Sen. Robert M. Hertzberg

Existing law defines rape and spousal rape as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished under specified circumstances indicating a lack of consent, force, or duress, as specified. Existing law additionally makes various acts, including sodomy and oral copulation without consent or sexual intercourse with a minor, unlawful as sexual assault. This bill would state the findings of the Legislature that all forms of nonconsensual sexual assault may be considered rape for purposes of the gravity of the offense and the support of survivors and would state that this is declarative of existing law.

Existing law prescribes various requirements regarding the formation, content, and enforcement of state and local public contracts. Existing law applicable to state public contracts generally requires that the resolution of claims related to those contracts be subject to arbitration. Existing law applicable to local agency contracts prescribes a process for the resolution of claims related to those contracts of $375,000 or less. This bill would establish, for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2017, a claim resolution process applicable to any claim by a contractor in connection with a public works project. The bill would define a claim as a separate demand by the contractor for one or more of the following: a time extension for relief from damages or penalties for delay, payment of money or damages arising from work done pursuant to the contract for a public work, or payment of an amount disputed by the public entity, as specified. This bill would require a public entity, defined to exclude certain state entities, upon receipt of a claim sent by registered or certified mail, to review it and, within 45 days, provide a written statement identifying the disputed and undisputed portions of the claim. The bill would authorize the 45-day period to be extended by mutual agreement. The bill would require any payment due on an undisputed portion of the claim to be processed within 60 days, as specified. The bill would require that the claim be deemed rejected in its entirety if the public entity fails to issue the written statement. This bill would authorize, if the claimant disputes the public entity's written response or if the public entity fails to respond to a claim within the time prescribed, the claimant to demand to meet and confer for settlement of the issues in dispute. The bill would require any disputed portion of the claim that remains in dispute after the meet and confer conference to be subject to nonbinding mediation, as specified. The bill would provide that unpaid claim amounts accrue interest at 7% per annum. The bill would prescribe a procedure by which a subcontractor or lower tier contractor may make a claim through the contractor. This bill would require the text of these provisions, or a summary, to be set forth in the plans or specifications for any public work which may give rise to a claim. The bill would specify that a waiver of these rights is void and contrary to public policy, except as specified. The bill would also specify that it does not impose liability on a public entity that makes loans or grants available through a competitive application process, for the failure of an awardee to meet its contractual obligations. By increasing the duties of local agencies and officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would, on January 1, 2020, repeal the provision establishing the claim resolution process. This bill would specify that these provisions constitute a matter of statewide concern. 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.

