Sen. Lena Gonzalez

Maddy summaryThis bill designates April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month to raise awareness about preventing child abuse. The measure does not change laws or allocate funding but instead directs state agencies to acknowledge the month through official proclamations. By recognizing this period, the legislature aims to highlight the importance of child safety without altering existing policies.

The California Constitution provides that the University of California constitutes a public trust administered by the Regents of the University of California, a corporation in the form of a board, with full powers of organization and government, subject to legislative control only for specified purposes, including, among others, as may be necessary to ensure the security of its funds. Existing law prohibits officers or employees of the University of California from engaging in any employment, activity, or enterprise from which the officer or employee receives compensation or has a financial interest if that employment, activity, or enterprise is sponsored or funded by a university department or contract, except as provided. This bill would require a University of California executive, within 60 days of accepting a board of director position with a business entity, to post on a University of California internet website a written recusal from involvement with any future university contract decisions where the business entity is a party, as provided. The bill would prohibit a University of California executive from making, participating in making, or in any way attempting to influence a contractual decision where the executive is on the board of directors of a business entity that is a party to the contract or receives compensation for consulting or advisory services from a business entity that is a party to the contract. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions and to recover attorney's fees if the civil action prevails. If a court finds in such a civil action that an executive has violated these provisions, the bill would require the court to void the affected contract. The bill would define "business entity," "contract," and "University of California executive" for its purposes.

Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, establishes the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to, among other things, develop, review, and revise the California Developmental Disabilities State Plan, and monitor and evaluate the implementation of the plan. Existing law authorizes the state council to implement the state plan by conducting specified activities, including, among other things, appointing an authorized representative for persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law authorizes the appointment of an authorized representative to assist the person in expressing the person's desires and in making decisions and advocating for the person's needs, preferences, and choices, when the person with developmental disabilities has no parent, guardian, or conservator legally authorized to represent them, and the person has either requested the appointment of a representative or the rights or interests of the person, as determined by the state council, will not be properly protected or advocated for without the appointment of a representative. Existing law prescribes the order of preference for selection of the representative to be the person's parent, involved family members, or a volunteer selected by the state council, if the person does not express a preference, and requires the request of the parents or involved family members to be appointed to be honored unless the person expresses otherwise or good cause otherwise exists. This bill would limit the appointment of an authorized representative to up to one year, with annual renewals, and would authorize the state council to conduct an investigation to determine whether the interests of the person will not be properly protected or advocated for without the appointment of a representative. The bill would also authorize the state council to make contingent appointments of authorized representatives, as specified, and would authorize the state council to remove an authorized representative or contingent authorized representative at any time for good cause or if the authorized representative is unwilling or unable to continue serving. The bill would provide that "good cause" for purposes of the previously-described provisions exist when the proposed authorized representative has made, or is likely to make, decisions that are inconsistent with the expressed wishes of the person with developmental disabilities or inconsistent with protecting the person's rights or interests.

