Existing law establishes the Wildfire Safety Division and requires the division to perform certain regulatory functions related to wildfire mitigation plans of electrical corporations. Existing law transferred all functions of the Wildfire Safety Division to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety effective July 1, 2021. This bill would repeal the Wildfire Safety Division. Existing law requires electrical corporations to construct, maintain, and operate their electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment. This bill would require those actions to take into account the time required to implement proposed mitigations and the amount of risk reduced for the cost and risk remaining. Existing law requires each electrical corporation to annually prepare and submit a wildfire mitigation plan that covers at least a 3-year period and authorizes the office to allow for annual submissions to be updates to the last approved comprehensive wildfire mitigation plan, but requires the electrical corporation to submit a comprehensive wildfire mitigation plan at least once every 3 years for review. Existing law requires wildfire mitigation plans to include, among other things, a list that identifies, describes, and prioritizes all wildfire risks, and drivers for those risks, throughout the electrical corporation's service territory, and a description of the actions the electrical corporation will take to ensure its system will achieve the highest level of safety, reliability, and resiliency, as specified. This bill instead would require each electrical corporation to submit a wildfire mitigation plan to the office for review at least once every 4 years. The bill would require each electrical corporation, beginning January 1, 2026, to submit a preliminary wildfire mitigation plan to the office at the earliest date of one year before the filing of its general rate case application or concurrent with the filing of its Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase application with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) . The bill would revise those wildfire mitigation plan requirements to, among other things, require the list to also include particular risks and risk drivers associated with the speed with which wildfire risk mitigation measures can and will be deployed by the electrical corporation, and require the presentation of certain cost-efficiency measures adopted by the PUC, as specified. Existing law requires the office to approve or deny each wildfire mitigation plan and update submitted by an electrical corporation within 3 months of its submission. Existing law establishes procedures for the office to oversee compliance with an approved wildfire mitigation plan. Existing law requires the PUC to consider whether the cost of implementing an electrical corporation's wildfire mitigation plan is just and reasonable in the electrical corporation's general rate case application. This bill instead would require the office to approve or deny a wildfire mitigation plan submitted by an electrical corporation within 9 months of its submission. The bill would, for a general rate case application filed after January 1, 2027, require an electrical corporation to file the wildfire mitigation plan approved by the office or, if the plan has not been approved by the office, the preliminary wildfire plan filed with the office, and any applicable decision from the office, with the general rate case application. The bill would require an electrical corporation, within 45 days of the PUC's decision on whether the cost of implementing the electrical corporation's wildfire mitigation plan is just and reasonable in the electrical corporation's general rate case or any PUC order modifying that decision, to submit to the office a revised wildfire mitigation plan that conforms to the PUC's revenue authorization. The bill would require the office to approve the revised wildfire mitigation plan within 2 months of submission and would require the electrical corporation to file the approved revised wildfire mitigation plan as an information-only submittal with the PUC. The bill would revise and recast provisions related to the oversight by the office in the implementation of, and the enforcement by the PUC of, the finally approved wildfire mitigation plan. Existing law requires the PUC to establish an expedited utility distribution infrastructure undergrounding program for large electrical corporations. In order to participate in the program, existing law requires a large electrical corporation to submit to the office a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan, as provided. Upon approval of the plan by the office, existing law requires the large electrical corporation to submit to the PUC an application requesting review and conditional approval of the plan's costs and other specified information. This bill would revise the provisions related to the expedited utility distribution infrastructure undergrounding program to, among other things, specify that the approval of a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan is not a project for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, as specified. Existing law requires the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board to annually make recommendations to the office on various topics, including the appropriate scope and process for assessing the safety culture of an electrical corporation. Existing law requires the office to annually issue an analysis and recommendation to the PUC on the recommendations provided by the board. Existing law requires the PUC to annually adopt and approve, among other things, a process for the office to conduct annual safety culture assessments for each electrical corporation. This bill would repeal those provisions. Existing law requires local publicly owned electric utilities and electrical cooperatives to annually prepare and submit to the board, on or before July 1 of each year, wildfire mitigation plans. This bill instead would require, after January 1, 2026, local publicly owned electric utilities and electrical cooperatives to prepare and submit to the board wildfire mitigation plans at least once every 4 years on a schedule determined by the board. Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because a violation of a PUC action implementing the requirements of this bill would be a crime, 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.
Sponsored bills
Maddy summaryThis bill proclaims September 2024 as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in California to raise public visibility about mental health resources and suicide prevention services. The measure encourages residents to recognize warning signs, discuss mental health openly, and direct those in crisis to support systems like the 988 lifeline. While it does not create new laws or funding, it serves as an official state declaration to promote education and community engagement during the designated month.
