(1) Existing law requires specified state agencies, boards, and commissions, in the course of collecting demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to use separate collection categories and tabulations for specified groups. Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services (department) administers the CalFresh program. Existing law requires the department to publicly report specified information, including certain data specific to students enrolled in an institution of higher learning who receive CalFresh benefits, as specified. This bill would require the department, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of California residents for any report on the CalFresh program, to use separate collection categories and tabulations for each major Latino group, Mesoamerican Indigenous nation, and Mesoamerican Indigenous language group, as specified. Existing law requires specific state agencies, boards, and commissions to report, as specified, data on collection categories and tabulations for specified groups. Existing law requires the collected data to be made available to the public except for personal identifying information, which shall be deemed confidential. This bill would require the department to include the collected data in every demographic report on ancestry or ethnic origins of California residents that the department publishes or releases on or after July 1, 2027. On or before July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on the above-described data collection and methods used to collect that data. The bill would require the department to make available to the public the collected data, except for personal identifying information, as specified. The bill would require the department to update its data collection to reflect additional Latino groups, Mesoamerican Indigenous nations, and Mesoamerican Indigenous language groups as they are reported by the United States Census Bureau, as specified. The bill would require the department to comply with the bill's requirements as early as possible, but no later than July 1, 2027. On or after January 1, 2026, the bill would require the State Department of Public Health to comply with the bill's requirements if funding is appropriated for this express purpose, as specified. (2) 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.
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Existing law requires the city council for a charter city that elects its city council using district-based elections to adopt new city council district boundaries following each federal decennial census. Existing law requires the city council to adopt the new boundaries using specified criteria, and by a specified deadline, unless the charter city has adopted different redistricting criteria or a different deadline by ordinance or in its city charter. This bill would require a charter city with a population of at least 2,500,000 people to establish an independent redistricting commission to adjust the district boundaries for the city council if the city's charter does not establish an independent redistricting commission that meets specified criteria. The bill would require the commission to adjust the boundaries of the city council districts in accordance with specified criteria and deadlines. By increasing the duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for charter cities with a population of at least 2,500,000 people. 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 Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Law of 1976, effectuates the declaration of the Legislature that it is in the interest of the state and its people to reconstruct, remodel, or replace existing school buildings that are educationally inadequate or that do not meet present-day structural safety requirements, and to acquire new schoolsites and buildings for the purpose of making them available to local school districts for the pupils of the public school system. "Good repair" is defined, for purposes of the Leroy F. Greene State School Building Lease-Purchase Law of 1976, to mean, among other things, with respect to mechanical systems, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, maintaining interior temperatures within normally acceptable ranges. This bill would require the State Department of Education to conduct a research study on recommended indoor air temperature ranges and temperature control standards for public schools serving kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and an inventory of heating and cooling systems, as specified. The bill would require the department to submit a report on the findings and recommendations of the study to the Legislature by January 1, 2026, as provided. This bill would require the department to develop policy recommendations for safe indoor air temperature standards for elementary and secondary public school facilities based on the research study findings, and additional policy recommendations that will address how to ensure that public school facilities can maintain the recommended safe indoor air temperature range, as provided. The bill would require the department to submit those policies recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 2027. This bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2028.
Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, with duties and powers, as prescribed. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified. The act charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcement of the act, subject to oversight by the Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The act excludes household domestic service from the definition of "employment." The act requires the chief, or a representative of the chief, to convene an advisory committee for the purposes of creating voluntary guidance and making recommendations to the department and the Legislature on policies the state may adopt to protect the health and safety of privately funded household domestic service employees, except publicly funded household domestic service and family daycare homes, as specified. The act requires the advisory committee to develop voluntary industry-specific occupational health and safety guidance relating to workplace hazards and the prevention or minimization of work-related injuries and illnesses. The act requires the advisory committee to make recommendations, as specified, on additional policies to protect the health and safety of household domestic service employees. Under specified circumstances, a violation of the act is a crime. Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, upon appropriation of funding for this purpose, to establish and maintain an outreach and education program for the purpose of promoting awareness of, and compliance with, labor protections that affect the domestic work industry and fair and dignified labor standards in this industry and other low-wage industries. Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to issue a competitive request to community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide education and outreach services in this connection and prescribes requirements for these organizations. Existing law makes CBOs responsible for developing and consulting with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement regarding the core education and outreach materials, as specified. Existing law requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and CBOs to meet at least biannually to coordinate efforts around outreach, education, and enforcement, including sharing information, in accordance with applicable privacy and confidentiality laws, that will shape and inform the overall enforcement strategy of the division regarding low-wage industries, including the domestic work industry. Existing law prohibits the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement from expending more than 5% of the budget allocation on the administration of the program. This bill would make CBOs responsible for developing and consulting with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health regarding the core education and outreach materials regarding health and safety standards, retaliation, and the division's workplace safety complaint and retaliation process, including specific issues that affect the domestic work industry differently. The bill would make CBOs responsible for all costs related to the development, printing, advertising, or distribution of the education and outreach materials. The bill would require the chief, representatives of the consultation services and enforcement branches of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and CBOs to meet periodically, as specified, to coordinate efforts around outreach, education, and enforcement. The bill would prohibit the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health from expending more than 5% of the budget allocation on the administration of the program. This bill, for purposes of the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, commencing January 1, 2025, would narrow the exclusion of household domestic service from the definition of "employment" to exclude only publicly funded household domestic service and family daycare homes, as specified. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, by January 1, 2025, to adopt industry guidance to assist household domestic service employers on their legal obligations under existing occupational safety and health laws and regulations that apply to the work activity of household domestic service employees. The bill would require the guidance to be consistent with the voluntary industry guidelines established by the advisory committee. The bill would require a household domestic services employer, by January 1, 2025, to comply with, and adhere to, all applicable occupational safety and health regulations. The bill would require the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, if the division determines that additional industry-specific regulations are necessary, to propose those regulations to the standards board for its review, and would require the standards board to adopt regulations by January 1, 2026. By expanding the application of criminal penalties under the act to household domestic service employers, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations. 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, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2000, or an individual or group policy of disability insurance or self-insured employee welfare benefit plan to provide coverage for mammography for screening or diagnostic purposes upon referral by specified professionals. Under existing law, mammography performed pursuant to those requirements or that meets the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force is provided to an enrollee or an insured without cost sharing. This bill would require a health care service plan contract, a policy of health insurance that provides hospital, medical, or surgical coverage, or a self-insured employee welfare benefit plan issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, to provide coverage without imposing cost sharing for, among other things, screening mammography and medically necessary diagnostic breast imaging, including diagnostic breast imaging following an abnormal mammography result and for an enrollee or insured indicated to have a risk factor associated with breast cancer, except 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.
Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and extended benefits to eligible individuals who meet specified requirements. Under existing law, unemployment benefits are paid from the Unemployment Fund, which is continuously appropriated for these purposes. Existing law makes an employee ineligible for benefits if the employee left work because of a trade dispute and specifies that the employee remains ineligible for the duration of the trade dispute. Existing case law holds that employees who left work due to a lockout by the employer, even if it was in anticipation of a trade dispute, are eligible for benefits. This bill would restore eligibility after the first 2 weeks for an employee who left work because of a trade dispute. The bill would codify specified case law that holds that employees who left work due to a lockout by the employer, even if it was in anticipation of a trade dispute, are eligible for benefits. The bill would specify that the bill's provisions do not diminish eligibility for benefits of individuals deprived of work due to an employer lockout or similar action, as specified. Because this bill would expand the categories of people eligible to receive benefits from a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation.
This measure would declare October 2023 as Women's Small Business Month and encourage all citizens to recognize the economic importance of women's small business in California.
