Sen. Susan Rubio

Existing law establishes in the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement under the direction of the Labor Commissioner and authorizes the Labor Commissioner to investigate employee complaints and recover civil penalties for violations of labor law, as prescribed. Existing law requires an employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, to deduct and withhold from those wages a sum which is substantially equivalent to the amount of tax reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law resulting from the inclusion in the gross income of the employee of the wages which were subject to withholding. Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to have the powers and duties necessary to administer the reporting, collection, refunding to the employer, and enforcement of taxes required to be withheld by employers, as described above. This bill would require, within 60 days of a final judgment being entered against an employer requiring payment to an employee or to the state, as specified, the judgment debtor employer to provide documentation to the Labor Commissioner that the judgment is fully satisfied, a certain bond has been posted, or the judgment debtor entered into an agreement for the judgment to be paid in installments, as prescribed, and is in compliance with that agreement. The bill would make a judgment debtor employer who fails to comply with that provision liable for a civil penalty. The bill would require, if a judgment debtor employer does not comply with that provision, the Labor Commissioner to provide written notice to the judgment debtor employer that the Labor Commissioner will submit the unsatisfied judgment to the Tax Support Division of the Employment Development Department as a notice of potential tax fraud, as prescribed, and that the civil penalty is due within 90 days of the notice.

Existing law establishes various advisory boards and commissions in state government with specified duties and responsibilities. This bill would create the California Latino Commission to address the inequities faced by the Latino community in housing, education, economic mobility, labor, and health care. The commission would consist of 9 members who have demonstrated expertise in specified areas, including housing policy and advocacy and economic development. The bill would task the commission with, among other things, collecting and analyzing data, developing recommendations, and monitoring the implementation of state programs and policies affecting the Latino community, as specified. The bill would require the commission to work with other state agencies and to submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill would establish that the commission and its activities would be supported by appropriations by the Legislature from the General Fund and grants from federal and private sources. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2036.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan or disability insurer to allow an individual to enroll in or change their health benefit plan as a result of a specified triggering event. This bill, the PARENT Act, would make pregnancy a triggering event for purposes of enrollment or changing a health benefit plan. Because a willful violation of this provision 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.

This measure would, among other things, reaffirm California's commitment to universal human rights and call for the end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution establishes CalEITC Awareness Week from January 30 to February 6, 2026, to promote awareness of the California Earned Income Tax Credit among eligible low-income residents. The resolution highlights the program's role in reducing poverty by providing tax credits to working families, including those with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and children under six. It aims to encourage eligible households to claim their benefits through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites, which offer free, culturally responsive tax preparation services. The text notes that over 3.3 million Californians claimed the credit in 2024, yet many eligible families still do not receive the full benefits they qualify for.

Existing law, the Bond and Undertaking Law, prescribes procedures for a bond or undertaking that is executed, filed, posted, furnished, or otherwise given as a security pursuant to any statute, except as specified. Unless a statute providing for a bond indicates that the bond becomes effective at a different time, a bond is effective at the time it is given or, if the statute requires that the bond be approved, at the time it is approved. This bill would specify that if a statute provides for a bond to be given to or in favor of a beneficiary that is a public entity, as defined, in connection with the purchase, construction, expansion, improvement, or rehabilitation of any real or other tangible personal property, that bond is not effective unless the beneficiary agrees to (1) make all payments to the principal, or to the surety if the surety agrees to complete the work upon the principal's default, and (2) perform all necessary obligations owed to the principal under the contract for the work.

Existing law authorizes a municipal wastewater agency to enter into agreements with entities responsible for stormwater management, including, but not limited to, municipal, industrial, and commercial stormwater dischargers, for the purpose of managing stormwater and dry weather runoff. Existing law requires a municipal wastewater agency, if the agency enters into a new agreement or amends an agreement pursuant to those provisions, to file a copy of the agreement or amendment with the local agency formation commission in each county where any part of the municipal wastewater agency's territory is located within 30 days after the effective date of the new agreement or amendment. This bill would extend that filing requirement timeline to 40 days.

Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , on or before March 31, 2024, to provide transmission-focused guidance to the Independent System Operator about resource portfolios of expected future renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources, including the allocation of those resources by region based on technical feasibility and commercial interest in each region to allow the Independent System Operator to identify and approve transmission facilities needed to interconnect resources and reliably serve the needs of load centers, as specified . On December 23, 2022, the PUC, Energy Commission, and Independent System Operator entered into a memorandum of understanding related to resource and transmission planning, transmission development and permitting, procurement, and interconnections in order to achieve reliability and policy needs and to coordinate the timely development of resources, resource interconnections, and needed transmission infrastructure. Existing law requires the Energy Commission and PUC, in coordination with the Independent System Operator, every 5 years, to review and update, as necessary, the memorandum of understanding and a related workplan to ensure the memorandum and workplan reflect the coordination that is needed to help meet the state's energy goals. This bill would require those entities to review and update, as necessary, the memorandum every 3 years, rather than every 5 years.

Existing law requires the Department of Justice to conduct inspections of certain firearm dealers every 3 years in order to ensure compliance with specified requirements. Existing law requires inspections to include a sampling of between 25% and 50% of dealer records of each type. Existing law authorizes the department to assess a fee, up to $115, in order to cover various costs, including the costs of inspections. This bill would instead require the department's sampling of dealer records to include at least 25% of each record type. The bill would also authorize the department to periodically increase the inspection fee, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually inspect the 10 firearm dealer locations, as specified, with the highest percentage of total sales that were recovered by law enforcement and found to be illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime. The bill would require the department to conduct the inspections within 12 months of the release of its annual report unless the dealer location has been inspected within 6 months prior to the release of the report. Existing law directs law enforcement agencies to submit the description of a firearm that has been reported stolen, lost, found, recovered, or under observation directly to an automated Department of Justice system. Existing law requires these law enforcement agencies to report to the department any information in their possession necessary to identify and trace the history of a recovered firearm that is illegally possessed, has been used in a crime, or is suspected of having been used in a crime. Existing law requires the department to analyze this data and to submit an annual report to the Legislature summarizing this analysis, as specified. The bill would also require firearm dealers, commencing January 1, 2028, to maintain inventory records, as specified, at their place of business in a manner prescribed by the department. The bill would additionally require firearm dealers to produce an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying the accuracy of all records, upon request. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to keep a centralized list of all persons who meet the specified requirements of a dealer, licensee, or person licensed, except as specified. Existing law requires the department to remove various persons from this list, including those whose federal firearms license has expired or has been revoked. The bill would additionally authorize the department to remove a person from the centralized list who has willfully failed to comply with specified licensing requirements or who, among other things, failed to remedy violations discovered as a result of an inspection within 90 days of the inspection. The bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine and render a person ineligible for placement on the centralized list for 2 years from the date of removal from the list. 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 law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties pertaining to, among other things, protecting, preserving, and advancing public health. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to develop a plan, addressing specified issues, with recommendations and guidelines for counties to use in the case of a significant air quality event caused by wildfires or other sources. This bill, the Wildfire Smoke and Health Outcomes Data Act, would require the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated wildfire smoke and health data platform on or before July 1, 2028, that, among other things, would integrate wildfire smoke and health data from multiple databases. Under the bill, the purposes for the data platform would include providing adequate information to understand the negative health impacts on California's population caused by wildfire smoke and evaluating the effectiveness of investments in forest health and wildfire mitigation on health outcomes in California. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to develop, among other things, protocols for data sharing, documentation, quality control, and promotion of open-source platforms and decision support tools related to wildfire smoke and health data. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, where appropriate, to utilize data from existing sources, including open source data and other external data, for purposes of implementing the act. This bill would create the Wildfire Smoke and Health Administration Fund. Under the bill, moneys in the fund would be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the State Department of Public Health, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force for the collection, management, and improvement of wildfire smoke and health data for the purposes of the act. The bill would specify that these provisions do not change existing law with respect to the jurisdiction of the public entities involved. The bill would make related findings and declarations.