Sen. Eloise Reyes

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to issue an authorization for a teacher who meets specified requirements to provide instruction to English learners. Existing law establishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program and requires the State Department of Education to allocate grant funding to local educational agencies or a consortia of local educational agencies for purposes of providing professional development services to specified teachers and paraprofessionals to provide instruction to English learners. This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2020, in consultation with the Committee on Accreditation, to develop a process for the purpose of identifying short-term, high-quality pathways to address the shortage of bilingual education teachers, as provided. The bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2021, to provide recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature regarding the development of pathways for the preparation of bilingual education teachers. The bill would make these provisions operative only if an appropriation or private funding is made available for these purposes.

Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control law, requires a facility handling hazardous waste to apply for and obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Existing law requires that a hazardous waste facilities permit be for a fixed term not to exceed 10 years for certain facilities. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a facility intending to extend the facility's permit to submit a complete Part A application for a permit renewal before the fixed term of the permit expires, and, at any time following the submittal of the Part A application, to submit a complete Part B application, or any portion of that application, and other relevant information, if requested by the department. Existing law provides that when a complete Part A renewal application and any other requested information has been submitted before the end of the permit's fixed term, the permit is deemed extended until the application is approved or denied and the owner has exhausted all applicable rights of appeal. This bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire on or before July 1, 2020, the owner or operator of a facility intending to extend the term of that permit to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 6 months before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire after July 1, 2020, the owner or operator to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 2 years before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would provide that if a Part A and Part B renewal application and any other requested information has been submitted at least 6 months or at least 2 years, as applicable, before the end of the permit's fixed term, the permit is deemed extended until the application is approved or denied and the owner has exhausted all applicable rights of appeal. The bill would also require the department, no later than 90 days after receiving an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit, to post on its Internet Web site a timeline with the estimated dates of key milestones in the application review process, to note on its Internet Web site that these dates are estimates, and to update the dates as needed.

Under existing law, known as the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 1991, the State Department of Public Health is required to establish procedures for environmental abatement and followup, and undertake other specified measures, designed to reduce the incidence of excessive childhood lead exposure in California. The bill would require, by April 1, 2018, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to convene a Lead Advisory Task Force, with a prescribed membership, to review and advise, as provided, regarding policies and procedures to reduce childhood lead poisoning in the state. The bill would require the task force to publish on the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's Internet Web site a recommended regulatory agenda on or before April 1, 2020, that would identify sources of lead and ensure that regulatory standards are protective of health in the state, as specified, and to update the regulatory agenda on or before April 1, 2022. These provisions would become inoperative on April 1, 2022.

Existing law prescribes the duties of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics (State Registrar) and local registrars of births and deaths with respect to the registration of certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and marriage licenses. Existing law requires the State Registrar to prescribe and furnish all record forms for use in carrying out the provisions governing vital records and prohibits the use of any record form or format other than those prescribed by the State Registrar. Existing law requires every live birth, fetal death, death, and marriage that occurs in the state to be registered with the local registrar. Existing law requires certificates of live birth, fetal death, or death, and a marriage license to include specified information, such as the full name of the child on a certificate of live birth and the full names of the parties to be married on a marriage license. This bill would require the State Registrar to require the use of a diacritical mark on an English letter to be properly recorded, when applicable, on a certificate of live birth, fetal death, or death, and a marriage license and would require the use of a diacritical mark to be deemed an acceptable entry by the State Registrar. The bill would provide that the absence of a diacritical mark on a certificate of live birth, fetal death, or death, or a marriage license does not render the document invalid nor affect any constructive notice imparted by proper recordation of the document. The bill would authorize, if a name is not accurately recorded because of the absence of a diacritical mark on an English letter in any certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, or marriage already registered, the person asserting the omission, or the person's conservator, or if a minor, the person's parent or guardian, to submit a written request to the State Registrar for the issuance of a new certificate of birth, fetal death, death, or marriage stating the changes necessary to make the name correct. The bill would require the State Registrar to review the request and, if the request is accompanied with the payment of a specified fee, to issue a new certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, or marriage with the accurate name identified in the request.

The Government Claims Act governs the liability and immunity of public entities and their officers and employees, claims and actions against public entities and their officers and employees, insurance indemnification, and the defense of public officers and employees. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require an elected official to reimburse a public entity that pays any compromise or settlement of a claim or action involving conduct that constitutes sexual harassment, if an investigation reveals evidence supporting the claim of sexual harassment against the elected official.

This measure would recognize August 6, 2017, as the 52nd anniversary of the signing of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This measure would proclaim the period of October 23, 2017, to October 31, 2017, inclusive, as Red Ribbon Week and would encourage all Californians to help build drug-free communities and to participate in drug prevention activities.

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. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to, among other things, carry out analyses of the economic conditions in the local region. This bill would enact the Removing Barriers to Employment Act, which would establish the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative administered by the California Workforce Development Board. The bill would specify that the purpose of the initiative is to create a grant program to provide individuals with barriers to employment the services they need to enter, participate in, and complete broader workforce preparation, training, and education programs aligned with regional labor market needs. The bill would specify that people completing these programs should have the skills and competencies to successfully enter the labor market, retain employment, and earn wages that lead to self-sufficiency and economic security. The bill would require the board to develop criteria for the selection of grant recipients, as specified. The bill also would specify the criteria by which grants are required to be evaluated, the populations that are eligible to be served by grants, and the activities eligible for grant funding. The bill would make the funding of the initiative subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose and would make implementation of the initiative contingent on the board notifying the Department of Finance that sufficient moneys have been appropriated. The bill would create the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative Fund, as specified, in the State Treasury for the purpose of carrying out its provisions.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law establishes, among other funds related to telecommunications, the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in the State Treasury. Existing law requires the commission to develop, implement, and administer the CASF to encourage deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to all Californians that will promote economic growth, job creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced information and communications technologies, as provided in specified decisions of the commission and in the CASF statute. Existing law requires the commission to give priority to projects that provide last-mile broadband access to households that are unserved by an existing facility-based broadband provider. Existing law establishes that the goal of the program is, no later than December 31, 2015, to approve funding for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households. Existing law authorizes the commission to collect a surcharge for deposit into the CASF not to exceed $315,000,000 in total and authorizes the surcharge until 2020. Existing law establishes 4 accounts, the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account, the Broadband Infrastructure and Revolving Loan Account, and the Broadband Public Housing Account, within the CASF and specifies the amount of moneys to be deposited into each account. This bill would revise the goal of the program to provide that its goal is to approve funding by December 31, 2022, for infrastructure projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98% of California households in each consortia region, as identified by the commission on or before January 1, 2017. The bill would eliminate the Broadband Infrastructure and Revolving Loan Account and would require the transfer of the remaining unencumbered moneys in that account as of January 1, 2018, and the deposit of moneys collected that would be owed to that account into the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account. The bill would establish within the CASF the Broadband Adoption Account and would require specified amounts of moneys to be deposited into this new account, the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account, and the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account. The bill repeals the current authorization to collect up to $315,000,000 for deposit in the CASF at a rate of up to $25,000,000 per year through the 2020 calendar year, and instead would authorize the commission to collect $330,000,000 for deposit into the CASF beginning January 1, 2018, and continuing through the 2022 calendar year. The bill would revise the eligibility requirements for projects and project applicants for grants funded from the Broadband Infrastructure Grant Account. The bill would make moneys from the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account available to facilitate the deployment of broadband infrastructure by assisting infrastructure grant applicants in the project development or grant application process. The bill would require recipients of those moneys to conduct an annual audit and to submit to the commission an annual report regarding activities funded by those moneys. The bill would make available moneys in the Broadband Adoption Account to specified entities for digital literacy training, public education, and outreach programs to increase broadband adoption by consumers. Existing law requires the commission to conduct and report to the Legislature, by April 1, 2021, a final financial audit and a final performance audit of the CASF. This bill would require the commission to conduct and report to the Legislature, by April 1, 2020, an interim financial audit and an interim performance audit. The bill would delay the date for the submission of the final audits to April 1, 2023. Existing law requires the commission to annually report specified information relative to the CASF to the Legislature. Existing law repeals these reporting requirements on January 1, 2022. This bill would revise the information specified for inclusion in the report. The bill would repeal these reporting requirements on January 1, 2024. The bill would require the commission to identify unserved areas and delineate the areas in the annual reports. The bill would require the commission to consult regional consortia, stakeholders, and consumers regarding priority areas and cost-effective strategies to achieve the broadband access goal through public workshops conducted at least annually no later than April 30 of each year. 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 a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, this 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.