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.
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The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, including an exclusion for the amount of student loan indebtedness repaid or canceled pursuant to a specified federal law. This bill would exclude from an individual's gross income, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, the amount of certain student loans discharged, in whole or in part, after December 31, 2020, and before January 1, 2026, in conformity with federal law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board administers a water rights program pursuant to which the board grants permits and licenses to appropriate water. Existing law requires an application for a permit to appropriate water to include, among other things, sufficient information to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that unappropriated water is available for the proposed appropriation. Existing law requires the board to issue and deliver a notice of an application as soon as practicable after the receipt of an application for a permit to appropriate water that conforms to the law. Existing law allows interested persons to file a written protest against the approval of an application to appropriate water and requires the protestant to set forth the objections to the approval of the application. Existing law declares that no hearing is necessary to issue a permit in connection with an unprotested application, or if the undisputed facts support the issuance of the permit and there is no disputed issue of material fact, unless the board elects to hold a hearing. This bill, if the board has not rendered a final determination on an application for a permit to appropriate water for a beneficial use or uses that include mining use within 30 years from the date the application was filed, would require the board to issue a new notice and provide an opportunity for protests before rendering a final determination, with specified exceptions.
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, with specified exceptions. The bill would state that the provisions relative to the California Public Records Act are declaratory of existing law.
Existing law makes it a crime to possess for sale or purchase for purpose of sale, transport, import, sell, furnish, administer, give away, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, derive, process, or prepare various controlled substances, including, among others, fentanyl, peyote, and various other opiates and narcotics. This bill, Alexandra's Law, would require the court to advise a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, the above crimes, as specified, of the danger of selling or administering illicit drugs and counterfeit pills and that, if a person dies as a result of that action, the defendant can be charged with homicide. The bill would require the court to read the advisory statement in a case in which the defendant exchanged a controlled substance containing fentanyl or its analogs for anything else of value, as specified. The bill would require the advisory statement to be included in a plea form, if used, and specified on the record. The bill would require that the fact the advisory was given be recorded in the abstract of conviction and would prohibit the advisement from being used as evidence in the prosecution of a minor in juvenile court.
Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors in the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes the theft of property that does not exceed $950 in value petty theft and makes that crime punishable as a misdemeanor, with certain exceptions. The initiative statute defines shoplifting as entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed $950. The initiative statute requires that shoplifting be punished as a misdemeanor. Existing law, as amended by Proposition 47, provides that a registered sex offender or a person with a prior conviction for certain serious or violent felonies, such as a sexually violent offense, who commits petty theft is subject to imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year or in the state prison for 16 months or 2 or 3 years. This bill would reinstate a provision of law that was repealed by Proposition 47 that provides that a person who has been convicted 3 or more times of petty theft, grand theft, or other specified crimes and who is subsequently convicted of petty theft is subject to imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in a county jail for 18 months or 2 or 3 years. The bill would also make this provision and the provision relating to a person with serious, violent, or sexual prior offenses applicable to a person whose prior or current conviction is for shoplifting. This bill would require the Secretary of State to place the provisions of the bill that amend the initiative statute on the ballot for the November 5, 2024, statewide general election.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, establishes 8 hours as a day's work and a 40-hour workweek and requires payment of prescribed overtime compensation for additional hours worked. Existing law authorizes the adoption by 23 of employees in a work unit of alternative workweek schedules providing for workdays no longer than 10 hours within a 40-hour workweek. This bill would enact the California Workplace Flexibility Act of 2023. The bill would permit an individual nonexempt employee to request an employee-selected flexible work schedule providing for workdays up to 10 hours per day within a 40-hour workweek and would allow the employer to implement this schedule without the obligation to pay overtime compensation for those additional hours in a workday. The bill would prescribe a method for calculating the payment of overtime for hours worked in excess of the permitted amounts and would establish requirements for termination of these agreements. The bill would except from its provisions employees covered by collective bargaining and public employees, as specified. The bill would require the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations to enforce this provision and adopt regulations.
Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, establishes the Veterinary Medical Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs for the licensure and regulation of veterinarians and the practice of veterinary medicine. Existing law makes a violation of the act a crime. The act prohibits any person from practicing veterinary medicine, as defined, without a license. This bill would authorize a veterinarian to allow a registered veterinary technician to act as an agent of the veterinarian for the purpose of establishing the veterinarian-client-patient relationship to administer preventive or prophylactic vaccines or medications for the control or eradication of apparent or anticipated internal or external parasites by satisfying specified criteria. Because a violation of the bill's provisions would be a crime under the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, 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 federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude those compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments to tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would ratify the tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, California, the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, California, the Resighini Rancheria, and the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to those compacts are not projects for the purposes of CEQA. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.