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.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. STRS is administered by the Teachers' Retirement Board. Existing law creates the Teachers' Retirement Fund and establishes within that fund a segregated account named the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account. Existing law continuously appropriates funds in the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account for expenditure for the purpose of restoring the purchasing power of the allowances of retired members and nonmember spouses, disabled members, and beneficiaries, and prescribes various schedules pursuant to which these allowances are augmented. This bill would prescribe additional benefits to be paid quarterly from the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account, beginning July 1, 2023, to retired members and nonmember spouses, disabled members, and beneficiaries, to be made pursuant to a specified schedule. By providing for additional payments to be made from a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the amount of these increases to be determined on July 1, 2023, as specified, and would require that amount to be increased each year commencing on July 1, 2024, but not compounded. The bill would specify that these increases are not part of the base allowance, are payable only to the extent that funds are available from the Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account, and would state the extent to which these payments would be vested. The bill would make additional conforming and nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law appropriates funds to the State Department of Public Health for various programs related to the safe reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, including funds to support COVID-19 testing in schools allocated from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and funds from the General Fund for the Safe Schools For All Team to coordinate technical assistance, community engagement, increased transparency, and enforcement by the appropriate entity for public school health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing law authorizes certain school apportionments to be used for any purpose consistent with providing in-person instruction for any pupil participating in in-person instruction, including, but not limited to, COVID-19 testing, as provided. Existing law prescribes public health reporting requirements related to COVID-19 for local educational agencies, including the development of a COVID-19 safety plan, as provided. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to coordinate specified school district, county office of education, and charter school COVID-19 testing programs that are currently federally funded or organized under the California COVID-19 Testing Task Force, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to provide supportive services, including technical assistance, vendor support, guidance, monitoring, and testing education, related to testing programs for teachers, staff, and pupils to help schools reopen and keep schools operating safely for in-person learning. The bill would also encourage the department to expand its contagious, infectious, or communicable disease testing guidance and other public health mitigation efforts to include prekindergarten and childcare centers, as provided. This bill would require each local educational agency, defined to mean a school district, county office of education, or charter school, after consulting with its local health department, as defined, to create a COVID-19 testing plan, or adopt the State Department of Public Health's framework, as defined, that is consistent with guidance from the department, as provided. The bill would require each local educational agency to publish the testing plan on its internet website. The bill would authorize each local educational agency to designate one staff member to report information on its COVID-19 testing program to the department, as provided. The bill would require that all COVID-19 testing data be in a format that facilitates a simple process by which parents and local educational agencies may report data to the department or a local health department, as provided. By imposing new obligations on local educational agencies, and to the extent new duties are imposed on local health departments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to determine which COVID-19 tests are appropriate for the testing program. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026. 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.
The California Constitution reserves to the electors the power to recall an elective officer and requires the Legislature to provide for recall of local officers. Existing law requires a recall election to include the question of whether the officer sought to be recalled shall be removed from office and an election for the officer's successor in the event the officer is removed from office. This bill would instead require a recall election for a local officer to include only the question of whether the officer sought to be recalled shall be removed from office. If a local officer is removed from office in a recall election, the bill would provide that the office is vacant until it is filled according to law. The bill would make related conforming and clarifying changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11041 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 2584 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2584 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law authorizes a registered voter of an electoral jurisdiction to seek the recall of an officer of that jurisdiction by publishing or posting a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition. Existing law requires the notice of intention to contain, among other things, a statement of the reasons for the proposed recall and the signatures of a specified number of proponents of the recall. Under existing law, within 7 days of the filing of the notice of intention, the officer sought to be recalled may file an answer to the proponents' statement of reasons for the recall. Existing law requires a recall petition to include, among other things, the notice of intention and the officer's answer. This bill would increase the number of signatures required to be included in the notice of intention, with the total number of necessary signatures determined by the type of office held