Sen. Robert M. Hertzberg

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and requires regional centers to identify and pursue all possible sources of funding for consumers receiving those services. Existing law defines a "developmental disability" as a disability that originates before an individual attains 18 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual. This bill would modify that definition to mean a disability that originates before an individual attains 22 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual.

Existing law recognizes various state holidays. Existing law entitles state employees, with specified exceptions, to be given time off with pay for specified holidays, including, among others, the day after Thanksgiving. This bill would recognize Yom Kippur as a state holiday. The bill would require that state employees, with specified exceptions, be given time off with pay for the day after Thanksgiving, or Yom Kippur, whichever day is chosen by the employee.

Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle being operated if specified requirements are met. Existing law defines an "autonomous vehicle: for this purpose as any vehicle equipped with autonomous technology that has been integrated into that vehicle. Existing law specifies that a vehicle equipped with a collision avoidance system, as specified, that is not capable of driving the vehicle without the active control or monitoring of a human operator is not an autonomous vehicle. This bill would specify that a vehicle equipped with a collision avoidance system, as specified, that is not capable of driving the vehicle without a human driver remaining fully engaged in the driving task is not an autonomous vehicle.

Existing law generally regulates the undertaking of bail and the licensing of bail agents, bail permittees, and bail solicitors. Existing law requires an insurer executing an undertaking of bail to do so through a person holding a bail license. This bill would require all surety insurers that execute undertakings of bail to have a compliance unit with dedicated staff, to pay all forfeited bail bonds into escrow, and to provide a sworn statement to the Department of Insurance of all business transacted under its license or licenses in the last calendar year and to attest that bail licensees who they provide coverage to are in compliance with state law. The bill would require all contracts for bail to disclose the name of the insurer providing surety and a contact for the Department of Insurance for complaints. The bill would require the Department of Insurance to conduct a study and make recommendations no later than July 1, 2018, regarding insurers who provide coverage to bail licensees, as specified.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session. Existing law requires that budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified. Existing law requires the budget to be prepared in a specified manner. This bill would require the budget to be made available, on or before July 1, 2019, on the Department of Finance Internet Web site in a prescribed downloadable spreadsheet format. The bill would require the budget for each budget year to be posted and maintained on the site for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits a person, other than a small contributor committee or political party committee, from making to a candidate for elective state office, for statewide elective office, or for office of the Governor, and prohibits those candidates from accepting from a person, a contribution totaling more than a specified amount per election. For a candidate for elective state office other than a candidate for statewide elective office, the limitation on contributions is $3,000 per election, as that amount is adjusted by the Fair Political Practices Commission in January of every odd-numbered year. Existing law authorizes a county, city, or district to limit campaign contributions in local elections. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or of a community college district to limit campaign expenditures or contributions in elections to district offices. The act specifies that it does not prevent the Legislature or any other state or local agency from imposing additional requirements on a person if the requirements do not prevent the person from complying with the act, and that the act does not nullify contribution limitations or prohibitions by any local jurisdiction that apply to elections for local elective office, as specified. This bill, commencing January 1, 2019, instead would prohibit a person from making to a candidate for local elective office, and would prohibit a candidate for local elective office from accepting from a person, a contribution totaling more than the amount set forth in the act for limitations on contributions to a candidate for elective state office. This bill would also authorize a county, city, special district, or school district to impose a limitation that is different from the limitation imposed by this bill. This bill would repeal the authorization for the governing board of a school district or of a community college district to limit campaign expenditures in elections to district offices. This bill would make specified provisions of the act relating to contribution limitations applicable to a candidate for a local elective office, except as specified. The act makes a violation of its provisions punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. This bill would add the contribution limitation imposed by the bill to the act's provisions, thereby making a violation of the limitation punishable as a misdemeanor and subject to specified penalties. However, the bill would specify that a violation of a limitation imposed by a local government is not subject to the act's enforcement provisions. The bill would authorize a local government that imposes a limitation that is different from the limitation imposed by this bill to adopt enforcement standards for a violation of the limitation imposed by the local government agency, including administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. By expanding the scope of an existing crime with regard to a violation of a contribution limitation imposed by the bill, 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Existing law provides for the procedure of approving and accepting bail, and issuing an order for the appearance and release of an arrested person. Existing law requires that bail be set in a fixed amount, as specified, and requires, in setting, reducing, or denying bail, a judge or magistrate to take into consideration the protection of the public, the seriousness of the offense charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the probability of his or her appearing at trial or at a hearing of the case. Under existing law, the magistrate or commissioner to whom the application is made is authorized to set bail in an amount that he or she deems sufficient to ensure the defendant's appearance or to ensure the protection of a victim, or family member of a victim, of domestic violence, and to set bail on the terms and conditions that he or she, in his or her discretion, deems appropriate, or he or she may authorize the defendant's release on his or her own recognizance. Existing law provides that a defendant being held for a misdemeanor offense is entitled to be released on his or her own recognizance, unless the court makes a finding on the record that his or her release would compromise public safety or would not reasonably ensure the appearance of the defendant as required. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail. This bill would implement a revised pretrial release procedure. The bill would require, except when a person is arrested for certain felonies, that a pretrial services agency conduct a pretrial risk assessment on an arrested person and prepare a pretrial services report that includes the results of the pretrial risk assessment and recommendations on conditions of release for the person immediately upon booking. The bill would require the pretrial services agency to transmit the report to a magistrate, judge, or court commissioner and the magistrate, judge, or court commissioner, within an unspecified number of hours, to issue an oral or written order to release the person, with or without release conditions, subject to the person signing a specified release agreement. The bill would require, if a person is in custody at the time of his or her arraignment, the judge or magistrate to consider the pretrial services report and any relevant information provided by the prosecuting attorney or the defendant and to order the pretrial release of the person, with or without conditions, subject to the person signing a specified release agreement. If the judge or magistrate determines that pretrial release, with or without conditions, will not reasonably ensure the appearance of the person in court as required, the bill would require the judge or magistrate to set monetary bail at the least restrictive level necessary to ensure the appearance of the defendant in court as required. The bill would authorize, if the judge or magistrate has set monetary bail, the person to execute an unsecured appearance bond, execute a secured appearance bond, or deposit a percentage of the sum mentioned in the order setting monetary bail. The bill would authorize a prosecuting attorney to file a motion seeking the pretrial detention of a person in certain circumstances, including when the person has been charged with a capital crime and the prosecuting attorney alleges that the facts are evident or the presumption great. The bill would require, if this motion has been filed, a hearing to be held to determine whether to release the person pending trial, unless the person waives the hearing. The bill would authorize the person to be detained pretrial only if the court makes one of several specified findings. The bill would require each county to establish a pretrial services agency that would be responsible for gathering information about newly arrested persons, conducting pretrial risk assessments, preparing individually tailored recommendations to the court regarding release options and conditions, and providing pretrial services and supervision to persons on pretrial release. The bill would require an unspecified agency to take certain actions relating to the implementation of the revised pretrial release procedure, including, among others, selecting a pretrial risk assessment tool to be used in conducting pretrial risk assessments that meets specified requirements and reviewing collected data to monitor compliance with state law and guidelines relating to pretrial release. The bill would also authorize that agency to take certain actions relating to the implementation of the revised pretrial release procedure, including, among other things, providing training and assistance to judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, pretrial services agencies, jail staff, and law enforcement agencies. The bill would require the Board of State and Community Corrections, in consultation with that unspecified agency, to develop a plan that establishes statewide requirements for counties relating to annual reporting of pretrial release and detention information. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, 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.

