Sen. Robert M. Hertzberg

Existing law provides that, with certain exceptions, any person who, within this state, manufactures or causes to be manufactured, distributes, transports, or imports into the state, keeps for sale, or offers or exposes for sale, or who gives or lends any assault weapon or any .50 BMG rifle, as defined, is guilty of a felony. Existing law also provides that, subject to certain exceptions, a person, corporation, or dealer who sells, supplies, delivers, or gives possession of a firearm precursor part, as defined, is guilty of a crime. This bill would create a private right of action for any person against any person who, within this state, (1) manufactures or causes to be manufactured, distributes, transports, or imports into the state, or causes to be distributed or transported or imported into the state, keeps for sale or offers or exposes for sale, or gives or lends any firearm lacking a serial number required by law, assault weapon, or .50 BMG rifle; (2) purchases, sells, offers to sell, or transfers ownership of any firearm precursor part that is not a federally regulated firearm precursor part; or (3) is a licensed firearms dealer and sells, supplies, delivers, or gives possession or control of a firearm to any person under 21 years of age, all subject to certain exceptions, as specified. The bill would make these provisions inoperative upon invalidation of a specified law in Texas, and would repeal its provisions on January 1 of the following year. This bill would also state that all statutes regulating or prohibiting firearms shall not be construed to repeal any other statute regulating or prohibiting firearms, in whole or in part, unless the statute specifically states that it is repealing another statute. The bill would state that every statute that regulates or prohibits firearms is severable in each application to any particular person or circumstance and that any statute found to be unconstitutional by a court shall remain enforceable as to any application that would not be unconstitutional.

Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, provides the exclusive authority and procedure for the initiation, conduct, and completion of changes of organization and reorganization for cities and districts, except as specified. Under existing law, in each county there is a local agency formation commission (commission) that oversees these changes of organization and reorganization. Existing law authorizes a commission to dissolve an inactive district if specified conditions are satisfied. This bill would also authorize a commission to initiate a proposal for the dissolution of a district, as described, if the commission approves, adopts, or accepts a specified study that includes a finding, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that, among other things, the district has one or more documented chronic service provision deficiencies, the district spent public funds in an unlawful or reckless manner, or the district has shown willful neglect by failing to consistently adhere to the California Public Records Act. The bill would require the commission to adopt a resolution of intent to initiate a dissolution based on these provisions and to provide a remediation period of at least 12 months, during which the district may take steps to remedy the stated deficiencies. The bill would authorize the commission, at the conclusion of the remediation period, to find that the district has failed to remedy the deficiencies and adopt a resolution to dissolve the district. With a specified exception, existing law provides for protest proceedings for a change of organization or reorganization following adoption of a resolution making certain determinations by the commission, as provided. Existing law sets forth required procedures for the commission following a protest hearing depending on the nature of the conducting authority, as defined, the type of change of organization or reorganization, and the results of the protest proceeding. The bill would reorganize and consolidate the above-described procedures. The bill would make conforming changes and remove obsolete provisions.

(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act requires disposal facility operators to submit information to the department on the disposal tonnages that are disposed of at the disposal facility, and requires solid waste handlers and transfer station operators to provide information to disposal facility operators for purposes of that requirement. The act requires recycling and composting operations and facilities to submit periodic information to the department on the types and quantities of materials that are disposed of, sold, or transferred to other recycling or composting facilities or specified entities. This bill would provide that these reporting requirements do not apply to materials that are used by facilities defined as end users pursuant to the regulations adopted by the department or that are otherwise exempt pursuant to those regulations. The bill would also clarify that recycling is not limited to the processing of materials that would otherwise become solid waste, but also includes processes applied to nonhazardous materials that have value principally as a feedstock for that processing, regardless of whether the materials have been discarded or constitute solid waste. The bill would further clarify that, regardless of whether a recycling operation or facility is required to register and report pursuant to specified regulations adopted by the department, that recycling operation or facility is not a solid waste handler unless the operation or facility is, in fact, handling solid waste. (2) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of, among other solid waste, plastic packaging containers and single-use foodware accessories. The Sustainable Packaging for the State of California Act of 2018 prohibits a food service facility located in a state-owned facility, operating on or acting as a concessionaire on state property or under contract to provide food service to a state agency, from dispensing prepared food using a type of food service packaging unless the type of food service packaging is on a list that the department publishes and maintains on its internet website that contains types of approved food service packaging that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Existing law makes a legislative declaration that it is the policy goal of the state that, annually, not less than 75% of solid waste generated be source reduced, recycled, or composted. This bill would establish the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, which would cover certain single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware, as provided. As part of its comprehensive statutory scheme, the bill would require the producers, as defined, of these covered materials to source reduce plastic covered material, to ensure that covered material offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state on or after January 1, 2032, is recyclable or compostable, and to ensure that plastic covered material offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state meets specified recycling rates. In particular, the bill would require not less than 65% of plastic covered material to be recycled on and after January 1, 2032, and would authorize the department to increase or decrease the specified recycling rates in certain circumstances. The bill would require certain material types and forms to be considered recyclable in the state, and would authorize those material types and forms to be labeled as recyclable, under certain circumstances. The bill would prohibit a producer from selling, offering for sale, importing, or distributing covered materials in the state unless the producer is approved to participate in the producer responsibility plan of a producer responsibility organization (PRO) , as prescribed, for the source reduction, collection, processing, and recycling of covered material. Alternatively, the bill would require a producer to comply with the act individually without participating in a PRO's plan. The bill would impose various requirements on PROs and producers in relation to the act, including registration, reporting, recordkeeping, and auditing requirements, and preparing a budget and annual report. The bill would require a PRO or producer to provide certain certifications under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a PRO to establish a charge for its participant producers sufficient to ensure the requirements of the act are met by the PRO, and would therefore impose a tax. The bill would specify the purposes for which the revenue from the charge may be spent, including the costs of the PRO, the costs of a producer responsibility advisory board that the bill would create, and other costs specified in the PRO's budget. The bill would require a PRO, commencing in the 2027 calendar year, and until January 1, 2037, to remit a $500,000,000 surcharge each year, as provided, to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to be deposited into the California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund, which the bill would create, and would outline requirements applicable to the collection and administration of the surcharge. The bill would require the PRO to establish and impose on its participant producers an environmental mitigation surcharge in an amount sufficient to raise that sum and to remit those moneys, and would authorize a PRO to collect up to $150,000,000 from plastic resin manufacturers who sell plastic covered material to producers who are participants of the PRO, as prescribed. The bill would therefore impose a tax. The bill would require moneys in the California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by specified state agencies on purposes relating to mitigating the environmental impacts of plastic. The bill would prohibit those appropriations from replacing or reducing funding for those purposes from any other source, including certain appropriations in the Budget Act of 2019. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement the act, as prescribed, and would require the department to publish certain information and lists on its internet website. The bill would require that local jurisdictions and recycling service providers include in their collection and recycling programs covered material contained on the lists published by the department, except as specified. By imposing additional requirements on local jurisdictions, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to prepare, or to select an independent third-party contractor to complete, one or more initial statewide needs assessments designed to determine the necessary steps and investment needed for covered material to achieve the requirements of the act. The bill would require the PRO to reimburse the department for the cost of developing the needs assessments, thereby imposing a tax. The bill would require a PRO to pay a charge named the "California circular economy administrative fee" to the department and would require the department to set the charge at an amount adequate to cover the department's and any other state agency's costs of implementing and enforcing the comprehensive statutory scheme. The bill would require the administrative fees to be deposited into the California Circular Economy Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department for the department's activities pursuant to the act and to reimburse any outstanding loans made from other funds used to finance the initial costs of the department's activities. The bill would require the department and agencies receiving funding under the act to report specified information to the Legislature concerning the act's implementation. The bill would require, if the department determines that a PRO or producer has not achieved specified targets established pursuant to the act, the department to adopt regulations that contain certain provisions of the act, as prescribed. The bill would provide for its enforcement, including authorizing the department to impose an administrative civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $50,000 per day per violation, except as specified, on any entity that is not in compliance with the act's requirements. The bill would require the department to deposit collected penalties into the Circular Economy Penalty Account, which the bill would create. The bill would make moneys in the account available upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes that further the act. (3) 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. (4) 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. (5) This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include certain areas of study, including, among others, English, mathematics, social sciences, science, and visual and performing arts, as specified. This bill, with respect to both of the above-referenced adopted courses of study, would require the science area of study to include an emphasis on the causes and effects of climate change and methods to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The bill would require that appropriate coursework including this material be offered to pupils as soon as possible, commencing no later than the 2023–24 school year. Because the bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) 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.

The California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.

Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, governs local emergency medical services (EMS) systems and authorizes each county to develop an EMS program and designate a local EMS agency. Existing law requires a county to enter into a written agreement with a city or fire district that contracted for or provided prehospital EMS as of June 1, 1980. Existing law requires, until that written agreement is reached, prehospital EMS to be continued at not less than the existing level and the administration of prehospital EMS by cities and fire districts contracting for or providing those services as of June 1, 1980, to be retained by those cities and fire districts. This bill would require a city or fire district that contracted for or provided, as of June 1, 1980, prehospital emergency medical services, to be deemed to retain its authority regarding, and administration of, the prehospital emergency medical services when a city or fire district enters into an agreement with a county for the joint exercise of powers regarding prehospital emergency medical services for that city or fire district, or ceases to contract for, provide, or administer prehospital emergency medical services as a result of a judicial finding, as specified. The bill would clarify the Legislature's intent that a city's or fire district's entry into a written agreement, as described, does not make the city or fire district ineligible to contract with a county, as described above, or result in the transfer, termination, relinquishment, or extinguishment of that city's or fire district's authorities regarding, or administration of, prehospital emergency medical services, and to abrogate contrary judicial holdings. Under the act, the medical direction and management of an emergency medical services system is under the medical control of the medical director of the local EMS agency. The act requires the medical control to be maintained in accordance with standards for medical control established by the Emergency Medical Services Authority. The act prohibits this medical control from being construed to limit, supplant, prohibit, or otherwise alter a public safety agency's authority to directly receive and process requests for assistance originating within the public safety agency's territorial jurisdiction through the emergency "911" system. This bill would clarify the Legislature's intent by clarifying the scope and breadth of this medical control as described under the act, to restrict local EMS agencies' medical control authority over public safety agencies, as specified, and to clarify that a public safety agency does not transfer any of the public safety agency's authority regarding the administration of emergency medical services by adhering, or agreeing to adhere, to a local EMS agency's medical control authority, and to abrogate contrary judicial holdings.

Existing statutory law imposes taxes on the gross premiums of an insurer, as defined, and allows various credits against those taxes. The California Constitution imposes exactions against insurers from another state or country under specified conditions. This bill would establish the California Jumpstart Act. The act would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, until January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to the amount of a relief contribution, as defined, that meets specified requirements. The bill would prohibit a taxpayer allowed a credit under the act for a qualified relief investment from being eligible for any other credit, as specified, with respect to that investment. The bill would require the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA) to, among other things, accept applications for approval as a relief fund that meet specified requirements, including that the application include a signed certification from the chief executive officer or another similar officer of each investor committing to make a relief contribution and stating the amount of that commitment, among other attestations. The bill also would authorize the CPCFA to recover any tax credit allowed and revoke the tax credit certificates issued to a taxpayer if the taxpayer engages in specified behavior, including, failing to invest 100% of its investment authority in relief investments within 2 years of the closing date. The bill would require the CPCFA to act in consultation with the Department of Insurance to accomplish these responsibilities where specified. This bill would require, among other things, the CPCFA to undertake outreach activities to encourage investment in impact businesses, including, but not limited to, partnering with organizations representing persons and business enterprises from small businesses more than 50% owned by minorities, women, disabled veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender persons, as described. The bill would also establish the Treasury Relief Investment Fund in the State Treasury, and would continuously appropriate the fund for purposes of these provisions. The bill would authorize CPCFA to direct the Treasurer to invest moneys in the fund, as specified, and would authorize CPCFA to use proceeds in the fund for administrative purposes. By continuously appropriating moneys in the fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would provide that the California Jumpstart Act is only operative for taxable years for which an appropriation is made for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute. This bill would require various certifications by officers of an investor and would require a relief fund that has not decertified to annually certify under penalty of perjury that the relief fund has not violated any of the grounds for recovery and revocation of credits. By expanding the crime of perjury, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires the Department of Community Services and Development to develop and administer the Energy Efficiency Low-Income Weatherization Program. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to develop and administer the Multifamily Rapid Deployment Building Decarbonization and Extreme Heat Program to identify and deploy replicable, scalable, and affordable upgrades for multifamily building types that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and improve the health and comfort of residents in multifamily buildings, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop the guidelines for the program on or before April 1, 2023, and to begin implementing the program on or before September 30, 2023. The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission, until June 30, 2023, to annually allocate $50,000,000 of revenues received by gas corporations as a result of the direct allocation of greenhouse gas emissions allowances provided to gas corporations to fund the Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development Program and the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative. This bill would extend the annual allocation of the $50,000,000 from those moneys to fund the TECH Initiative until June 30, 2030. The bill would specify that moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the TECH Initiative are available to provide statewide incentives. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement is a crime. Because a violation of an order of the commission implementing the allocation would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This measure would urge the United States Congress to enact legislation to institute a free online investor certification examination, renewable every four years.