(1) Existing law, the Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act, regulates bail fugitive recovery agents, defined to mean a licensed individual given written authorization by the bail or depositor of bail and contracted to investigate, surveil, locate, and arrest a bail fugitive, and any person employed to assist the bail or depositor of bail to investigate, surveil, locate, and arrest a bail fugitive. Existing law prohibits a person from performing the activities of a bail fugitive recovery agent unless licensed by the Insurance Commissioner, as provided. Existing law provides for the issuance of bail licenses under the jurisdiction of the commissioner and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law requires a bail fugitive recovery agent to file certain information with the commissioner, including a policy of liability insurance that provides minimum limits of insurance of $1,000,000 for any one loss or occurrence due to either bodily injury or death, or property damage, or both. This bill, the Bail Fugitive Recovery Agent Reform Act, would require a bail fugitive recovery agent (BFRA) to have on file the above-described policy of liability insurance that complies with various requirements, as specified. The bill would require specified records, documents, and information regarding the BFRA liability insurance policy to be filed in the manner specified by the commissioner no more than 30 days after issuance by the issuing insurance company or placement by the production agency. If a BFRA fails to maintain liability insurance or fails to provide proof of the required insurance policy, the bill would require the commissioner to provide written notice to the BFRA that they have 30 days to provide proof of compliance or the BFRA will be automatically suspended without proceedings after the 30-day period. (2) Existing law requires an applicant for a license to act as a bail agent to file with the commissioner a notice of appointment executed by a surety insurer or its authorized representative authorizing that applicant to execute undertakings of bail and to solicit and negotiate those undertakings on its behalf. Existing law similarly requires an applicant for a BFRA's license to file with the commissioner a notice of appointment executed by a bail agent or surety insurer authorizing that applicant to act on behalf of, and pursuant to, the instructions of the appointing licenseholder. Existing law authorizes these notices of appointment to continue in force until the termination of the agent's license, the end of the license term, or the filing of a notice of termination, as specified. This bill would apply the filing requirement for an applicant for a license to act as a bail agent to every holder of a license to act as a bail agent and would apply the filing requirement for an applicant to act as a BFRA to every holder of a license to act as a BFRA. For an applicant for a license to act as a BFRA or a holder of a license to act as a BFRA, the bill would prohibit the notices of appointment from being considered effective until the notice is formally filed with and acknowledged by the Department of Insurance. (3) Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to establish a certification program for peace officers for the purpose of fostering professionalization, education, and experience necessary to accomplish the general police service duties, as specified. This bill would require a BFRA applicant or licensee who has been issued the above-described certificate for peace officers and has had that certification suspended or revoked by POST, or has voluntarily surrendered that certification, to notify the commissioner, as provided. (4) Existing law authorizes the commissioner to decline to issue a bail license until the commissioner is satisfied that the applicant, among other things, has not willfully misstated any material fact in their application or procured a misstatement in the supporting documents of their application. This bill would revise that condition to authorize the commissioner to decline to issue a bail license until the commissioner is satisfied that the applicant has not willfully or knowingly made a misstatement in the application or has not made a false statement in testimony given under oath before the commissioner or another person acting in the commissioner's stead. The bill would also require any applicant for, or holder of, a BFRA license to be a current resident of this state and have been a continuous resident of this state for at least 2 years before applying for a BFRA license. (5) Existing law generally prescribes the requirements of conduct by a BFRA licensee, including, among other things, prohibitions against any uniform of a BFRA that represents the BFRA as belonging to any part or department of the federal, state, or local government, as specified. Existing law, except under exigent circumstances, requires a BFRA to, prior to and no more than 6 hours before attempting to apprehend the bail fugitive, notify the local police or sheriff's department of the intent to apprehend a bail fugitive in that jurisdiction. If an exigent circumstance arises and prior notification is not given, existing law requires a BFRA to notify the local police or sheriff's department immediately after the apprehension and submit a detailed explanation of those exigent circumstances upon request of the local jurisdiction. This bill would additionally prohibit a BFRA from, among other things, threatening legal action unrelated to the case for which bail was given and loitering on or around a property if the bail subject is not present. The bill would also require a BFRA licensee to affix, type, or print their license number on business cards or other documents produced by the licensee in a specified type size. The bill would require the above-described notice provided to the local police or sheriff's department to be in writing and include specified information. The bill would require any record relating to notice to the local police or sheriff's department to be transcribed in writing and retained by the BFRA for a period of not less than 5 years from the date of notice. The bill would require the BFRA to provide a copy of any notice requested by the commissioner within 21 calendar days of the request and would require specified information to be included in the copy. The bill would prescribe a fine of $4,000 for each offense, as specified. By establishing new requirements for BFRA applicants and licensees, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (6) This bill would make various conforming changes. The bill would provide that its provisions are severable. 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.