by the officer sought to be recalled, as provided. The bill would require, for a recall of a member of the governing board of a school district, the recall petition to include an estimate of the cost of conducting the special election. The bill would require, for a recall of a local officer, the county elections official to make a copy of the recall petition available for public examination for 10 days, as provided. The bill would authorize a voter of the applicable electoral jurisdiction or the elections official, during those 10 days, to seek a writ of mandate or injunction requiring any or all of the statement of the proponents or the answer of the officer to be amended or deleted. The bill would require a court to issue a writ of mandate or injunction only upon clear and convincing proof that the material in question is false, misleading, or inconsistent with the applicable requirements for recall petitions. By requiring local elections officials to make recall petitions available for public inspection, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the governing board of a local government entity to issue an order calling an election if the elections official certifies to the board that the recall proponents gathered sufficient signatures to hold a recall election for an officer of the local government entity. Existing law requires the election to be held not less than 88 days and not more than 125 days from the issuance of the order. This bill would permit the election to be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election conducted within 180 days after the issuance of the order. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11041 of the Elections Code proposed by AB 2582 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2582 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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, commonly known as the California Family Rights Act, makes it an unlawful employment practice for a California public employer or an employer with 5 or more employees to refuse to grant a request from an employee who meets specified requirements to take up to a total of 12 workweeks in any 12-month period for family care and medical leave, as defined. This bill would expand the class of people for whom an employee may take leave to care for to include a designated person. The bill would define "designated person" to mean any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The bill would authorize a designated person to be identified at the time the employee requests the leave. The bill would authorize an employer to limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period. (2) Existing law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, generally entitles an employee who works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year to paid sick days, as specified, including the use of paid sick days for diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for, an employee or an employee's family member. Existing law defines "family member" for this purpose to include individuals who share a prescribed relationship with the employee. This bill would expand the definition of the term "family member" to include a designated person, which, for purposes of these provisions, would mean a person identified by the employee at the time the employee requests paid sick days, subject to limitation by the employer, as prescribed.
Existing law designates specific days as holidays in this state. Existing law requires the Governor annually to proclaim the date corresponding with the second new moon following the winter solstice, or the third new moon following the winter solstice should an intercalary month intervene, as the "Lunar New Year." Existing law entitles state employees, with specified exceptions, to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for "Native American Day," in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit, and to elect to use 8 hours of vacation, annual leave, or compensating time off, consistent with departmental operational needs and collective bargaining agreements, for "Native American Day," as specified. This bill would repeal provisions requiring the Governor to annually proclaim the "Lunar New Year," and would instead recognize the "Lunar New Year" as a state holiday. The bill would authorize state employees, with specified exceptions, to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for the "Lunar New Year" in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit, and to elect to use 8 hours of vacation, annual leave, or compensating time off, consistent with departmental operational needs and collective bargaining agreements, for "Lunar New Year," as specified. Existing law designates specific days designated as holidays in this state, every Saturday and the day after Thanksgiving Day as judicial holidays, except "Admission Day," "Columbus Day," and any other day appointed by the President, but not by the Governor, for a public fast, thanksgiving, or holiday. This bill would additionally exclude "Lunar New Year" from designation as a judicial holiday. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 1801 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1801 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 6700, 19853, and 19853.1 of the Government Code proposed by AB 1655 and AB 1801 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1655, AB 1801, or both are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining with respect to wages, terms of employment, and other employment conditions, and authorizes employees to elect exclusive bargaining representatives for these purposes. Existing law creates the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and prescribes its composition, duties, and powers. Existing law authorizes the board to hold hearings and conduct investigations and requires that certain procedures be the exclusive method of redressing unfair labor practices. Under existing law, any person who willfully resists, prevents, or interferes with a member of the board or its agents or agencies in the performance of their duties is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law requires the board to certify the results of an election conducted by secret ballot of employees in a collective bargaining unit to designate a collective bargaining representative, unless the board determines there are sufficient grounds to refuse to do so. Existing law further provides that if the board refuses to certify