Sen. Henry Stern

Existing law establishes the Advisory Commission on Special Education as an entity in state government consisting of 17 members to, among other things, study and provide assistance and advice to the State Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Legislature, and the Governor in new or continuing areas of research, program development, and evaluation in special education. This bill would increase the number of members on the commission to 19 and would require the commission to appoint 2 pupils with exceptional needs, 16 to 22 years of age, inclusive, to the commission for a term of one year, as provided.

Existing law defines the ballot label as the portion of the ballot containing the names of the candidates or a statement of a measure. For statewide measures, existing law requires the Attorney General to prepare a condensed version of the ballot title and summary, including the fiscal impact summary prepared by the Legislative Analyst that is printed in the state voter information guide. This bill would additionally require the ballot label for statewide measures, and, at the option of a county, the ballot label or similar description on the ballot of county, city, district, and school district measures, to include a listing of nonprofit organizations, businesses, or individuals taken from the signers or the text of ballot arguments printed in the voter information guide that support and oppose the measure, as specified. The bill would require a nonprofit organization, business, or individual to meet certain criteria before being listed on the ballot label or similar description of the measure on the ballot. The bill would require the signers of the ballot arguments to submit the lists of supporters and opponents to the Secretary of State or the respective elections official and would require the Secretary of State or respective elections official to provide those lists to county elections officials as part of the ballot label. The bill would make conforming changes and related findings and declarations. 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. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local elections officials, and because it would expand the crime of perjury, it 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 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.

Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, to regulate the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil or gas wells in the state. Existing law establishes the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund in the State Treasury for expenditure by certain public entities in connection with various activities relating to oil and gas operations, as specified. Existing law authorizes the supervisor to order certain operations to be carried out on any property in the vicinity of which, or on which, is located any well or facility that the supervisor determines to be a hazardous well, an idle-deserted well, a hazardous facility, or a deserted facility, as specified. Existing law also establishes and requires the division to administer and manage the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account in the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund. Existing law requires moneys in the account to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to plug and abandon oil and gas wells, decommission attendant facilities, or otherwise remediate sites that the supervisor determines could pose a danger to life, health, water quality, wildlife, or natural resources, as specified. Existing law prohibits the division from expending more than $3,000,000 in any one fiscal year, for the 2018–19 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, and, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, no more than $5,000,000 in any one fiscal year from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund for those purposes related to hazardous wells, idle-deserted wells, hazardous facilities, and deserted facilities. This bill would instead prohibit the division from expending, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, more than $5,000,000, and, in addition, (1) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2022–23 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation, and (2) the amount actually expended by the division in the preceding fiscal year, not to exceed $7,500,000, from the dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year, only if there is a dedicated General Fund appropriation for the 2023–24 fiscal year for the purposes of plugging and abandoning wells, decommissioning facilities, and site remediation. The bill would also require the Controller, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, in any fiscal year that the division makes expenditures that are less than the amount appropriated, to transfer from the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund to the Oil and Gas Environmental Remediation Account an amount equal to the difference between what was appropriated and what was expended by the division for that fiscal year, unless there is more than $200,000,000 in the account. The bill would also provide that the expenditure limits in these provisions do not apply to funds received by the Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Administrative Fund pursuant to a federal grant authorized under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Existing law defines "public works," for purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law further requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement. This bill would deem all work to plug and abandon wells, decommission production facilities, or otherwise remediate well sites that is undertaken, funded, or financed by the division, as specified, and performed by outside contractors to be public work for which prevailing wages are required to be paid. The bill would require, not later than June 30, 2024, the California Workforce Development Board to consult with the division in developing and implementing the Oil and Gas Well Capping Pilot initiative established pursuant to the Budget Act of 2022 to assist state-registered apprenticeship programs in creating curriculum for training apprentices and to upskill journeypersons on well capping projects. The bill would require the division, when contracting on or after January 1, 2028, for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or work to ensure that all entities selected for these projects enter into a project labor agreement, as defined, that will bind all of the contractors performing work on the project. The bill would also require, for contracts that are awarded, extended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2028, and for specified work performed by contractors licensed by the Contractors State License Board, including the plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of production facilities, or otherwise remediating well sites, that contractors and any subcontractors at every tier use a skilled and trained workforce, as defined, to perform all work within an apprenticeable occupation, as defined, in the building and construction trades, as defined. The bill would require the division to develop a procurement process to group multiple projects, as specified. The bill would also make other changes relating to workforce development. Because the willful violation of prevailing wage requirements when engaged in these public works projects would result in the imposition of misdemeanor penalties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the supervisor to make public, on or before the first day of October of each year, a report in writing showing, among other things, the total amounts of oil and gas produced in each county in the state during the previous calendar year and the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year. This bill would also require the supervisor to include in the report on the total cost of the division for the previous fiscal year an accounting of any General Fund moneys appropriated and used for plugging and abandonment of wells, decommissioning of facilities, and site remediation, or appropriated and used to facilitate those activities. Existing law requires the supervisor, only until July 1, 2026, to prepare and transmit to the Legislature a comprehensive report on the status of idle and long-term idle wells for the preceding calendar year, as specified. This bill would instead make that requirement operative indefinitely. 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 prohibits, beginning January 1, 2023, any person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any food packaging that contains regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, as defined, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when replacing regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS in food packaging to comply with this requirement. Existing law similarly prohibits, beginning July 1, 2023, a person from selling or distributing in commerce in this state any new, not previously owned, juvenile product, as defined, that contains regulated PFAS chemicals. This bill would prohibit, beginning January 1, 2025, any person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any new, not previously owned, textile articles that contain regulated PFAS, except as specified, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when removing regulated PFAS in textile articles to comply with these provisions. The bill would require a manufacturer of a textile article to provide persons that offer the product for sale or distribution in the state with a certificate of compliance stating that the textile article is in compliance with these provisions and does not contain any regulated PFAS.

