(1) Under existing law, the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, if a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes or attempts to interfere, by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney, is authorized to bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured. Existing law also authorizes an action brought by the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney, to seek a civil penalty of $25,000. This bill would provide that a threat, intimidation, or coercion under the act may be inherent in any interference with a civil right and would describe intentional acts for these purposes as an act in which the person acted with general intent or a conscious objective to engage in particular conduct. The bill would, with a specified exception, eliminate certain immunity provisions for peace officers or public entities employing peace officers sued under the act. The bill would also authorize specified persons to bring an action under the act for the death of a person. (2) Existing laws defines persons who are peace officers and the entities authorized to appoint them. Existing law requires certain minimum training requirements for peace officers including the completion of a basic training course, as specified. Existing law prescribes certain minimum standards for a person to be appointed as a peace officer, including moral character and physical and mental condition, and certain disqualifying factors for a person to be employed as a peace officer, including a felony conviction. This bill would disqualify a person from being employed as a peace officer if that person has been convicted of, or has been adjudicated in an administrative, military, or civil judicial process as having committed, a violation of certain specified crimes against public justice, including the falsification of records, bribery, or perjury. The bill would also disqualify any person who has been certified as a peace officer by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and has surrendered that certification or had that certification revoked by the commission, or has been denied certification. The bill would require a law enforcement agency employing certain peace officers to employ only individuals with a current, valid certification or pending certification. (3) Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to set minimum standards for the recruitment and training of peace officers and to develop training courses and curriculum. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish a professional certificate program that awards basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates on the basis of a combination of training, education, experience, and other prerequisites, for the purpose of fostering the professionalization, education, and experience necessary to adequately accomplish the general police service duties performed by peace officers. Existing law authorizes the commission to cancel a certificate that was awarded in error or obtained through misrepresentation or fraud, but otherwise prohibits the commission from canceling a certificate that has properly been issued. This bill would grant the commission the power to investigate and determine the fitness of any person to serve as a peace officer in the state. The bill would direct the commission to issue or deny certification, which includes a basic certificate or proof of eligibility, to a peace officer in accordance with specified criteria. The bill would require the commission to issue a proof of eligibility or basic certificate, as specified, to certain persons employed as a peace officer on January 1, 2021, who do not otherwise possess a certificate. The bill would require a proof of eligibility or basic certificate to be renewed at least every 2 years and would require the commission to assess a fee, in an amount determined by the commission, for the application and renewal of the certificate or proof of eligibility, as well as an annual certification fee. The bill would require the fees to be deposited into the Peace Officer Certification Fund, created by the bill, and would continuously appropriate those funds to the commission for the administration of the certification program, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would declare certificates or proof of eligibility awarded by the commission to be property of the commission and would authorize the commission to revoke a proof of eligibility or certificate on specified grounds, including the use of excessive force, sexual assault, making a false arrest, or participating in a law enforcement gang, as defined. The bill would create the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division within the commission to investigate and prosecute proceedings to take action against a peace officer's certification. The bill would require the division to review and investigate grounds for decertification and make findings as to whether grounds for action against an officer's certification exist. The bill would require the division to notify the officer subject to decertification of their findings and allow the officer to request review. The bill would also create the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board with 9 members to be appointed as specified. The bill would require the board to hold public meetings to review the findings after investigation made by the division and to make a recommendation to the commission. The bill would require the commission to adopt the recommendation of the board if supported by clear and convincing evidence and, if action is to be taken against an officer's certification, return the determination to the division to commence formal proceedings consistent with the Administrative Procedures Act. The bill would require the commission to notify the employing agency and the district attorney of the county in which the officer is employed of this determination, as specified. The bill would make all records related to the revocation of a peace officer's certification public and would require that records of an investigation be retained for 30 years. The bill would require an agency employing peace officers to report to the commission the employment, appointment, or separation from employment of a peace officer, any complaint, charge, allegation, or investigation into the conduct of a peace officer that could render the officer subject to revocation, findings by civil oversight entities, and civil judgements that could affect the officer's certification. In case of a separation from employment or appointment, the bill would require each agency to execute an affidavit-of-separation form adopted by the commission describing the reason for separation. The bill would require the affidavit to be signed under penalty of perjury. