Sen. María Elena Durazo

The federal Reception and Placement Program (RPP) under the United States Department of State is established to serve refugees during their first 3 months after arrival in the United States, through contracts with local resettlement agencies to provide various services using federal funds. Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services, after setting aside the necessary state administrative funds, to allocate federal funds appropriated for refugee social services programs to each eligible county or service provider, as defined, based on the number of refugees receiving aid, or who reside, in the eligible county. If an eligible county or service provider that receives funds declines all or part of those funds, or returns unexpended funds, existing law authorizes the department to exercise its discretion to reallocate the declined or returned funds among eligible counties and service providers. Existing law conditions the applicability of the requirements under these provisions on the availability of federal funds. This bill would make those requirements also applicable if state funds are available subject to an appropriation. Under the bill, if a refugee recipient of refugee social services under RPP completes 90 days of those services and exhausts the federal funds allocated for that recipient, the recipient would be eligible for a 90-day extension of those services using state funds within the first 12 months of arrival in the United States. The bill would require that services covered pursuant to these provisions include (1) English language and employment training and (2) case management services, as specified. The bill would authorize a qualified nonprofit organization, an eligible county, or any office or affiliate of the agencies authorized under RPP to provide these services. The bill would also make conforming changes to related provisions.

Existing law authorizes the court to issue an order to restrain a person to prevent acts of domestic violence, abuse, and sexual abuse, and to provide for a separation of the persons involved in the domestic violence for a period sufficient to permit these persons to seek resolution. Existing law authorizes a person who has suffered harassment, as defined, to seek a temporary restraining order and an order prohibiting harassment. Existing law prohibits denial of the right to petition when the petitioner has vacated the household to avoid abuse, and, under certain conditions, in the case of a marital relationship. This bill would specify the jurisdictions in which the petitioner may file for a restraining order, including, among other jurisdictions, the superior court in the county where the defendant resides, where the offense occurred, or where the petitioner resides or is temporarily located. The bill would expressly state that an individual need not be a resident of the state to file a petition for a restraining order under these provisions. The bill would also declare the severability of its provisions.

(1) Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. Existing law defines "sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status" for these purposes as including a perception that the person has any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. (2) Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of specified characteristics, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state, and states that the purpose of related existing law is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies. This bill would revise that policy statement to include remedies that will eliminate those discriminatory acts, including discrimination not just because of one protected trait, but also because of the combination of 2 or more protected bases. For purposes of certain related educational equity provisions, existing law defines "disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes" to include a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. (3) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , establishes the Civil Rights Department to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment, as prescribed. The FEHA recognizes and declares to be a civil right the opportunity to seek, obtain, and hold employment and housing without discrimination because of a specified characteristic. The FEHA makes certain discriminatory practices based on those characteristics unlawful. The FEHA also declares that its purpose is to provide effective remedies that will eliminate these discriminatory practices. This bill would revise the above-described declaration on providing effective remedies to specify that it includes discrimination not just because of one protected trait, but also because of the combination of 2 or more protected bases. The FEHA defines terms used in connection with unlawful practices. These include "race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, age, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisionmaking, or veteran or military status," which includes a perception that the person has any of those characteristics or is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics. This bill would revise that definition to include any combination of those characteristics, as specified. This bill would also state that the above provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 1815 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1815 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 12926 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1815 and SB 1022 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, provides that it is the policy of the state to encourage and protect the right of agricultural employees to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives, self-organization, or other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Other existing law relating to employment prohibits employers from making, adopting, or enforcing rules, regulations, or policies that forbid or prevent employees from engaging or participating in politics or from becoming candidates for public office, and from controlling or directing, or tending to control or direct, the political activities or affiliations of employees. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit an employer from subjecting, or threatening to subject, an employee to discharge, discrimination, retaliation, or any other adverse action because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion about religious or political matters and would require an employee who refuses to attend a meeting as described to continue to be paid, as specified. The bill would impose a civil penalty of $500 on an employer who violates these provisions. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions. The bill would also authorize any employee who has suffered a violation of the bill's provisions to bring a civil action, as specified, and to petition for injunctive relief.

Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. This bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to report to the department a collision on a public road that involved one of its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that is operating under a testing or deployment permit that resulted in damage of property, bodily injury, or death within 10 days of the collision. The bill would require a manufacturer of an autonomous vehicle to annually submit to the department specified information regarding the deactivation of the autonomous mode for its autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more that were operating under a testing or deployment permit that authorized the vehicle to operate on public roads. The bill would prohibit the operation of an autonomous vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more on public roads for testing purposes, transporting goods, or transporting passengers without a human safety operator physically present in the autonomous vehicle at the time of operation. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles, by January 1, 2030, or 5 years after commencement of testing, whichever occurs later, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, to submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature evaluating the performance of autonomous vehicle technology and its impact on public safety and employment in the transportation sector for autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,001 pounds or more. The bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Transportation, the State Air Resources Board, and other relevant state agencies to provide additional information needed to research the report.

Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, imposes safety responsibilities on employers and employees, including the requirement that an employer establish, implement, and maintain an effective injury prevention program, and makes specified violations of these provisions a crime. Existing law also requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt standards developed by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health that require specified types of hospitals to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan as part of the hospital's injury and illness prevention plan to protect health care workers and other facility personnel from aggressive and violent behavior. This bill would require the standards board, by March 1, 2027, to amend the standards to include a requirement that a hospital implement a weapons detection screening policy that requires the use of weapons detection devices that automatically screen a person's body at specific entrances of the hospital, a requirement that a hospital assign appropriate personnel who meet specified training standards, a requirement that a hospital have reasonable protocols for alternative search and screening for patients, family, or visitors who refuse to undergo weapons detection device screening, and a requirement that a hospital adopt reasonable protocols addressing how the hospital will respond if a dangerous weapon is detected, as specified. Among other provisions, the bill would require that the standards include a requirement that a hospital post, in a conspicuous location, within reasonable proximity of any public entrances where weapons detection devices are utilized, a notice notifying the public that the hospital conducts screenings for weapons upon entry but that no person shall be refused medical care, pursuant to specified federal law. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to set an effective date that is no longer than 90 days after the standard is adopted for hospitals to comply with these requirements. By expanding the scope of an existing 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.

Existing federal law establishes federal housing assistance programs that are administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) . Existing federal law authorizes HUD to waive regulations promulgated to implement these programs, as provided. Existing law, the Housing Authorities Law, establishes a housing authority in each county and each city, known as the housing authority of the county or city. Upon adoption of a resolution by the governing body of the county or city authorizing the authority to function in it, existing law authorizes an authority to, among other things, prepare, carry out, acquire, lease, and operate housing projects and housing developments for persons of low income, as provided. Existing law establishes a low-income housing tax credit program through which, in order to promote the provision of affordable low-income housing within and throughout the state, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee allocates low-income housing tax credits, in modified conformity with certain federal law. Existing law also establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to administer various programs regarding housing for persons with specified incomes, including the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, which is funded by a continuously appropriated fund, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Infill Incentive Grant Program of 2007, the Infill Incentive Grant Program of 2019, the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program, which is funded by a continuously appropriated fund, the Housing for a Healthy California Program, and the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014, which is funded by a continuously appropriated fund and which the department administers in collaboration with the California Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as specified. In the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles, where HUD has granted a housing authority created pursuant to the Housing Authorities Law, as described above, a waiver effective August 17, 2024, to allow household income verifications to occur after a lease contract is signed for unhoused populations seeking entry into projects pursuant to or in connection with specified federal law, this bill would: (1) prohibit certain state entities from taking any negative actions, as specified, against the owner or management agent if certain conditions are met; and (2) if an agreement between the owner or management agent and certain government entities imposes certain income restrictions, deem the tenant to satisfy certain income requirements if certain conditions are met. By expanding the projects eligible to receive benefits from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles.

