Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. The act defines "abortion" as a medical treatment intended to induce the termination of a pregnancy except for the purpose of producing a live birth. Existing law establishes the Abortion Practical Support Fund, administered by the Department of Health Care Access and Information, for the purpose of providing grants to increase patient access to abortion. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, or an entity designated by the agency, to establish an internet website where the public can find information on abortion services in the state. The bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to annually evaluate the grant program funded by the Abortion Practical Support Fund and report its findings to the Legislature. The bill would also make related findings and declarations, and would specify that it is to be construed to effectuate its legislative intent to support access to abortion in California and build upon California's commitment to be a reproductive freedom state.
Sponsored bills
Existing law requires a core recycler that accepts, ships, or sells used catalytic converters to maintain specified information regarding the purchase and sale of the catalytic converters. Existing law prohibits a core recycler from providing payment for a catalytic converter unless the payment is made by check, the check is mailed or provided no earlier than 3 days after the date of sale, unless the seller is a business, and the core recycler obtains a photograph or video of the seller, a written statement regarding the origin of the catalytic converter, and certain other identifying information, as specified. Existing law exempts from this requirement a core recycler that buys used catalytic converters, transmissions, or other parts removed from a vehicle if the core recycler and the seller have a written agreement for the transaction. Existing law requires a core recycler to provide this information for inspection by local law enforcement upon demand. A violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. The bill would prohibit any person from purchasing a used catalytic converter from anybody other than certain specified sellers, including an automobile dismantler, an automotive repair dealer, or an individual possessing documentation, as specified, that they are the lawful owner of the catalytic converter. A violation of this provision would be an infraction, punishable by a fine, as specified. The bill would also prohibit a core recycler from purchasing a catalytic converter from anybody other than these specified sellers. By creating a new infraction and expanding the application of an existing misdemeanor, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 21610 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 986 and AB 1740 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Under existing law, a pedestrian control signal showing a "WALK" or approved "Walking Person" symbol means a pedestrian may proceed across the roadway in the direction of the signal. Under existing law, a pedestrian facing a flashing "DON'T WALK" or "WAIT" or approved "Upraised Hand" symbol with a "countdown" signal, as specified, means a pedestrian may start crossing the roadway in the direction of the signal but requires the pedestrian to finish crossing prior to the display of the steady "DON'T WALK" or "WAIT" or approved "Upraised Hand" symbol, as specified. Existing law defines a traffic-actuated signal as an official traffic signal, as specified, that displays one or more of its indications in response to traffic detected by mechanical, visual, electrical, or other means. Upon the first placement or replacement of a traffic-actuated signal, as specified, existing law requires the traffic-actuated signal to be installed and maintained to detect bicycle or motorcycle traffic on the roadway. This bill would require a traffic-actuated signal to be installed and maintained to have a leading pedestrian interval, and to include the installation, activation, and maintenance of an accessible pedestrian signal and detector, upon the first placement or replacement of a state-owned or operated traffic-actuated signal. The bill would also require an existing state-owned or operated traffic-actuated signal capable of being implemented with remote installation or in-person programming to be programmed with a leading pedestrian interval when maintenance work is done on the intersection in which the traffic-actuated signal is located, if the signal is in a residential, business, or business activity district, a safety corridor, a school zone, or an area with a high concentration of pedestrians and cyclists, as specified. These requirements would not apply when prohibited by the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The bill would, for these purposes, define a "leading pedestrian interval" as an official traffic control signal that advances the "WALK" signal for 3 to 7 seconds while the red signal halting traffic continues to be displayed on parallel through or turning traffic, and define "accessible pedestrian signal and detector" as an integrated device that communicates information about the "WALK" and "DON'T WALK" intervals at signalized intersections in nonvisual formats, including audible tones, speech messages, and vibrotactile surfaces, to pedestrians who are blind or have low vision.