(1) The California Emergency Services Act requires the Office of Emergency Services, among other things, to develop in collaboration with specified entities a comprehensive statewide earthquake early warning system in California through a public-private partnership, as specified. The act requires the office to identify funding for the system through single or multiple sources of revenue, and requires those sources to exclude the General Fund and to be limited to federal funds, funds from revenue bonds, local funds, and funds from private sources. Under the act, the requirement that the office develop the system is not operative until funding is identified, and is repealed if funding is not identified by July 1, 2016. The act establishes the California Earthquake Safety Fund in the State Treasury to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for seismic safety and earthquake-related programs, including the statewide earthquake early warning system. This bill would discontinue the requirement that the funding sources for the system exclude the General Fund and be limited to federal funds, funds from revenue bonds, local funds, and funds from private sources. The bill would delete the provisions providing for the repeal and the contingent operation of the requirement that the office develop the system. This bill would establish, within the office, the California Earthquake Early Warning Program and the California Earthquake Early Warning Advisory Board to support the development of the statewide earthquake early warning system, as specified. The bill would require the board to include 7 voting members, as specified, and the Chancellor of the California State University, or his or her designee, who would serve as a nonvoting member. The bill would authorize the President of the University of California, or his or her designee, to serve as an additional nonvoting member of the board. The bill would require all members to serve without compensation, but would require reimbursement for actual and reasonable travel and meal expenses to attend board meetings. The bill would require the board to comply with existing state open meeting and public record disclosure laws and would prohibit the disclosure of any information in a public record that is a trade secret, as defined, of a private entity cooperating with the board or participating in the statewide earthquake early warning system or the program. The bill would make legislative findings in support of its provisions. (2) 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 federal law provides for tax-qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities by which private citizens may save money for retirement. Existing law, the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act, establishes the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, administered by the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board, contingent on specified funding and interest criteria being met. Existing law prescribes the composition of the board and its duties and provides that it acts as trustee in entering contracts and accepting moneys, among other things. Existing law prohibits the board from permitting enrollment in the program until enactment of a statute expressing legislative approval of program implementation. The program requires specified eligible employers, as defined, to offer a payroll deposit retirement savings arrangement and requires eligible employees, as defined, who do not opt out of the program, to contribute a portion of their salary or wages to a retirement savings account in the program, as specified. Existing law requires contributions from the wages of employees participating in the program to be deposited in the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, which is continuously appropriated and administered by the board. Existing law authorizes the board to adjust the employee contribution amount between 2% and 4%, inclusive, of the employee's annual salary or wages, as specified. This bill would express legislative approval of the program and its implementation on January 1, 2017. The bill would require the board, prior to opening the program for enrollment, to make a report to the Governor and Legislature affirming that certain requirements have been met, including that the program is structured to meet a United States Department of Labor regulation, as specified. The bill would require the board to design and implement the program and would prescribe certain parameters that the board is to consider and utilize in establishing the design. The bill would require the board, for up to 3 years following implementation, to establish managed accounts invested in United States Treasury securities, in myRAs, as defined, or in similar investments and would make conforming changes in this connection in provisions related to mitigating risk in the investment portfolio and payment of the costs of administration. The bill would require the board, after this period, to annually prepare and adopt a written statement of investment policy containing specified elements. The bill would require the board to consider the statement and any changes in the investment policy at a public hearing. The bill would specify that funding and first year administrative costs may be appropriated in the annual budget from the General Fund and would require the board to repay the amount appropriated, plus interest, as specified. On and after 6 years from the date the program is implemented, the bill would prohibit expenditures for the purpose of paying operative costs and administering the trust from exceeding 1% of the total program fund. The bill would revise the purposes for which administrative and program funds may be expended. The bill would provide that investment policy decisions, including asset allocation and investment options, are entrusted to the board as a fiduciary, and would revise certain principles that the board is to consider in connection with investment policy. The bill would exempt the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust from specified provisions regarding the qualification of securities for sale. The bill would make various changes to existing duties of the board, including those regarding dissemination of information and the entities with which the board is to collaborate and cooperate. The bill would require the Treasurer to appoint an executive director of the board, to serve at its pleasure, and to determine the duties of the office and its compensation. The bill would eliminate the duty of the board to ensure that insurance or some other mechanism is in place to protect the value of individual accounts and would eliminate the requirement to secure private underwriting and reinsurance, as specified. The bill would repeal the duty of the board to conduct an initial market analysis to determine if the condition for the implementation of the program can be met and associated provisions. The bill would eliminate the authority of the board to establish certain investment options. This bill would require eligible employers that do not offer specified retirement plans or accounts to have a payroll deposit retirement savings arrangement so that employees may participate in the program within specified time periods based on the number of eligible employees that the employer has, and the bill would authorize the board to extend these time periods. The bill would provide that employers retain the right at all times to set up and offer their own qualified retirement plans. The bill would define an employer of a provider of in-home supportive services as an employer if a specified determination and certification are made and would require the state or a county that makes a direct payment to a provider to assume obligations regarding retirement savings accounts, including payroll deposit IRA arrangements offered under the program. The bill would authorize the board to adjust the employee contribution amount described above up to 5% and would prescribe other limits on increasing employee contributions. The bill would authorize the board to make annual, automatic escalations of employee contributions subject to certain limitations, including that the employee may opt out, as specified. By authorizing the board to increase moneys that are deposited into the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, which is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would authorize the board to adopt regulations to implement the program and would provide that the adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a regulation authorized by this section is deemed to address an emergency. The bill would make various conforming changes.

Existing law establishes various programs, including, among others, the Emergency Housing and Assistance Program, to provide assistance to homeless persons. This bill would require a state agency or department that funds, implements, or administers a state program that provides housing or housing-related services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, except as specified, to revise or adopt guidelines and regulations to include enumerated Housing First policies. The bill would also establish the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to oversee the implementation of the Housing First guidelines and regulations and, among other things, to identify resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California.