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the board to report annually on the activities of the division, board, and commission, relating to the certification program, including the number of applications for certification, the events reported, the number of investigations conducted, and the number of certificates surrendered or revoked. By imposing new requirements on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 832.7 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 776 to be operative only if this bill and SB 776 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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Existing law requires each law enforcement agency, on or before January 1, 2021, to maintain a policy that provides a minimum standard on the use of force. Existing law requires that policy, among other things, to require that officers report potential excessive force to a superior officer when present and observing another officer using force that the officer believes to be unnecessary, and to require that officers intercede when present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is necessary, as specified. This bill would require those law enforcement policies to require those officers to immediately report potential excessive force, and to intercede when present and observing an officer using excessive force, as defined. The bill would additionally require those policies to, among other things, prohibit retaliation against officers that report violations of law or regulation of another officer to a supervisor, as specified, and to require that an officer who fails to intercede be disciplined in the same manner as the officer who used excessive force. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law disqualifies specified persons from being a peace officer, including, among others, any person convicted of a felony. This bill would also disqualify a person from being a peace officer if they have been found by a law enforcement agency that employees them to have either used excessive force that resulted in great bodily injury or death or to have failed to intercede in that incident as required by a law enforcement agency's policies. Existing law makes all persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, principals in that crime. This bill would make a peace officer who is present and observes another peace officer using excessive force, and fails to intercede as required by the policy of their employing law enforcement agency, despite having a present ability to intercede, an accessory in any crime committed by the other officer during the use of excessive force. By creating a new crime, this bill would create 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law imposes various fees contingent upon a criminal arrest, prosecution, or conviction for the cost of administering the criminal justice system, including administering probation and diversion programs, collecting restitution orders, processing arrests and citations, administering drug testing, and incarcerating inmates. This bill would repeal the authority to collect most of these fees, among others. The bill would make the unpaid balance of most court-imposed costs unenforceable and uncollectible and would require any portion of a judgment imposing those costs to be vacated. (2) Existing law allows the board of supervisors of any county to establish the office of the public defender and requires the public defender to defend, without expense to the defendant, any person who is not financially able to employ counsel and who is charged with the commission of a crime. Existing law allows the court to hold a hearing to determine whether a defendant owns an interest in real property or other assets and to impose a lien on the property. Upon conclusion of trial, existing law allows the court to make a determination of a defendant's present ability to pay all or a portion of the cost of the public defender. If the court finds that the defendant has the financial ability to pay, existing law requires the court to order the defendant to pay all or a part of the costs the court believes reasonable and compatible with the defendant's financial ability. This bill would delete the authority of the court to impose liens on the defendant's property and make a post-trial determination of the defendant's ability to pay and to order the defendant to pay the costs of the public defender. By requiring a county to provide a public defender without charge to a defendant who may have the ability to pay, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law allows the court to impose a civil assessment of up to $300 against a defendant who fails, after notice and without good cause, to appear in court or who fails to pay all or any portion of a fine ordered by the court. This bill would repeal the authority of the court to impose that assessment. (4) Existing law requires a person who has been convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or drug to install an ignition interlock device on the vehicle that person operates. Existing law requires a manufacturer certified to provide ignition interlock devices to adopt a fee schedule for the payment of costs of the device in an amount commensurate with a defendant's ability to pay. Existing law requires that a person subject to this requirement pay a percentage of the cost of the ignition interlock device program, up to the full cost, based on the person's income. This bill would prohibit the person from being responsible for the costs of the certified ignition interlock device or servicing by the installer of the device. (5) 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 sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Those laws provide various exemptions from those taxes, including, until July 1, 2023, an exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products, defined as tampons, specified sanitary napkins, menstrual sponges, and menstrual cups. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, beginning on May 15, 2020, to estimate the total dollar amount of revenue that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax exemption for menstrual hygiene products and requires the Controller to transfer that amount from the General Fund to the Local Revenue Fund 2011, a continuously appropriated fund, no later than June 30 of each fiscal year. This bill would establish a similar exemption for the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, menstrual hygiene products beginning July 1, 2023, and would define menstrual hygiene products to additionally include menstrual underwear. The bill would provide that the Department of Finance is required to calculate, and the Controller is required to transfer, the total dollar amount of revenue prior to January 1, 2024, that would have been credited to the Local Revenue Fund 2011 if not otherwise exempted under the sales and use tax with respect to menstrual hygiene products, as specified. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
This bill would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 2020–21 fiscal year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.
The California Constitution, pursuant to provisions enacted by the initiative Proposition 209 in 1996, prohibits the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. The California Constitution defines the state for these purposes to include the state, any city, county, public university system, community college district, school district, special district, or any other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of, or within, the state. This measure would repeal these provisions. The measure would also make a statement of legislative findings in this regard.
This measure would recognize February 2020 as Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice, and recognize the significance in protecting citizens' right to vote and remedying racial discrimination in voting.
This bill would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 2020–21 fiscal year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.