Sen. Henry Stern

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including water corporations. Existing law prohibits a water corporation from charging an entity providing fire protection service for the costs of furnishing water for that service and for other related costs, except pursuant to a written agreement between the water corporation and the entity providing fire protection service. This bill would require the commission, by January 1, 2022, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report concerning those agreements between water corporations and local fire protection agencies.

Existing case law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for those purposes. Existing statutory law establishes that, for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is not an employee under the ABC test. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of the ABC test described above. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously established in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Under existing law, the Legislature has declared that it is the policy of this state to achieve, whenever feasible and not inconsistent with sound environmental planning, the undergrounding of all future electric and communication distribution facilities that are proposed to be erected in proximity to designated state scenic highways and that would be visible from those highways if erected above ground. The commission's existing Tariff Rule 20A undergrounding program requires electrical corporations to convert overhead electric facilities to underground facilities when doing so is in the public interest for specified reasons. This bill would require the commission to revise Tariff Rule 20A to authorize and fund the undergrounding of electrical and communication infrastructure within high fire-threat districts and the wildland-urban interface. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission implementing the provisions of this bill would be a 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 law establishes a specialized license plate program and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialized license plates on behalf of a sponsoring state agency that meets certain requirements. Existing law requires that the DMV charge additional fees for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of specialized license plates, and requires the DMV to deposit the fees, less the DMV's costs, into the Specialized License Plate Fund. Existing law requires that moneys in the fund be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each sponsoring agency in proportion to the amount that is attributable to the agency's specialized license plate program. Existing law authorizes the sponsoring state agency to use these moneys to fund projects and programs that promote the state agency's official policy, mission, or work. This bill would require the State Coastal Conservancy to apply to the DMV to sponsor "The Endless Summer" specialized license plate for a coastal conservancy awareness program, as specified, and would require the DMV, in consultation with the State Coastal Conservancy, to design the license plate, including a surfer design associated with the movie "The Endless Summer" and the slogan "The Endless Summer," as specified. The bill would require the department to delay production of the license plate until 6 months after the director of the department determines that the department has eliminated its backlog in the issuance of Real ID driver's licenses and identification cards required by federal law for persons who applied for a Real ID by October 1, 2020. The bill would require that the proceeds from those license plates, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the State Coastal Conservancy, be used to fund a specified program within the conservancy's Explore the Coast Grant Program. The bill would also require that the subprogram funded by these provisions be accessible to youth from low- and middle-income households lacking access to coastal resources and to youth with disabilities.

The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the tax imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow credits against the tax imposed by the Personal Income Tax Law for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, to a qualified taxpayer for qualified costs relating to qualified home hardening, as defined, and for qualified costs relating to qualified vegetation management, as defined, in specified amounts, not to exceed an aggregate amount of $500,000,000 per taxable year. This bill would authorize a qualified taxpayer to reserve a credit for qualified costs relating to qualified home hardening or qualified vegetation management prior to incurring those costs, as specified. The bill would require a qualified taxpayer that reserved a credit to submit a copy of the receipts showing the total qualified costs incurred and a certification by the qualified taxpayer, signed under penalty of perjury, that the qualified taxpayer incurred the qualified costs claimed, as specified. By requiring qualified taxpayers to submit a certification under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the crime of perjury and impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit and would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to prepare a written report regarding the credits, as provided. 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 bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to develop and implement performance reliability standards for backup power systems installed on the property of residential and small commercial customers by a facilities-based provider of telephony services upon determining that the benefits of the standards exceed the costs. This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to develop and implement performance reliability standards, as specified, for all mobile telephony service base transceiver station towers, commonly known as "cell towers." Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 a specialized license plate program and requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue specialized license plates on behalf of a sponsoring state agency that meets certain requirements. Existing law requires that the DMV charge additional fees for the issuance, renewal, or transfer of specialized license plates, and requires the DMV to deposit the fees, less the DMV's costs, into the Specialized License Plate Fund. Existing law requires that moneys in the fund be allocated, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each sponsoring agency in proportion to the amount that is attributable to the agency's specialized license plate program. Existing law authorizes the sponsoring state agency to use these moneys to fund projects and programs that promote the state agency's official policy, mission, or work. This bill would require the State Coastal Conservancy to apply to the DMV to sponsor "The Endless Summer" specialized license plate for a coastal conservancy awareness program, as specified, and would require the DMV, in consultation with the State Coastal Conservancy, to design the license plate, including a surfer design associated with the movie "The Endless Summer" and the slogan "The Endless Summer," as specified. The bill would require that the proceeds from those license plates, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the State Coastal Conservancy, be used to fund projects and programs that promote exposure to, and preservation of, surfing, its cultural heritage, and the coastal resources upon which the surfing environment depends. The bill would also require that projects and programs funded by these provisions be accessible to youth from low- and middle-income households lacking access to coastal resources and to youth with disabilities.

Existing law authorizes a person who is at least 16 years of age and otherwise meets all voter eligibility requirements to preregister to vote by submitting an affidavit of registration. The affidavit of registration is deemed effective as of the date the affiant will be 18 years of age. This bill would lower the minimum age for voter preregistration to 1 2 "?> 15 years of age. The bill also would make conforming changes to existing law. By increasing the duties of local elections officials in processing voter registrations and related duties, the bill would create 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.

