Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person who knows or reasonably should know that a person is an elder or dependent adult and who, under circumstances or conditions other than those likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any elder or dependent adult to suffer or inflict thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering. This bill would make it a felony for a person to commit those acts against a resident of an unlicensed residential care facility for the elderly or an adult resident of an unlicensed community care facility, while owning, managing, or helping to operate that facility. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor or a felony for a caretaker of an elder or dependent adult to violate any law proscribing theft, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, or identity theft with respect to the property or personal identifying information of that elder or dependent adult. Under existing law, if the value of the property taken exceeds $950, the offense is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,500, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would additionally make the above specified crime applicable to a person who has a business relationship with an elder or dependent adult. If in the commission of the above-specified offense, the elder or dependent adult is transported from one residential location to another residential location in furtherance of the offense, the bill would make the offense punishable by a fine not exceeding $20,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years By increasing the punishment for a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law defines "dependent adult" for purposes of crimes against elderly or dependent adults as including any person between 18 and 64 years of age who is admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility, as defined. This bill would expand that definition to include any person between 18 and 64 years of age who resides in a community care facility or an unlicensed community care facility. By expanding the application of crimes against dependent adults, 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 requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism relative to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates specified portions of the annual proceeds in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to various programs, including 20% for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program administered by the Strategic Growth Council. Existing law provides for that program to fund projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development and that support other related and coordinated public policy objectives. Existing law specifies the types of projects eligible for funding under the program. This bill would provide that a project receiving funding pursuant to the program shall be encouraged, among other things, to employ local entrepreneurs and workers utilizing appropriate workforce training programs. The bill would make related revisions to the policy objectives for the program.

Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs and requires the department to develop a transition assistance program to assist veterans successfully transition from military to civilian life and complement the transition program offered by the United States Department of Defense. This bill would, until July 1, 2023, require the department to create a task force to study the health of California women veterans comprised of members with specified qualifications. The bill would prohibit task force members from receiving compensation or reimbursement of expenses for their service. The bill would require the task force to study the health care needs of women veterans in the state, as specified. The bill would also require the task force to submit 2 reports to the Governor and the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature that includes the task force's findings and recommendations. The bill would require the task force, when conducting its study and preparing its reports, to consult with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the State Department of Public Health, the Department of Managed Health Care, and representatives of county veterans service offices.

Under existing law, the administering agency for the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program is the Department of General Services, except in the case of contracts for professional bond services. Existing law requires the Director of General Services to adopt written policies and guidelines establishing a uniform process for state contracting to provide a disabled veteran business enterprise (DVBE) participation incentive to bidders, which all state agencies are required to use when awarding contracts. Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to perform designated activities in connection with the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program, including maintaining complete records of its promotional efforts, and tracking the effectiveness of its efforts to promote the program with periodic surveys of newly certified DVBEs to determine specified information about the DVBE's experience with the program. This bill would require the records of the department's promotional efforts to include specified information about the business attending or participating in those promotional efforts. The bill would delete the periodic survey requirement and instead would require the department to compare a list of businesses that participate in promotional efforts with a list of those businesses that become newly certified DVBEs, and those that become prime contractors or subcontractors with the state. Existing law requires an awarding department, upon completion of an awarded contract for which a commitment to achieve a DVBE goal was made, to require the prime contractor that entered into a subcontract with a DVBE to certify to the awarding department specified information relating to amounts paid under the contract, as specified. This bill would require an awarding department to maintain all records of the information provided by the prime contractor pursuant to those provisions and to retain the records for a minimum of 6 years after collection. The bill would establish appropriate review procedures for those records to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the award amounts and paid amounts reported.

This measure would recognize August 6, 2017, as the 52nd anniversary of the signing of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This measure would proclaim the period of October 23, 2017, to October 31, 2017, inclusive, as Red Ribbon Week and would encourage all Californians to help build drug-free communities and to participate in drug prevention activities.

Existing law creates the California Transportation Commission, with various powers and duties relative to the programming of transportation capital projects and allocation of funds to those projects pursuant to the state transportation improvement program and various other transportation funding programs. Under existing law, the commission consists of 13 members, 9 of whom are to be appointed by the Governor in consultation with the Senate. Existing law requires the Governor, in appointing members, to use every effort to ensure geographic balance of representation. This bill would additionally require the Governor, in appointing members, to use every effort to ensure that the commission has a diverse membership with expertise in transportation issues, taking into consideration factors including, but not limited to, socioeconomic background and professional experience, which may include experience working in, or representing, disadvantaged communities. This bill would require the commission and the State Air Resources Board to hold at least 2 joint meetings per calendar year to coordinate their implementation of transportation policies.

