Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

Existing law requires each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and requests each campus of the University of California, to identify in the online version of the campus course schedule its courses that exclusively use digital course materials, as specified, and communicate to students that the course materials for these courses are free of charge and therefore not required to be purchased. This bill would require each campus of the California Community Colleges and the California State University, and request each campus of the University of California, to prominently display the estimated costs for each course of all required course materials, and fees directly related to those materials, for no less than 75% of the total number of courses on the online campus schedule. The bill would define, for purposes of this requirement, "course materials" to include digital or physical textbooks, devices such as calculators and remote attendance platforms, and software subscriptions. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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, 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 establishes the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSP) , which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Under existing law, benefit payments under SSP are calculated by establishing the maximum level of nonexempt income and federal SSI and state SSP benefits for each category of eligible recipient. The state SSP payment is the amount required, when added to the nonexempt income and SSI benefits available to the recipient, to provide the maximum benefit payment. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2022, requires the amount of aid paid under SSP that is in effect on December 31, 2021, less the federal benefit portion received, to be increased by a percentage increase that the State Department of Social Services and the Department of Finance determines can be accomplished with $291,287,000, and, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023, requires an additional grant increase commencing January 1, 2024, subject to the same calculations, notifications, and implementation as the first increase. Existing law continuously appropriates funds for the implementation of SSP. This bill would, if there is a surplus in the state budget and subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, require a recipient of aid paid under SSP to receive a monthly supplemental payment in the amount of $600 for the following calendar year. The bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing these provisions.

Under the Donahoe Higher Education Act, the segments of public postsecondary education in this state are the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. Existing law provides that provisions within the Donahoe Higher Education Act do not apply to the University of California except to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make a provision applicable. Existing law requires each campus of the California State University, and requests each campus of the University of California, to post on its internet website information about the market cost of one- and 2-bedroom apartments and of one-person bedrooms in private houses in the areas surrounding that campus where its students commonly reside. This bill, notwithstanding the University of California's exemption from provisions within the Donahoe Higher Education Act, would require institutions in the California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California systems to each calculate a full-time student's cost of attendance at that institution. The bill would require that calculation to include, at a minimum, specified items, including room and board. The bill would require an institution to calculate student costs for room and board for a student living with family as a dependent, living on campus, or living independently off campus, as specified, and for the institution to update the calculation for room and board each fiscal year using the most recent fiscal year data available. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, 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, 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.

(1) Existing law authorizes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to develop content for public dissemination to provide information and resources to inform the general public about place-based and other specified geographically targeted economic development programs. This bill would include among those specified programs the California Main Street Program, which is administered by the State Office of Historic Preservation, and cultural districts certified by the Arts Council. (2) Existing law requires the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to annually convene specified individuals from various programs and agencies to discuss how California can leverage Promise Zones and Opportunity Zones to meet state and local community and economic development needs. Existing law requires the convention topics to include discussions on enhanced engagement opportunities and targeted outreach to assist designated areas in their efforts to access state resources and services. This bill would additionally require these discussions to address leveraging those programs identified above, and would provide that convention topics on efforts to access state resources and services includes creating vibrant and resilient areas, including, but not limited to, successful entrepreneurial ecosystems, as defined. (3) Existing law establishes the California Main Street Program within the State Office of Historic Preservation, and requires that program to provide technical assistance and training for small cities' government, business organizations, merchants, and property owners to accomplish community and economic revitalization and development of older central and historic business districts and neighborhoods. This bill would specify that those older central and historic business districts are located in rural, suburban, and urban neighborhoods. The bill would authorize the State Office of Historical Preservation to collaborate with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to determine how the California Main Street Program can support business development by providing, among other things, economic and demographic data.

(1) The California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act establishes the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, with specified powers and duties, and authorizes the authority to approve financing for projects or pollution control facilities to prevent or reduce environmental pollution. The act requires the authority, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, to adopt all necessary rules and regulations to carry out its powers and duties. The act expressly authorizes the authority, or any other agency implementing a small business or brownfield site financing assistance program pursuant to an interagency agreement with the authority, to adopt regulations related to small business or brownfield site financing as emergency regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill would instead provide that regulations for the financing of small businesses may be adopted, amended, or repealed without complying with the Administrative Procedure Act, except as specified, and make conforming changes. (2) Existing federal law, the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010, provides funding to qualified state-run programs that support lending to small businesses, including state-run capital access loan programs and collateral support programs. The California Pollution Control Financing Authority Act establishes the Capital Access Loan Program for Small Businesses, which is administered by the authority, to assist qualifying small businesses in the state access capital. The act authorizes the authority to enter into contracts with participating financial institutions, and prescribes requirements related to those contracts. The act authorizes a participating financial institution that experiences a default on a qualified loan enrolled in the program to obtain reimbursement from the authority, as specified. The act defines certain terms for purposes of the program, including "severely affected community," which includes an area classified as an enterprise zone pursuant to the Enterprise Zone Act. Existing law repealed the authority to designate enterprise zones and designated program areas effective January 1, 2014. This bill would delete the obsolete reference to enterprise zones from the definition of "severely affected community" and redefine the term, in part, to include an area in a census tract in the state that qualifies as eligible for designation by the United States Treasury as an Opportunity Zone, as provided. This bill would prescribe additional requirements related to contracts between the authority and a participating financial institution, including, among other requirements, prohibiting the term of a contract between the authority and a participating financial institution, including renewals, from extending beyond July 1, 2032, and requiring the contract to include provisions for the dissolution of a loss reserve account created by the authority for the benefit of the participating financial institution. The bill would require a participating financial institution to request, but not require, that a customer who is the recipient of a qualified loan disclose their gender, race, and ethnicity. The bill would specify that these additional requirements apply only with respect to a contract between the authority and a participating financial institution entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2023. This bill would authorize the authority to, when depositing specified fees to the credit of the loss reserve account for a participating financial institution, transfer to the loss reserve account an amount up to 150% of the amount of the fees paid by the participating financial institution, if matching funds are available under a federal capital access program or other source and a higher fee amount is authorized under the federal program and if the qualified business is a business owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as defined. This bill would require the authority, when establishing a loss reserve account for each participating financial institution, to either establish a separate loss reserve account or require separate accounting of all deposits for enrolled loans where the state deposits funds that were derived from the State Small Business Credit Initiative after April 1, 2022. The bill would require, among other things, that a withdrawal from a loss reserve account that includes a deposit made by the authority from funds received from the United States Treasury through an agreement pursuant to the State Small Business Credit Initiative be deposited in an account exclusively for those funds and would prohibit the comingling of these funds with any other funds of the authority. The bill would also prohibit the comingling of specified fee revenues received or recaptured by the authority with funds that were derived from the State Small Business Credit Initiative. This bill would require the authority to submit 3 reports containing specified information related to funding from the State Small Business Credit Initiative to specified policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature following the transfer of each tranche of funding from the United States Treasury to the state. The bill would also require the authority to post on its internet website a copy of each annual report filed with the United States Treasurer, as provided, and submit the quarterly reports filed with the United States Treasurer to specified policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.

This measure would respectfully memorialize the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States to take action to restore honor to Bernard B. James, and to take the necessary actions to ensure the treatment of Bernard B. James is rectified by a full exoneration, including having the military record of Bernard B. James cleared of any court judgment and less-than-honorable discharge.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate Highway Route 405 in the County of Los Angeles as the Officer Tommy Scott Memorial Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.