Sen. Josh Newman

Existing law authorizes the Governor to appoint and commission individuals designated by a railroad company to serve as police officers. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol to coordinate with the Department of Justice to convene a regional property crimes task force to identify geographic areas experiencing increased levels of property crimes and assist local law enforcement with resources, such as personnel and equipment. This bill would require the task force to assist railroad police and would specify cargo theft as a property crime for consideration by the regional property crimes task force. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes 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, as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. The Donahoe Higher Education Act prohibits the campuses of those segments from charging mandatory systemwide tuition or fees to specified students who apply for a waiver, including a child of any veteran of the United States military who has a service-connected disability, has been killed in service, or has died of a service-connected disability, an undergraduate student who is a recipient of a Medal of Honor, or an undergraduate student who is a child of a recipient of a Medal of Honor and who is no more than 27 years of age, if certain requirements are satisfied. This bill would additionally prohibit the campuses of the University of California and California State University from charging tuition or fees for specified students who enroll in an extended education course if certain requirements are satisfied and the extended education course is being used to meet the requirements of an undergraduate degree program. The bill would apply to the campuses of the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make it apply.

(1) Existing law governs the operation of animal shelters by, among other things, setting a minimum holding period for stray dogs and cats and requiring animal shelters to ensure that dogs and cats, if adopted, are spayed or neutered. This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2026, public animal control agencies or shelters or private animal shelters with local contracts for animal care to update any data that they make available on their internet website at least once per month, and would require those agencies and shelters to publish specified information on their internet website, including the number of animals taken in during the prior month and the outcomes for animals over the prior month. By expanding the duties of public animal control agencies and shelters, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 Escrow Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of escrow agents by the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation, and makes it unlawful for any person to engage in business as an escrow agent except by a corporation organized for that purpose licensed by the commissioner. This bill would authorize a licensed escrow agent to designate an employee to perform work on the licensee's behalf at a remote location, as defined, in accordance with specified conditions and requirements, including that the licensee adopts and adheres to appropriate written policies and procedures to supervise and maintain appropriate control of the work of employees at remote locations and safeguard the licensee's records and consumer personal information, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor. Existing law makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law, the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, requires every local public agency, as defined, to have an emergency communication system and requires the digits "911" to be the primary emergency telephone number within the system. Existing law requires the office, with the advice and assistance of the Attorney General, to coordinate the implementation of systems, to assist local public agencies and local public safety agencies in obtaining financial help to establish emergency telephone service, and to aid agencies in the formulation of concepts, methods, and procedures that will improve the operation of those systems and that will increase cooperation between public safety agencies. This bill would establish the 911 Public Education Campaign, to be administered by the office in collaboration with the State 911 Advisory Board, as specified, for the purpose of educating the public on when it is appropriate to call 911 for assistance. The bill would include in the goals of the campaign, among others, reducing the number of unnecessary calls to 911 call centers and reducing delays in the 911 system caused by nonemergency calls being placed. The bill would require the campaign to give local public agencies the ability to tailor the message of the campaign, focus on social media, and be distributed to the public via local public agency channels.

The Political Reform Act of 1974 provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing and related matters, including voluntary expenditure ceilings for candidates for statewide elective office and for State Senate and Assembly. Existing law authorizes a candidate for statewide elective office who accepts the voluntary expenditure limits to purchase the space to place a statement in a state voter information guide, as specified. Existing law authorizes a candidate for State Senate or Assembly who accepts the voluntary expenditure limits to purchase the space to place a statement in the voter information portion of the county voter information guide, as specified. Existing law authorizes a candidate for United States Representative to purchase the space to place a statement in the voter information portion of the county voter information guide, as specified. This bill would require the Secretary of State to establish, on or before January 1, 2026, a pilot program that would allow a candidate to include a QR code link, as defined, to a video statement in the state voter information guide, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of State to seek to collaborate with at least 1 but not more than 4 county elections offices from geographically diverse counties to establish a similar program for county voter information guides. The bill would require a participating county to report to the Secretary of State about the effectiveness of the program and for the Secretary of State to provide a report to the Legislature, as specified. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Existing law, the Urban Water Management Planning Act, requires every public and private urban water supplier that directly or indirectly provides water for municipal purposes to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan. The act requires an urban water management plan to include a water shortage contingency plan, as provided. This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state to encourage, but not mandate, the development of emergency water supplies, and to support their use during times of drought or unplanned service or supply disruption, as provided.

Existing law establishes various commissions within state government. This bill would, until January 1, 2028, establish the California Commission on the United States Semiquincentennial in state government to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America. The bill would require the commission to plan and coordinate commemorations and observances of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution. The bill would require the commission to be solely supported by private or federal funds made available for the purpose of supporting the commission. The bill would require that these funds be deposited in the Semiquincentennial Fund, and would create that fund in the State Treasury. The bill would require funds in the Semiquincentennial Fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified. The bill would require the records, files, and other memoranda of the commission, other than any private possessions, to be deposited and filed with the State Archives before January 1, 2028, and would require the State Archives to receive those materials. These provisions would become operative only if the Treasurer determines that sufficient private or federal funds have been made available.

Existing law, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act, requires every state agency directly involved in the furnishing of information or the rendering of services to the public where contact is made with a substantial number of non-English-speaking people to employ a sufficient number of qualified bilingual persons in public contact positions to ensure provision of information and services to the public in the language of the non-English-speaking person, except as specified. This bill would establish the Office of Language Access, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to government programs and services. This bill would require the Office of Language Access to, among other things, lead the development, monitoring, and periodic updating of every Language Access Plan within the agency and coordinate with language access coordinators throughout the agency to implement each Language Access Plan. The bill would require the Office of Language Access to maintain an internet website containing specified information, including every current Language Action Plan and all corrective action plans. The bill would require the Office of Language Access, commencing November 1, 2026, and every other year thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature and the relevant policy committees that contains specific information, including challenges encountered while implementing Language Access Plans, lessons learned, best practices, and metrics regarding individuals with limited English proficiency who use agency services. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to develop a Language Access Plan Guidance Document to support its various departments and offices in the development of their Language Access Plans. The bill would require each department and office within the agency to develop a Language Access Plan, as specified. The bill would require the agency to develop a correction for a department or office that fails to implement and achieve the goals set forth in its Language Access Plan. This bill would also require the agency to submit annual compliance reports to the Office of Language Access regarding the progress made with Language Access Plans and corrective action plans. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2025, the agency to commence the Language Access Advisory Workgroup, to meet on a prescribed schedule, with specified membership. This bill would require the workgroup to share the progress of the various Language Access Plans, address relevant issues, and obtain community input.

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, prohibits a public officer from expending, and a candidate from accepting, public moneys for the purpose of seeking elective office. This bill would permit a public officer or candidate to expend or accept public moneys for the purpose of seeking elective office if the state or a local governmental entity established a dedicated fund for this purpose, as specified. The bill would prohibit the public moneys for this dedicated fund from being taken from public moneys that are earmarked for education, transportation, or public safety. This restriction would not apply to charter cities. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the act may be amended by a statute that becomes effective upon approval of the voters. This bill would require the Secretary of State to submit the provisions of the bill to the voters for approval at the November 5, 2024, general statewide election, as specified.