The Corporation Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, provides an exemption from the taxes imposed by those laws for specified organizations. Existing law provides that tax-exempt status, under certain circumstances, may be suspended or revoked. Existing federal law defines various crimes against the established republican form of government, including treason, insurrection, and seditious conspiracy, as provided. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to make a finding that a tax-exempt organization has actively engaged in, or incited the active engagement in, acts or conspiracies defined as criminal under specified federal law, and likely to produce imminent violation of that federal law. The bill would require the Attorney General to notify the Franchise Tax Board of such a finding, and would state the existing authority of the Franchise Tax Board to revoke the tax-exempt status of the organization found to be in violation.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a land use element, and a conservation element. Existing law also authorizes the legislative body of a city or a county to adopt ordinances establishing requirements for parking, and permits variances to be granted from the parking requirements of a zoning ordinance for nonresidential development if the variance will be an incentive to the development and the variance will facilitate access to the development by patrons of public transit facilities. This bill would prohibit a public agency from imposing any minimum automobile parking requirement on any residential, commercial, or other development project, as defined, that is located within 12 mile of public transit, as defined. The bill, notwithstanding the above-described prohibition, would authorize a city, county, or city and county to impose or enforce minimum automobile parking requirements on a housing development project if the public agency makes written findings, within 30 days of the receipt of a completed application, that not imposing or enforcing minimum automobile parking requirements on the development would have a substantially negative impact, supported by a preponderance of the evidence in the record, on the public agency's ability to meet its share of specified housing needs or existing residential or commercial parking within 12 mile of the housing development. The bill would create an exception from the above-described provision if the housing development project (1) dedicates a minimum of 20% of the total number of housing units to very low, low-, or moderate-income households, students, the elderly, or persons with disabilities, (2) contains fewer than 20 housing units, or (3) is subject to parking reductions based on any other applicable law. The bill would prohibit these provisions from reducing, eliminating, or precluding the enforcement of any requirement imposed on a housing development project that is located within 12 mile of public transit to provide electric vehicle supply equipment installed parking spaces or parking spaces that are accessible to persons with disabilities. By changing the duties of local planning officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to notify a city, county, or city and county, and authorizes the department to notify the office of the Attorney General, that the city, county, or city and county is in violation of state law if the department finds that the housing element or an amendment to the housing element does not substantially comply with specified provisions of the Planning and Zoning Law, or that the local government has taken action or failed to act in violation of specified provisions of law. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring suit for a violation of those provisions. This bill would add a violation of the minimum automobile parking requirements of residential, commercial, or other development projects, as described above, to the list of laws that, when violated, require the department to notify the jurisdiction and authorize the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce state law. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65585 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2011 and AB 2653 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2011 or AB 2653, or all 3 bills, are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 requires the State Air Resources Board, no later than January 1, 2018, to approve and begin implementing a short-lived climate pollutant strategy to achieve a reduction in the statewide emissions of methane by 40%, hydrofluorocarbon gases by 40%, and anthropogenic black carbon by 50% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires that the methane emissions reduction goals include a 50% reduction in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75% reduction in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2025. Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in consultation with the state board, to adopt regulations to achieve the organic waste reduction goals established by the state board for 2020 and 2025, as provided. Existing law requires the department, no later than July 1, 2020, and in consultation with the state board, to analyze the progress that the waste sector, state government, and local governments have made in achieving these organic waste reduction goals. Existing law authorizes the department, if it determines that significant progress has not been made toward achieving the organic waste reduction goals established by the state board, to include incentives or additional requirements in its regulations to facilitate progress towards achieving the goals. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the state board, to assist local jurisdictions in complying with these provisions, including any regulations adopted by the department.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and requires regional centers to identify and pursue all possible sources of funding for consumers receiving those services. Existing law defines a "developmental disability" as a disability that originates before an individual attains 18 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual. This bill would modify that definition to mean a disability that originates before an individual attains 22 years of age, continues, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability for the individual.
Existing law requires every motor vehicle subject to registration to be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise and prohibits a muffler or exhaust system from being equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device. Existing law further prohibits the modification of an exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner that will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle exceeds existing noise limits when tested in accordance with specified standards. This bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol to evaluate the efficacy of sound-activated enforcement devices by evaluating devices from at least 3 different companies, and would require the department, on or before January 1, 2025, to prepare and submit its findings and recommendations from the evaluation in a report to the Legislature, as specified. 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.
Existing law establishes various default speed limits for vehicles upon highways, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) , by regulation, to require Caltrans or a local authority to round speed limits up or down to the nearest 5 miles per hour of the 85th percentile of free-flowing traffic. This bill would, if the speed limit needs to be rounded down to the nearest 5 miles per hour increment of the 85th-percentile speed, authorize Caltrans or a local authority to lower the speed limit by 5 miles per hour from the nearest 5 miles per hour of the 85th percentile, as specified. The bill would prohibit the total reduction in the speed limit from exceeding 12.4 miles per hour from the 85th-percentile speed and would authorize a local authority to retain the currently adopted speed limit without further reduction or restore the immediately prior adopted speed limit without further reduction. The bill would make conforming changes. Existing law establishes various speed limits and prohibits a person from driving with a greater speed than those limits. Existing law prohibits a peace officer or other person from using a speed trap in arresting, or participating in the arrest of, any person for any alleged violation of the Vehicle Code, and prohibits the use of a speed trap in securing evidence as to the speed of any vehicle for the purpose of an arrest or prosecution under the Vehicle Code. Existing law defines the term "speed trap," for these purposes, among other things, to include a particular section of a highway with a prima facie speed limit that is provided by the Vehicle Code or by local ordinance, if that prima facie speed limit is not justified by an engineering and traffic survey conducted within a specified number of years of the alleged violation, and enforcement of the speed limit involves the use of radar or any other electronic device. Existing law exempts a local street or road, school zone, senior zone, or business activity district, as defined, from that definition. This bill would also exempt a speed limit adopted by a local authority, as specified, from the definition of "speed trap."
Under existing law, if sufficient appropriations are not available for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from an action in which the state is represented by the Attorney General, the Attorney General is required to report the claims, settlements, and judgments to the chairperson of either the Senate Committee on Appropriations or the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, who is then required to cause introduction of legislation appropriating the funds necessary for payment of the claims, settlements, or judgments. This bill would appropriate $3,130,603.13 from the General Fund to the Attorney General for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from specified actions in which the state was represented by the Attorney General. The bill would require any funds appropriated in excess of the amounts required for the payment of these claims to revert to the General Fund within 45 days after final payment is made. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to ensure that all claims that have been approved by the department, and for which there exists no legally available appropriation, are submitted for legislative approval at least once each calendar year. This bill would appropriate $247 to the Department of General Services for payment of claims accepted by the Government Claims Program. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.