Existing law requires all vote by mail ballots to be voted on or before the day of the election and requires the vote by mail voter to return the ballot by mail or in person, as specified, to the elections official who issued the ballot. This bill would require an elections official who receives a vote by mail ballot that he or she did not issue to forward that ballot to the elections official who issued the ballot no later than 8 days after receipt. By requiring an elections official to forward a ballot to the elections official who issued the ballot, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes cities with a population of fewer than 100,000 persons, school districts, and special districts to conduct an all-mailed ballot special election to fill a vacancy on the legislative or governing body of those entities under specified conditions. This bill, the California Voter's Choice Act, would, on or after January 1, 2018, authorize specified counties, and on or after January 1, 2020, authorize any county except the County of Los Angeles, to conduct any election as an all-mailed ballot election if certain conditions are satisfied, including conditions related to ballot dropoff locations, vote centers, and plans for the administration of all-mailed ballot elections. The bill would require the Secretary of State, within 6 months of each all-mailed ballot election conducted by a county pursuant to these provisions, to report certain information to the Legislature regarding that election. The bill would require the county that conducted the all-mailed ballot election to submit to the Secretary of State the information needed for the Secretary of State to prepare the report. This bill would, on or after January 1, 2020, authorize the County of Los Angeles to conduct any election as a vote center election if certain conditions are satisfied, including conditions related to ballot dropoff locations and vote centers. The bill would, on or after January 1, 2020, authorize the County of Los Angeles to conduct a special election as an all-mailed ballot election pursuant to specified provisions that apply to every county that chooses to conduct a special election as an all-mailed ballot election. This bill would also require the Secretary of State to establish a taskforce that includes certain individuals to review all-mailed ballot elections conducted pursuant to these provisions and to provide comments and recommendations to the Legislature within 6 months of each all-mailed ballot election or vote center election. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 3017 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 1921 that would become operative only if AB 1921 and this bill are both chaptered and this bill is chaptered last. 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.

The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the PUC certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and authorizes the Legislature to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the PUC that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities. Existing law requires the PUC to submit various reports to the Legislature, legislative committees, and the Governor, as specified. This bill would change the date by which the PUC must submit specified reports, change the contents of specified reports, renumber various codified reporting provisions, and repeal the provisions requiring the PUC to submit specified reports. The bill would repeal a reporting requirement of electrical corporations and the PUC with respect to the 21st Century Energy System Decision, as defined. The bill would repeal a requirement that the PUC conduct a zero-based budget for all of its programs by January 10, 2015. Existing law also requires the Legislative Counsel to annually prepare, publish, and maintain an electronic list of all reports that state and local agencies are required or requested by law to prepare and file with the Governor or the Legislature, or both, in the future or within the preceding year. This bill would require the Legislative Counsel to revise the list by deleting specified reports from the list. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to submit to the PUC and to any local publicly owned electric utility recommendations designed to reduce wasteful, unnecessary, or uneconomic energy consumption resulting from specified practices, including differential rate structures, cost-of-service allocations, disallowances of business expenses for advertising or promotional activities that encourage the use of electricity, peakload pricing, and other pricing measures. Existing law requires the PUC and local publicly owned electric utilities to review and consider the recommendations of the Energy Commission and, within 6 months after the date they receive them, to report to the Governor and the Legislature their actions and reasons therefor with respect to each recommendation. This bill would repeal these requirements. Existing law relative to restructuring of the electrical industry authorizes an electrical corporation to apply to the commission for a determination that certain transition costs, as defined, may be recovered through fixed transition amounts, which would constitute transition property, as defined, and provides, until December 31, 2016, for the issuance of financing orders and provides for the issuance of rate reduction bonds to be paid out of rates. This bill would extend the authorization for the issuance of these financing orders from December 31, 2016, to June 30, 2022. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board (state board) as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. Existing law requires the state board to report to the Governor and the Legislature by December 31, 2011, on the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from the increase of new electrical generation that utilizes excess waste heat through combined heat and power systems and recommend policies that further the goals of the Waste Heat and Carbon Emissions Reduction Act. This bill would repeal this reporting requirement. This bill would also make various minor or nonsubstantive changes, including, but not limited to, shifts in the responsibilities of various divisions of the PUC. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 454.55 and 454.56 of the Public Utilities Code, proposed by AB 1330, that would become operative only if this bill and AB 1330 are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last.