vegetation management expertise available to local governments, as provided. This bill would define an environmentally sensitive vegetation management project to mean vegetation management that reduces catastrophic wildfire risk over the long term while supporting native wildlife and biodiversity. The bill would require a state public entity to consider incorporating specified criteria into its funding guidelines for a grant program that funds environmentally sensitive vegetation management projects.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, under the direction of the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the enforcement of labor laws. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to investigate employee complaints and to provide for a hearing in any action to recover wages, penalties, and other demands for compensation, as specified. Existing law provides that the judgment creditor, or the commissioner, as assignee of the judgment creditor, is entitled to court costs and reasonable attorney's fees for enforcing the judgment, as specified. This bill would instead require that the judgment creditor, or the Labor Commissioner or public prosecutor as assignee of the judgment creditor, be awarded the above-described court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Existing law provides for enforcement if a final judgment against an employer arising from the employer's nonpayment of wages for work performed in this state remains unsatisfied after specified periods of time, including prohibiting the employer from conducting business in the state, as specified, if a final judgment against the employer remains unsatisfied for 30 days. This bill would additionally require the judgment debtor to be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed 3 times the outstanding judgment amount if a final judgment arising from the nonpayment of work performed in this state remains unsatisfied after a period of 180 days, as provided. The bill would require a court to award a prevailing plaintiff all reasonable attorney's fees and costs in any action brought by a judgment creditor, the commissioner, or a public prosecutor to enforce a final judgment arising from the nonpayment of wages, penalties, or other amounts owed arising from work performed in this state, as provided. This bill would also make findings and declarations related to its provisions.
Existing law requires, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, a direct contractor making or taking a contract in the state for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work, to assume, and be liable for, any debt owed to a wage claimant or third party on the wage claimant's behalf, incurred by a subcontractor at any tier acting under, by, or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant's performance of labor included in the subject of the contract between the direct contractor and the owner. Existing law defines "direct contractor" for this purpose to mean a contractor that has a direct contractual relationship with an owner. This bill would apply the above-described provision to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. The bill would instead require, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, a direct contractor making or taking a contract in the state for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other private work, to assume, and be liable for, any indebtedness for the performance of labor, as specified. The bill would prohibit a direct contractor from being held liable for the indebtedness with respect to fringe or other benefit contributions if they make contribution payments by joint check, as specified. The bill would define "direct contractor" for this purpose to mean a contractor that has a direct contractual relationship with an owner or any other person or entity engaging contractors or subcontractors, as specified, on behalf of the owner. Existing law provides for a streamlined, ministerial approval process or use by right for certain housing developments that meet specified requirements. Existing law requires these developments to meet specified labor standards, including, among other things, making health care expenditures for each employee, as specified. Existing law grants a joint labor-management cooperation committee standing to sue a construction contractor pursuant to the above-described liability provision for failure to make those health care expenditures. This bill would additionally grant a joint labor-management cooperation committee standing to sue pursuant to the liability provision added by this bill.
Existing law provides various provisions applicable to all public transit and transit districts and includes specific requirements applicable to public entities that operate commuter rail or rail transit systems. This bill would prohibit a public entity that owns diesel-powered on-track equipment from selling, donating, or otherwise transferring ownership of that equipment for continued use after the public entity decommissions the equipment. The bill would exempt the sale, donation, or transfer of the ownership of that equipment from the prohibition if the equipment is deemed to be in one of specified categories of emissions standards designated by the federal government for locomotives, the equipment produces emissions equivalent to any equipment within any of those federal categories, or the diesel engine is removed from the equipment, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would, until January 1, 2031, require the department, upon appropriation of funds for this purpose, to establish and maintain the California Workplace Outreach Program to promote awareness of, and compliance with, workplace protections that affect workers. The bill would require the department to issue a competitive request for application for qualified organizations, as defined, to provide education and outreach services to workers and to assist workers to assert their workplace rights. This bill would require the department to guide discussions with qualified organizations regarding priority topics for outreach and education and to consult with those organizations and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and, as relevant, its departments and boards to create education and outreach materials informing workers of their rights on priority topics and training materials for workers and organizations. The bill would require the materials to be translated into non-English languages, to be determined by the department in consultation with each qualified organization, as appropriate for the geographic region the qualified organization serves, and would require the materials to be made in consultation and collaboration with the Civil Rights Department if those materials involve protections under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act or certain other statutes. The bill would require the department and qualified organizations to meet at least twice a year to coordinate outreach and education efforts and for qualified organizations to share information relevant to enforcement activities of the department.
Under existing law, a prisoner can reduce their term of imprisonment by earning credit for, among other things, continuous incarceration, good behavior, and participation in approved rehabilitative programming. Existing law makes an inmate of a county jail or state prison who has completed training for assignment to a conservation camp, state or county facility, or a correctional institution as an inmate firefighter, or who is assigned to a state or county facility or a correctional institution as an inmate firefighter, and who is eligible to earn one day of credit for every one day of incarceration, instead eligible to earn 2 days of credit for every one day served in that assignment or after completing that training. Existing law authorizes a juvenile court to order placement of a ward at the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp if specified criteria are met, including if the county has entered into a contract with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the department has found the ward amenable. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into contracts with counties to operate the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp through a state-local partnership, or other management arrangement, to train justice-involved youth, as specified, in wildland firefighting skills. This bill would require an incarcerated individual hand crew member, in addition to receiving credits, and a ward or youth hand crew member placed at the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp to be paid an hourly wage equal to $7.25 while assigned to an active fire incident. The bill would require that wage rate to be reviewed annually. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and counties to maintain regulations regarding an administrative adjudication and remedy process for any disputes over sums owned pursuant to these provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law declares every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind to be void, except as expressly provided. Existing law provides for a system of labor standards enforcement administered by the Labor Commissioner. This bill would, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, make it unlawful to include in any employment contract, or to require a worker to execute as a condition of employment or a work relationship a contract that includes, specified contract terms, including a term that requires the worker to pay an employer, training provider, or debt collector for a debt if the worker's employment or work relationship with a specific employer terminates. The bill would declare these contracts as contracts that restrain a person from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business, and as void and contrary to public policy, except as provided. This bill would authorize a worker who has been subjected to the above-described prohibited conduct regarding a contract or its terms or a work representative to bring an action on behalf of that worker, other persons similarly situated, or both, in any court of competent jurisdiction. The bill would make a person who violates these provisions liable for specified civil penalties and relief.
Existing law defines rape as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished under certain circumstances, including with a person not the spouse of the perpetrator where the person is incapable of giving legal consent because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability. This bill would remove the spousal exception from this definition of rape. 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.