Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation plan to the commission for review and approval, as specified. Following approval, the commission is required to oversee compliance with the plans. Existing law requires a wildfire mitigation plan of an electrical corporation to include, among other things, protocols for deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the associated impacts on public safety. As part of these protocols, an electrical corporation is required to include protocols related to mitigating the public safety impacts of deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider customers that receive medical baseline allowances. Existing law authorizes an electrical corporation to deploy backup electrical resources or provide financial assistance for backup electrical resources to a customer receiving a medical baseline allowance if the customer meets specified conditions. This bill would require an electrical corporation to deploy backup electrical resources for the operation of the customer's qualifying medical device or provide financial assistance for backup electrical resources to a customer receiving a medical baseline allowance if the customer meets those conditions and the additional condition that the customer is located in a high fire threat district. The bill would require an electrical corporation to develop its program to provide backup electrical resources or financial assistance in consultation with community disability rights groups or other local disability rights advocates. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because this bill would add additional requirements to an electrical corporation's wildfire mitigation plan that would be approved and overseen by the commission and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes, including, until July 1, 2023, an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products, defined as tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, beginning on May 15, 2020, to estimate the total dollar amount of revenue that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax exemption for menstrual hygiene products and requires the Controller to transfer that amount from the General Fund to the Local Revenue Fund 2011, a continuously appropriated fund, no later than June 30 of each fiscal year. This bill would establish a similar exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products beginning July 1, 2023, and would define menstrual hygiene products to additionally include menstrual underwear. The bill would provide that the Department of Finance is required to calculate, and the Controller is required to transfer, the total dollar amount of revenue prior to January 1, 2024, that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax with respect to menstrual hygiene products, as specified. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law prohibits any person from collecting blood from animals, or preparing, testing, processing, storing, or distributing blood or blood component products, as defined, from animals, for retail sale and distribution except in a commercial blood bank for animals that is licensed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. Existing law requires a commercial blood bank for animals, as a condition of licensing, to document how the animal donor was acquired and to have a written protocol for, among other things, ongoing veterinary care for animals held in blood donor facilities. Existing law authorizes the secretary to fix the license application fee and license renewal fee at less than, but not to exceed, $250 for each establishment. Existing law also authorizes the Department of Food and Agriculture to increase those fees to cover the department's reasonable costs incurred in connection with required inspections. Existing law exempts all records held by the department pursuant to these provisions from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. This bill would modify the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals to limit the definition to establishments that collect blood from "community-sourced" animals, as defined, that are brought by their owners to the commercial blood bank for animals to have their blood collected. The bill would exclude from the definition of a commercial blood blank for animals establishments that collect blood from "captive closed-colony" animals that are kept, housed, or maintained for the purpose of collecting their blood. By modifying the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals in this manner, the bill would prohibit the use of captive closed-colony animals at a commercial blood bank for animals. The bill would make the modification of the definition of a commercial blood bank for animals operative 3 years after the date that the department determines that an equivalent supply of blood sold in California from captive closed-colony blood banks for animals during the years 2018 to 2019, inclusive, is being produced over an equivalent time period from community-sourced blood banks for animals. The bill would define "indirect supervision" to have the same meaning as in specified regulations and would make certain related changes. The bill, for purposes of liability, would declare the production and use of whole blood, plasma, blood products, and blood derivatives for the purpose of injecting or transfusing the same, or any of them, into an animal to be construed to be, and would declare to be, the rendition of a service by each and every person, firm, or corporation participating, and would prohibit from being construed, and would be declared not to be, a sale of that whole blood or plasma or those blood products or blood derivatives. The bill would require a commercial blood bank for animals to include in its written protocol, which would be required to be consistent with current standards of care and practice for the field of veterinary transfusion medicine, bloodborne pathogen testing for all canine and feline blood donors, as specified. The bill would increase the license application and license renewal fees to $1,000 and would also authorize the fees to be increased by the secretary in an amount not to exceed the reasonable regulatory costs in administering these provisions. The bill would prohibit a commercial blood bank for animals from providing payment to a person who brings a community-sourced animal to the commercial blood bank for the purpose of donating that animal's blood or blood component products, would impose specified requirements on a commercial blood bank for animals that accepts a donation from a community-sourced animal, would require commercial blood banks for animals to annually submit a specified report to the department and, among other enforcement actions, would subject a commercial blood bank for animals to a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation of these provisions. The bill would delete the above-described exemption from the California Public Records Act, except for identifying personal information, as defined, of owners of animal donors, as provided. (2) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (3) Under existing law, a violation of certain provisions of the Food and Agricultural Code relating to animals is a crime. Because a violation of some of the above 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. