Existing law establishes the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in this state. These segments include the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, and the California Community Colleges, which are administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law requires the trustees and the board of governors, and requests the regents, to work with the academic senates of each respective segment to encourage faculty to give consideration of the least costly practices in assigning textbooks, including using a selected textbook as long as it is educationally sound. This bill would require the trustees, and request the regents, to review each respective segment's student transfer policies, and to revise those policies, to ensure that faculty may choose a textbook selected for a transfer or general education course, regardless of publication date, for as long as the textbook is available to students and the information contained in the textbook is current and reflects contemporary thinking in the discipline.
Sponsored bills
Existing law, the Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening, Tracking, and Intervention Act, requires every general acute care hospital with licensed perinatal services to offer every newborn a hearing screening test for the identification of hearing loss, as specified, and provide written information on the availability of community resources and services for children with hearing loss to the parents of those who are diagnosed with a hearing loss. Existing law, the California Early Intervention Services Act, commonly known as the Early Start Program, provides various early intervention services for infants and toddlers who have disabilities to enhance their development and to minimize the potential for developmental delays. This bill would also require that the State Department of Education develop an informational pamphlet, as specified, for newborns and infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing, that is about visual and auditory communication and language options and that would help a parent make informed decisions for his or her child. This bill would require the department to convene an advisory stakeholder panel, composed as prescribed, to develop and revise the informational pamphlet, as specified, until January 1, 2017. This bill would require that the informational pamphlet be provided to parents of all newborns and infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing by an audiologist immediately upon identification of a newborn or infant as deaf or hard of hearing, and by a local provider for the Early Start Program upon initial contact with the parents of a newborn or infant newly identified as deaf or hard of hearing. This bill would require the audiologist to note in the newborn's or infant's record that the parent has received the informational pamphlet and, during the course of evaluation and treatment, to inform and counsel the parent of all available communication options. This bill would require the informational pamphlet to be made available in Cantonese, English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and be made available on the department's Internet Web site, as prescribed. This bill would provide that these provisions would be implemented only upon determination by the Director of Finance that sufficient donations have been collected and deposited into the Language and Communication for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children Fund, which this bill would create in the State Treasury, and upon the appropriation of that fund. This bill would provide that no state funds shall be used to implement these provisions. This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that every newborn or infant who does not pass his or her preliminary hearing screening test receive a followup hearing screening no later than 3 months of age, and that the Legislature strongly encourages the State Department of Health Care Services to work toward this goal.
Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (the Greene Act) , requires the State Allocation Board to allocate to applicant school districts prescribed per-unhoused-pupil state funding for construction and modernization of school facilities, including hardship funding and supplemental funding for site development and acquisition. This bill, on and after July 1, 2011, would require all new construction projects submitted to the Division of the State Architect pursuant to the Greene Act to include locks that allow doors to classrooms and rooms with an occupancy of 5 or more persons to be locked from the inside, except as specified.
Existing law establishes the California State University and its various campuses under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University. Existing law requires the California State University to offer undergraduate and graduate instruction through the master's degree in the liberal arts and sciences and professional education, including teacher education. This bill, until July 1, 2018, would authorize the California State University to establish a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program at 3 campuses chosen by the Board of Trustees to award the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The bill would distinguish the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the doctor of philosophy degree offered at the University of California. The bill would require the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree pilot program to be designed to enable professionals to earn the degree while working full time, train nurses for advanced practice, and prepare clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs. The bill would require the California State University to enroll and maintain no more than 90 full-time equivalent students in the degree pilot program at all 3 campuses combined. The bill would require initial funding to come from existing budgets, without diminishing the quality of undergraduate programs or reducing enrollment therein. The bill would require the California State University, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the Department of Finance to jointly conduct a statewide evaluation of the degree pilot program and report the results to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1, 2017.
Existing law authorizes the Director of Pesticide Regulation to adopt regulations to establish the minimum requirements of education, continuing education, training, experience, and examination for applicants for any license or certificate, or renewal of any license or certificate, issued by the director pertaining to pesticides. This bill would provide that a regulation adopted or amended pertaining to continuing education requirements shall establish minimum course requirements related to pesticides and pest management and would require the director to approve courses that include certain subjects in the context of pesticides and pest management. The bill would require the director to act within 15 business days of receipt to approve or reject continuing education courses submitted to meet the requirements of law pertaining to pesticides.
