Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the enforcement of labor laws. This bill would establish in the division the Labor Standards Consultation Unit for the purpose of providing consulting services to employee groups and employers with 100 or fewer employees regarding compliance with wage and hour laws. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the unit ultimately be self-supporting and, to further that end, would authorize the unit to charge a requesting employer or employee group a fee for consulting services provided, not to exceed the actual cost to the unit, and to further fund its operation from grants obtained from for-profit or not-for-profit nongovernmental and governmental entities.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards and authorizes them to adopt regulations to carry out their powers and duties. Existing law generally requires state agencies to adopt regulations in accordance with prescribed procedures and requirements, and requires the Office of Administrative Law to review adopted regulations and to make specified determinations. However, existing law grants to the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards various exemptions to the above requirements, including an exemption for the adoption of regulations for the issuance, denial, or revocation of specified waste discharge requirements and permits. This bill would provide that the exemption for the adoption of regulations for the issuance, denial, or revocation of specified waste discharge requirements and permits shall not apply to any general permits or waivers issued under state law or the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, as defined, thereby requiring the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards to comply with provisions that require the adoption of regulations under those circumstances.
(1) Existing law prohibits a permanent school employee from being dismissed except for one or more specified offenses. This bill would prohibit a collective bargaining agreement entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2013, from requiring the removal, after a specified time period, from an employee's record of records pertaining to discipline, complaints, reprimands, or investigations relating to the employee's commission, or potential commission, of one of those specified offenses. (2) Existing law authorizes a governing board of a school district to give notice to a permanent employee of its intention to dismiss or suspend him or her for specified causes at the expiration of 30 days from the date of service of the notice, unless the employee demands a hearing. Existing law prohibits that notice from being given between May 15th and September 15th in any year. This bill would remove that prohibition. (3) Existing law prohibits the governing board of a school district from acting upon any charges of unprofessional conduct, or unsatisfactory performance, unless at least 45, or 90, calendar days, respectively, prior to the date of the filing of the charges the governing board, or its authorized representative, has given the employee written notice, as specified. This bill would remove those 45-day and 90-day requirements. (4) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to immediately place an employee on compulsory leave of absence if the employee is charged with a mandatory leave of absence offense, as defined. This bill would require the governing board to transfer a certificated employee to nonclassroom duties that do not involve contact with pupils if the governing board has reasonable cause to believe that the employee is under investigation by a law enforcement agency for commission of a mandatory leave of absence offense. The bill would require an employee transferred under these provisions to continue to receive his or her regular salary during the period of the transfer. If the governing board returns the employee to classroom duties, the bill would require the governing board to record the reason or reasons for the return in a resolution adopted by the governing board. By placing additional duties on school district governing boards regarding the transfer of employee duties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law establishes a Commission on Professional Competence for each dismissal or suspension hearing requested by an employee, consisting of specified members. Existing law deems the decision of the Commission on Professional Competence to be the final decision of the governing board of the school district. This bill would make various changes to the provisions relating to the hearing, including requiring the Commission on Professional Competence to consist solely of an administrative law judge, as well as providing that the decision of the commission would be advisory, and the final decision regarding the discipline of the employee would be determined by action of the governing board of the school district. The bill would provide that an employee requesting a hearing may be placed on administrative leave without pay, and that an employee who is placed on administrative leave would be required to be paid his or her regular salary if he or she furnishes to the school district acceptable security, as specified. (6) Existing law prohibits testimony from being given or evidence being introduced at the hearing relating to matters that occurred more than 4 years prior to the date of the filing of the notice of dismissal or suspension. This bill would remove that 4-year limitation. (7) This bill would make nonsubstantive and conforming changes. (8) 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law describes the circumstances under which a person is deemed confined in a "state prison," including when the person is committed to a facility of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or when the person is temporarily outside its walls or bounds for the purpose of serving on a work detail or for the purpose of confinement in a local correctional institution pending trial. Existing law provides that a person who is confined in the state prison who commits a crime, such as possessing or manufacturing a weapon, such as a weapon commonly known as a blackjack, committing a battery on a person who is not confined in a state prison, or escaping or attempting to escape from the state prison, is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for additional terms, as specified, to be served consecutively. Existing law also provides that mentally ill, mentally deficient, or insane persons who are confined to the state prison may be treated at a state hospital if the Secretary of Corrections and Rehabilitation believes that the person's rehabilitation may be expedited by that treatment. Existing law requires that a prisoner who meets certain specified criteria relating to having a severe mental disorder be treated by the State Department of Mental Health as a condition of parole. This bill would provide that a person is deemed "confined in" a prison if he or she is either transferred to a state hospital pursuant to the above provisions of existing law or, as a condition of parole, is required to be treated in a state hospital by the State Department of Mental Health. By changing the classification of certain crimes, such as possessing a weapon commonly known as a blackjack when committed by persons who are receiving mental health treatment, from a misdemeanor to a felony, the bill would impose additional duties on local prosecuting entities, thereby creating 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.