(1) Under existing law, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources in the Department of Conservation regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state. Existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to continue the prohibition against Southern California Gas Company injecting any natural gas into the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles until a comprehensive review of the safety of the gas storage wells at the facility is completed, as specified, the supervisor determines that well integrity has been ensured by the review, the risks of failures identified in the review have been addressed, the supervisor's duty to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources, and other requirements is satisfied, and the Executive Director of the Public Utilities Commission has concurred via letter with the supervisor regarding his or her determination of safety. This bill would additionally require the supervisor to continue that prohibition until a specified root cause analysis of the natural gas leak from the facility that started approximately October 23, 2015, has been completed and released in its entirety to the public. The bill would, notwithstanding that prohibition, authorize the Governor to order incremental injections at the facility, but only if the Governor determines it is necessary to avoid, or respond to, an emergency situation. (2) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission is authorized to supervise and regulate every public utility in the state. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2017, to open a proceeding to determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles while still maintaining energy and electric reliability for the region, and to consult with specified entities in making its determination. This bill would require the commission, in conducting the proceeding, to act in the manner that will maximize transparency. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds. Under existing law, the county is required to annually redetermine eligibility for CalWORKs benefits and, at the time of redetermination, require the family to complete a certificate of eligibility. Existing law additionally requires the county to redetermine recipient eligibility and grant amounts on a semiannual basis and requires the recipient to submit a semiannual report form during the first semiannual reporting period following the application or annual redetermination of eligibility. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known in California as CalFresh, under which food assistance benefits are distributed to eligible individuals by the counties. Existing law requires, to the extent permitted by federal law, the department to implement the semiannual reporting system, including use of the semiannual report form, in the CalFresh program This bill would require the county to use either a prepopulated renewal form or a blank semiannual report form as the certificate of eligibility for the purposes of CalWORKs and CalFresh.