The California Constitution provides that a proposed constitutional amendment and a statewide initiative measure each take effect only if approved by a majority of the votes cast on the amendment or measure. This measure would further provide that an initiative measure that includes one or more provisions that would amend the Constitution to increase the voter approval requirement to adopt any state or local measure would be approved by the voters only if the proportion of votes cast in favor of the initiative measure is equal to or greater than the highest voter approval requirement that the initiative measure would impose. The measure would specify that this voter approval requirement would apply to statewide initiative measures that appear on the ballot on or after January 1, 2024. The California Constitution also permits initiative and referendum powers to be exercised by the voters of each city or county under procedures provided by the Legislature. This measure would expressly authorize a local governing body to hold an advisory vote concerning any issue of governance for the purpose of allowing voters within the jurisdiction to voice their opinions on the issue. The measure would specify that an advisory question is approved only if a majority of the votes cast on the question are in favor. This measure would further declare that its provisions are severable and that if any provision is held invalid, the other provisions of the act remain valid, as specified.
(1) The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, of which a violation is a crime, requires a distributor to pay a redemption payment for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state. The act defines the term "beverage container" to mean the individual, separate bottle, can, jar, carton, or other receptacle, however denominated, in which a beverage is sold, and which is constructed of metal, glass, or plastic, or other material, or any combination of these materials, but does not include cups or other similar open or loosely sealed receptacles. The act defines "beverage" to include certain types of products in liquid, ready-to-drink form, including carbonated fruit drinks and noncarbonated fruit drinks that contain any percentage of fruit juice, but not 100% fruit juice in 46-ounce containers or larger or vegetable juice containers with more than 16 ounces. This bill would expand the application of the act to any size container of 100% fruit juice and any size container of vegetable juice, beginning January 1, 2024. Since the additional payments for the beverage containers that this bill would make subject to the act would be deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes under the act relating to the regulation of beverage containers. (2) The act defines a "beverage manufacturer" as a person who bottles, cans, or otherwise fills beverage containers, or imports filled beverage containers, for sale to distributors, dealers, or consumers. This bill would amend the definition of "beverage manufacturer" to mean the same as above, except that for a beverage container containing beer, wine, or distilled spirits, the "beverage manufacturer" would be the person who holds the license from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control authorizing the manufacture of the beer, wine, or distilled spirits, regardless of whether that person contracts with a third party to bottle, can, or otherwise fill the beverage container, so long as the beverage container is provided for sale to a distributor, dealer, or consumer by the holder of the license. (3) The act requires plastic beverage containers sold by a beverage manufacturer, as specified, to contain a specified average percentage of postconsumer recycled plastic. The act provides for periodic increases in the required percentage, but authorizes the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to lower the required percentage, based on specified criteria. The act imposes an administrative penalty on a beverage manufacturer that fails to include the required percentage of postconsumer recycled plastic in its plastic beverage containers. This bill would exempt beverage containers of 46 ounces or more of 100% fruit juice and beverage containers with more than 16 ounces of vegetable juice from consideration in calculating the required percentage of postconsumer recycled plastic for a beverage manufacturer until January 1, 2026. (4) The act requires a beverage manufacturer to label a beverage container sold or offered for sale by that beverage manufacturer in the state with one of several specified redemption value messages. The act prohibits a person from offering to sell, or selling, to a consumer a beverage container that has not been labeled as required by the act. The act exempts a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024, from the act's labeling requirements until July 1, 2025. This bill would additionally exempt from the act's labeling requirements a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024, that was filled and labeled before January 1, 2024, and a beverage container with 46 ounces or more of 100% fruit juice or more than 16 ounces of vegetable juice that was filled and labeled before July 1, 2024. (5) Existing law requires a dealer, as defined, to separately identify the amount of any redemption payment imposed on a beverage container on the shelf labels of the dealer's establishment, as specified. This bill would exempt from this shelf labeling requirement until January 15, 2024, a beverage container included within the scope of the act beginning on January 1, 2024. (6) The act requires a beverage manufacturer to pay to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery a processing fee for each beverage container sold or transferred and requires the department to distribute those fees, with