Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

Existing law provides that if more than one violation of certain specified offenses occurs in more than one jurisdictional territory, and the defendant and the victim are the same for all of the offenses, jurisdiction for any of those offenses and any other properly joinable offenses may be in any jurisdiction where at least one of the offenses occurred. This bill would add the offenses of sexual battery and unlawful sexual intercourse to the list of specified offenses to which that jurisdictional preference applies. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 784.7 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 1494 to be operative as specified.

Existing law, until January 1, 2019, establishes the Revenue Recovery and Collaborative Enforcement Team as a pilot program consisting of a team of agencies charged with specified duties that include developing a plan to document, review, and evaluate data and complaints, evaluating the benefits of a processing center to receive and analyze data, share complaints, and research leads, and providing agencies with investigative leads, as specified, to combat criminal tax evasion associated with the underground economy. This bill would establish the Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement (TRaCE) Task Force in the Department of Justice to combat underground economic activities through a multiagency collaboration to, among other things, pool resources, collaborate and share data, including confidential tax and fee information, prosecute violations, and recover state revenue lost to the underground economy, as specified. This bill would require TRaCE Task Force investigative teams to be located in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, and Fresno, under the direct oversight of the Department of Justice. The bill would establish a TRaCE Task Force executive board and TRaCE Task Force investigative team committees to ensure multiagency collaboration. The bill would require that information exchanged pursuant to these provisions retain its confidential status, as specified. The bill would require the TRaCE Task Force to develop a data analytics system that enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the multiagency collaboration to the extent the Legislature appropriates funds for these purposes. The bill would require the Department of Justice, in consultation with the executive board of the TRaCE Task Force, to submit an annual report to the Legislature that includes specified information.

Existing law imposes certain obligations in the context of particular transactions, and provides mechanisms to enforce those obligations. This bill would enact the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act of 2018. This act would prohibit fixed and mobile Internet service providers, as defined, that provide broadband Internet access service, as defined, from engaging in specified actions concerning the treatment of Internet traffic. The act would prohibit, among other things, blocking lawful content, applications, services, or nonharmful devices, impairing or degrading lawful Internet traffic on the basis of Internet content, application, or service, or use of a nonharmful device, and specified practices relating to zero-rating, as defined. It would also prohibit fixed and mobile Internet service providers from offering or providing services other than broadband Internet access service that are delivered over the same last-mile connection as the broadband Internet access service, if those services have the purpose or effect of evading the above-described prohibitions or negatively affect the performance of broadband Internet access service.

Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion, for a period no longer than 2 years, to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law conditions eligibility on, among other criteria, a court finding that the defendant's mental disorder played a significant role in the commission of the charged offense. Existing law requires, if the defendant has performed satisfactorily in diversion, that the court dismiss the defendant's criminal charges, with a record filed with the Department of Justice indicating the disposition of the case diverted, that the arrest is deemed never to have occurred, and requires the court to order access to the record of the arrest restricted, except as specified. This bill would make defendants ineligible for the diversion program for certain offenses, including murder, voluntary manslaughter, and rape. The bill would authorize a court to require the defendant to make a prima facie showing that the defendant will meet the minimum requirements of eligibility for diversion and that the defendant and the offense are suitable for diversion, as specified. The bill would also require the court, upon request, to conduct a hearing to determine whether restitution is owed to any victim as a result of the diverted offense and, if owed, to order its payment during the period of diversion. The bill would provide that a defendant's inability to pay restitution due to indigence or mental disorder would not be grounds for denial of diversion or a finding that the defendant has failed to comply with the terms of diversion. The bill would also make technical changes.

Existing law, the Legislative Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, imposes criminal and civil liability on a Member of the Legislature or legislative employee, as defined, who interferes with, or retaliates against, a legislative employee's exercise of the right to make a protected disclosure, which is defined as a good faith allegation made by a legislative employee to specified entities that a Member of the Legislature or a legislative employee has engaged in, or will engage in, activity that may constitute a violation of law or a violation of a legislative standard of conduct. This bill would define "protected disclosure" for purposes of that act to also include a complaint made at the request of a legislative employee and a complaint made against a nonemployee in specified circumstances. Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to generally seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination, abridgment, or harassment on account of enumerated protected categories. Existing law also precludes an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or person from discharging, expelling, or otherwise discriminating against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under FEHA or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any FEHA proceeding. Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, states that all people in California are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments, no matter their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. Existing law establishes a cause of action for violations of that act. Existing law also separately establishes liability for sexual harassment if a plaintiff proves specified elements, including, among other things, that there is a business, service, or professional relationship between the plaintiff and defendant. This bill would declare that neither house of the Legislature may retaliate against a legislative advocate or employee, as defined, because that person has opposed any practices forbidden under the above provisions, or filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding relating to a complaint of harassment under those provisions. This bill would impose civil liability for a violation of that prohibition. This bill would also require each house of the Legislature to maintain a record of each harassment complaint made to that house for a period of at least 12 years after the complaint is made. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act (the act) , establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority to coordinate and integrate all state activities concerning emergency medical services, including, among other duties, establishing training standards for specified emergency services personnel. The act provides a qualified immunity for public entities and emergency rescue personnel providing emergency services. The act provides other exemptions from liability for specified professionals rendering emergency medical services. Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, governs the practice of veterinary medicine in this state and makes it unlawful for any person to practice veterinary medicine in this state without a valid license issued pursuant to the act. For purposes of the act, the practice of veterinary medicine includes, among other things, administering a drug, appliance, or treatment for the cure or relief of a wound, fracture, or bodily injury of an animal. This bill would authorize an emergency responder, as defined, to provide basic first aid to dogs and cats, as defined, to the extent that the provision of that care is not prohibited by the responder's employer. The bill would limit civil liability for specified individuals who provide care to a pet or other domesticated animal during an emergency by applying existing provisions of state law. The definition of "basic first aid to dogs and cats" for purposes of these provisions would specifically include, among other acts, administering oxygen and bandaging for the purpose of stopping bleeding.

