This measure would proclaim the month of January 2018 as National Mentoring Month.
Existing law generally protects employees who disclose illegal or improper workplace activities by prohibiting interference with, and retaliation for, making such disclosures. Existing law provides procedures for a person to file a complaint alleging violations of legislative ethics. Existing law also authorizes each house of the Legislature to adopt rules for its proceedings and to select committees necessary for the conduct of its business. This bill would impose criminal and civil liability on a Member of the Legislature or legislative employee, as defined, who interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, which is defined as a good faith allegation made by a legislative employee to specified entities that a Member of the Legislature or a legislative employee has engaged in, or will engage in, activity that may constitute a violation of law, including sexual harassment, or a violation of a legislative standard of conduct. The bill would also impose civil liability on an entity that interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, as specified. By creating new crimes, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. Pursuant to the act, the state board adopted a regulation requiring automobile service providers, by September 1, 2010, among other things, to check and inflate vehicle tires to the recommended pressure rating when performing automobile maintenance or repair services. Existing law requires, until January 1, 2018, a tire pressure gauge used to meet the requirements of the tire pressure regulation to be accurate within a range of plus or minus 2 pounds per square inch of pressure. Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2018, automotive service providers to meet the requirements of the tire pressure regulation without checking and inflating a vehicle's tire if that tire is determined to be an unsafe tire, as defined. This bill would extend these provisions until January 1, 2021.
Existing law requires the court to consider, and give due weight to, the wishes of the child in making an order granting or modifying custody or visitation if the child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference as to custody or visitation. If the child is 14 years of age or older and wishes to address the court regarding custody or visitation, existing law requires the court to permit the child to address the court, unless the court determines that doing so is not in the child's best interests. This bill would instead require the court to permit a child who is 10 years of age or older to address the court regarding custody or visitation, unless the court determines that doing so is not in the child's best interest.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board, in consultation with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and a specified review committee, to adopt regulations requiring owners or operators of heavy-duty diesel motor vehicles to perform regular inspections of their vehicles for excessive emissions of smoke. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to adopt regulations requiring heavy-duty diesel motor vehicles to use emission control equipment and alternative fuels. This bill would delete the references and requirements pertaining to excessive emissions of smoke by heavy-duty diesel vehicles. The bill would instead require the state board, by an unspecified date, to adopt regulations that require owners or operators of heavy duty motor vehicles used for commercial purposes to perform regular inspections of their vehicles for compliance with emission standards of the state board. The bill would require a fleet, as defined, of these vehicles to comply with the state board's emission standards in order for any vehicle of the fleet to be registered by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program as a state education, economic, and workforce development initiative with the goal of providing pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with the knowledge and skills necessary to transition to employment and postsecondary education. Existing law appropriates $200,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of this grant program for the 2017–18 fiscal year. Existing law requires applicants for grants under the program to demonstrate that they have local matching funds, as specified. Existing law specifies that no applicant may receive a renewal grant under the program for the 2018–19 fiscal year. This bill would change the name of the program to the California Career Technical Education Grant Program. The bill would increase to $300,000,000 the General Fund appropriation to the State Department of Education for this program for the 2017–18 fiscal year, and would further provide for an appropriation to the department in this amount for the 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would lower the amount of local matching funds required of an applicant from $1.50 for every dollar received to $1 for every dollar received, for the 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21 fiscal years. The bill would also provide that an applicant receiving a grant from this program in the 2017–18, 2018–19, or 2019–20 fiscal year would be eligible for a renewal grant in the next fiscal year if that applicant demonstrates continued compliance with program requirements. (2) The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any person who is required to register as a sex offender to come into any school building or upon any school grounds without lawful business and written permission from the chief administrative official of that school. This bill would delete the requirement that the registered sex offender have written permission from the chief administrative official of the school and would instead make it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to enter any school building or upon any school grounds without lawful business. The bill would authorize a registered sex offender who is subject to the above prohibition and who does not have the right to make educational decisions for a pupil who attends the school to enter a school building or upon school grounds to conduct lawful business at the school only when pupils are not present. The bill would authorize a person who is a registered sex offender to enter a polling place in a school building or on school grounds for the purpose of voting in an election. The bill would also authorize a registered sex offender who is subject to the above prohibition and who has the right to make educational decisions for a pupil in that school to enter a school building or upon school grounds for purposes relating to the exercise of that right. The bill would authorize a registered sex offender who is subject to the above prohibition and who has the right to make educational decisions for a pupil who attends the school to enter a school building or upon school grounds for any lawful purpose not related to the right to make educational decisions for a pupil, unless he or she has been convicted of specified crimes, except that the bill would specify that he or she may nonetheless attend a specific event if the principal or authorized administrator finds that it is in the best interest of the child and authorizes attendance. The bill would require the person to be supervised, as defined, by a school employee while in a school building or upon school grounds. The bill would exempt from its provisions any pupil who is registered as a sex offender for an offense committed as a juvenile. By changing the definition of a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law creates the Transformative Climate Communities Program, which is administered by the Strategic Growth Council. Existing law requires the council to award competitive grants to specified eligible entities for the development and implementation of neighborhood-level transformative climate community plans that include greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects that provide local economic, environmental, and health benefits to disadvantaged communities, as defined. Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide assistance in performing outreach to disadvantaged communities and assessing the environmental justice benefits of project awards. This bill would require the council, among other things, to establish no less than 10 regional climate assistance centers, as specified, and award competitive grants to eligible entities through an application process, as specified. The bill would require the climate assistance centers to provide to target user groups technical assistance in applying for moneys, provide to target user groups assistance and training in project management and implementation, and work with local organizations to formulate policies and programming that accomplish specified goals. The bill would authorize the council and climate assistance centers to solicit and accept nonstate money. The bill would require the council and the State Air Resources Board to make a specified report to the Legislature.
Existing law authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders, as defined, and requires the adoption of standards at least as effective as the federal standards for all issues for which federal standards have been promulgated under provisions of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Existing law exempts a standard or amendment to any standard adopted by the board that is substantially the same as a federal standard from specified provisions of the existing Administrative Procedure Act, including a requirement that a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a major regulation, as defined, on or after November 1, 2013, prepare a standardized regulatory impact analysis in the manner prescribed by the Department of Finance. This bill would exempt any occupational safety and health standard and order from the standardized regulatory impact analysis requirement.