other moneys, as processing payments to processors and recycling centers. The act requires the department to calculate the processing payment annually and authorizes quarterly adjustments, both based on the prior 12-month scrap value. This bill would authorize the department to adjust the processing payment quarterly, based on the lower of either the applicable preceding 12-month or 3-month average scrap value instead of only the prior 12-month scrap value. The bill would require a processing payment equal to the processing payment applied to HDPE beverage containers to be applied to a beverage container that is a box, bladder, pouch, or similar container, containing wine or distilled spirits. This bill would require the department to pay to a recycling center in a rural area, as specified, in addition to a processing payment, a transportation, operations, and logistics payment for glass beverage containers, as specified, until January 1, 2030. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund to the department for this purpose, thereby making an appropriation. (7) The act requires a beverage distributor to pay to the department a redemption payment for a beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state by the distributor, as specified. The act exempts any lodging, eating, or drinking establishment, licensed wine or distilled spirits tasting room, or soft drink vending machine operator from the definition of dealer, as specified. This bill, commencing January 1, 2024, would exempt a beverage distributor from being required to pay a redemption payment for a beverage container that is used solely to pour wine, beer, or distilled spirits at a licensed wine, beer, or distilled spirits tasting room. The bill would additionally exempt a licensed beer tasting room from the definition of dealer. (8) The act requires the department, not less than once every 6 months, to post on its internet website an updated condition statement for the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund, and other specified information, for the current fiscal year and budget year and to provide a written copy of that information to specified committees of the Legislature. This bill would instead require the department to notify certain committees of the Legislature of the posting of the above-described information. (9) Existing law provides that the Division of Recycling in the department succeeds to and is vested with specified authority, duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction that once belonged to the Department of Conservation regarding the act. This bill would provide that the department, instead of the division within the department, succeeds to and is vested with the specified authority, duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction that once belonged to the Department of Conservation regarding the act. (10) 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. (11) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water Account to be available to the State Water Resources Control Board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of providing funds necessary to administer the California Safe Drinking Water Act. This bill would expand the use of available funds in the account to be used by the state board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to include the administration of the Water Shutoff Protection Act. The bill would, subject to the availability of funding, require the state board to make funds available for providing training statewide to community water systems with between 15 and 200 service connections to assist in compliance with the Water Shutoff Protection Act. (2) Existing law, the Water Shutoff Protection Act, prohibits an urban and community water system, defined as a public water system that supplies water to more than 200 service connections, from discontinuing residential service for nonpayment, as specified, and requires specified procedures before it can discontinue residential service for nonpayment. Existing law defines a community water system as a public water system that serves at least 15 service connections used by yearlong residents or regularly serves at least 25 yearlong residents of the area served by the system. Existing law requires an urban and community water system to have a written policy on discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment available in English, other designated languages, and any other language spoken by at least 10% of the people residing in its service area. This bill would expand the scope of the Water Shutoff Protection Act by requiring that it instead apply to a covered water system, defined to include specified water systems and suppliers, including a community water system. The bill would require a community water system, that is not otherwise required to comply, to comply with the act's provisions on and after August 1, 2024. The bill would instead apply the above-described language requirements for the written policy of discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment to a covered water system that serves 200 or more service connections. The bill would require a covered water system that serves fewer than 200 service connections to have a written policy on disconnection of residential service for nonpayment available in English, any language spoken by at least 10% of the people residing in its service area, and, upon request of a customer, other designated languages. The bill would authorize, as part of the act, the Attorney General, at the request of the board or upon the Attorney General's own motion, to bring an action in state court to restore to any person in interest any money or property, real or personal, that may have been acquired by any method, act, or practice prohibited by the act. The bill would make related changes.