Sen. Melissa Hurtado

Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board to examine and certify persons as to their qualifications to operate water treatment plants and water distribution systems. Existing law requires the certification to indicate the classification of water treatment plant or water distribution system that the person is qualified to operate. Existing law requires the board to issue a water treatment operator certificate and water distribution operator certificate by reciprocity to any person holding a valid, unexpired, comparable certification issued by another state, the United States, prescribed territories or tribal governments, or a unit of any of these. Existing law requires the board to classify types of wastewater treatment plants for the purpose of determining the levels of competence necessary to operate them. Existing law requires a person who operates a nonexempt wastewater treatment plant to possess a valid, unexpired wastewater certificate, as defined. Existing law requires the board to develop and specify in its regulations the training necessary to qualify a person for a wastewater certificate for each type and class of plant. Existing law authorizes the board to accept experience in lieu of qualification training. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change in the provision regarding accepting experience in lieu of qualification training.

Existing law establishes the California State University under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law authorizes the university to establish Doctor of Nursing Practice degree programs that offer Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees, subject to specified program and enrollment requirements. This bill would require the university to establish Doctor of Medicine degree programs, as provided, with the goal of addressing access to medical care in underserved, disadvantaged areas. The bill would appropriate $15,000 from the General Fund to the trustees for the implementation and administration of these provisions. The bill would require the trustees, on or before January 1, 2023, to submit a report to the Legislature on its implementation and administration of these provisions.

Existing law authorizes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires an operator proposing to perform a well stimulation treatment to apply to the State Oil and Gas Supervisor or a district deputy for a permit to perform the well stimulation treatment, including hydraulic fracturing, and imposes other requirements and conditions on the use of well stimulation treatments. Under existing law, a person who fails to comply with this and other requirements relating to the regulation of oil or gas operations is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature in enacting this legislation to (1) strengthen the regulatory review process for well stimulation treatment projects to protect public health and safety, and the environment, while protecting the livelihoods of essential workers in the San Joaquin Valley, and (2) ensure that any jobs or economic activity affected by the strengthening of the regulatory review process for well stimulation treatment projects are fully compensated for, and retained, in order to ensure the employees and communities affected by these actions are not adversely affected. The bill would require the operator of a well, from the commencement of hydraulic fracturing until 30 days after the end of the hydraulic fracturing on the well, to monitor the California Integrated Seismic Network for indication of an earthquake of magnitude 2.7 or greater occurring within a radius of 5 times the axial dimensional stimulation area. If an earthquake of magnitude 2.7 or greater is identified, the bill would require the operator to immediately notify the division and inform the division when the earthquake occurred relative to the hydraulic fracturing operations, and would prohibit any further hydraulic fracturing to be done within the radius until the division has completed a certain evaluation and is satisfied that hydraulic fracturing within that radius does not create a heightened risk of seismic activity. Within 72 hours of the occurrence of an unauthorized release of certain fluids, the bill would require the operator of the well to provide the division a written report containing certain information related to the release. Because a violation of these 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to contract for the establishment and operation of community correctional facilities. Pursuant to these provisions, and a settlement agreement executed in 1996 by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the City of Shafter, the Department contracted with the City of Shafter to operate the Shafter Modified Community Correctional Facility, including 99 one-year lease options, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to release the one-year lease options no later than January 31, 2022. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute due to the unique circumstances involving the lease options provided to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for use of the Shafter Modified Community Correctional Facility.

Existing law, the California Tourism and Marketing Act, establishes a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation named the California Travel and Tourism Commission under the direction of a board of commissioners composed of 37 members, including the Director of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development. This bill, the California Tourism Recovery Act, would require the commission to, upon a determination by the State Department of Public Health that it is safe to resume travel in California, implement a strategic media and jobs recovery campaign known as the "Calling All Californians" program for the purpose of reversing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry in California, as specified. The bill would require the commission to report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2024, regarding the cost of the program and the impact of the program on the tourism industry in California. The bill would require, only upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Controller to transfer $45,000,000 to the commission for the purpose of implementing the "Calling All Californians" program.

