Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson

Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop and implement a course of instruction and training for specified peace officers on the topic of hate crimes. Existing law requires that training to be implemented into the basic course and requires, as specified, all state and local law enforcement agencies to provide the training to all peace officers they employ. This bill would require POST to develop and periodically update an interactive refresher course on hate crimes for in-service peace officers, and require specified peace officers to take the course every 5 years.

(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA emergency shelters, supportive housings, and transitional housings meeting certain requirements. CEQA requires the Office of Planning and Research to prepare and develop, and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt, proposed guidelines for the implementation of CEQA. The bill would require the office, by an unspecified date, to prepare and develop, and the secretary to certify and adopt, revisions to the guidelines for the translation of certain notices and documents into non-English languages. By requiring public agencies to translate notices and documents into non-English languages, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. CEQA establishes public comment periods for the lead agency to receive comments on a draft EIR for a project and requires the lead agency to respond to public comments received. This bill would authorize the lead agency to post on its internet website, at least 30 days before a public hearing at which it may approve the project, its responses to public comments received. The bill would authorize the lead agency to set a deadline of 10 days before the final public hearing at which it may approve the project for the receipt of written comments and supporting evidence if certain conditions are met. CEQA requires the courts to give an action or proceeding alleging noncompliance with CEQA preference over all other civil actions. CEQA establishes procedures applicable to an action or proceeding brought to challenge a public agency's action on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA, including, among other procedures, the requirement that a petitioner bringing the action or proceeding is to request a hearing within 90 days from the date of filing of the petition and the requirement that the respondent public agency, not later than 20 days from the date of service of the petition, is to file with the court a notice setting forth the time and place at which all parties are to meet and attempt to settle the litigation. This bill would additionally require the respondent public agency, not later than 20 days from the date of service of the petition, to file and serve a request for the court to schedule a case management conference, as provided. The bill would specify the subjects to be addressed in the case management conference, which include, among other subjects, the potential usefulness of settlement discussions, mediation, or arbitration. The bill would instead require the public agency, not later than 15 days from the date of service of the petition, to file with the court a notice setting forth the time and place at which all parties or their counsel are to meet to discuss various issues, including, among other issues, the potential usefulness of settlement discussions, mediation, or arbitration. The bill would require the public agency, not later than 20 days after the initial case management conference, to file and serve a notice of the time and place of a settlement meeting. CEQA requires a petitioner, at the time of the filing of an action or proceeding pursuant to CEQA, to file a request that the respondent public agency prepare the record of proceedings related to the subject of the action or proceeding. CEQA provides the petitioner with the authority to elect to prepare the record of proceedings, instead of preparation by the public agency. This bill would require the petitioner to file with the respondent public agency a notice either requesting the public agency to prepare the record of proceedings or notifying the public agency that it is electing to prepare the record of proceedings. The bill would authorize the public agency or real party in interest, within 5 business days of the service of the notice, to assume responsibility of preparing the record of proceedings, notwithstanding the petitioner's election. The bill would require the lead agency or real party in interest, if it makes this election, to bear the full costs in preparing and certifying the record of proceedings and to waive its rights to recover those costs from petitioner if it prevails in the action. The bill would require the parties to meet and confer regarding the preparation of the record of proceedings, as provided. CEQA requires a petitioner bringing an action alleging noncompliance with CEQA to furnish a copy of the pleadings to the Attorney General. This bill would require a petitioner, in the event of settlement of an action or proceeding involving the payment of money directly to a petitioner or petitioner's counsel other than reasonable attorney's fees and costs, to submit a report to the Attorney General describing the settlement and final disposition of the case within 7 days of the filing of a request for dismissal with the court. The bill would authorize the imposition of sanctions against a petitioner, upon motion by other parties in the action or by the Attorney General, if the petitioner refuses to file the report after being notified of its failure to comply with this requirement or if the petitioner repeatedly fails to comply with this requirement in connection with litigation brought by the petitioner. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring an action against the petitioner if the Attorney General determines that the petitioner has filed multiple actions under CEQA resulting in primarily monetary settlements that do not further the purposes of CEQA. CEQA requires superior courts in counties with a population of more than 200,000 to designate one or more judges to develop expertise in CEQA and certain related laws so that those judges will be available to hear and quickly resolve actions or proceedings alleging noncompliance with CEQA. This bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2021, to take certain actions related to the administration of justice under CEQA and to submit a report to the Legislature on its view regarding the administration of justice under CEQA, as provided. The bill would authorize a superior court in a county with a population of 200,000 or less, upon its own motion or upon motion by a party, to either order the transfer of the action or proceeding alleging noncompliance with CEQA to the superior court in a county with a population of more than 200,000 or to order the case be heard by a judge with expertise in CEQA assigned by the Judicial Council. This bill would repeal various obsolete provisions from CEQA, make conforming changes, and make various clarifying and nonsubstantive changes. (2) Existing law requires a court, upon motion by a party and a determination of certain facts, to order a plaintiff in a civil action, including an action challenging a project on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA, challenging a housing development project that meets or exceeds requirements of low- or moderate-income housing to file an undertaking in an amount determined by the court. This bill would instead require a court to require the filing of an undertaking in civil actions that challenge an affordable housing development project, as defined, which includes an emergency shelter. (3) Existing law requires a legislative body of a city or county or a district board, if an initiative petition is signed by a specified number of voters, to either adopt the ordinance set forth in the initiative petition, without alteration, at a regular meeting at which the certification of the petition is presented, or within 10 days after it is presented, or submit the ordinance proposed in the petition, without alteration, to the voters for approval. This bill would require the legislative body of a city or county or district board to submit the ordinance proposed in an initiative petition to the voters for approval if the legislative body or district board determines that the approval of the proposed ordinance constitutes an approval of a project within the meaning of CEQA, had the proposed ordinance been proposed by the legislative body or district board rather than by initiative petition. By requiring the legislative body of a city or county or district board to submit those ordinances to the voters for approval, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The Planning and Zoning Law requires an action or proceeding against local zoning and planning decisions of a legislative body to be commenced within certain time periods, as specified. The Subdivision Map Act requires an action or proceeding against a decision of a local agency taken pursuant to that act to be commenced within a certain time period, as specified. CEQA requires an action or proceeding challenging a decision of the lead agency on the grounds of noncompliance with CEQA to be commenced within certain time periods, as specified. This bill would specify that tolling agreements entered into, as provided, are effective to toll the time periods in which an action or proceeding is to be commenced, as required by those 3 acts. (5) 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. (6) 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. 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, no later than the close of the 2021 calendar year, requires a domestic general corporation or foreign corporation whose principal executive office is located in California that is a publicly held corporation, defined as a corporation with outstanding shares listed on a major United States stock exchange, to have a minimum of one female director or more depending on the number of directors that the corporation has. Existing law requires, on or before specified dates, the Secretary of State to publish various reports on its internet website documenting, among other things, the number of corporations in compliance with these provisions. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to impose fines for violations of these provisions, as specified, and requires the moneys from these fines to be available, upon appropriation, to offset the cost of administering these requirements. This bill, no later than the close of the 2021 calendar year, would require a publicly held corporation, whether foreign or domestic whose principal executive office is located in California to have a minimum of one female director or more in office depending on the number of authorized directors the corporation has. The bill would make other revisions with respect to the information required on the annual reports published by the Secretary of State.

