Sen. Kelly Seyarto

Existing law requires peace officers in this state to meet specified minimum standards, including age and education requirements. Existing law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a modern policing degree program, with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and other stakeholders to serve as advisors, as specified, and to submit a report on recommendations to the Legislature outlining a plan to implement the program on or before June 1, 2023. Existing law requires the report to include, among other things, recommendations to include both the modern policing degree program and a bachelor's degree in the discipline of their choosing as minimum education requirements for employment as a peace officer. Existing law requires the commission to adopt the recommended criteria within 2 years of when the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges submits its report to the Legislature. This bill would specify that a bachelor's degree or an associate's degree required for employment as a peace officer under these provisions may be obtained after completion of the Peace Officer Standards and Training program and within 36 months of employment as a peace officer.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Concurrent Resolution designates March 2024 as Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month in California to highlight conditions such as hemophilia and Von Willebrand disease. The measure aims to increase public understanding of these rare genetic disorders, which can cause severe bleeding, chronic pain, and disability without proper treatment. By officially recognizing this month, the state seeks to foster community support and encourage engagement with medical resources for those affected. The resolution does not create new laws or funding but serves as a symbolic declaration to raise awareness among the general public.

Maddy summaryThis resolution officially designates the week of April 21 to April 27, 2024, as Crime Victims' Rights Week throughout California. It serves to raise public awareness about the needs of crime victims and the importance of supporting them within the criminal justice system. The measure does not create new laws or change existing policies but functions as a symbolic observance to highlight victim services and rights.

This measure would acknowledge April 2024 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and encourage Californians to work together to support youth-serving child abuse prevention activities in their communities and schools.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 92 officially designates May 2024 as Lupus and Fibromyalgia Awareness Month in California. This legislative measure aims to increase public understanding of these conditions by highlighting their symptoms, diagnostic challenges, and prevalence among specific demographics. The resolution does not alter laws or funding but serves to encourage education and research into these chronic health issues.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 94 officially designates June 1, 2024, as California Adopt-a-Pet Day to encourage pet adoptions across the state. This proclamation aims to help shelters find homes for 2,024 animals during a special event organized by animal welfare groups. The resolution does not change any laws or policies but serves as a formal declaration to support a one-day campaign. It is intended to raise awareness and facilitate adoptions without altering existing regulations or funding.

The California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. The act authorizes a school district to provide that education earlier than grade 7 with age-appropriate and medically accurate information. The act requires each school district to notify parents and guardians of pupils about its plan to provide sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction for the upcoming school year and to inform them, among other things, that the written and audiovisual educational materials used in comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education are available for inspection. This bill would require the governing board of a school district to adopt a policy at a publicly noticed meeting specifying how parents and guardians of pupils may inspect the written and audiovisual educational materials used in comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education, including that the materials, including updates or changes to the materials, are made available, within prescribed timeframes, at each schoolsite and, except as provided, publicly posted on the school district's internet website or, if applicable, on a school district's parent or guardian portal, as specified. By imposing additional 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, the State Civil Service Act, requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California, including allocating every position to the appropriate class. Existing law requires the allocation of a position to a class be derived from, and determined by, ascertaining the duties and responsibilities of the position, and be based on the principle that all positions are to be included in the same class if certain qualifications apply, including, but not limited to, that the positions are sufficiently similar in respect to duties and responsibilities that the same descriptive title may be used, and substantially the same requirements as to education, experience, knowledge, and ability are demanded of incumbents. Existing law also prescribes a comprehensive civil service personnel system for the state and specifically provides certain preferences for veterans. Existing law grants to a person retired from the United States military, honorably discharged from active military duty with a service-connected disability, or honorably discharged from active duty eligibility for civil service examinations for which they meet the minimum qualifications for the classification. Existing law requires that, in evaluating minimum qualifications, related military experience be considered state civil service experience in a comparable class, based on the duties and responsibilities assigned. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2026, to review the department Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California and identify which classes are compatible with creating a waiver for a bachelor's degree requirement for a veteran, as defined, who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years. For a class identified by the department, where a bachelor's degree is required as a minimum qualification for a civil service examination, the bill would require the department to, commencing July 1, 2026, waive the bachelor's degree requirement for a veteran who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years.

Existing law establishes the Office of Planning and Research in the Governor's office for the purpose of serving the Governor and the Governor's cabinet as staff for long-range planning and research and constituting the comprehensive state planning agency. Existing law authorizes a local agency to finance infrastructure projects through various means, including by establishing an enhanced infrastructure financing district to finance public capital facilities or other specified projects of communitywide significance that provide significant benefits to the district or the surrounding community. This bill would require the office, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program to provide grants to local agencies to develop and construct infrastructure projects, as defined. The bill would authorize the office to provide funding for up to 20% of a project's total cost, subject to specified requirements, including, among other things, that the office is prohibited from awarding a grant to a local agency unless the local agency provides funding that has been raised through local taxes for at least 10% of the infrastructure project's total cost. The bill would require the office to develop guidelines to implement the program that establish the criteria by which grant applications will be evaluated and funded. The bill would make these provisions operative January 1, 2027.

Existing law generally authorizes a county tax collector to sell tax-defaulted property 5 years or more, or 3 years or more, as applicable, after that property has become tax defaulted, to any person, regardless of any prior or existing lien on, claim to, or interest in, the property, as specified. Existing law also generally authorizes the sale to certain entities of a property that has been tax defaulted for 5 years or more, or 3 years or more, as applicable, in an applicable county, including by authorizing the state, county, any revenue district the taxes of which on the property are collected by county officers, or a redevelopment agency created pursuant to the California Community Redevelopment Law, to purchase the property or any part thereof, as prescribed. Existing law also authorizes a nonprofit organization to purchase, with the approval of the board of supervisors of the county in which it is located, a residential or vacant property that has been tax defaulted for 5 years or more, or 3 years or more if the property is subject to a nuisance abatement lien, as prescribed. Existing law requires the sales price of a property sold pursuant to the provisions described or referenced above to include certain amounts, including all defaulted taxes and assessments and all associated penalties and costs. This bill would authorize a property or property interest to be offered for sale under the provisions described above authorizing a sale to certain entities that has not been offered for sale under the provisions described above authorizing a sale to any person if the State Board of Equalization conducts a property valuation that shows that the property or property interest is worth less than the amount of the defaulted debt, as specified.