Sen. Norma Torres

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation by the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs of alcoholism and drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities for adults. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to establish standards for the operation of adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities.

Existing law establishes a policy for expenditure of certain state and federal funds available to the state for transportation purposes. Under this policy, the Department of Transportation and the California Transportation Commission develop a fund estimate of available funds for purposes of adopting the state transportation improvement program, which is a listing of capital improvement projects. After deducting expenditures for administration, operation, maintenance, local assistance, safety, rehabilitation, and certain environmental enhancement and mitigation expenditures, the remaining funds are available for capital improvement projects. This bill would provide that the remaining funds are available for the study of, and development and implementation of, capital improvement projects.

(1) Existing law requires persons who have been convicted of specified crimes, and other persons as required by a court, to register as a sex offender. Existing law sets forth the procedure for doing so and provides that a violation of the sex offender registration law is a crime, punishable as specified. This bill would, in addition, make it a misdemeanor for any person who is granted probation or placed on parole for the conviction of a crime that requires him or her to register as a sex offender to use any Internet social networking Web site, as defined, during that period of probation or parole if the victim of the offense was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the Internet was used in the commission of the crime. The bill would authorize the person to seek an exception to the prohibition for legitimate professional purposes by applying through the appropriate parole or probation supervising agency. Approval would be valid for one year, unless revoked. The bill would authorize an annual application for renewal. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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.

The Vehicle License Fee Law, in lieu of any ad valorem property tax upon vehicles, imposes an annual license fee for any vehicle subject to registration in this state in the amount of 1% of the market value of that vehicle, as provided, for a specified amount of time. Existing law also, until June 30, 2011, imposes an additional tax equal to 0.15% of the market value of specified vehicles, as determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, to the vehicle license fee, to be deposited in the General Fund and transferred to the Local Safety and Protection Account, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would repeal the provision relating to the sunset date and repeal of the additional 0.15% tax, thereby depositing additional moneys into a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates hospitals, as defined. Violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires hospitals, not less than annually, to conduct a security and safety assessment and, using the assessment, develop a security plan with measures to protect personnel, patients, and visitors from aggressive or violent behavior. Existing law provides that the plan may include, but is not limited to, prescribed considerations. This bill would, instead, require the plan to include these considerations, as well as other considerations prescribed by the bill. It would also require the hospital to adopt specified security policies as part of the plan. The bill would also require the hospital to evaluate and treat an employee who is involved in a violent incident and to provide specified followup care. The bill would prohibit a hospital from prohibiting an employee from, or taking punitive or retaliatory action against an employee for, seeking assistance from local emergency services or law enforcement when a violent incident occurs. Under existing law, an act of assault that results in injury or involves the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon against on-duty hospital personnel is required to be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours of the occurrence of the incident. This bill would, instead, require reporting to law enforcement within 24 hours. This bill would also require a hospital to report incidents of assault or battery to the department, as specified. This bill would allow the imposition of a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $100 per day for each day that certain incidents are not reported, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to make an onsite inspection or investigation when it receives a report from a hospital that indicates an ongoing, urgent, or emergent threat of imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to patient, personnel, or visitors. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature, as prescribed, beginning on January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2018, certain information regarding incidents of violence at hospitals. Under existing law, all hospital employees who are regularly assigned to the emergency department are required to receive, on a continuing basis as provided by the security plan, specified training. This bill would require training to be provided annually, and would include in the required training hospital employees who provide direct care to patients. Because this bill expands the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, the Corrections Standards Authority is required to establish minimum standards for state and local correctional facilities. This bill would require the standards to include a safety and security plan to protect health care personnel who provide care to persons confined in state and local correctional facilities, as specified. 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.

(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. This bill would, until January 1, 2015, exempt from those CEQA requirements a project proposed by a person that employs less than 500 employees, in total, and that consists of the alteration of a vacant retail structure that existed prior to January 1, 2008, is not more than 60,000 square feet in area, and meets specified requirements. (2) CEQA also requires the lead agency to call at least one scoping meeting for a project of statewide, regional, or areawide significance. CEQA requires the lead agency to provide to specified entities, including a city or county that borders the city or county within which the project is located, a responsible agency, a public agency with jurisdiction by law with respect to the project, and a transportation planning agency or public agency required to be consulted, a notice of at least one scoping meeting. This bill would additionally require the lead agency to provide a notice to other entities that have filed a written request for the notice. (3) By imposing various additional duties on a lead agency with regard to the implementation of CEQA requirements, this bill would increase the service provided by a local agency, thereby creating a state-mandated local program. (4) 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 provides that any person under the 18 years of age who engages in certain noncriminal behavior, including persistently or habitually refusing to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court which may adjudge that person a ward of the court. Under existing law, juvenile court proceedings to declare a minor a ward of the court for noncriminal behavior are commenced by the filing of a petition by the probation officer. Existing law authorizes the juvenile court to order these minors to perform community service for a total time not to exceed 20 hours, as specified. This bill would extend the juvenile court's jurisdiction to also include minors who engaged in sexting, as defined, images of themselves or other minors, thereby expanding the duties of the probation officer and imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would, notwithstanding the provision described above, require a court to order a minor who engaged in sexting to perform 24 or 40 hours of community service, as provided. 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 these statutory provisions.

Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires persons who have been convicted of specified sex offenses to register with local law enforcement. Existing law requires that the registration include the person's address, fingerprints, current photograph, and license plate number. Existing law requires the registrant to update his or her registration annually, upon moving, or upon changing his or her name. Under existing law, failure to register is a crime. Existing law provides that a person who is required to register who willfully violates any requirement of the act is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified. This bill would additionally require that the registration include a list of all Internet identifiers and service providers, as defined, used by the person. The bill would require the registrant to update this information, as specified. By increasing the scope of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires certified sex offender management professionals who provide sex offender management programs for any probation department, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and county probation departments to assess each registered sex offender on probation or parole using the State-Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders (SARATSO) dynamic tool, as provided. This bill would clarify that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and all other departments charged with assessing a registered sex offender for purposes of probation or parole use the evaluation tools specified. 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.

This bill would urge the United States Patent and Trademark Office to place a satellite office in California.