Existing law regulates ticket sellers, as defined. Existing law prohibits a ticket seller from contracting for the sale of tickets or accepting consideration for payment in full or for a deposit for the sale of tickets unless the ticket seller has possession of the ticket or meets a specified exception. Existing law imposes conditions on accepting a deposit from a prospective purchaser to obtain a ticket, as specified. Existing law generally makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor and imposes civil penalties for certain violations. This bill would revise and recast those provisions, including, among other things, prohibiting a ticket seller from advertising, offering for sale, or contracting for the sale of a ticket, or accepting consideration for payment in full or for a deposit for the sale of a ticket if they do not own, possess, have constructive possession, or have the contractual right to sell the ticket. The bill would require a ticket seller or ticket resale marketplace, as defined, to comply with specified requirements in order to offer a service to obtain a ticket on behalf of a purchaser. The bill would also prohibit a ticket seller or ticket resale marketplace from selling more than one copy to a live entertainment event and would prohibit a ticket seller or ticket resale marketplace from displaying specified content on an internet website with intent to mislead if the content is substantially similar to the internet website of an event presenter, rights holder, or original seller, as specified. By imposing new requirements on ticket sales, the violation of which is 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 federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Existing law prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on the basis of specified attributes, including, among others, disability or gender, in a program or activity conducted by a postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid. This bill would require each California State University and California Community College campus, and would request each University of California campus, to provide, as specified, status updates on complaints of sex discrimination to the complainants and respondents, except for those who opt to not receive the updates. The bill would require each California State University and California Community College campus, and would request each University of California campus, to provide, within 5 business days of a decision of disciplinary action being made against a respondent in response to a complaint of sex discrimination, a notification of the disciplinary action to the respondent and complainant. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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.
This measure would provide for the promotion and encouragement of solutions and resources for keeping the oceans and coastlines healthy and eliminating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Maddy summarySenate Resolution 120 formally recognizes October 2024 and every subsequent October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in California. This legislative measure does not create new laws or funding but serves to highlight the severity of domestic violence and the importance of support services for survivors across the state. The resolution underscores the need for community education and culturally responsive programs to address the high rates of intimate partner violence affecting diverse populations in California. By adopting this resolution, the Senate aims to encourage ongoing awareness and action to prevent domestic violence and assist those affected by it.
Existing law prohibits unlawfully causing a fire by recklessly setting fire to, burning, or causing to be burned, any structure, forest land, or property. A violation of this prohibition is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would, for the purposes of sentencing for a violation of these provisions, make it a factor in aggravation that the offense was carried out within a merchant's premises in order to facilitate organized retail theft. By increasing the punishment for 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 defines types of theft, including petty theft, grand theft, and shoplifting. Existing law also defines the crime of burglary, which consists of entering specified buildings, places, or vehicles with the intent to commit grand or petty theft or a felony. This bill would, until January 1, 2030, create sentencing enhancements for selling, exchanging, or returning for value, or attempting to sell, exchange, or return for value, any property acquired through one or more acts of shoplifting, theft, or burglary from a retail business, if the property value exceeds specified amounts. The bill would additionally make these enhancements apply to any person acting in concert with another person to violate these provisions. By adding new sentencing enhancements, 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, until January 1, 2026, makes a person guilty of organized retail theft, punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified, if the person acts in concert with one or more persons to steal merchandise from one or more merchant's premises or online marketplaces with the intent to sell or return the merchandise for value, acts in concert with 2 or more persons to receive, purchase, or possess merchandise knowing or believing it to have been stolen, acts as an agent of another to steal merchandise from one or more merchant's premises or online marketplaces as part of an organized plan to commit theft, or recruits, coordinates, organizes, supervises, directs, manages, or finances another to undertake acts of theft. This bill would extend the operation of the crime of organized retail theft indefinitely. By extending the operation of an existing 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 defines the crime of burglary to include entering a vehicle when the doors are locked with the intent to commit grand or petit larceny or a felony. Existing law makes the burglary of a vehicle punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would make forcibly entering a vehicle, as defined, with the intent to commit a theft or a felony therein a crime punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not to exceed one year or imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law prohibits the taking of the personal property of another, as specified, prohibits removing any part of a vehicle without the consent of the owner, and prohibits the possession or receipt of stolen property, as specified. A violation of these prohibitions is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would make it a crime for a person to unlawfully possess property that was acquired through one or more acts of theft from a vehicle, unlawful entry of a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering, if the property is not possessed for personal use and the person has the intent to sell or exchange the property, or the intent to act with another person to sell or exchange the property, and the value of the possessed property exceeds $950. The bill would, for the purpose of determining the value, allow the aggregation of the value of other illegally obtained property possessed by the person within the past 2 years. The bill would make this crime punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony. By creating a new 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.