Article XVI of the California Constitution requires a general obligation bond act to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds, and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and by a majority of the voters. Article XVI authorizes the Legislature, at any time after the approval of a general obligation bond act by the voters, to reduce the amount of the indebtedness authorized by the act to an amount not less than the amount contracted at the time of the reduction or to repeal the act if no debt has been contracted. Existing law, pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, provides for the issuance of $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and related rail purposes. Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority with specified powers and duties related to the development and implementation of a high-speed train system. This bill would provide that no further bonds shall be sold for high-speed rail and related rail purposes pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. The bill would amend the bond act to authorize redirection of the net proceeds received from outstanding bonds issued and sold prior to the effective date of this act, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from those high-speed rail purposes to retiring the debt incurred from the issuance and sale of those outstanding bonds. This bill would provide that, pursuant to Article XVI of the California Constitution, these provisions shall become effective only upon approval by the voters at the next statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to review and adopt a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified elements, incentive mechanisms, and objectives. The act requires that an electrical corporation's proposed procurement plan include certain elements, including a showing that the electrical corporation will first meet its unmet needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible and, in order to fulfill its unmet resource needs, that the electrical corporation will procure resources from eligible renewable energy resources in an amount sufficient to meet its procurement requirements pursuant to the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (RPS program) . This bill would recast these requirements to instead require a showing that the procurement plan creates or maintains a diversified procurement portfolio consisting of both short-term and long-term electricity and electricity-related and demand reduction products pursuant to a specified loading order. The first element of the loading order would require the electrical corporation to first meet its unmet resource needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources, including energy conservation, peak load reduction, load shifting, and demand response resources, that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible. The 2nd element of the loading order would require the electrical corporation to secondarily meet its unmet resource needs through cost effective, reliable, and feasible procurement of eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to the RPS program and ultraclean and low-emission distributed generation. The bill would recognize that procurement of variable generation eligible renewable energy resources may require the procurement of additional integration resources, including generation from natural gas powerplants that are able to provide regulation and ancillary services. The 3rd element of the loading order would be procurement of other resources.
Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Existing law provides that the tax on a sale completed at an auction will be computed according to the amount of the successful bid. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Existing law requires, except as specified, all meetings of a house of the Legislature or a committee thereof to be open and public. Existing law, the Legislative Open Records Act, provides that legislative records are open to inspection and any person has a right to inspect any legislative record, except as specified. Existing law requires the Legislative Counsel to make certain information available to the public in electronic form regarding each bill in each current legislative session, including, among other things, the bill history and status, all bill analyses prepared by legislative committees, and all vote information. This bill would require each house of the Legislature to make an audio, or audio and video, recording of every open and public meeting of a house of the Legislature or a committee thereof, and would require those recordings to be transcribed. The bill would specify that the transcriptions shall be legislative records for purposes of the Legislative Open Records Act and require that the Legislative Counsel make the transcriptions available to the public in electronic form. The bill would require each house of the Legislature to make the transcriptions in a manner that utilizes the best available technology in audio transcription software in order to minimize costs.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. Existing law, the Public Utilities Act, requires, among other things, the commission to charge and collect a fee for a certificate authorizing an issue of stock, as prescribed. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in this provision.
Existing law permits proceedings for the formation of a regional park and open-space district in specified counties of the state to be initiated by resolution of the county board of supervisors adopted after a noticed hearing, and specifies the contents of the resolution. This bill, in addition, would permit the formation of a regional open-space district in the County of San Luis Obispo to be initiated by resolution of the county board of supervisors after a noticed hearing, if the boundaries of a proposed district are coterminous with the exterior boundaries of the County of San Luis Obispo. The bill would specify the contents of the resolution, including a requirement to call an election, as prescribed.