(1) The Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and approved. The act provides that a timber harvesting plan is effective for a period of not more than 3 years, unless extended as specified. The act provides that a timber harvesting plan, on which work has commenced but not been completed, may be extended by amendment for a one-year period in order to complete the work, up to a maximum of 2 one-year extensions if 2 requirements are met. The act requires the notice of extension to include the circumstances that prevented a timely completion of the work under the plan and an agreement to comply with the specified law, rules, and regulations as they exist on the date the extension notice is filed. The act allows, until January 1, 2012, an extension of a timber harvesting plan, on which timber operations have commenced but not been completed, by amendment for up to a maximum of 4 one-year extensions, if those 2 requirements are met, and in addition, the plan expired in 2008 or 2009, and the notice of extension includes written certification by a registered professional forester that listed species have not been discovered in the logging area of the plan since approval of the plan and significant physical changes to the harvest area or adjacent areas have not occurred since the plan's cumulative impacts were originally assessed. This bill would, in addition, allow up to a maximum of 4 one-year extensions, including any other extension granted prior to January 1, 2010, under those same conditions for a plan that was extended in 2008 or 2009. (2) The act allows, until January 1, 2012, a timber harvesting plan that is approved on or after January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011, inclusive, to be extended by amendment for a 2-year period in order to complete the timber operations, up to a maximum of 2 2-year extensions, if the plan complies with certain requirements. This bill would remove the sunset date for the extension of these plans. (3) Existing law, beginning January 1, 2012, provides that a timber harvesting plan is effective for a period of not more than 3 years, unless extended. This bill would instead provide that, beginning January 1, 2012, a plan approved on or after January 1, 2012, is effective for a period not more than 3 years, unless extended. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, until January 1, 2014, allows certain state and local transportation entities, if authorized by the California Transportation Commission, to use a design‑build process for contracting on transportation projects, as specified. This bill would authorize the Riverside County Transportation Commission, if authorized by the commission, to utilize this design-build procurement process for the State Route 91 Corridor Improvements Project on the state highway system. The bill would make the Department of Transportation responsible for the performance of construction inspection services for the project, as specified, and would require the commission to report on the progress of the project and related matters to specified legislative committees. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the state Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act define and regulate consumer credit reports and authorize the use of consumer credit reports for employment purposes, pursuant to specified requirements. The FCRA provides that it does not preempt state law, except as specifically provided or to the extent that state laws are inconsistent with its provisions. Existing federal and state law specify the procedures that an employer is required to follow before requesting a report and if adverse action is taken based on the report. Under existing law, an employer may request a credit report for employment purposes so long as he or she provides written notice of the request to the person for whom the report is sought. Existing law requires that the written notice inform the person for whom the consumer credit report was sought of the source of the report and contain space for the person to request a copy of the report. Existing law further requires an employer, whenever he or she bases an adverse employment decision on information contained in a consumer credit report, to advise the person for whom the report was sought that an adverse action was taken based upon information contained in the report and provide the person with the name and address of the consumer credit agency making the report. This bill would prohibit an employer, with the exception of certain financial institutions, from obtaining a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless the information is (1) substantially job-related, meaning that the position of the person for whom the report is sought has access to money, other assets, or trade secrets or other confidential information, and (2) the position of the person for whom the report is sought is a position in the state Department of Justice, a managerial position, that of a sworn peace officer or other law enforcement position, or a position for which the information contained in the report is required to be disclosed by law or to be obtained by the employer.
This measure would recognize March 31, 2010, as the anniversary of the birth of César Chávez, and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate observances to remember César Chávez as a symbol of hope and justice to all persons.
This measure would recognize the contributions of the automotive aftermarket to the state and consumers and its efforts to educate the motoring public about the benefits of proper vehicle maintenance. The measure also would recognize and support the designation of April as National Car Care Month and encourage all citizens to participate in activities that promote proper vehicle maintenance.