Sen. Dave Cortese

Maddy summaryThis Senate Concurrent Resolution officially designates May 2024 as National Mental Health Awareness Month within the state of California. The measure does not alter laws or allocate funding but serves to formally recognize the importance of mental well-being and highlight statistics regarding mental illness prevalence and its impact on various communities. By establishing this designation, the resolution aims to encourage public focus on mental health issues during the month of May.

Existing law authorizes an autonomous vehicle, as defined, to be operated on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle being operated if certain requirements are met, including that the vehicle is being operated solely by employees, contractors, or other persons designated by the manufacturer. Existing law prohibits an autonomous vehicle from being operated on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles containing certain certifications regarding safety and other technological requirements and the department approves that application pursuant to adopted regulations. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2030, and to the extent authorized by federal law, prohibits the operation of certain new autonomous vehicles that are not zero-emission vehicles, as defined. Existing law provides for the local regulation of certain types of transportation services, including taxicab companies. Existing law requires each city or county in which a taxicab company is substantially located to adopt an ordinance or resolution in regards to taxicab transportation service, that includes provisions for a permitting program for taxicab drivers. Under existing law, it is unlawful to operate a taxicab company without a valid permit to operate issued by each city or county in which the taxicab company is substantially located. This bill would authorize a city with a population of 250,000 or greater that an autonomous vehicle service, as defined, has received authorization by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Public Utilities Commission, or any other applicable state agency to operate, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare by enacting an ordinance in regard to autonomous vehicle services within that jurisdiction. The bill would require each city that enacts an ordinance to include certain provisions within that ordinance. These would include a policy for entry into the business of providing autonomous vehicle services including a permitting program that includes, among other things, the establishment of reasonable vehicle caps and hours of service restrictions. The bill would authorize a city with a population of less than 250,000 that shares a border or is contiguous to a city that has enacted an autonomous vehicle services ordinance to enact an ordinance substantially consistent with that autonomous vehicle services ordinance. The bill would authorize each city to levy service charges, fees, or assessments in the amount sufficient to pay for the costs of carrying out an ordinance enacted in regard to autonomous vehicle services. The bill would prohibit an ordinance enacted pursuant to this bill from banning the safe operation of autonomous vehicle services. This bill would require an autonomous vehicle service to include an interoperability or override system in each of its vehicles, as specified, and provide training for first responders on how to interact with the vehicles and the use of the override system. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle service conducting commercial passenger service to take various actions, including maintaining reasonable financial responsibility and keeping its vehicles in safe operating condition, as specified. 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.

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust, and requires the university to be administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes. These provisions grant the regents all the powers necessary or convenient for the effective administration of its trust. This measure would require employees of the Regents of the University of California to have the right to, and be covered by, certain basic state labor standards, as provided. The measure would require individuals who perform certain work for the regents to have the right to the payment of a prevailing wage. The measure would authorize the Legislature to enact laws that further these rights, establish, define, or specify the basic state labor standards applicable to the regents, or establish other health, safety, and labor protections for individuals performing work for the regents.

This measure would acknowledge April 2024 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and encourage Californians to work together to support youth-serving child abuse prevention activities in their communities and schools.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 92 officially designates May 2024 as Lupus and Fibromyalgia Awareness Month in California. This legislative measure aims to increase public understanding of these conditions by highlighting their symptoms, diagnostic challenges, and prevalence among specific demographics. The resolution does not alter laws or funding but serves to encourage education and research into these chronic health issues.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine, and establishes examination, training, and other requirements for licensure as a physician and surgeon. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill, through November 30, 2024, would authorize a physician licensed to practice medicine in Arizona who meets certain requirements to practice medicine in California for the purpose of providing abortions and abortion-related care to patients who are Arizona residents traveling from Arizona, upon application for registration with the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable. The bill would prohibit the physician from providing care or consultation for other purposes or to other patients, except under specified circumstances. The bill would require an Arizona physician, before practicing in California, to submit specified information to the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as applicable, including, among other information, written verification from the Arizona Medical Board or the Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, or documentation printed from an online licensing system, that the physician's Arizona license to practice medicine is in good standing and confers on the physician the authority to practice abortions and abortion-related care. The bill would require the applicant to provide an affidavit attesting that, among other things, the applicant meets all of the requirements for registration, as specified, and would make it a misdemeanor for a person to provide false information. The bill would limit the information the California boards are required to disclose about a registrant. The bill would deem a physician registered pursuant to the bill's provisions a licensee of the applicable board, would authorize the applicable board to take enforcement against a person registered pursuant to the bill's provisions, and would prohibit the applicable boards from collecting any fees for registration. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal the bill's provisions on January 1, 2025. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. 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.