(1) Existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to annually designate convenience zones and requires that at least one certified recycling center that meets certain requirements be located within every convenience zone. Existing law authorizes the department to grant a convenience zone an exemption from certain redemption requirements, including certain dealer and recycling center redemption requirements, based on certain factors. Existing law limits the total number of exemptions that may be granted to 35% of the total number of convenience zones identified as having one or more of those factors applicable. This bill would increase the total number of exemptions that may be granted to 50% of the number identified as eligible. The bill would require the department to review exemptions every 5 years to determine if each exemption still meets the prescribed exemption criteria. (2) The act requires dealers within a convenience zone where no recycling location has been established, or within a convenience zone that is unserved for 60 days and not exempt from convenience zone requirements, to submit an affidavit to the department stating that the dealer has met specified standards for redemption, including, among others, that the dealer is redeeming all empty beverage container types at all open cash registers or at one designated location on the dealer's premises, during all hours that the dealer is open for business. If the dealer does not submit that affidavit, existing law requires the dealer to pay $100 per day to the department, for deposit in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, a continuously appropriated fund described in (3) , until a recycling location is established or until the dealer meets the standards for redemption specified in the affidavit provision. This bill would revise these convenience zone redemption duties and exempt from those duties dealers with gross annual sales of less than $2,000,000 and dealers that are not supermarkets and that have less than 5,000 square feet of interior retail space. The bill, until January 1, 2022, would also exempt certain other dealers from these requirements. (3) The act establishes the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund and, except for administrative costs, continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the department for specified purposes, including the amount necessary to pay handling fees to certain types of recyclers to provide an incentive for the redemption of empty beverage containers in convenience zones. This bill would require the department to offer a handling fee payment from the fund to certain certified recyclers within unserved convenience zones. The bill would make an appropriation by changing the terms and conditions under which the department is authorized to make payments from a continuously appropriated fund. The bill, until July 1, 2022, would require the handling fee to be set at the rate in effect on July 1, 2015. The bill would authorize the department, until July 1, 2022, to annually expend $3,000,000 from the fund for specified supplemental handling fee payments to low-volume recycling centers. By authorizing the expenditure of a continuously appropriated fund for new purposes, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to develop and submit to the Legislature recommended revisions to the handling fee provisions, as specified. (4) The act also continuously appropriates from the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund $10,500,000 annually for payments to cities and counties for beverage container recycling and litter cleanup activities. The act authorizes the department to withhold those payments to any city, county, or city and county that has restricted or prohibited the siting of a supermarket site, as provided. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2020, to convene a public hearing, as specified, for purposes of discussing and receiving public testimony on the development of guidelines for evaluating the circumstances that might prompt the department to withhold beverage container recycling and litter cleanup activities payments to any city, county, or city and county that has restricted or prohibited the siting of a supermarket site. (5) The act requires the department to pay a market development payment to a reclaimer, as defined, for empty plastic beverage containers that have been collected for recycling in the state, and that the reclaimer washes and processes into flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form that is then usable as input for the manufacture of new plastic products, as defined, by product manufacturers in the state. The act also requires the department to pay a market development payment to a product manufacturer, as defined, for plastic flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form of plastic purchased from a reclaimer and used by that product manufacturer to manufacture a plastic product in the state. The act makes these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2022. This bill would delay the inoperative date of these provisions from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023. The act authorizes the department, for the 2019–20 fiscal year to the 2021–22 fiscal year, inclusive, to expend up to $10,000,000 each fiscal year from the fund for market development payments to reclaimers and product manufacturers. This bill would additionally authorize the department to expend up to $10,000,000 from the fund for those purposes for the 2022–23 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation. (6) Under the act, the department is required to calculate a processing fee for each beverage container with a specified scrap value, which is required to be paid by beverage manufacturers for each beverage container sold or transferred to a distributor or dealer. The department is required to calculate the processing fee in a specified manner, so that the processing fee generally equals 65% of the processing payment that the department is required to pay to processors if the scrap value of the container having a refund value pursuant to the act is less than the cost of recycling. The department is required to determine the statewide weighted average cost to recycle each beverage container type by conducting a survey, as specified. The department is required to establish a processing fee account in the continuously appropriated California Beverage Container Recycling Fund for each material type and to deposit processing fees and other amounts in the applicable account. This bill would, for purposes of calculating processing payments, require the department, until January 1, 2022, to use the actual cost of recycling that was in effect on December 30, 2015, adjusted as specified. The bill would make an appropriation by changing the terms and conditions under which the department is authorized to make payments from a continuously appropriated fund. The bill would provide that the processing fees established by the department between the effective date of the bill and December 31, 2019, inclusive, shall not be higher than they would be absent these new provisions. The bill would require the department to suspend usage of surveys and calculations of recycling costs until at least January 1, 2021, and would authorize the department to redirect any contract funds for cost surveys and calculations to provide for a specified assessment and to utilize any contract funds available for the development of amendments to be recommended to the Legislature regarding specified provisions of the act. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes various advisory boards and commissions in state government with specified duties and responsibilities. This bill would create, until November 30, 2024, the Commission on Tech Equity consisting of 6 appointed members, as specified, and the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and the Controller serving as ex officio members. The bill would require the commission, among other duties, to convene a public process to gather input and to understand the economic, social, workplace, and technological landscape of innovation and technology in California.