Sen. Steve Padilla

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to undertake various actions in furtherance of meeting the state's clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes, would require the commission to award grants for agrivoltaic system projects to support research and development in agrivoltaic systems, study the impacts of agrivoltaic systems on farms, on the state's agricultural economy, and on electricity generated from solar panels, and study the potential of agrivoltaic systems to reduce the impact of extreme heat on crops, livestock, and agricultural workers. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to develop guidelines and criteria for determining a project's eligibility for grant funding and to take certain actions for purposes of the grant program. The bill would require the commission to conduct an evaluation of the grant program, as specified, and make the evaluation publicly available on its internet website.

Existing law establishes the state prisons under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to begin reducing private in-state male contract correctional facilities and reducing the capacity of state-owned and operated prisons or in-state leased or contract correctional facilities, as specified. Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) , which serves the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. This bill would establish the California Prison Redevelopment Commission, under the direction of the Director of GO-Biz and consisting of 15 members, including, among others, representatives from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Department of Finance, and the Department of General Services, and members appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Rules Committee, as specified. This bill would specify that the task of the commission is to prepare a report with the commission's findings and recommendations that deliver a set of clear and credible recommendations for creative uses of closed prison facilities that will turn those sites into community assets, as specified. This bill would require the commission to submit a report to the Legislature by August 1, 2024, detailing the commission's findings and recommendations. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2026, and would make related findings and declarations. The bill would provide that its requirements are operative only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for the bill's purposes.

The Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act establishes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) in the Natural Resources Agency. Existing law requires the Energy Commission to undertake a continuing assessment of trends in the consumption of electrical energy and other forms of energy and to analyze the social, economic, and environmental consequences of these trends, and to carry out, or cause to be carried out, under contract or other arrangements, research and development into alternative sources of energy, improvements in energy generation, transmission, and siting, fuel substitution, and other topics related to energy supply, demand, public safety, ecology, and conservation that are of particular statewide importance. This bill would establish, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Lithium Valley Office of Development in the Energy Commission. The bill would require the office, in consultation with relevant state and local agencies, to coordinate activities related to funding, economic development, construction, manufacturing, technical development, and reclamation of lithium located in the Salton Sea geothermal resource area.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law under Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Climate-resilient Farms, Sustainable Healthy Food Access, and Farmworker Protection Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $3,650,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, to finance programs related to, among other things, agricultural lands, food and fiber infrastructure, climate resilience, agricultural professionals, including farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers, workforce development and training, air quality, tribes, disadvantaged communities, nutrition, food aid, meat processing facilities, and fishing facilities. The bill would make its provisions severable. The bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 5, 2024, statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would celebrate the history and culture of lowriding and cruising, encourage local officials and law enforcement to work with local car clubs to conduct safe cruising events, and declare the first Sunday of summer to be observed as California Lowrider Day.

The California Constitution provides that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California, and federal law permanently enjoins the state from enforcing this constitutional provision. This measure would repeal this unenforceable constitutional provision and would instead provide that the right to marry is a fundamental right, as specified.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires public records to be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency that retains those records, and provides that every person has a right to inspect any public record, except as provided. The act requires state and local agencies to make public records available upon receipt of a request for a copy that reasonably describes an identifiable record not otherwise exempt from disclosure, and upon payment of fees to cover costs. This bill would provide that any executed contract for the purchase of goods or services by a state or local agency, including the price and terms of payment, is a public record subject to disclosure under the act. The bill would provide that any provision in a written agreement that purports to exclude a contract specified above from disclosure by agreeing to consider it a confidential or proprietary record of the vendor is void and unenforceable as a matter of law. By placing additional duties and responsibilities upon local agencies in connection with requests for inspection of records, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 state law forbids a public employer from deterring or discouraging public employees from becoming or remaining members of an employee organization. Existing federal law forbids employers from interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights relating to organizing, forming, joining, or assisting a labor organization for collective bargaining purposes, or from working together to improve terms and conditions of employment, or refraining from any such activity. This measure, the Right to Organize and Negotiate Act, would ensure that all Californians have the right to join a union and to negotiate with their employers, through their legally chosen representative, to protect their economic well-being and safety at work. This measure would require the Legislature to provide for the enforcement of these rights. This measure would also prohibit, after January 1, 2023, the passing of any statute or ordinance that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and workplace safety.

This measure would declare May 23, 2023, as GM1 Gangliosidosis Awareness Day in California.

This measure would designate the month of May 2023 as National Bike Month in California and would encourage Californians to ride bicycles for commuting and recreation, and California cities and counties to make streets safer for cycling.