Existing law defines human trafficking to include both sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Existing law requires county child welfare agencies and probation departments to implement policies and procedures that require social workers and probation officers to, among other things, identify children receiving child welfare services who are, or are at risk of becoming, victims of commercial sexual exploitation. This bill would, on or before January 1, 2026, require county child welfare agencies and probation departments to expand the above-described policies to apply to children who are, or are at risk of becoming, victims of labor trafficking, as specified. By expanding county duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to ensure that the statewide child welfare information system is capable of collecting various information, including the number of dependent children or wards in foster care who became victims of commercial sexual exploitation in foster care. The bill would revise these provisions to require the State Department of Social Services to ensure that the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System is capable of collecting specified information, including, among other things, the number of dependent children or wards in foster care who became victims of human trafficking, labor trafficking, or both, within foster care. Existing law establishes the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Program, which is administered by the State Department of Social Services. The program requires the department to provide funds to participating counties to provide training to county children's services workers to identify, intervene, and provide case management services to children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking and to foster caregivers for the prevention and identification of potential victims. Existing law requires the department to provide specified information to the Legislature regarding the implementation of these provisions, including the number of victims served by each county and the types of services provided, no later than April 1, 2017. This bill would change the name of the program to the Human Trafficked Children Program and revise all parts of the program to include all children who are victims of human trafficking, including those who are the victims of labor trafficking. The bill would require the department to provide and update information provided to the Legislature regarding implementation of these provisions and to provide additional information relating to serving child victims of labor trafficking. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, to ensure that the child welfare information system is capable of collecting data concerning children who are commercially sexually exploited, as specified. This bill would require the department to ensure that the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System is capable of collecting data concerning children who are victims of human trafficking no later than June 1, 2025. 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 imposes on the Department of Water Resources various duties with respect to water in the state. Existing law, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires the department, in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform that, among other things, integrates existing water and ecological data information from multiple databases and provides data on completed water transfers and exchanges. This bill would require the department, while seeking input from the California Water Data Consortium, as defined, to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website, as specified. The bill would include related findings and declarations.

Existing law regulates the sale of subdivided lands and prescribes definitions for this purpose. Existing law defines a subdivision to include, among other things, condominium projects and planned developments, as specified, and other common interest developments. Existing law requires a person who intends to offer subdivided lands for sale or lease to file with the Department of Real Estate an application for a public report, as specified. Existing law prescribes various restrictions on the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision. In certain instances, existing law permits lots to be sold or leased only if the money paid or advanced by a purchaser or lessee is placed into an escrow account or a bond furnished for the purpose of protecting purchasers or lessees. This bill would permit a purchaser's deposit that is held in escrow pursuant to a binding sales contract for a lot or parcel within a subdivision that is not yet constructed or developed to be disbursed before closing to pay for project construction costs, as specified. The bill would permit the disbursement of a purchaser's deposit before closing and the conveyance or leasing of any unit before completion of construction if specified conditions are met, including, among other things, that the developer has submitted to the Department of Real Estate a project budget showing all costs required to be paid in order to complete the project, the department has reviewed and approved the proposed disbursement, and the purchaser provides express informed consent to the disbursement, as specified. If a purchaser's funds are to be disbursed before the completion of construction of the project, the bill would require the developer to submit specified information to the Department of Real Estate, including, among other things, a copy of the purchaser's express informed consent to the disbursement. The bill would permit the disbursement of a purchaser's deposit before closing and the disbursement of moneys from the conveyance or leasing of units before completion of construction to pay any cost set forth in the project budget, as specified. The bill would require a specified notice to be prominently displayed in the developer's public report for the project if a purchaser's deposit is to be disbursed before closing or if moneys from the conveyance or leasing of units before completion of construction are to be disbursed to pay for project costs. The bill would require the Department of Real Estate to complete a review required by these provisions within 30 days of receipt of the document to be reviewed. Existing law provides that a provision in a contract to purchase and sell residential property that provides that all or any part of a payment made by the buyer constitutes liquidated damages to the seller upon the buyer's failure to complete the purchase of the property is valid if certain conditions are satisfied, including certain conditions pertaining to whether the amount actually paid pursuant to the liquidated damages provision does or does not exceed 3% of the purchase price. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the provisions described above, the amount actually paid pursuant to a liquidated damages provision may exceed 3% of the purchase price if the bill's provisions described above are satisfied, in which case the bill would require that the liquidated damages equal the amount of the deposit.

Existing law, the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. This bill would require each community mental health service to have a local youth mental health board (board) , appointed as specified, consisting of members between 15 and 23 years of age, inclusive, at least 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, mental health consumers who are receiving, or have received, mental health services, or siblings or close family members of mental health consumers and 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, enrolled in schools in the county. The bill would require the board, among other duties, to review and evaluate the local public mental health system and advise the governing body and school district governing bodies on mental health services related to youth that are delivered by the local mental health agency or local behavioral health agency, school districts, or others, as applicable. The bill would require the governing body to include the board in the county planning process and provide a budget for the board sufficient to facilitate the purposes, duties, and responsibilities of the board. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, among other things, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, commencing January 1, 2025, revises and recasts the MHSA by, among other things, renaming the commission the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and changing the duties of the commission to include promoting transformational change in California's behavioral health system through research, evaluation and tracking outcomes, and other strategies to assess and report progress. This bill would require the commission, on or before December 30, 2027, and once every 5 years thereafter, to assess the extent to which the local youth mental health boards have been established and to make recommendations on ways to strengthen the youth voice to support appropriate behavioral health services. 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.