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes governing boards of school districts to grant leaves of absence to persons employed in positions requiring certification qualifications and to persons employed in the classified service of the school district. For purposes of state apportionments, if the average daily attendance of a school district, county office of education, or charter school during a fiscal year has been materially decreased during a fiscal year because of an emergency, existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate the average daily attendance in a manner that credits to the school district, county office of education, or charter school the total average daily attendance that would have been credited had the emergency not occurred. This bill would prohibit the governing board of a school district from requiring an employee of the school district who is employed in a position requiring certification qualifications or a classified employee to use sick, vacation, or other paid leave if the school is forced to close because of a mandatory evacuation order or certain emergencies, or if the employee is unable to report to work because they reside in an area that is subject to an evacuation order or affected by certain emergencies, and would require the governing board of the school district to ensure the employee is provided their regular pay for any days missed. The bill would require the governing board of a school district to adopt rules and regulations requiring and prescribing the manner by which employees shall prove their inability to report to work because they reside in an area that is subject to a mandatory evacuation order or affected by certain emergencies. By imposing new duties on school districts to create new rules and regulations, the bill would create 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 establishes within the state disability insurance program a family temporary disability insurance program, also known as the Paid Family Leave program, for the provision of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a minor child within one year of birth or placement, as specified. This bill would, until December 31, 2020, also authorize wage replacement benefits to specified workers who take time off work to care for a child or other family member, including a child or adult with disabilities, for whom the employee is responsible for providing care if that person's school or place of care has been closed, or the care provider of that person is unavailable, due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. The bill would require that any additional costs associated with the extension of wage replacement benefits in these provisions be paid from the General Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law governs the cultivation of industrial hemp in this state and establishes a registration program administered by county agricultural commissioners and the Department of Food and Agriculture for growers of industrial hemp, hemp breeders, and established agricultural research institutions, as defined. Existing law requires the collection and reporting of certain information regarding hemp production and requires laboratory testing of hemp, as prescribed. A violation of these provisions is a crime. This bill would require the department to report to the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture specified information regarding all hemp production in the state, including the location, acreage, and license or registration number associated with each location in the state where hemp will be produced by registered established agricultural research institutions, registered growers of industrial hemp, and registered hemp breeders. The bill would require that laboratory test reports of hemp include the measurement of uncertainty, as defined, associated with the test results. The bill would also require laboratories to use appropriate, validated methods and procedures for all testing activities, including when estimating the measurement of uncertainty. By adding new requirements for hemp testing, the violation of which 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.
This measure would designate Monday, May 4, 2020, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, among other things, requires the Office of Emergency Services to update the State Emergency Plan on or before January 1, 2019, and every 5 years thereafter. The act also requires the office, on or before July 31, 2015, to update the State Emergency Plan to include proposed best practices for local governments and nongovernmental entities to use to mobilize and evacuate people with access and functional needs during emergency or natural disasters. This bill would require the office, in the next update of the plan, to include the best practices provisions, described above. The bill would also require the office to develop and update annually, in coordination with organizations representing the access and functional needs population, as defined, a guidance document for local governments based, in part, on a review of recent emergency and natural disaster incidents and what did or did not go well in the response efforts. The bill would also require the office to post the guidance document, and its annual update, on the office internet website. The bill would require the office to review the emergency plans of all local governments to determine if they are consistent with the proposed best practices provisions and, upon request by a local government, provide necessary technical assistance to that local government.
Existing law authorizes the state, a local or regional public fire agency, or a local or regional law enforcement agency to establish a peer support and crisis referral program to provide a network of peers available to aid fellow emergency services or law enforcement personnel on emotional or professional issues. Existing law authorizes emergency services or law enforcement personnel to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between them and a peer support team member, crisis hotline staff member, or crisis referral service, except under limited circumstances, including in a criminal proceeding. Under existing law, a person providing peer support services, as specified, and the agency that employs that person are not liable for damages, except in an action for medical malpractice, relating to an act, error, or omission in performing peer support services, unless the act, error, or omission constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct. This bill would authorize the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish a peer support and crisis referral program until January 1, 2024. The bill would extend the above-described confidentiality protections to correctional personnel who participate in a peer support and crisis referral program and would extend the above-described liability protections to the department and correctional employees who are peer support team members. The bill would require the department to establish a peer support advisory committee to advise, assist, support, and advocate for the program, and to establish a selection panel to screen and process applications, interviews, and member selection for the committee.