an election because of employer misconduct that would render slight the chances of a new election reflecting the free and fair choice of employees, the labor organization shall be certified as the bargaining representative for the bargaining unit. This bill would refer to the election by secret ballot process as a polling place election. The bill would establish alternative procedures to the polling place election and authorize a labor organization to be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit through either a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election, as prescribed, dependent on whether an employer enrolls and agrees to a labor peace election for labor organization representation campaigns. The bill would provide that a labor peace election or a non-labor peace election permits a bargaining unit to summarily select a labor organization as its representative for collective bargaining purposes without using the existing polling place process. Under the bill, a labor peace election would be a mail ballot election and a non-labor peace election would establish a process for the submission of a petition with proof of majority support, subject to certification by the board. Among other provisions, the bill would require for both alternative procedures that an employer respond to the board with regard to a petition, including providing a specified list of employees to the board. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would establish a schedule for agricultural employers to indicate to the board whether they agree to a labor peace compact, defined to mean an agreement by the employer to, among other things, make no statements for or against union representation to its employees or publicly, in any written or oral form, at any time during employee hire, rehire, or orientation, or after certain documents regarding organization are filed with the board. The bill would prohibit a labor peace compact from prohibiting an employer from communicating truthful statements to employees regarding workplace policies or benefits, as specified. The bill would require the board to develop an online web-based labor peace election process that will allow employers to indicate their labor peace choice online, and that will allow labor organizations to see whether a specific agricultural employer has agreed to a labor peace election campaign. This bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2028. This bill would prescribe civil penalties to be imposed upon an agricultural employer who commits an unfair labor practice in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each violation, and would increase that sum to an amount not to exceed $25,000 for specified violations. The bill would require the board to consider specified factors in determining the amount of a civil penalty pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also authorize the board to impose personal liability for these penalties upon a director or officer of an employer in certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes a person aggrieved by the final order of the board granting or denying in whole or in part the relief sought for an unfair labor practice, to obtain a review of the order in a specified court of appeal by filing in the court a written petition requesting that the order of the board be modified or set aside. This bill would require an employer who appeals or petitions for a writ of review of any order of the board involving make-whole, backpay, or other monetary awards to employees, to post an appeal bond in the amount of the entire economic value of the order, as specified, and would provide for the bond to be forfeited under specified conditions. This bill would state that its provisions are severable. 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.
The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances that regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, business, residences, open space, and other purposes. This bill would prohibit a city or county legislative body from adopting or enforcing an ordinance requiring a public hearing as a condition of reconfiguring existing space to increase the bedroom count within an existing dwelling unit. The bill would apply these provisions only to a permit application for no more than 2 additional bedrooms within an existing dwelling unit. The bill would specify that these provisions are not to be construed to prohibit a local agency from requiring a public hearing for a proposed project that would increase the number of dwelling units within an existing structure. The bill would include findings that ensuring adequate housing is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair, and that the provision applies to all cities, including charter cities. By imposing additional duties on local officials, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires a blood bank to be licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law authorizes specified individuals to collect human blood at a blood bank that meets specified requirements if the collection is under the direct and responsible supervision of a licensed physician or surgeon. Existing regulations authorize blood collection when a physician is not present on the blood bank premises when specified requirements are met, including that a qualified physician or emergency medical facility is no more than 15 minutes away. Existing law requires a health care provider to obtain verbal or written consent from a patient before the use of telehealth to deliver health care services. An existing executive order has suspended that requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill would authorize blood collection at a blood bank when a physician or surgeon is not physically present if the medical director and their medical advisory committee approve and if the employee placed in charge is a registered nurse. The bill would authorize the registered nurse placed in charge to be physically present or available via telehealth, so long as the method of telehealth used is synchronous. The bill would require a blood bank, under these circumstances, to report annually to the department on any adverse donor events requiring emergency medical intervention, including whether a registered nurse was physically present on the premises, and to provide, at the request of the department, written procedures for managing adverse donor reactions. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on January 1, 2028.