Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh

Existing law sets forth the maximum ratios of administrative employees to each 100 teachers in the various types of school districts. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine, for each current fiscal year, for each school district in the state, the total number of administrative employees except as provided, the total number of teachers except those serving in positions that are supported by federal funds or by categorical grants from any source and are in programs that require specific teacher/administrator ratios, the total maximum number of administrative employees that should be employed by the school district based upon the application of the appropriate ratio prescribed by law, and the number of administrative employees in excess of the number allowable without penalty, as provided. Existing law exempts a school district that has one or fewer administrators from these provisions. This bill would delete that exemption and instead would exempt from those maximum ratios a certain number of administrative employees of a school district with an average daily attendance of 2,500 or fewer based on the average daily attendance of the school district, as provided.

Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections. Existing law charges the board with providing the statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system. Under existing law, the board administers several grant programs, including a mentally ill offender crime reduction grant program, a medication-assisted treatment grant program, and a violence intervention and prevention grant program. This bill would establish two new grant programs until January 1, 2028: the Homeless and Mental Health Court Grant Program that would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, be administered by the Judicial Council and provide grants to counties for the purpose of establishing or expanding homeless courts and mental health courts, as specified; and the Transitioning Home Grant Program that would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, be administered by the board and provide grants to county sheriffs and jail administrators to fund programs aimed at reducing homelessness among inmates released from custody, as specified. The bill would require the board and council to prepare and submit reports to the Legislature, as specified, regarding the impacts of the grant program under their jurisdiction.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. Existing law exempts from disclosure any investigatory or security file compiled by any other state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes. Under existing law, criminal offenders sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison are sentenced for either a determinate term or an indeterminate life sentence, and a person sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence is held until release by the Board of Parole Hearings. Under existing law, a person sentenced to a determinate sentence is released after serving the term of their sentence, minus any credits earned, and is required to serve a period of time after release under parole supervision. Existing constitutional provisions, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, make an inmate sentenced to state prison for a conviction of a nonviolent felony offense eligible for early parole consideration after completing the full term for their primary offense, as defined. This bill would provide that Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records pertaining to an inmate's release date and their early release credits are public records and are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. The bill would state that the provisions relative to the California Public Records Act are declaratory of existing law.

The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes the establishment, operation, and governance of charter schools. Existing law authorizes a charter school that has an approved charter to receive funding for nonclassroom-based instruction only if a determination for funding is made by the State Board of Education, as specified. This bill would replace the term "nonclassroom-based instruction" with "flex-based instruction" and define a "flex-based charter school" as a charter school that receives a determination for funding from the state board, as described above.. The bill would also make numerous nonsubstantive and conforming changes.

The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the system. The California Constitution qualifies this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of the public retirement system's board. Existing law establishes the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to ascertain facts and make recommendations to the Legislature and to the houses thereof concerning the state budget, the revenues and expenditures of the state, the organization and functions of the state, its departments, subdivisions and agencies, and such matters as may be provided for in the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly, and grants the committee the authority to appoint a legislative analyst who is also referred to as the Legislative Auditor or Legislative Analyst. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst to prepare a pension fiscal impact analysis on any measure introduced on or after January 1, 2024, that is referred to the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee, or any successor committee, as specified, and that requires a public retirement system to take prescribed action, including the divestiture of an existing investment. The bill would require the California Actuarial Advisory Panel and the affected public retirement system to provide assistance to the Legislative Analyst in preparing the analysis. By requiring the boards of local public retirement systems to take specified actions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst to develop specified criteria, including, at a minimum, the likely short-term and long-term costs to the General Fund, as prescribed. This bill would prohibit a member of the Legislature from presenting any measure for which the Legislative Analyst must prepare a pension fiscal impact analysis under the bill's provisions until the Legislative Analyst posts the completed analysis on its website and transmits it to the legislative committee. 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 shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act, but would recognize that a local agency or school district may pursue any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs.

Existing law authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to, subject to an appropriation, establish a Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program. Existing law authorizes the department, pursuant to this program, to award competitive grants to qualified entities to construct, acquire, and rehabilitate real estate assets or to invest in needed mobile crisis infrastructure to expand the community continuum of behavioral health treatment resources to build or expand the capacity of various treatment and rehabilitation options for persons with behavioral health disorders, as specified. This bill would authorize the department, in awarding the above-described grants, to give preference to qualified entities that are intending to place their projects in specified facilities or properties. The bill would appropriate $1,000,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for the purpose of implementing the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, for encumbrance during the 2023–24 to 2025–26, inclusive, fiscal years.

Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state that no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home. Existing law also declares that it is the policy of the state that no treatable animal should be euthanized.. This bill, Bowie's Law, would require all animal shelters, as defined, to provide public notice on their internet website at least 72 hours before euthanizing any dog, cat, or rabbit, except as provided. The bill would require that notice to indicate that the animal is subject to euthanasia and to include information about the animal and its availability for adoption. The bill would authorize an animal shelter to provide this public notice for less than 72 hours if the animal shelter makes certain determinations. The bill would, for each instance where the animal shelter provides public notice for less than 72 hours, require the animal shelter to document the reason and to keep it on file and available for public inspection, as provided. By imposing new requirements on a public animal control agency or shelter, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the Department of Food and Agriculture to conduct a study on the overcrowding of California's animal shelters, the ways in which the state might address animal shelter overcrowding, and the feasibility of a statewide database of dogs and cats that provides public notice and information at the statewide level, as specified. The bill would require the department to, on or before January 1, 2026, submit a report on its study findings to the Legislature, as provided. The bill would repeal these study and reporting requirements on January 1, 2027. 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 prohibits an act of sexual intercourse accomplished against a person's will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another. Existing law provides a greater punishment for this offense if the victim is a minor, as specified. Existing law also prohibits an act of sexual intercourse with a person who is incapable, because of a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability, of giving legal consent, and this is known or reasonably should be known to the person committing the act. This bill would impose a greater punishment for prohibited acts of sexual intercourse, as defined, if the victim is a developmentally disabled minor, as specified and defined, and the person committing the prohibited acts knows or should have known that the person is developmentally disabled. The bill would specifically require a person who commits these offenses upon a person who is 10 years of age or younger to be prosecuted pursuant to another statute providing even greater punishment. By increasing the punishment for crime, this 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.

(1) Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to adopt a local control and accountability plan, as provided. Existing law requires that certain things occur before a governing board of a school district considers the adoption of a local control and accountability plan or an annual update to the plan, including that the superintendent of the school district present the local control and accountability plan or annual update to the local control and accountability plan to the parent advisory committee, the English learner parent advisory committee, and the student advisory committee, as applicable, for review and comment, as provided. This bill would also require, before a governing board of a school district considers the plan described above, the superintendent of each school district to consult with its special education local plan area administrator or administrators to determine which specific actions are needed to support outcomes on the California School Dashboard when the school district is determined to be in need of differentiated assistance for performance of pupils with disabilities. Because this bill would impose new duties on a superintendent of a school district, the bill would impose a state-mandated program. (2) Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to provide technical assistance for a minimum of 2 years for any school district for which one or more identified pupil subgroups meets specified criteria, including assisting the school district to identify its strengths and weaknesses, as provided. When pupils with disabilities are the identified pupil subgroup meeting the criteria, this bill would require the county superintendent of schools to consult with and include its special education local plan area administrator or administrators as part of the expert technical assistance team. Because the bill would impose new duties on a county superintendent of schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated program. (3) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to develop a local plan relating to the education of individuals with exceptional needs residing in the school district, as provided. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish guidelines for the development of local plans, as provided. Existing law requires, commencing July 1, 2027, each local plan to include an annual assurances support plan. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop a template for the annual assurances support plan by July 1, 2026. Existing law requires the annual assurances support plan to include specified elements, including a description of how the governing board of the special education local plan area has determined that the special education local plan area will connect its participating agencies in need of technical assistance to the statewide system of support. This bill would require the annual assurances support plan to include additional detail and new elements, as specified. To the extent these changes would impose new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law requires each special education local plan area submitting a local plan to the Superintendent to ensure that it has in effect policies, procedures, and programs that are consistent with state laws, regulations, and policies governing specified things. This bill would require each special education local plan area submitting a local plan to the Superintendent to also ensure that the plan provides technical assistance to its member local educational agencies to support monitoring activities as directed by the department, as provided. By requiring new duties of a special education local plan area, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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 finds and declares that all individuals with exceptional needs have a right to participate in free appropriate public education and special educational instruction and services for these persons are needed in order to ensure the right to an appropriate educational opportunity to meet their unique needs. Existing law provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that education programs are provided under an approved local plan for special education, as provided. Existing law further provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that appropriate qualified staff are employed, consistent with credential requirements, to fulfill the responsibilities of the local plan. Existing law establishes in state government the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and requires it to adopt standards for the issuance of teaching credentials, as provided. This bill would require the commission, on or before June 30, 2025, to revise its administrative services credential standards and performance expectations to include and strengthen preparation for inclusion, with a focus on, among other things, universal design for learning (UDL) , as defined. The bill would require administrator preparation programs to ensure faculty are prepared in, among other things, UDL and inclusive practices, as defined. Contingent upon an appropriation, the bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the commission, on or before March 31, 2027, to develop and disseminate joint guidance clarifying the ways in which inclusive classrooms and placements may be staffed under current law, as provided. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the commission, on or before March 31, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature on recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes necessary to eliminate barriers to the staffing of inclusive placements. This bill would require, for children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind, inclusive practices and strategies to improve pupil outcomes to mean placement in settings that provide full access to language and specialized services, as provided. The bill would require any discussion of deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind pupils in the local educational agency setting to ensure the input and participation of the deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind communities, as provided. To the extent that this bill would require a new duty of a local educational agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated 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.