Sen. Carol Liu

This measure would request the federal government to change federal policy in order to allow California to equitably end the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cash-out policy, administered through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the State Supplementary Payment (SSP) programs, in a way that would maximize benefits to, and participation among, newly eligible individuals and mitigate or eliminate harm to low-income families and the approximately 60,000 medically needy children who could be made ineligible for certain benefits under a program without the cash-out policy.

(1) Existing law requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences and prohibits those excused absences from generating state apportionment payments by deeming them as absences in computing average daily attendance. This bill would include as another type of excused absence, 4 absences per school year to care for a sick child, for which the school is prohibited from requiring a note from a doctor. The bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to adopt a policy that allows a parenting pupil who gives or expects to give birth up to 6 weeks of parental leave and to allow a parenting pupil not giving birth up to 3 weeks of parental leave. The bill would specify that parental leave absences shall not be deemed absences in computing average daily attendance if the governing board of the school district of attendance files with the State Department of Education an expectant and parenting pupil policy that includes procedures for ensuring pupils are provided with schoolwork while on parental leave, and would specify the method for crediting average daily attendance for these pupils. (2) Existing state regulations require an educational institution to treat pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, and recovery from those conditions in the same manner and under the same policies as any other temporary disability. Existing law requires a school district that receives notification of a pupil's temporary disability to determine whether the pupil will be able to receive individualized instruction, and, if the determination is positive, to provide the individualized instruction, as specified. This bill would require a school district to provide a pupil with a temporary disability as a result of pregnancy with guidelines for makeup work plan development if the option for individualized instruction is not available at the pupil's school or school district. (3) Existing law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, or other specified characteristics in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state financial aid. This bill would require a school district to notify pregnant and parenting pupils of specified rights and options available to those pupils, as specified. (4) To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge a child to be a dependent of the court under certain circumstances, including when the child suffered, or there is a substantial risk that the child will suffer, serious physical harm, or a parent fails to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment. Existing law establishes the grounds for removal of a dependent child from the custody of his or her parents or guardian, and establishes procedures to determine placement of a dependent child. Existing law prescribes various hearings, including specified review hearings, and other procedures for these purposes. Existing law requires a social worker to conduct specified assessments for purposes of placement. This bill would require the court to order the social worker to immediately conduct an assessment, as specified, if the child is not placed with a relative at the time of the initial hearing and an able and willing relative is available and requests temporary placement of the child. Under existing law, if a child is proposed to be placed in the home of a relative, or the home of any prospective guardian or other person who is not a licensed or certified foster parent, the court or social worker placing the child is required to make an assessment of that person for placement pursuant to specified criteria, including conducting a home visit and having a state-level criminal records check conducted by an appropriate government agency through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. For purposes of placement, existing law authorizes a county to issue a criminal records exemption for a qualifying crime for which the relative, prospective guardian, or other person has been convicted only if that county has been granted permission by the Director of Social Services to issue exemptions. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to conduct an evaluation of the implementation provisions relating to criminal records exemptions, as specified. This bill would require a county seeking to issue a criminal records exemption under these provisions to assist the relative, prospective guardian, or other person in locating and obtaining any documents required for the criminal records exemption. If the court orders the county to make an assessment under these provisions, the bill would also require the county to complete the assessment process within a specified timeframe. The bill would authorize the court to conduct a hearing if the assessment is not complete, as specified, or an exemption or waiver is denied, to determine if the county has abused its discretion. By imposing additional duties on county welfare agencies, 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 recognize the legendary career of Vincent Edward "Vin" Scully.