Existing law provides that if a pupil completes the statewide coursework requirements for graduation while attending a juvenile court school, a county office of education is required to issue to the pupil a diploma of graduation and shall not require the pupil to complete coursework or other requirements that are in addition to the statewide coursework requirements. This bill would, notwithstanding the above requirement, permit the pupil, upon agreement between the county office of education and the pupil or the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the pupil, to take coursework or other requirements adopted by the governing board of the county office of education, and to defer the granting of the diploma until the pupil is released from the juvenile detention facility. The bill would, upon the release from a juvenile detention facility of a pupil who is entitled to a diploma, permit the pupil or person holding the right to make educational decisions for the pupil to elect to decline the issuance of the diploma for the purpose of enrolling the pupil in a school operated by a local educational agency or charter school to take additional coursework, as specified. The bill would require the county office of education, when a juvenile court school pupil becomes entitled to a diploma, to notify the pupil, the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the pupil, and the pupil's social worker or probation officer of specified information, including, among other things, the pupil's or the education rights holder's, as applicable, option to allow the pupil to defer or decline the diploma and take additional coursework. The bill would authorize the filing of a complaint of noncompliance with these provisions to be filed with the local educational agency under the Uniform Complaint Procedures set forth in the California Code of Regulations. The bill would require, if a local educational agency finds merit in a complaint or if the Superintendent of Public Instruction finds merit in an appeal, the local educational agency to provide a remedy to the affected pupil. The bill would also require information regarding the requirements of these provisions to be included in a specified annual notification. To the extent the bill imposes new duties on local educational agencies, 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 requires pet store operators, as defined, to comply with laws governing, among other things, the care of animals in pet stores. Existing law makes a pet store operator who violates these provisions guilty of a misdemeanor, under certain conditions. Existing law also regulates the retail sale of dogs and cats. Existing law requires an animal control officer, a humane officer, or a peace officer who detects any of certain violations of the laws governing pet store operators to issue a single notice to correct the violation, except as specified. Existing law makes a pet store operator who fails to comply with a notice to correct, or who violates the laws regulating pet store operators, as specified, guilty of a crime. This bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2019, a pet store operator from selling a live dog, cat, or rabbit in a pet store unless the dog, cat, or rabbit was obtained from a public animal control agency or shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals shelter, humane society shelter, or rescue group, as defined, that is in a cooperative agreement with at least one private or public shelter, as specified. The bill would require all sales of dogs and cats authorized by this provision to be in compliance with laws requiring the spaying or neutering of animals, as specified. The bill would require each pet store to maintain records sufficient to document the source of each dog, cat, or rabbit the pet store sells or provides space for, for at least one year, and to post, in a conspicuous location on the cage or enclosure of each animal, a sign listing the name of the entity from which each dog, cat, or rabbit was obtained, and would authorize public animal control agencies or shelters to periodically require pet stores engaged in sales of dogs, cats, or rabbits to provide access to those records. The bill would make a pet store operator who violates these provisions subject to a civil penalty of $500, as specified. The bill would also exempt a pet store operator who is subject to these provisions from certain requirements relating to the retail sale of dogs and cats, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a public or private shelter to enter into cooperative agreements with animal rescue or adoption organizations regarding dogs and cats. This bill would authorize a public or private shelter to enter into cooperative agreements with animal rescue or adoption organizations regarding rabbits that are equivalent to the cooperative agreements authorized regarding dogs and cats described above.

Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties, as specified. Existing law establishes within the program the California Americans with Disabilities Small Business Capital Access Loan Program (ADA program) to assist small businesses in financing the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Existing law requires moneys in the ADA program fund, which is continuously appropriated, to be used for contributions in support of qualified loans, costs to educate the small business community and participating lenders about the program, and administrative expenditures, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of the ADA program, defines a small business as a business that has less than $1,000,000 in total gross annual income and meets other requirements. Under existing law, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority administers these programs and is authorized to establish small business assistance funds for certain purposes, including, among others, funding the programs. This bill would authorize the use of moneys in the ADA program fund for direct payments to borrowers enrolling loans. The ADA program, as specified, would require the authority to adopt related regulations and would allow small business assistance funds to include nonreimbursable payments made directly to borrowers in furtherance of the ADA program, as specified, administered by the authority as part of the Capital Access Loan Program. This bill would expand the definition of small business for the purposes of the ADA program to include businesses with less than $5,000,000 in total gross annual income, thereby expanding the types of businesses that qualify for funding under the ADA program. By expanding the authorized uses of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would rename the ADA program the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program.