Sen. Kelly Seyarto

Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the corps to implement and administer the conservation corps program. Existing law authorizes the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish the Education and Employment Reentry Program within the corps to develop, partner with, and create opportunities for certain forestry corps program objectives, collaborate with the Employment Development Department to provide access to workforce services, collaborate with nongovernmental organizations dedicated to providing access to counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational opportunities, and employ collaborations and partnerships available to the corps, as specified. This bill would require the director, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute, in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to establish a forestry training center in northern California to provide enhanced training, education, work experience, and job readiness for entry-level forestry and vegetation management jobs. The bill would require the training center to include counseling, mentorship, supportive housing, health care, and educational services and authorize the training center to provide training modules on specified activities. The bill would require the director to enroll at the training center formerly incarcerated individuals and to prioritize enrollment for those formerly incarcerated individuals who have either successfully served on a California Conservation Camp program crew and were recommended by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as provided, or successfully served on a hand crew at the county level and were recommended for participation by the county probation and county fire departments. The bill would provide that successful completion of a training program at the training center constitutes qualifying experience for an entry-level forestry or vegetation management position at a state agency. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for northern California.

Existing law establishes the California Health and Human Services Agency, under the direction of the Secretary of California Health and Human Services, which includes, among other departments, the State Department of Public Health and the State Department of Health Care Services. Existing law provides for various programs to reduce the use of, and harm caused by, controlled substances, including opioids. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, would require the agency to establish a grant program to reduce fentanyl overdoses and use throughout the state by giving out 6 one-time grants to increase local efforts in education, testing, recovery, and support services, as specified. The bill would require the participating entities to provide the agency with specified information on the results of the program and would require the agency to report those results to the Legislature and Governor's office on or before January 1, 2026.

Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs. The department, among other services, provides veterans and their dependents and survivors with assistance in processing service-related disability claims, assistance in obtaining affordable housing, and information about health ailments associated with military service. This bill would require the department to establish a program to fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, an academic study of mental health among women veterans in California, as specified. The bill would require the department to submit a report summarizing the findings and recommendations of the study to the Legislature no later than July 31, 2024. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 31, 2024, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2025.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act (CESA) , among other things, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency under certain circumstances and provides that a state of war emergency exists, with or without proclamation by the Governor, when specified conditions exist. During a state of war emergency or a state of emergency, the CESA authorizes the Governor to suspend any regulatory statute, or statute prescribing the procedure for the conduct of state business, or the orders, rules, or regulations of any state agency where the Governor determines and declares that strict compliance with any statute, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the emergency. During a state of emergency, the CESA also authorizes the Governor to temporarily suspend any state, county, city, or special district statute, ordinance, regulation, or rule imposing nonsafety related restrictions on the delivery of food products, pharmaceuticals, and other emergency essentials distributed through retail or institutional channels, as provided, until the termination of the state of emergency, or for a period of 60 days, whichever occurs first. If the Governor has proclaimed a state of emergency and the President has declared an emergency or a major disaster to exist in this state, the CESA also authorizes the Governor to, among other things, temporarily suspend or modify, for up to 60 days, public health, safety, zoning, or intrastate transportation laws, ordinances, or regulations if the Governor declares that the suspension or modification is essential to provide temporary housing for disaster victims. This bill would provide that the Governor may only suspend a statute or regulation during a state of emergency or state of war emergency, as described above, in connection with the specific conditions of emergency proclaimed by the Governor or state of war emergency, as applicable. With respect to the temporary suspension of statutes, ordinances, regulations, or rules imposing nonsafety related restrictions on emergency essentials, as described above, the bill would provide that the Governor may only temporarily suspend those statutes, ordinances, regulations, or rules in connection with the specific conditions of emergency proclaimed by the Governor. With respect to laws, ordinances, or regulations temporarily suspended or modified to provide temporary housing, as described above, the bill would provide that the Governor may only temporarily suspend those laws, ordinances, or regulations in connection with the specific conditions of emergency proclaimed by the Governor and declared by the President to be an emergency or major disaster. The bill would also make conforming and other nonsubstantive changes.