(1) Existing law grants current and former employees, or their representative, the right to inspect and receive a copy of personnel records maintained by the employer relating to the employee's performance or to any grievance concerning the employee. Existing law requires the employer to make the contents of those personnel records available for inspection, as specified, and makes it a crime for an employer to violate these requirements. This bill would provide that personnel records relating to the employee's performance include education and training records and would require an employer who maintains education and training records to ensure those records include specified information. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law requires the board to assist the Governor in promoting the development of a well-educated and highly skilled 21st century workforce, and the development of a high road economy that offers an educated and skilled workforce with fair compensation and treatment in the workplace. Existing law also requires the board to assist in developing standards, procedures, and criteria for defining high road employers, high road jobs, high road workforce development, and high road training partners, as specified. Existing law defines "high road" for these purposes to mean a set of economic and workforce development strategies to achieve economic growth, economic equity, shared prosperity, and a clean environment. This bill would define "job quality," "quality jobs," and "economic equity" for purposes of the act. Existing federal law, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (federal jobs acts) , provides various grants to state and local entities for specified purposes. This bill would create the Equity, Climate Resilience, and Quality Jobs Fund in the State Treasury and would require, to the extent permissible under federal law, 1% of all qualified moneys, as defined, received from the federal government pursuant to any federal jobs act to be transferred into the fund. The bill would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation to the board for specified purposes. This bill would require, upon appropriation of moneys from the fund, all state agencies administering any moneys received pursuant to any federal jobs act and the board to develop and enter into, by January 1, 2026, a memorandum of understanding for the board to provide technical assistance. The bill would also require those state agencies to develop and adopt poverty-reducing labor standards, as specified, for all investments made by those agencies using those moneys. The bill would impose reporting requirements on state and local agencies, as specified, and would authorize the board to develop rules and regulations on the content and manner of reporting by state agencies. The bill would also require the board to contract with a research institution to receive the reports and perform analyses on equity, climate resilience, and quality jobs outcomes resulting from the investments made by the reporting entities using moneys received from the fund. By imposing new duties on local agencies that receive federal moneys, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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. (4) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of the public institutions of higher education, including the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. This bill would prohibit the University of California, California State University, or California Community Colleges from disqualifying a student from being hired for an employment position due to the student's failure to provide proof of federal work authorization, except where that proof is required by federal law or where that proof is required as a condition of a grant that funds the particular employment position for which the student has applied. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to treat a specified prohibition in federal law on hiring undocumented noncitizens as inapplicable because that provision does not apply to any branch of state government. The bill would further provide that, to the extent student employment is considered a "benefit" for purposes of federal law, the bill constitutes authorization to provide that benefit for purposes of specified federal law. This bill would require the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges to implement the bill by January 6, 2025. The bill's provisions would apply to the University of California, unless it is found inapplicable to the University of California and then only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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, 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, the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, requires, beginning July 1, 2024, a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to comply with certain requirements. The act requires the business to complete a data protection impact assessment addressing, among other things, whether the design could harm children and whether and how the online product, service, or feature uses system design features to increase, sustain, or extend use of the online product, service, or feature by children, including the automatic playing of media, rewards for time spent, and notifications. Existing law prohibits the business from using the personal information of any child in a way that the business knows, or has reason to know, is materially detrimental to the physical health, mental health, or well-being of a child. Existing law, the Privacy Rights for California Minors in the Digital World, prohibits an operator of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application from specified conduct when minors are involved, including the marketing or advertising of alcoholic beverages, firearms, or certain other products or services. Existing law sets forth other related protections for minors, including under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020. This bill, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, would make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive internet-based service or application, as defined, to provide an addictive feed to a user, unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor; commencing January 1, 2027, has reasonably determined that the user is not a minor; or has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor. The bill would define "addictive feed" as an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application, in which multiple pieces of media generated or shared by users are recommended, selected, or prioritized for display to a user based on information provided by the user, or otherwise associated with the user or the user's device, as specified, unless any of certain conditions are met. The bill would make it unlawful for the operator of an addictive internet-based service or application, between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., in the user's local time zone, and between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday from September through May in the user's local time zone, to send notifications to a user if the operator has actual knowledge that the user is a minor or, commencing January 1, 2027, has not reasonably determined that the user is not a minor, unless the operator has obtained verifiable parental consent to send those notifications, as specified. The bill would set forth related provisions for certain access controls determined by the verified parent through a mechanism provided by the operator. Under the bill, a parent's provision of consent or use of a mechanism, as described above, would not waive, release, otherwise limit, or serve as a defense to, any claim that the parent, or that the user who is a minor or was a minor at the time of using the internet-based service or application, might have against the operator regarding any harm to the mental health or well-being of the user. The bill would require an operator to annually disclose the number of minor users of its addictive internet-based service or application, and of that total the number for whom the operator has received verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed, and the number of minor users as to whom the access controls are or are not enabled. Under the bill, these provisions would only be enforced in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General. The bill would require the Attorney General to adopt regulations to further the purposes of these provisions, including regulations regarding age assurance and parental consent by January 1, 2027. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to adopt regulations that provide for exceptions to these provisions, but only if those exceptions further the purpose of protecting minors. The bill would require the Attorney General, in promulgating regulations, to solicit public comment regarding the impact that any regulation might have based on certain nondiscrimination characteristics set forth in existing law. The bill would make these provisions severable.