Sen. Connie M. Leyva

Existing law establishes the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. A portion of the Donahoe Higher Education Act known as the Equity in Higher Education Act requires, among other things, each postsecondary educational institution in the State of California to have a written policy on sexual harassment, including information on the complaint process and the timeline for the complaint process. This bill, the Higher Education Student, Staff, and Faculty Protection Act, would, beginning January 1, 2023, require the 3 segments of public postsecondary education to take certain actions before extending an official offer of employment to an applicant, as defined, including requesting that an applicant sign a statement declaring whether the applicant is the subject of an informal resolution process with an outcome used to resolve an allegation following the filing of a formal Title IX sexual harassment complaint, or any substantiated Title IX sexual harassment complaints, as specified, and authorizing the applicant's current and past employers to disclose to the hiring institution whether the applicant was the subject of an informal resolution process with an outcome used to resolve an allegation following the filing of a formal Title IX sexual harassment complaint, or any substantiated Title IX sexual harassment complaints. The bill would prohibit these public postsecondary educational institutions from hiring an applicant who does not sign the requested statement. The bill also would require the public postsecondary educational institutions to request information related to whether the applicant was the subject of an informal resolution process with an outcome used to resolve an allegation following the filing of a formal Title IX sexual harassment complaint, or any substantiated Title IX sexual harassment complaints, from the applicant's current or former postsecondary educational institution employers, and require a public postsecondary educational institution that receives a request for information related to an informal resolution process with an outcome used to resolve an allegation following the filing of a formal Title IX sexual harassment complaint, or any substantiated Title IX sexual harassment complaints, by a current or former employee to provide the information as specified. This bill would require these public postsecondary educational institutions to complete an investigation into a Title IX sexual harassment complaint or allegation committed by an employee against a student or employee of the institution, regardless of whether the employee voluntarily or involuntarily leaves employment with the institution, unless the victim of the alleged Title IX sexual harassment complaint requests otherwise. The bill would prohibit, after June 1, 2023, a provision of a settlement agreement between one of the public postsecondary educational institutions and an employee that prohibits anyone from disclosing whether the employee has been the subject of a Title IX investigation for sexual harassment. This bill would require, no later than September 1, 2023, each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and encourage each campus of the University of California, to establish specified support roles, and designate persons to fill the roles, to assist complainants and respondents in instances of sexual harassment allegation or victimization, as specified. To the extent these provisions would add additional duties on community college districts, 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 grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, with the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, has the exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified, and charges the division with enforcement of the act. Other existing law relating to occupational safety imposes special provisions on certain industries and charges the division with enforcement of these provisions. This bill would require a motion picture production employer to hire a qualified set safety supervisor for all motion picture productions to perform a risk assessment, as specified, to be completed prior to the first day of production on a feature, an episode of a series, or a program, and to be on set daily to ensure cast and crew are not engaged in or exposed to an environment or activity that puts workers' health and safety at risk. The bill would allow the use of a firearm and blank ammunition containing gunpowder or other explosive charge on motion picture productions only for specified purposes and under specified safety conditions. The bill would require a qualified armorer, property master, or designee handling a firearm in the course of the motion picture production to have a specified state permit, to have completed certain training in firearms, and to have a specified federal document for the possession and custody of the firearm. The bill would require an employer to document and report to certain entities any incident involving a firearm or blank ammunition that occurs during a film or television production, as prescribed. This bill would prohibit ammunition on film, television, and commercial sets, except in prescribed circumstances, subject to certain safety rules and laws. The bill would require an employer to ensure that any employee responsible for handling, or in proximity to, firearms on set completes a specific firearm training or equivalent training, as prescribed. The bill would require an employer to comply with the bill and all safety standards adopted by the standards board. The bill would establish exemptions from its provisions for specified registered security guards and peace officers when they are on the perimeter of a set where motion picture production is happening. This bill would require the division to enforce its provisions and, before July 1, 2023, to propose to the standards board, for its review and adoption on or before January 1, 2024, a standard that protects the health and safety of motion picture production employees with regard to the storage, handling, and use of firearms and blanks on set and for use of ammunition. The bill would require the division, in the development of the proposed safety standard, to consider and incorporate, to the extent feasible and consistent with the bill, the provisions of specified joint industry-labor safety bulletins. The bill would also require the division to consider certain other safety standards as it determines to be relevant. The bill would establish civil penalties for specified violations. The bill would define terms for its purposes.

Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs under the direction of the Director of Consumer Affairs, and requires the director to receive complaints from consumers concerning prescribed matters, including violations of California law governing businesses and professions licensed by any agency of the department, and promulgated regulations. Existing law requires the director, through the Division of Investigation, to implement complaint prioritization guidelines for boards within the department to utilize in prioritizing their respective complaint and investigative workloads. Existing law requires the director to amend the guidelines to include the category of "allegations of serious harm to a minor" under the "urgent" or "highest priority" level on or before July 1, 2019. This bill would require the director to post these guidelines on the department's internet website and periodically amend this material. The bill would remove the obsolete provision requiring the director to amend the guidelines to include the category described above under the "urgent" or "highest priority" level.

This measure would proclaim the week of March 6, 2022, to March 12, 2022, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week.

The California Constitution provides that voters may recall a state officer by majority vote and, in the same election, elect a successor with a plurality of the vote. The Constitution prohibits an officer who is the subject of a recall election from being a candidate for successor. The Constitution also prohibits a successor candidacy for the office of judge of the Supreme Court or a court of appeal. The Constitution provides that the Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor when a vacancy occurs in the office of Governor, and requires the Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor during the impeachment, absence from the state, or other temporary disability of the Governor or of a Governor-elect who fails to take office. When a recall of the Governor is initiated, the Constitution requires the Lieutenant Governor to perform the recall duties of the Governor. The Constitution requires the Governor to fill vacancies in certain judicial and executive offices by appointment, as specified. This measure would provide, in the event an officer is removed in a recall election, for the office to remain vacant until a successor candidate to hold the unexpired term of the office receives a majority of votes at a special election, or for the office to remain vacant for the remainder of the term if the nomination period for the subsequent term of that office has closed. The measure would allow an officer who was the subject of the recall election to be a candidate in the special election. The measure would require the Legislature to enact laws providing for the election of a successor. If the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, or a member of the State Board of Equalization is removed from office in a recall election, this measure would provide that a special election will not be held and instead would require the Governor to appoint a successor for the remainder of the unexpired term using existing procedures for filling a vacancy in such offices, provided that the officer who was the subject of the recall election may not be appointed to fill the vacancy in that office. If the Governor is removed from office in a recall election, this measure would provide that the Lieutenant Governor will become Governor for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the Governor is removed from office by recall before the close of the nomination period for the next statewide election during the first two years of the Governor's term, the measure would provide for a special election to be held to replace the Governor for the remainder of the unexpired term, to be consolidated with the next statewide primary election and, if necessary, the subsequent statewide general election. The measure would require the Secretary of State to perform the recall duties of the Governor when a recall of the Governor is initiated.

Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. The act defines "abortion" as a medical treatment intended to induce the termination of a pregnancy except for the purpose of producing a live birth. Existing law also establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services through, among other things, managed care plans licensed under the act that contract with the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, requires the Department of Managed Health Care to license and regulate health care service plans and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also requires the Department of Insurance to regulate health insurers. Existing law requires group and individual health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies to cover contraceptives, without cost sharing, as specified. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan or an individual or group policy or certificate of health insurance or student blanket disability insurance that is issued, amended, renewed, or delivered on or after January 1, 2023, from imposing a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement on coverage for all abortion and abortion-related services, as specified. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan and an insurer subject to these requirements from imposing utilization management or utilization review on the coverage for outpatient abortion services. The bill would require that for a contract, certificate, or policy that is a high deductible health plan, the cost-sharing prohibition would apply once the enrollee's or insured's deductible has been satisfied for the benefit year. The bill would not require an individual or group contract or policy to cover an experimental or investigational treatment. The bill's requirements would also apply to Medi-Cal managed care plans and their providers, independent practice associations, preferred provider groups, and all delegated entities that provide physician services, utilization management, or utilization review. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to adopt related regulations on or before January 1, 2026. Because a violation of the bill by a health care service plan would be 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.