Existing law governs the retail sale of dogs and cats by pet dealers, as defined, and establishes minimum standards for the care of those animals, as specified. This bill would establish health and safety standards for mobile or traveling housing facilities for dogs and cats, including standards governing sufficient heating and cooling, ventilation, and lighting. The bill would establish minimum and maximum temperatures and would require, among other things, that dry bedding and auxiliary ventilation be provided under certain circumstances. The bill would apply to public and private organizations, including animal shelters, rescue groups, and humane society shelters.

The Economic Revitalization Act establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, also known as GO-Biz, to serve as the Governor's lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. The office, among others, makes recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature regarding policies, programs, and actions to advance statewide economic goals. This bill would require the office to lead the preparation of a California Economic Development Strategic Action Plan, as specified, to commission a study to identify and evaluate economic development issues, and to create a comprehensive agenda and framework for inclusive statewide and regional economic growth. The bill would authorize the office to accept nonstate moneys for the purposes of commissioning the study and developing the action plan. The bill would require the deposit of private sector donations into the Economic Action Plan Account, which the bill would establish in the California Economic Development Fund.

Existing law establishes the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) as the statewide system of pupil assessments under which certain assessments are required or authorized to be administered in public schools, as specified, including a consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grades 3 to 8, inclusive, and grade 11 that measures content standards adopted by the State Board of Education. This bill would require, pursuant to specified provisions of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve a nationally recognized high school assessment that a local educational agency, as defined, may, at its own discretion, administer, if the alternative assessment is approved by the local educational agency's governing board or body in a public meeting, commencing with the 2020–21 school year, and each school year thereafter, in lieu of the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11. The bill would require a nationally recognized high school assessment approved by the Superintendent to meet specified requirements, would authorize the Superintendent to require the publisher of that assessment to provide documentation that the assessment meets or exceeds these requirements, and would require the Superintendent, if he or she determines that the assessment does not meet these requirements, to inform the assessment's publisher in writing of specific deficiencies and changes needed to meet these requirements. The bill would authorize a governing board of a local educational agency that is part of a consortium of local educational agencies to enter into a cooperative contract with a publisher for the purposes of providing an assessment, as provided. To the extent permitted by the United States Department of Education, the bill would deem certain nationally recognized high school assessments to meet these requirements, and would require the Superintendent to approve these assessments for selection by a local educational agency. The bill would require the state board to amend the state plan required pursuant to federal law to account for the authorization for local educational agencies to use an alternate assessment pursuant to the bill's provisions, if required by federal law. The bill would require a local educational agency that administers a nationally recognized high school assessment to comply with specified requirements, would require the Superintendent to apportion to the local educational agency the lesser of the actual cost of administering the alternative assessment, as specified, and the amount that would have been apportioned to the local educational agency if it had administered the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11. The bill would state that a local educational agency may administer only one nationally recognized high school assessment in lieu of the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11. The bill would make these provisions inoperative 5 years after the first school year in which a local educational agency is able to exercise the authority to administer the alternative assessment, as specified, and would repeal these provisions as of the following January 1. The bill would require the Superintendent to inform the Legislative Counsel within 30 days of when this 5 year condition has been satisfied and post that determination on its Internet Web site. The bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that local educational agencies comply with specified requirements, concerning the alternative assessment, that apply in connection with the summative assessments under CAASPP, including that grade 11 pupils, or parents or legal guardians of those pupils, may request results from the alternative assessment. Existing law requires the Superintendent to prepare and submit, and subsequently post on the Internet Web site of the department, an annual report to the state board containing an analysis of the results and test scores of the summative assessments administered under the CAASPP. This bill would require the Superintendent to include the results and test scores of the alternative assessment in that annual report.