Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for the regulation of various subjects relating to the processing, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, and cosmetics, including dietary supplements, under the administration and enforcement of the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, it is a misdemeanor for any manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or other person to sell, transfer, or otherwise furnish a dietary supplement containing ephedrine group alkaloids or other specified substances to a person under 18 years of age, and a seller is required to request a valid identification of prospective purchasers who reasonably appear to be under 18 years of age. Existing law, the Unfair Practices Act, prohibits certain acts of unfair competition and a violation of the act is subject to civil liability and constitutes a crime subject to specified fines and penalties. This bill, commencing July 1, 2021, would prohibit a retail establishment from selling dietary supplements for weight loss and over-the-counter diet pills, as defined, to any person under 18 years of age. The bill would require a retail establishment, among other things, to limit access to those products, as specified, and would require the department to determine which products will be subject to those access limitations. The bill would also require the department to develop a health-related notice regarding those products, and would require a retail establishment to conspicuously post that notice at each purchase counter. The bill would make a violation of these provisions by a retail establishment subject to a civil penalty of no more than $1,000 and subject to the Unfair Practices Act as an unfair practice. By expanding the scope of an existing 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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law establishes the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) , which is maintained by the State Department of Education and consists of pupil data regarding demographics, program participation, enrollment, and statewide assessments. Existing law requires a local educational agency to retain individual pupil records for pupils who take certain state assessments, including, among other records, a unique pupil identification number, as provided. This bill would require the department to rebuild CALPADS so that the system allows for input from a variety of sources. The bill would require this rebuilding process to be completely implemented no later than January 1, 2023. The bill would also require the department to establish a working group to develop and implement the rebuilding process required by the bill. The bill would require the working group to include representatives from local educational agencies from diverse geographic areas of the state that have experience working with complex data systems, and also require the working group to be convened no later than March 31, 2021. The bill would require a state agency to direct any request for data from CALPADS to the department rather than to a local educational agency.
Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission and assigns to it numerous duties with respect to student financial aid programs, including administration of the Student Opportunity and Access Program. Under this program, the commission may apportion funds for the support of projects designed to increase accessibility of postsecondary educational opportunities for certain elementary and secondary school pupils from historically underserved backgrounds. Existing law requires each project to be proposed and operated through a consortium, as specified, and requires at least 30% or the equivalent of each project grant to be allocated for stipends to peer advisers and tutors meeting specified criteria. This bill, among other things, would authorize the commission to apportion funds under the program to projects designed to increase accessibility of postsecondary educational opportunities for certain pupils from underserved communities. The bill would impose additional requirements on projects receiving funding, including requiring projects to provide assistance to those pupils from underserved communities who are enrolled in middle school and their parents or guardians in order to implement outreach efforts designed to inform them of the future availability of and access to postsecondary student financial assistance. The bill would require every consortium operating a project to allocate at least 20%, with the goal of allocating 30%, of each project grant to college success coaches meeting specified criteria. Existing law authorizes the initial grant for a proposed new project in an area that has demonstrated need for services provided by the Student Opportunity and Access Program to be used for planning and development and requires full project grant funding to be allocated when specified criteria is met. This bill would repeal these provisions.
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential fire and property insurance. Existing law defines the measure of indemnity for a loss under a property insurance policy. Existing law requires a person who controls a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a specified wildfire-prone area to, among other things, maintain 100 feet of defensible space around the structure. This bill would create the Wildfire Resilience Task Force, which would include the Insurance Commissioner, the Director of the Office of Emergency Services, and the State Fire Marshal, or their designees. The bill would require the task force to establish minimum standards for fire-hardened homes and communities, and would authorize the commissioner to promulgate regulations to implement specified exceptions to those standards. The bill would require an admitted insurer that offers or sells residential property insurance to, at a minimum, offer or sell the existing residential property insurance coverage it most commonly offers or sells to an applicant or insured who owns a residence that has an estimated replacement cost consistent with the insurer's underwriting guidelines, meets the minimum standards established by the task force, and exists in a development that was established before those standards were established, including a residence rebuilt after being destroyed by wildfire.
Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Ocean Protection Council, to create, and update biannually, a Planning for Sea Level Rise Database describing steps being taken throughout the state to prepare for, and adapt to, sea level rise. This bill would establish the Climate Adaptation Center and Regional Support Network in the Ocean Protection Council to provide local governments facing sea level rise challenges with information and scientific expertise necessary to proceed with sea level rise mitigation.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. Existing law authorizes the commission, after a hearing, to require every public utility to construct, maintain, and operate its line, plant, system, equipment, apparatus, tracks, and premises in a manner so as to promote and safeguard the health and safety of its employees, passengers, customers, and the public. The Public Utilities Act provides that any public utility that violates any provision of the California Constitution or the act, or that fails or neglects to comply with any order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, where a penalty has not otherwise been provided, is subject to a penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $100,000 for each offense. This bill would authorize the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county, as specified, to bring an action in the name of the people, pursuant to the above-described civil penalty provision, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements. The bill would provide that when the conduct that constitutes the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is subject to a separate and distinct civil penalty. The bill would require that an action seeking these civil penalties be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action accrues. The Public Utilities Act provides that every public utility and every officer, agent, or employee of a public utility, who violates or fails to comply with, or who procures, aids, or abets any violation by any public utility of any provision of the California Constitution or of the act, or who fails to comply with any part of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, or who procures, aids, or abets any public utility in a violation or noncompliance, in a case in which a penalty has not otherwise been provided, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both fine and imprisonment. This bill would authorize the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county, as specified, to bring an action in the name of the people, pursuant to the above-described criminal provision, against an electrical corporation involving a failure to comply with safety standards or requirements. The bill would provide that when the conduct that constitutes the violation or failure to comply is of a continuing nature, each day of that violation or failure to comply is a separate and distinct offense subject to a fine or imprisonment, or both a fine and imprisonment. The bill would require that an action seeking a fine or imprisonment pursuant to the above-described criminal provision be commenced within 4 years after the commission discovers the violation or failure to comply, or within 4 years after completion of the violation or failure to comply, whichever is later. The Public Utilities Act provides that all penalties accruing under the act are cumulative, and a suit for the recovery of one penalty does not bar or affect the recovery of any other penalty or forfeiture or serve as a bar to any criminal prosecution against any public utility, or any officer, director, agent, or employee of the public utility, or any other corporation or person. This bill would expressly provide that the above-described civil penalty and criminal sanction provisions are in addition to other fines or penalties imposed by other law. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to ensure that where enforcement of provisions affecting public utilities is not specifically vested in some other officer or tribunal, that those provisions are enforced and obeyed and that violations are promptly prosecuted and penalties are recovered and collected. To accomplish this requirement, the commission is authorized to sue in the name of the people and to request the Attorney General or a district attorney to aid in any investigation, hearing, or trial and to institute and prosecute actions or proceedings. This bill would provide that the bill does not diminish the duty of the commission to be the primary entity responsible to ensure that the laws pertaining to public utilities are enforced and obeyed and does not diminish the authority of the commission to request the Attorney General or the district attorney of a proper county or city and county to aid in any investigation, hearing, or trial pursuant to the act.
Existing law authorizes a court to order or permit a person who pleads guilty or who pleads no contest or who is convicted of a traffic offense to attend a licensed traffic violator school. Existing law requires the clerk of the court to collect a fee from every person who is ordered or permitted to attend a traffic violator school pursuant to specified provisions of law, in an amount equal to the total bail set forth for the eligible offense on the uniform countywide bail schedule. Existing law authorizes the clerk to accept a payment of at least 10% of the required fee upon filing a written agreement by the defendant to pay the remaining amount according to an installment schedule of up to 90 days. This bill would instead require the clerk to permit a defendant who is ordered or permitted to attend traffic violator school, and who demonstrates to the court an inability to pay the total required fee immediately, to pay the fee in installments. The bill would make the defendant eligible to attend traffic violator school upon payment of the first installment. The bill would permit the installment schedule to be longer than 90 days if agreed upon by the court.
The Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act establishes the Community-Based Services Network, administered by the California Department of Aging, which, among other things, requires the department to enter into contracts with local area agencies on aging to carry out the requirements of various community-based services programs. Among these programs is the Alzheimer's Day Care-Resource Center Program. The Alzheimer's Day Care-Resource Center Program is required to provide access to specialized daycare resource centers for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related disorders, and to provide support to their families and caregivers. This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2021, to develop an informational tool to assist individuals and their caregivers in communicating with health care providers after receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and to make that tool available to the public, as specified. The bill would require the tool to be based on a specified publication, and would require the department to update the information provided in that publication and to ensure that the tool meets the needs of an increasingly diverse aging population. The bill would require the department to evaluate the tool for effectiveness at least once every 3 years, contingent on the availability of funding. The bill would be implemented using existing department resources.
Existing law requires the Governor to create the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council to, among other things, identify mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California and to serve as a statewide facilitator, coordinator, and policy development resource on ending homelessness in California. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint up to 19 members of the council, including representatives from specified state agencies and departments, and a formerly homeless person and a formerly homeless youth who both live in California. This bill would require the Governor to appoint up to 20 members of the council, including a representative from the State Water Resources Control Board.
This measure would designate the week of February 24, 2020, to March 1, 2020, as Eating Disorders Awareness Week.