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the California Conservation Corps and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law requires the director of the corps to establish a forestry corps program to accomplish specified objectives related to forest health. This bill would require the director to establish and administer the California Ocean Corps Program to provide competitive grants to certified local conservation corps located in coastal counties in order to provide opportunities for young people to complete workforce preparation, training, and education programs, and, ultimately, to obtain employment, or continue education, in ocean and coastal conservation or related fields, as provided. The bill would require the director to develop and adopt program guidelines before awarding any grants, as provided. The bill would require the director to develop performance measures and accountability controls to track progress and outcomes of all grants. The bill would require the director, on or before January 1, 2026, to report these outcomes to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would make these provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2027.

(1) The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income. This bill would, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2027, provide an exclusion from gross income for any qualified taxpayer, as defined, for amounts received for costs and losses associated with the 2017 Thomas Fire and the 2018 Woolsey Fire, as provided. (2) Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account. This bill would authorize the refund of overpayments of tax as a result of the above-described exclusion, in prior tax years, payable out of the Tax Relief and Refund Account. By authorizing new payments from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law requires that any bill introduced on or after January 1, 2020, that would authorize certain tax expenditures, as defined, contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure or exemption will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (4) This bill would apply its provisions to taxable years beginning before, on, and after the effective date of this bill. The bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the public purpose served by this bill. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of 2002, known as Laura's Law, as of July 1, 2021, requires a county or group of counties to provide mental health programs, as specified, unless a county or group of counties opts out by a resolution passed by the governing body stating the reasons for opting out and any facts or circumstances relied on in making that decision. Existing law authorizes participating counties to pay for the services provided from moneys distributed to the counties from various continuously appropriated funds, including the Mental Health Services Fund, when included in a county plan, as specified. Existing law authorizes a court to order a person who is the subject of a petition filed pursuant to specified requirements to obtain assisted outpatient treatment if the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that various conditions are met. Existing law requires a court to dismiss that petition if, after hearing all relevant evidence, it finds that the person who is the subject of the petition does not meet the criteria for assisted outpatient treatment. Existing law also requires the director to file an affidavit with the court that ordered the outpatient treatment affirming that the person who is the subject of the order continues to meet the criteria for assisted outpatient treatment, at specified intervals. This bill would authorize the court to conduct status hearings with the person and the treatment team to receive information regarding progress related to the categories of treatment listed in the treatment plan and authorize the court to inquire about medication adherence. The bill would also require the director of the outpatient treatment program to also report to the court on adherence to prescribed medication when making the above-described affidavit.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law provides, only until January 1, 2025, that, for certain state and local firefighting personnel and peace officers, the term "injury" includes post-traumatic stress that develops or manifests during a period in which the injured person is in the service of the department or unit, but applies only to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2020. Existing law requires the compensation awarded pursuant to this provision to include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death benefits. This bill would make that provision applicable to active firefighting members of the State Department of State Hospitals, the State Department of Developmental Services, the Military Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to additional peace officers, including security officers of the Department of Justice when performing assigned duties as security officers and the officers of a state hospital under the jurisdiction of the State Department of State Hospitals or the State Department of Developmental Services, among other officers. The bill would also make that provision applicable to public safety dispatchers, public safety telecommunicators, and emergency response communication employees, as defined. The bill would only apply prospectively to individuals, as specified, to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2023.

Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish the Education and Employment Reentry Program within the corps to develop, partner with, and create opportunities for certain forestry corps program objectives, collaborate with the Employment Development Department to provide access to workforce services, collaborate with nongovernmental organizations dedicated to providing access to counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational opportunities, and employ collaborations and partnerships available to the corps, as specified. This bill would require the director, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to establish a forestry training center in northern California to provide enhanced training, education, work experience, and job readiness for entry-level forestry and vegetation management jobs. The bill would require the training center to include counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational services and authorize the training center to provide training modules on specified activities. The bill would require the director to enroll at the training center formerly incarcerated individuals and to prioritize enrollment for those formerly incarcerated individuals who have either successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew and were recommended by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as provided, or successfully served on a hand crew at the county level and were recommended for participation by the county probation and county fire departments. The bill would provide that successful completion of a training program at the training center constitutes qualifying experience for an entry-level forestry or vegetation management position at a state agency. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for northern California.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law provides, among other things, that skin cancer developing in active lifeguards, as defined, is presumed to arise out of and in the course of employment, unless the presumption is rebutted. This bill would expand the scope of those provisions to certain peace officers of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation.