Sen. Melissa Hurtado

This measure would recognize May 5, 2019, as International Midwives' Day.

The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006, approved by the voters as Proposition 1B at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of $19.925 billion of general obligation bonds for specified purposes, including $2 billion to be transferred to the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund (TCIF) , created by the bond act. The bond act makes the moneys in the TCIF available, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act by the Legislature and subject to such conditions and criteria as the Legislature may provide by statute, for allocation by the California Transportation Commission for infrastructure improvements along federally designated Trade Corridors of National Significance or along other corridors that have a high volume of freight movement, as determined by the commission. Existing law designates the commission as the administrative agency responsible for programming funds in the TCIF and authorizes the commission to adopt guidelines for the TCIF program. This bill would require the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature of funds resulting from TCIF program savings, to establish a competitive grant program to provide grants from those funds in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 fiscal years to the Department of Transportation or regional transportation planning agencies, or both, for short-line railroad projects such as railroad reconstruction, maintenance, upgrade, or replacement. The bill would require the commission to adopt guidelines, in consultation with representatives from specified government and industry entities, by July 1, 2020, to be used by the commission to select grant recipients.

Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Existing law generally requires a recipient of CalWORKs benefits to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law requires that necessary supportive services be available to participants in welfare-to-work activities, including childcare, which is provided pursuant to the Child Care and Development Services Act. The act establishes 3 stages of childcare services through which a recipient of CalWORKs will pass. The act requires county welfare departments to manage the first stage of childcare and requires the State Department of Education to manage the 2nd and 3rd stages. This bill would increase access to childcare supportive services for welfare-to-work participants by, among other things, requiring that the childcare be full-time unless the participant determines that part-time care better meets the family's needs, requiring first-stage childcare to be authorized for one year, or until the participant is transferred to the 2nd stage of childcare, and prohibiting the first stage or the 2nd stage of childcare services from being discontinued until confirmation is received from the administrator of the subsequent stage of childcare that the family has been enrolled or that the family is ineligible for services in the subsequent stage of childcare. The bill would also specify additional welfare-to-work program activities for which childcare services are available. This bill would require that the participant be informed of the availability of childcare services upon enrollment in the CalWORKs program and at later times when a participant expresses a need for childcare. By imposing new duties on county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes confidential and prohibits the release of information about applicants for public social services. Notwithstanding this prohibition, existing law authorizes a county welfare department to share information necessary for the administration of childcare programs and the CalWORKs program. This bill would require that specified information necessary to enroll or transfer a family into childcare services be made available by a county welfare department to a contractor that provides childcare services. The bill would require, beginning no later than November 1, 2020, a county welfare department to provide a monthly report to stage-2 contractors containing specified information. The bill would authorize a county welfare department to provide training on security protocols and confidentiality of individual family data to a contractor who is given access to data pursuant to those provisions. By imposing new duties on county welfare departments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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.

This measure would honor the service members who have served and are serving in our nation's military, and would recognize the month of May 2019 as National Military Appreciation Month.

This measure would proclaim the week of March 3, 2019, to March 9, 2019, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week.