Existing law requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to acquire, study, design, develop, construct, and equip a state-owned and state-operated Southern California Veterans Cemetery in the County of Orange at one of 2 possible sites, as specified. Existing law requires the department to, after completing acquisition studies on both sites, consult with the Department of General Services to determine which site to pursue based on the economic feasibility, benefits to veterans and City of Irvine residents, and availability of each location. Existing law makes honorably discharged veterans, their spouses, and dependent children eligible for interment in the cemetery, as specified. This bill would delete those site selection requirements and would instead require the department to acquire, study, design, develop, construct, and equip a state-owned and state-operated Southern California Veterans Cemetery in the County of Orange. The bill would require the department to conduct an acquisition study, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to assess the feasibility and costs of construction of the cemetery. The bill would additionally create the Southern California Veterans Cemetery Study Donation Fund, and would authorize any local governmental entity or private organization in the County of Orange to donate to the fund. The bill would authorize the department, upon receipt of sufficient moneys, to conduct a study of the feasibility of a site formally proposed by a local government in the County of Orange for the purpose of establishing a Southern California Veterans Cemetery, as specified. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund to the department for these purposes. The bill would require any excess funds to be returned to the donor if requested, and to otherwise be used for the design, development, construction, and equipment of the cemetery. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires an agency or a person or business that conducts business in California that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information to disclose a breach of security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security data to certain residents of California, as specified. This bill would require an agency to post a notice on the agency's internet website when a person or business operating a system on behalf of the agency is required to issue a security breach notification for that system pursuant to the above-described provisions, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1798.29 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 2958 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2958 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law provides for the exemption of authorized emergency vehicles, as defined, from the payment of a toll or charge on a vehicular crossing, toll highway, or high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane and any related fines, when the authorized emergency vehicle is being driven under specified conditions, including that the vehicle displays public agency identification and is being driven while responding to, or returning from, an urgent or emergency call. Under existing law, an authorized emergency vehicle returning from being driven under those specified conditions is not exempt from a requirement to pay a toll or other charge imposed while traveling on a HOT lane. Existing law does not prohibit the owner or operator of a toll facility and a local emergency service provider from entering into an agreement for the use of the toll facility. This bill would require the owner or operator of a toll facility, upon the request of the local emergency service provider, to enter into an agreement for the use of a toll facility.

Existing law, the Information Practices Act of 1977, prescribes a set of requirements, prohibitions, and remedies applicable to agencies, as defined, with regard to their collection, storage, and disclosure of personal information, as defined. Existing law exempts from the provisions of the act counties, cities, any city and county, school districts, municipal corporations, districts, political subdivisions, and other local public agencies, as specified. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2025, recast those provisions to include, among other things, genetic information, IP address, online browsing history, and location information, if reasonably capable of identifying or describing an individual, within the definition of "personal information," and revise the definition of "regulatory agency" to include the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, for the act's purposes. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive, and conforming changes. Existing law requires an agency to establish rules of conduct for persons involved in the design, development, operation, disclosure, or maintenance of records containing personal information and instruct those persons with respect to specified rules relevant to the act. This bill would require that those rules established by the agency be consistent with applicable provisions of the State Administrative Manual and the State Information Management Manual. The bill would prohibit an agency from using records containing personal information for any purpose or purposes other than the purpose or purposes for which that personal information was collected or generated, except as required by state or federal law. Existing law prohibits an agency from disclosing any personal information in a manner that would link the information disclosed to the individual to whom it pertains, except under specified circumstances. Existing law requires an agency, for disclosures of specified records, to keep an accurate accounting of the date, nature, and purpose of the disclosure, and the name, title, and business address of the person or agency to whom the disclosure was made. This bill would revise the circumstances that may allow the disclosure of personal information in a manner that links or reasonably could link the information disclosed to the individual to whom it pertains, define "privacy board" for these purposes, and would make conforming changes. The bill would also revise the circumstances and types of records that would require agencies to keep an accurate accounting of the disclosure of that record. Existing law makes an intentional violation of any provision of the act, or of any rules or regulations adopted under the act, by an officer or employee of any agency a cause for discipline, including termination of employment. This bill would also make a negligent violation of the act a cause for discipline, and would specify that the relevant discipline may be up to and including termination. Existing law provides that the intentional disclosure of medical, psychiatric, or psychological information in violation of the disclosure provisions of the act, that is not otherwise permitted by law, is punishable as a misdemeanor if the wrongful disclosure results in economic loss or personal injury to the individual to whom the information pertains. This bill would, for a violation to be punishable as a misdemeanor, require that the disclosure be known or should be known to be in violation of the disclosure provisions, and remove the requirement that the wrongful disclosure result in economic loss or personal injury. Because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime by deleting this condition, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 makes it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or an exhibition of speed on a highway, or to aid or abet therein. This bill would also make it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an offstreet parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an offstreet parking facility, or to aid or abet therein. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law establishes the Mental Health Student Services Act, administered by the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, to award grants to county mental health or behavioral health departments to fund partnerships between educational and county mental health entities. This bill, contingent upon an appropriation in the Budget Act, would establish the Early Childhood Mental Health Services Act, administered in a similar manner by the commission, to award grants to eligible entities or partnerships to improve access to, and quality of care, services, and supports for, children from birth to 5 years of age, inclusive, and their parents, families, and caregivers, with emphasis on prevention and early intervention and disparities, as specified.