Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. 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 purposes of specified wage orders. Existing 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 free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. This test is commonly known as 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 Dynamex and these provisions. Existing law instead provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the test adopted in S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. This bill would expand the above-described exemptions to also include a musician or music industry professional, except as specified.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, as established in the case of Dynamex Operations W. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 (Dynamex) , creates a presumption that a worker who performs services for a hirer is an employee. Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to establish that a worker is an independent contractor for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders issued by the Industrial Welfare Commission. This bill would instead, for purposes of claims for wages and benefits arising under wage orders, analyze whether the worker is economically dependent upon the hiring entity to determine whether that worker is an employee based upon the economic reality of the relationship with the hiring entity. The bill would require this analysis to be based solely upon enumerated factors that are similar to those used as a part of the Economic Realities Test in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This bill would provide legislative findings and declarations in support of these provisions, and would state in the findings and declarations that it is the intent of the Legislature that the test under these provisions be applied retroactively to claims filed on and after April 30, 2018.
Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL) , provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL defines charges for its purposes to include specified types of transactions. The CFL also specifies that charges do not include, among other things, fees paid to a licensee for the privilege of participating in an open-end-credit program. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision specifying items that are not charges for purposes of the CFL.
Existing law designates all parks, public campgrounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or acquired by the state, or that are under its control, as the state park system, except as specified. Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system, which is made up of units, one of which is the Chino Hills State Park. This bill would require the department to rename certain acres of land within the Chino Hills State Park after former California State Assembly Member and Senator Ross Johnson.
Existing law creates various regulatory boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes health-related boards to adopt regulations requiring licensees to display their licenses in the locality in which they are treating patients and to make specified disclosures to patients. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that license display and disclosure provision.
Existing federal law establishes the federal Pell Grant Program under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide need-based grant awards to low-income students in order to promote access to postsecondary education. Existing law, known as the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes, among other programs, the Cal Grant B program and the Cal Grant C program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under those programs. This bill, beginning with the 2020–21 academic year, would require an institution of higher education, as a condition of its participation in the Cal Grant Program, to implement a financial aid book advance program that would provide a line of credit for the purchase of books and educational materials at bookstores owned by or located on the campus of the institution to each student who is owed a credit balance for certain financial aid awards and who has not opted out of the program. The bill would provide for a reduction in the amount of the award moneys disbursed to the student based upon the amount of credit expended by the student at the institution's bookstores and would provide for reimbursement to the institution's bookstores for that amount. The bill would exempt from these requirements an institution that does not have a bookstore and an institution that provides its students with all of their financial aid award moneys that the institution disburses on or before the 7th day of the academic semester or term.
The California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. The act authorizes a school district to provide that education earlier than grade 7 with age-appropriate and medically accurate information. The act provides that the parent or guardian of a pupil has the right to excuse their child from all or part of that education through a passive consent ("opt-out") process and prohibits a school district from requiring active parental consent ("opt-in") for that education. This bill would require, for a pupil in a grade lower than grade 7, an active parental consent ("opt-in") with a signature for sexual health education and HIV prevention education. The act requires each school district to notify parents and guardians about its plan to provide sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction for the upcoming school year and to inform them, among other things, that written and audiovisual educational materials used in this instruction are available for inspection This bill would require a school district to make those materials available for inspection before the date of instruction on the school district's internet website and to translate those materials, as prescribed. By imposing additional duties on school districts, county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, 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, 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 Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act) , establishes the State Department of Developmental Services, which is responsible for providing various services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. The Lanterman Act requires the department to enter into contracts with private nonprofit corporations to operate regional centers, which are required to provide, or arrange for the provision of, services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities. Under existing law, the state is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide program encouraging the establishment of sufficient numbers and types of living arrangements, both in communities and state hospitals, as necessary, to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The DHCD is responsible for administering various housing and home loan programs throughout the state. This bill would establish the California Integrated Community Living Program in the State Department of Developmental Services. The program would provide deferred payment loans to finance capital and other specified costs for permanent supportive housing for individuals who are regional center clients in order to maximize affordable integrated community living opportunities within communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to enter into an interagency agreement to administer the Integrated Community Living Program Fund, which would be created by, and continuously appropriated to the department for the purposes described in, the bill. The bill would prescribe the moneys to be deposited into the fund, including all moneys received by the department through the sale, lease, or other revenue-generating agreement for any state developmental center property, except as specified. The bill would prohibit moneys in the fund from being used to supplant or backfill any existing program budget within either department. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to convene an advisory committee to advise and assist in establishing funding priorities, with an emphasis on funding priorities for this program, as specified. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to develop and administer a competitive application process to award funding for loans under the bill, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to distribute funds in a manner that maximizes access to low-income housing tax credit program projects for the target population, and that also incentivizes development of creative permanent supportive housing projects outside of that program, as specified. The bill also would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to adopt guidelines establishing income and rent standards for potential residents of properties funded under the program, including standards based solely on federal Supplemental Security Income. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to develop community integration criteria to set the maximum percentage of apartment units reserved for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities within specified program projects, and to stipulate community integration standards for small projects.
Existing law designates all parks, public campgrounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or acquired by the state, or that are under its control, as the state park system, except as specified. Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system, which is made up of units, one of which is the Chino Hills State Park. This bill would require the department to provide all necessary assistance for the state's acquisition and acceptance of four specified parcels from willing sellers that are adjacent to the Chino Hills State Park. The bill would require the department to agree to accept and manage each parcel as it is acquired with specified funds as part of the Chino Hills State Park, and to expedite development of a management plan for the parcels once acquired.
The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law authorizes a claimant to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of property taxes that are due on the residential dwelling of the claimant, as provided, and requires the claim for postponement to be filed under penalty of perjury. Existing law establishes the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, in the State Treasury for, among other things, disbursements relating to the postponement of property taxes, as provided. Existing law requires the Controller, on June 30, 2018, and on June 30 each year thereafter, to transfer any moneys in the fund in excess of $15,000,000 to the General Fund. Existing law requires property tax postponement payments, from the time a payment is made, to bear interest at the rate of 7% per annum. Existing law prohibits the postponement of property taxes if the claimant's household income exceeds $35,500. This bill would require the annual transfer of moneys in excess of $15,000,000 from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund to the General Fund to occur until June 30, 2019. The bill, beginning July 1, 2020, would lower the rate of interest on property tax postponement payments from 7% per annum to 5% per annum. The bill would revise the income limitations described above to instead provide that the claimant's household income cannot exceed $35,500 or the "very low income" limit, as adjusted for household size, for the county in which the household is located, as published annually by the Department of Housing and Community Development, whichever is greater. Because this bill would provide for additional expenditures from the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. By increasing the circumstances in which claims for postponement are required to be filed under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing 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.