Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh

Existing law prohibits members of the Legislature and state, county, district, judicial district, and city officers or employees from being financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members. Existing law authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission to commence an administrative or civil action against persons who violate this prohibition, as prescribed, and includes provisions for the collection of penalties after the time for judicial review of a commission order or decision has lapsed, or if all means of judicial review of the order or decision have been exhausted. Existing law identifies certain remote interests in contracts that are not subject to this prohibition and other situations in which an official is not deemed to be financially interested in a contract. Existing law makes a willful violation of this prohibition a crime. This bill would establish that an independent contractor, who meets specified requirements, is not an officer for purposes of being subject to the prohibition on being financially interested in a contract. The bill would authorize a public agency to enter into a contract with an independent contractor who is an officer for a later phase of the same project if the independent contractor did not engage in or advise on, as specified, the making of the subsequent contract. This bill would establish that a person who acts in good faith reliance on these provisions is not in violation of the above-described conflict-of-interest prohibitions and would prohibit them from being subject to criminal, civil, or administrative enforcement under those prohibitions if the initial contract includes specified language and the independent contractor is not in breach of those terms. The bill would provide that it is a complete defense in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding if the person acts in good faith reliance on these provisions, and meets specified conditions, but fails to include the specified language in the initial contract.

Existing law defines the term "serious felony" for various purposes, including, among others, enhancing the punishment for felonies pursuant to existing sentencing provisions commonly known as the Three Strikes Law. This bill would include human trafficking of a minor within the definition of a serious felony for all purposes, including for purposes of the Three Strikes Law, except as specified. By expanding the scope of an enhancement, 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 proclaim the month of September 2023 as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

This measure would declare October 8, 2023, as Father-Daughter Day and would encourage fathers with daughters in California to take time to celebrate, cherish, and connect with each other.

This measure would proclaim the month of October 2023 as California Firefighter Appreciation Month and October 14, 2023, as California Firefighters Memorial Day.

This measure would proclaim August 2023 as Breastfeeding Awareness Month of 2023 in California. The measure would recognize the unique benefits that breastfeeding provides, as specified, and would affirm that Californians should work to ensure that barriers to initiation and continuation of breastfeeding are removed. The measure would encourage Californians to work together to explore ways to, among other things, improve women's access to breastfeeding support services in medical, social, and employment settings.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Pursuant to authority delegated by the Federal Communications Commission to state regulatory bodies and its existing statutory authority, the Public Utilities Commission has established procedures for implementing 2-1-1 dialing in California. Existing law, until January 1, 2023, authorized the commission, if it determined that doing so was an appropriate use of funds collected from ratepayers, to expend up to $1,500,000 from the California Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee Fund to help close 2-1-1 service gaps in counties lacking access to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery information and referral services, where technically feasible, through available 2-1-1 service. Existing law establishes various public social services programs, administered by the State Department of Social services. This bill would, upon appropriation, require the department to establish, develop, implement, and administer the 2-1-1 Support Services Grant Program. The bill would require the department to allocate 85% of funds for grants to fund core activities of 2-1-1 agencies, including, among others, contact handling, as specified, and improving the statewide ability to manage resource and user needs data to support data sharing and delivery to health systems, government agencies and other key partners, and shared capacity for analytics and systems. The bill would also require the department to allocate 15% of funds to create a Statewide Innovation Program for the purpose of collective 2-1-1 statewide network coordination with a focus on, among others, building shared strategies and project management of state and regional initiatives and related information and services, and scaling up and assisting with the operations of 2-1-1 services in specified rural counties. This bill would require a grant recipient to adhere to the principles of Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) standards and guidelines for information and referral services. The bill would also require a grant recipient to prepare and submit an annual report to the department, which would include the activities or services funded by the grant, the number of individuals served, and specified measures of system performance. This bill would make related findings and declarations.

Existing law requires the governing board of any school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils. This bill would, commencing with the 2024–25 school year, require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to, upon receiving notice from a parent or guardian that a pupil has asthma, create an individualized asthma action plan for that pupil. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to provide professional development for school staff that includes, among other things, information about symptoms and common triggers of asthma. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the 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, 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 requires the Governor to establish the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, and requires the council to, among other things, identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California, and promote systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness while focusing on designing systems to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Existing law sets forth the composition of the council, which includes, among others, the Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing and the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, who serve as cochairs of the council. This bill would add a representative from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to the council described above.

Existing law provides various circumstances that constitute rape, including an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a person who is not the spouse of the perpetrator where the person submits under the belief that the person committing the act is the victim's spouse, and this belief is induced by artifice, pretense, or concealment practiced by the accused, with the intent to induce the belief. Existing law also makes it a misdemeanor to sexually assault certain animals for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desires of a person. Existing law makes it a crime to engage in certain types of conduct against a dependent adult or dependent person, including, among others, committing certain sexual acts upon a dependent person. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person, 18 years of age or older, to knowingly and willfully sanction or solemnize a marriage or domestic partnership between a minor and another person. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year per incident. The bill would exclude a marriage or domestic partnership entered into after receiving a court order, as specified. Because a violation of the provisions 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.