Existing law, on or before July 1, 2014, requires the governing board of each school district and each county board of education to adopt a local control and accountability plan and requires the governing board of each school district and each county board of education to update its local control and accountability plan on or before July 1 of each year. Existing law requires the local control and accountability plan to include certain elements, and requires the charter for a charter school to include some of those same elements. Existing law requires the State Board of Education, on or before October 1, 2016, to adopt evaluation rubrics to, among other things, assist a school district, county office of education, or charter school in evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement. Existing law establishes the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence for purposes of advising and assisting school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving the goals set forth in a local control and accountability plan. This bill would require the collaborative, commencing with the 2016–17 fiscal year, to establish a statewide process to provide professional development training to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the purpose of successfully utilizing the evaluation rubrics adopted by the state board and would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that participate in professional development training to include in the training all stakeholders that are involved in the development of a local control and accountability plan, as provided. The bill would require the professional development training to include, among other things, information on how the evaluation rubrics are used for the development and implementation of the local control and accountability plans and those similar elements in charter petitions, and information on how the evaluation rubrics will be used, in conjunction with local control and accountability plans, to establish a system of continuous improvement. The bill would require the collaborative to ensure that the professional development training is provided in each region of the state and is available to all school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. The bill would require the collaborative to submit an implementation plan to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst's Office within 30 days of the state board's adoption of the evaluation rubrics, as specified. The bill also would require the collaborative, during the 2017–18 fiscal year, to conduct a survey of school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools on how they used the evaluation rubrics. The bill would authorize the collaborative to contract with one or more entities to develop, administer, monitor, and analyze the survey. The bill would require the collaborative, during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 fiscal years, to implement a pilot program that will inform its long-term efforts to advise and assist school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in improving pupil outcomes. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to assign the collaborative to assist school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in the pilot program, as provided, but participation in the pilot program by a local educational agency would be voluntary. The bill would require the governing board of the collaborative to submit to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Legislative Analyst's Office, an implementation plan for the pilot program on or before August 15, 2016, as specified, and a report about lessons learned from the pilot program and its implications for the ongoing work of the collaborative on or before November 1, 2018. The bill would make the implementation of its provisions contingent upon funds being appropriated for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another enacted statute.

Existing law designates particular days each year as having special significance, and encourages all public schools and educational institutions to observe those days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on those days. This bill would express legislative findings and declarations relating to the Asian Lunar New Year. The bill would require the Governor, each year, to designate the date corresponding with the start of the Asian lunar calendar as Asian Lunar New Year's Day, a day having special significance. The bill would also encourage all public schools and educational institutions to conduct exercises observing the Asian Lunar New Year with appropriate activities and programs.

Existing law establishes various programs for the recruitment of teachers. This bill would establish the California Center on Teaching Careers for the purposes of recruiting qualified and capable individuals into the teaching profession. From funds appropriated for that purpose, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing would be required to provide a multiyear grant to a local educational agency through a competitive grant process to establish and administer the center with the concurrence, as defined, of representatives of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the University of California, the California State University, the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education, as defined. The bill would require that the activities of the California Center on Teaching Careers be implemented with the active involvement of local educational agencies that elect to participate, whenever appropriate. The California Center on Teaching Careers would be required to perform specified duties, including, among others, creating or expanding a referral database for qualified teachers seeking employment in the public schools. The bill would require the California Center on Teaching Careers, in conducting those duties, to focus on chronic teacher shortage areas, including special education and bilingual teachers, and to coordinate and work collaboratively with the Education Job Opportunities Information Network, existing teacher recruitment centers, school districts, county offices of education, and other teachers clubs and organizations. This bill would require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, on or before January 1, 2020, to conduct an evaluation and report to the Department of Finance, relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and the Legislative Analyst's Office on the outcomes of the California Center on Teaching Careers.

This measure would recognize the Lunar New Year Celebration on February 8, 2016.

This measure would recognize May 2016 as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.

Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements, and other working conditions for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime wages as specified to an employee who works in excess of a workday or workweek, as defined, and imposes criminal penalties for the violation of these requirements. Existing law exempts agricultural employees from these requirements. Under existing law, the function of the Department of Industrial Relations is to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would remove the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and would create a schedule that would phase in overtime requirements for agricultural workers, as defined, over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill would require any work performed by a person, employed in an agricultural occupation, in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee's regular rate of pay. The bill would authorize the Governor to delay the implementation of these overtime pay provisions if the Governor also suspends the implementation of a scheduled state minimum wage increase, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to update a specified wage order for consistency with these provisions. The bill would create a state-mandated local program by including agricultural employees as a class of employees protected by criminal penalties under existing law. 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.