The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to assist the local chief elected official in planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce investment. The act requires local boards to carry out specific tasks consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, including, with representatives of secondary and postsecondary education programs, to lead efforts in the local area to develop and implement career pathways within the local area by aligning the employment, training, education, and supportive services that are needed by adults and youth, particularly individuals with barriers to employment. The act also provides for training partnerships that are overseen by the board, including the High Road Training Partnerships initiative, a demonstration project to model partnership strategies for the state among various industry sectors, and that is industry based and worker focused in order to build skills for California employers that, among other things, pay family-supporting wages to their employees. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the California Workforce Development Board to establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Supportive Services Program. The bill would require the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, to make $50,000,000 in grants available to applicants, including local workforce development boards, labor organizations, K–12 educational entities, community colleges, adult schools, county social service agencies, community-based organizations, business-related nonprofit organizations, and workforce intermediaries who work directly with the individuals experiencing employment barriers to ensure those individuals receive needed training, that apply for funding to provide supportive services, as defined, and are approved in accordance with the bill. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to develop criteria, policies, and guidelines for the award of supportive service grant funds consistent with the bill. The bill would require that those criteria, policies, and guidelines consider, but not be limited to, the ability of applicants to leverage additional funds in support of the program, priority for grant applicants that are or that partner with High Road Training Partnerships, and tracking of participants into the labor market to measure program efficacy.

Existing law requires the governing board of any school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for the work, including school psychologists and counselors. This bill would require the State Department of Education, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide up to $500,000,000 in grants each year for the purpose of providing mental health services for all pupils, including those affected by school closures and distance learning requirements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would require the department to allocate those grants to local educational agencies, as specified. The bill would be implemented only to the extent that funds for its purposes are appropriated by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, and would authorize that appropriation to come from any available state and federal funds.

Existing law declares that the protection of the public interest in the development of the water resources of the state is of vital concern to the people of the state and that the state shall determine in what way the water of the state, both surface and underground, should be developed for the greatest public benefit. Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources, and within the department, the California Water Commission. Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board for the purposes of providing for the orderly and efficient administration of the water resources of the state. This bill, the Water Innovation Act of 2021, would create the Office of Water Innovation at the California Water Commission for the furtherance of new technologies and other innovative approaches in the water sector. The bill would require the office, by December 31, 2023, to take specified measures to advance innovation in the water sector. The bill would make findings and declarations regarding the need for water innovation. The bill would further create the Water Innovation Fund, with all moneys available, upon appropriation, to the department, the state board, or other state agencies for the furtherance of water innovation. The bill would require the Department of Finance to develop a standardized agreement to allow for voluntary donations to the fund by any person, educational institution, government entity, corporation or other business entity, or organization.

Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, generally provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Social Services. Existing regulation includes an adult residential facility, as defined, as a community care facility for those purposes. Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, generally provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly by the department. A person who violates these acts, or who willfully or repeatedly violates any rule or regulation adopted under those acts, is guilty of a crime. Existing law also establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the department and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to authorize an assessment on home care services, including IHSS. This bill would create, to the extent the Legislature makes an appropriation for these provisions, the Enriched Care Adult Residential Facility pilot program, to be administered by the department. The bill would require the department to establish guidelines for the distribution of monthly stipends to facilities that provide residential care to specific types of residents and to distribute those stipends for the pilot program. The bill would require facilities that receive a stipend to report to the department specified information, including a brief description of how the stipend was used to benefit residents. By expanding the duties of these facilities, the bill would expand an existing crime applicable to those facilities, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to evaluate the program using specified criteria and to report that information to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require the department to implement these provisions in order to maximize federal funding and would authorize the department to implement the provisions through an all-county letter or similar instruction. The bill would provide for the termination of the pilot program on June 30, 2026, as specified. 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, the California Fostering Connections to Success Act, revises and expands the scope of various programs relating to the provision of cash assistance and other services to and for the benefit of certain foster and adopted children, and other children who have been placed in out-of-home care, including children who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) , Adoption Assistance Program, California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) , and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) benefits. Among other provisions, the act extends specified foster care benefits to nonminor dependents up to 21 years of age, if specified conditions are met. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to convene a working group to examine the extended foster care program and make recommendations for improvements to the program. The bill would require the working group to submit a report to the Legislature with the recommendations on or before July 1, 2022. The bill would require the working group to include representatives from specified state agencies and stakeholders. The bill would require the working group to evaluate and provide recommendations on the overall functioning of the extended foster care system, and on other specified components of the foster care system, including higher education opportunities, job training, and employment opportunities for nonminor dependents, housing access, and access to health care and mental health services. The bill would require the recommendations to reflect a consensus of the working group, as specified.