Sen. Scott Wilk

This measure would designate the First Street Overcrossing of State Highway Route 118 in the City of Simi Valley as the Simi Valley Police Officer Michael Clark Memorial Overcrossing. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the costs, to erect those signs.

This measure would designate June 2016 as California Fairground Appreciation Month and commend the directors, volunteers, staff, local agencies, nonprofits, and Californians who support and attend fairground events.

This measure would declare June 27, 2016, as Robotics Technology Day.

This measure would declare that the American flag is an inseparable part of California's rich history, tradition, and culture, that it represents the values of freedom and liberty, and would call upon the state and local governments to prohibit any government entity in the state from banning the American flag from public property.

This measure would thank the State Air Resources Board for its exemplary work and tenacity in uncovering the emissions control defeat devices on certain diesel-fueled Volkswagen motor vehicles and would express the Legislature's support for specified future emissions test-related actions by the board.

Existing law provides for 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. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law provides for a schedule of benefits provided under the Medi-Cal program, which includes certain dental services that are referred to as Denti-Cal. This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to increase Denti-Cal provider reimbursement rates for the 15 most common prevention, treatment, and oral evaluation services to the regional average commercial rates, effective January 1, 2017.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including gas corporations. The Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011, within the Public Utilities Act, designates the commission as the state authority responsible for regulating and enforcing federal law with respect to intrastate gas pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities. Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to evaluate the environmental and health risks posed by various substances. This bill, if sufficient moneys are recovered by the commission and appropriated for the purpose of these provisions, would require the commission to authorize a study by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment of the long-term health impacts of the significant natural gas leak from the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility located in the County of Los Angeles that started approximately October 23, 2015, as specified. The bill would require the commission to publish and transmit the report by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and its ongoing findings to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on a biennial basis, on or before January 1 of every even-numbered year, from 2018 until 2028. The bill would require the commission, consistent with its authority to bring enforcement actions, to order Southern California Gas Company to pay for the study. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.

Existing law authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt, amend, and repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing regulations adopted pursuant to that authorization require natural gas that is delivered into any vessel or system, as specified, to have a distinctive odor of sufficient intensity so that the presence of the gas may be detected down to concentrations in air of not over 20% of the lower explosive limit, and require that these odorants be, among other things, harmless to humans, nontoxic, and noncorrosive to certain metals. This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2019, that includes an assessment of any potential danger of odorants currently used in natural gas storage facilities in the state to public health and safety and the environment, and that identifies alternative odorants for possible use in natural gas storage facilities, as specified. The bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to consult with appropriate entities, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) The existing Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by the electors at 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 California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to amend an initiative statute by another statute that becomes effective only when approved by the electors. This bill would amend that initiative statute by making the theft of a firearm grand theft in all cases and punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. (2) Under existing law, a person who buys or receives property that has been stolen, knowing the property to be stolen, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling, or withholding property from the owner, knowing the property to be stolen, is guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony, except that if the value of the property does not exceed $950. Proposition 47 makes the offense punishable as a misdemeanor if the defendant has not previously been convicted of one or more specified serious or violent felonies or of an offense requiring registration as a sex offender. This bill would amend that initiative statute by making the buying or receiving of a stolen firearm, with knowledge that the property was stolen, or the concealing, selling, withholding, or aiding in concealing, selling, or withholding of a firearm, with knowledge that the property was stolen, a misdemeanor or a felony. (3) This bill would call a special election to be consolidated with the November 8, 2016, statewide general election. This bill would require the Secretary of State to submit the provisions of the bill that amend the initiative statute to the electors for their approval at the November 8, 2016, consolidated election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an act calling an election.