Existing law generally provides for the establishment, review, and termination of conservatorships. Existing law specifies the persons who may be appointed as a conservator and requires the court to review a conservatorship 6 months after the initial appointment of the conservator, one year after the appointment of the conservator, and annually thereafter. Existing law sets forth the powers and duties of a conservator for the care, custody, and control of a conservatee. This bill, commencing January 1, 2025, would require a conservator, within 120 calendar days of appointment and not later than 10 days before a hearing to determine the continuation or termination of an existing conservatorship, and to file a care plan regarding the care, custody, and control of the conservatee. The bill would require delivery of the care plan to specified persons, including the conservatee and their attorney, but would otherwise make the care plan confidential, except as specified, thereby limiting public access to the records. The bill would require the Judicial Council to develop a mandatory form for the care plan, which would be required to include specified information, including descriptions of the conservatee's living arrangement and level of care and any plans to modify those within the next 12 months. The bill would impose sanctions for a conservator's failure to timely file a care plan, including authorizing the court to impose a civil penalty in any amount up to $500, payable to the estate of the conservatee, and authorizing the court to remove a conservator for failure to file a care plan. The bill would require an investigator to review the most recent care plan as part of an investigation. Existing law requires a conservator, upon appointment, to determine the appropriate level of care for the conservatee and to make that determination in writing, signed by the conservator under penalty of perjury, and requires it to be submitted to the court within 60 days of appointment as conservator. This bill would remove the requirements that the determination be provided in writing and signed under penalty of perjury, as well as the delivery timeline, and would instead require that it be included in the care plan. 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administrated by the Teachers' Retirement Board. The Defined Benefit Program is funded by employer and employee contributions, as well as investment returns and state appropriations, which are deposited or credited to the Teachers' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for the purposes of the system. Existing law authorizes a member of STRS who is eligible and applies for a disability allowance or retirement to apply to receive a service retirement pending the determination of their application for disability, subject to meeting certain conditions. These include that the member submit an application on a form prescribed by the system and, if the application for disability benefits is denied or canceled, the service retirement date of a member who submits an application for retirement under these provisions may not be earlier than January 1, 2014. This bill would instead prohibit the service retirement date of a member who submits an application for retirement under these provisions from being earlier than 270 calendar days prior to when the application for service retirement is received by the system. Existing law, with respect to an application for disability benefits that is denied or canceled, prohibits the service retirement date from being earlier than one day after the date on which a retirement allowance was terminated, as specified, provided that the retirement allowance is terminated on or after January 1, 2014. This bill would instead provide that the retirement allowance under the above-described circumstances is terminated no earlier than 270 calendar days prior to when the application for service retirement is received by the system. Existing law provides that a service retirement allowance under STRS becomes effective on a date designated by the member, provided all of specified conditions are met, including that the member executes an application for service retirement allowance no earlier than 6 months before the effective date of retirement allowance. This bill would provide that the effective date of a member who files an application for service retirement under a specified formula applicable to members 55 years of age or older is no earlier than 270 calendar days prior to when the application for service retirement is received by the system. The bill, with respect to the above members, would delete a provision specifying that the retirement date of a member who files an application for retirement on or after January 1, 2012, is no earlier than January 1, 2012. The bill would require the board to determine a date when STRS has the capacity to implement the above-described changes and to post the date on the STRS website no later than January 1, 2026. The bill would make those provisions operative on the date determined by the board, and would repeal those existing provisions on January 1, 2026. By changing the method for calculating the service retirement date of certain members of STRS, the bill would affect moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to 5 days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. This bill would additionally make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 5 days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event, as defined. The bill would require that leave be taken within 3 months of the event, except as described, and pursuant to any existing leave policy of the employer. The bill would provide that if an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, the employer is not obligated to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period. Under the bill, in the absence of an existing policy, the reproductive loss leave may be unpaid. However, the bill would authorize an employee to use certain other leave balances otherwise available to the employee, including accrued and available paid sick leave. The bill would make leave under these provisions a separate and distinct right from any right under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to retaliate against an individual, as described, because of the individual's exercise of the right to reproductive loss leave or the individual's giving of information or testimony as to reproductive loss leave, as described. The bill would require the employer to maintain employee confidentiality relating to reproductive loss leave, as specified. 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, added by the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1991, creates the Department of Pesticide Regulation and authorizes the Director of Pesticide Regulation, among other things, to adopt regulations for the issuance and renewal of licenses and certificates for pest control operations. Existing law requires the director, on or after January 1, 2025, to adopt regulations for the issuance and renewal of licenses and certificates for pest control operations for a 3-year period. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2026, to establish and convene a Department of Pesticide Regulation Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, as provided, that would provide prioritized recommendations to the department on ways to integrate environmental justice considerations into department programs, policies, decisionmaking, and activities, and on how the department can improve its engagement with communities with the most significant exposure to pesticides. The bill would require the advisory committee to hold, at a minimum, 2 public meetings annually and to post, as needed, its recommendations on the department's internet website. The bill would also require the department to post, as needed, on its internet website an update on its efforts to incorporate the advisory committee's recommendations.
