Existing law creates in state government the California State Auditor's Office under the direction of the Milton Marks "Little Hoover" Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, and requires that office to, among other things, conduct any audit of a state or local governmental agency or any other publicly created entity that is requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to the extent that funding is available. Existing law requires the California State Auditor to conduct any audit in a timely manner and in accordance with the "Government Auditing Standards" published by the Comptroller General of the United States. This bill would require the California State Auditor to conduct any audit of the Legislature that is requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to the extent that funding is available for that audit. The bill would require the California State Auditor, when conducting an audit of that nature, to implement any safeguards that he or she concludes are necessary to ensure that the audit is conducted in a manner that does not constitute an unacceptable threat to the independence of the California State Auditor within the meaning of generally accepted government auditing standards.
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Existing law requires all schoolbuses to be equipped with certain safety features, as specified. Existing law requires, on or before the beginning of the 2018–19 school year, schoolbuses, school pupil activity buses, except as provided, youth buses, and child care motor vehicles to be equipped with a "child safety alert system," which is a device located at the interior rear of a vehicle that requires the driver to either manually contact or scan the device before exiting the vehicle, thereby prompting the driver to inspect the entirety of the interior of the vehicle before exiting. This bill would postpone that requirement until the beginning of the 2019–20 school year. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the segments comprising the state's postsecondary education system. These segments are the University of California, administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to make the provisions applicable. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the provision naming the act.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to replace obsolete references in the workers' compensation laws when those laws are being amended for any purpose. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law defines a health facility as a facility, place, or building that is organized, maintained, and operated for the diagnosis, care, prevention, and treatment of human illness, as specified. Existing law includes several types of facilities, such as a general acute care hospital, a skilled nursing facility, or a hospice facility, within the definition of a health facility. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.
Existing law establishes the Department of Motor Vehicles in the Transportation Agency and sets forth the powers and duties of the department, as specified. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
Existing law divides the state into counties, enumerates a county's powers, and specifies that a county may exercise its powers only through the board of supervisors or through agents and officers acting under authority of the board or authority conferred by law. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the latter provision.
Existing law permits certain types of local, special, or consolidated elections to be conducted wholly by mail. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision.
Existing law allows a person who is unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his or her liberty to prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of his or her imprisonment or restraint. Existing law allows a writ of habeas corpus to be prosecuted for, but not limited to, false evidence that is substantially material or probative to the issue of guilt or punishment that was introduced at trial and false physical evidence that was a material factor directly related to the plea of guilty of the person. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.
The California Constitution establishes the Public Utilities Commission, with jurisdiction over all public utilities. The California Constitution grants the commission certain general powers over all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature, and authorizes the Legislature, unlimited by the other provisions of the Constitution, to confer additional authority and jurisdiction upon the commission that is cognate and germane to the regulation of public utilities. The Public Utilities Act contains provisions directing the commission's regulation of public utilities. This bill would make nonsubstantive revisions to the statute that names the act.