Existing law, the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995 (the act) , prohibits a business establishment from discriminating against a person because of the person's gender with respect to the price charged for services of similar or like kind and specifies that this prohibition does not apply to price differences based specifically upon the amount of time, difficulty, or cost of providing the services. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of various personal characteristics. Under existing law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is responsible for receiving, investigating, conciliating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints alleging violations of specified civil rights. This bill would prohibit a business establishment from discriminating against a person because of a person's gender with respect to the price charged for any 2 consumer products from the same manufacturer that are substantially similar if those products are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use the products are intended or marketed, as specified. The bill would make the department responsible for receiving, investigating, conciliating, mediating, and prosecuting complaints alleging violations of these provisions.

Existing law authorizes the agricultural commissioner of a county to adopt regulations applicable in the county that are supplemental to those of the Director of Pesticide Regulation that govern the conduct of pest control operations and records and reports of those operations. Existing law authorizes the county agricultural commissioner to adopt regulations on the agricultural use of any pesticide for agricultural production within 14 mile of a school with respect to the timing, notification, and method of application. This bill would additionally require a county agricultural commissioner to publicly post on its internet website the approval, denial, or postponement of the date of an application of a pesticide, as described, within ¼ of one mile of a schoolsite and would require the county agricultural commissioner to provide notice to the principal of any K–12 school at least 3 school days before the date of the application of the pesticide. The bill would also require the Department of Pesticide Regulation to publish by April 1, 2021, and each year thereafter, a report for the prior calendar year that includes specified information and would require each county agricultural commissioner to report by August 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, to each impacted school district within the county the agricultural pesticide use that occurred in that county within ¼ of one mile of a schoolsite from the previous July 1 to June 30, inclusive, and any pesticide incident reports during that same time period. The bill would require that this information be posted on the county agricultural commissioner's internet website and made available to the public. The bill would also require the county agricultural commissioner to present, on an annual basis, a summary of their report to each impacted school district at a meeting of the board of that school district that was impacted by at least one incident documented within its jurisdiction. Because the bill would expand the duties of county agricultural commissioners, the bill would create 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.

Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, declares that the right to privacy is a personal and fundamental right protected by the California Constitution and by the United States Constitution and that all individuals have a right of privacy in information pertaining to them. The act requires an agency, defined as every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency, except as provided, to maintain in its records only personal information that is relevant and necessary for a required or authorized purpose. This bill would, until January 1, 2025, require a government entity, defined as a department or agency of the state or its political subdivision, or any person acting for or on behalf of, or at the request of, the state or its political subdivision, to submit to the Legislature a written report that includes specified information, including whether, in the past 3 years, the government entity has developed, acquired, possessed, accessed, used, or shared any facial recognition or other biometric surveillance system or commercial biometric database. The bill would also prohibit a government entity from sharing images, recordings, or biometric information with any other person or entity for use in a facial recognition or other biometric surveillance system or commercial biometric database. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, prohibits a law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer from installing, activating, or using any biometric surveillance system in connection with an officer camera or data collected by an officer camera. Under existing law, a person is authorized to bring an action for equitable or declaratory relief against a law enforcement agency or officer who violates that prohibition. This bill would, until January 1, 2026, prohibit a law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer from developing, acquiring, possessing, accessing, using, or sharing any facial recognition or other biometric surveillance system. The bill would also prohibit a law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer from acquiring, accessing, or using any facial recognition or other biometric surveillance system that is developed from or makes use of biometric information that was collected without the express consent of each individual whose biometric information is contained therein to use their biometric information for biometric surveillance. This bill would authorize an individual, upon a violation of the prohibitions described above, to bring a lawsuit in a court of competent jurisdiction and to obtain specified remedies, including recovery of damages in an amount not less than $100 and not more than $750 per individual per violation or actual damages, whichever is greater. This bill would require the California Research Bureau to conduct a study examining the civil liberties and civil rights impacts of facial recognition and other biometric surveillance systems on Californians, as specified, and to submit the study to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2023. This bill would define terms for its purposes.

Existing law establishes the California Department of Aging to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or the least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law permits age restrictions in connection with housing and defines senior citizen housing developments for these purposes as a residential development for senior citizens that has at least 35 dwelling units. This bill, contingent on funds being appropriated in the annual Budget Act, would require the department to establish and administer the Housing Plus Services Nursing Pilot Program in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma. The program would provide grant funds to qualified nonprofit organizations that specialize in resident services for the purposes of hiring one full-time registered nurse to work at 3 senior citizen housing developments in each county to provide health education, navigation, coaching, and care to residents. The bill would require the department to submit a report to specified legislative committees and state agencies on or before January 1, 2025, and would repeal the program as of January 1, 2026.

The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act prohibits specified entities from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, unless a specified exception applies. The act, with specified exceptions, prohibits an employer from using, disclosing, or knowingly permitting its employees or agents to use or disclose medical information that the employer possesses pertaining to its employees without the prescribed permission of the patient. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime. The Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act generally regulates how insurers collect, use, and disclose information gathered in connection with insurance transactions. The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act specify the manner in which a health care service plan or health insurer is required to maintain confidentiality of medical information regarding the treatment of an insured, subscriber, or enrollee, including requiring a health care service plan or health insurer to accommodate requests by insureds, subscribers, and enrollees to receive requests for confidential communication of medical information in situations involving sensitive services or situations in which disclosure would endanger the individual. This bill would revise and recast these provisions. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from requiring a protected individual, as defined, to obtain the policyholder, primary subscriber, or other enrollee's authorization to receive health care services or to submit a claim if the protected individual has the right to consent to care. The bill would require the health care service plan or health insurer to direct all communications regarding a protected individual's receipt of sensitive health care services directly to the protected individual, and would prohibit the disclosure of that information to the policyholder, primary subscriber, or any plan enrollees without the authorization of the protected individual, as provided. The bill would also require the health care service plan or health insurer to accommodate requests by insureds, subscribers, and enrollees to receive requests for confidential communication of medical information regardless of whether there is a situation involving sensitive services or a situation in which disclosure would endanger the individual. Because a violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, and because this bill would expand the scope of a crime, the bill would create 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 Sex Equity in Education Act states the policy of the state that elementary and secondary school classes and courses, including nonacademic and elective classes and courses, be conducted without regard to the sex of the pupil enrolled in these classes or courses. Under existing law, the sex discrimination provisions of the act do not apply to any program or activity of the American Legion undertaken in connection with the organization or operation of any Boys State conference, Boys Nation conference, Girls State conference, or Girls Nation conference, or to any program or activity of any secondary educational institution specifically for the promotion of any of those conferences or for the selection of pupils to attend those conferences if the conferences comply with other nondiscriminatory provisions of state and federal law. This bill would prohibit public funds or resources from being used in connection with any secondary educational program of government instruction located in Sacramento that does not provide an equal opportunity for female and male pupils to participate and use facilities in Sacramento. The bill would specifically subject those American Legion programs and activities to this prohibition.

Existing law allows a court to issue an order restraining an individual from possessing a firearm while the order is in effect. Existing law allows the court to issue a temporary emergency gun violence restraining order on an ex parte basis if the possession of a firearm by the subject of the petition poses an immediate and present danger. Existing law requires a law enforcement officer who requests a temporary emergency gun violence restraining order to take certain steps, including filing a copy of the order with the court as soon as practicable after issuance. This bill would instead require the law enforcement officer to file a copy of the order with the court as soon as practicable, but not later than 3 court days, after issuance.