Existing law establishes procedures for authors to submit arguments for and against local ballot measures, and rebuttals to those arguments, in accordance with deadlines set by local elections officials. Existing law requires elections officials to select arguments from those submitted for publication in the voter information guide. This bill would establish a lead county, as defined, for the purposes of district or school district elections when the boundaries of the district or school district encompass more than one county. The bill would require authors of arguments for or against district or school district measures, and related rebuttal arguments, to submit the arguments to the elections official of the lead county. The bill would require the elections official of the lead county to work with the other counties within the district bounds to establish deadlines for receipt of the arguments. The bill would require the elections official of the lead county to select the arguments for publication in the county voter information guide, and to transmit copies of the selected arguments to elections officials in the other counties within the district or school district, as specified. The bill would require an elections official who receives arguments selected by the lead county to include the arguments in their county voter information guide. Existing law permits an elections official to post a form on their internet website for a candidate to use to submit the candidate's statement for the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. If the elections official posts the form, existing law requires the elections official to accept that form by electronic submission if it is submitted in accordance with certain timeframes and procedures for the preparation of the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. Existing law requires a candidate running in a multicounty district to provide to each county a hardcopy of the candidate statement form from the candidate's county of residence and payment of the requisite fee. This bill would require elections officials to post and accept electronic submission of a form for candidates to submit a candidate statement for the voter information portion of the county voter information guide. The bill would authorize a candidate running in a multicounty district to submit to each county an electronic copy of the form from the candidate's county of residence, and would require the candidate to transmit hardcopies of the candidate statement form, any accompanying form, and payment of the requisite fee to each county by overnight mail within 72 hours of filing the statement electronically. By increasing the duties of local elections officials, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities, including retail commercial cannabis activity, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cannabis Control. Existing law requires cannabis and cannabis product labels and inserts to include specified warnings about the safety of cannabis use. This bill would, on or before July 1, 2025, require the department to reevaluate regulations for the above-described warnings to determine whether any additional warnings are necessary to reflect evolving science, and would require the department to adopt regulations for cannabis and cannabis product labels or inserts reflecting the evolving science regarding the risks that cannabis use may cause consumers. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, require the department to reevaluate the adopted regulations to determine whether the requirements reflect the state of the evolving science on cannabis health effects and on effective communication of health warnings. The bill would authorize cannabis or cannabis products manufactured before January 1, 2030, and every proceeding year new labeling requirements are imposed to be sold for up to 12 months or for a shorter period of time as prescribed by the department. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2025, require the department, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, to create and post for public use a single-page flat or folded brochure that includes prescribed information, including, among other things, implications and risks associated with cannabis use, as specified. The bill would, on and after March 1, 2025, require a retailer or microbusiness selling, or person delivering, cannabis or cannabis products to a consumer to prominently display the brochure, including printed copies, at the point of sale of final delivery in person or online, and offer each new consumer a copy of the brochure at the time of first purchase or delivery. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, require the department to either recertify the information in the brochure or provide updated language, as specified.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law provides, until January 1, 2025, that, for certain state and local firefighting personnel and peace officers, the term "injury" includes post-traumatic stress that develops or manifests during a period in which the injured person is in the service of the department or unit and creates a disputable presumption that the injury arises out of and comes in the course of employment. Existing law requires the compensation awarded pursuant to this provision to include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits. This bill would instead repeal that provision on January 1, 2029, and would require the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation to submit reports to the Legislature analyzing the effectiveness of the presumption and a review of claims filed by specified types of employees, not included in the presumption, such as public safety dispatchers, as defined.
Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight. This bill would add fentanyl to the substances for which additional terms or fines can be imposed and would require a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, or cocaine, as specified, to know of the substance's nature or character as a controlled substance to be subjected to an additional term and authorized fine. By increasing the penalty for, and by changing the definition of, 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 vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to implement and enforce standards for the maintenance and operation of facilities for the generation and storage of electricity owned by an electrical corporation or located in the state to ensure their reliable operation. This bill would require each battery energy storage facility located in the state and subject to the requirement described above to have an emergency response and emergency action plan that covers the premises of the battery energy storage facility, as specified. The bill would require the owner or operator of the facility, in developing the plan, to coordinate with local emergency management agencies, unified program agencies, and local first response agencies. To the extent the bill would impose new duties on local government agencies, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the owner or operator of the facility to submit the plan to the county and, if applicable, the city where the facility is located. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the State Contract Act, governs the bidding and award of public works contracts by specific state departments and requires an awarding department, before entering into any contract for a project, to prepare full, complete, and accurate plans and specifications and estimates of cost. Existing law, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases and requires all state agencies to consider and implement strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would require all new building and major renovation projects larger than 10,000 gross square feet undertaken by state agencies, and for which the project schematic design documents are initiated by the state agency on or after January 1, 2024, to obtain the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or "LEED" Gold or higher certification, except as provided. The bill would instead require the state agency to obtain LEED Silver certification if the state agency concerned makes a finding that achieving LEED Gold conflicts with critical operational or security requirements, is demonstrably cost ineffective, or conflicts with California Building Code requirements. The bill would authorize certification to an alternative equivalent or higher rating system or standard, if any, only when approved by the Director of General Services.