Under existing law, a mutual water company is defined as a corporation organized for or engaged in the business of selling, distributing, supplying, or delivering water for irrigation or domestic purposes that provides in its articles or bylaws that the water shall be sold, distributed, supplied, or delivered only to owners of its shares, as specified. The Mutual Water Company Open Meeting Act requires a board of directors of a mutual water company that operates a public water system to allow an eligible person, as defined, to personally attend a meeting of the board, if the eligible person gave the board at least 24 hours' advance written notice of their intent to personally attend the meeting. Existing law authorizes the board to allow an eligible person who was denied attendance at a meeting for failure to provide this notice, or because the number of eligible persons having already provided notice of attendance exceeds the room capacity of the place of the meeting, to attend the meeting by teleconference. Existing law requires the board to provide to an eligible person attending a meeting by teleconference a copy of the documents to be discussed at the meeting, except as specified. This bill would eliminate the 24-hour notice requirement for an eligible person to personally attend a meeting. The bill would authorize the board of directors of a mutual water company with less than 50 connections to use teleconferencing to provide any eligible person access to the meeting and would require a board of directors of a mutual water company with 50 or more connections to use teleconferencing to provide any eligible person access to the meeting. Existing law requires the board of a mutual water company that operates a public water system to adopt an annual budget, as specified, and also requires the board to contract with a public accountant, as specified, to conduct an annual review of the financial records and reports of the mutual water company. Existing law requires the minutes of a board meeting, as specified, the annual budget, the accounting report, and other specified documents to be provided to an eligible person upon request and upon reimbursement of the mutual water company's costs for providing the document. This bill would require those documents to be provided to an eligible person upon request in an electronic form or in a hard copy. The bill would authorize a mutual water company to require an eligible person who requests a hard copy of those documents to pay a fee for the direct costs of duplication, but would prohibit a mutual water company from charging a fee for providing those documents electronically. The bill would require the mutual water company to display on the mutual water company's internet website detailed information on how an eligible person can request those documents, as specified. Existing law requires eligible persons to be given notice of the time and place of a meeting of the board of directors at least 4 days prior to the meeting, except as specified. This bill would also require the notice of the meeting to be posted on the mutual water company's internet website, as specified, and would require notice of the meeting and the agenda to be distributed by electronic means to specified eligible persons 4 days prior to the meeting. Existing law defines eligible persons for purposes of these provisions to include various persons, including an elected official of a city or county who represents people who receive drinking water directly from the mutual water company on a retail basis. This bill would also include within that definition, a federal or state official who represents people who receive drinking water directly from the mutual water company on a retail basis, and would include a representative of any of those elected officials. Existing law requires every public water system, as a condition of its operating permit, to annually prepare a consumer confidence report and mail or deliver a copy of that report to each customer, except as specified. This bill would require a mutual water company to make a downloadable electronic copy of its consumer confidence report available to the public on its internet website. The bill would also require the mutual water company to make a good faith effort to notify a consumer who is served by the public water system, but who is not a bill-paying customer of the report using a mix of methods appropriate to the particular public water system, as specified. The bill would require a mutual water company to annually send a summary to the State Water Resources Control Board summarizing its efforts to provide notice of the report to those consumers and would also require the mutual water company to post that summary on its internet website, as provided. The California Safe Drinking Water Act provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various responsibilities and duties relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. This bill would require the board to, on or before December 31, 2027, complete an assessment of mutual water companies that operate a public water system, with a focus on those serving disadvantaged and low-income communities. The bill would require the assessment to include, among other things, an assessment of compliance history with state drinking water standards by a representative sample of mutual water companies serving disadvantaged and low-income communities. The bill would also require the board to, among other things, host public hearings in disadvantaged and low-income communities served by mutual water companies to receive community input to inform the assessment, as provided. The bill would require mutual water companies to cooperate with the board in completing the assessment and to reasonably attempt to furnish all information and feedback requested by the board, as provided. The bill would require the board to post the assessment on its internet website and to provide the assessment to the Legislature.

Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state. Existing law requires moneys collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of certain allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes, including a specified portion to the authority for certain purposes. Existing law prohibits the authority from entering into new funding commitments with those moneys for activities outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment, until June 30, 2030, or when that segment is fully funded, whichever is sooner. Notwithstanding that prohibition, existing law authorizes the authority to enter into new funding commitments outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment for certain purposes, including for additional activities, not to cumulatively exceed $500,000,000, that maximize the efficiency of delivering the project, as specified. This bill would revise and recast that authorization to instead authorize the authority to enter into new funding commitments with the above-described moneys outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment in any amount for activities related to early works, as defined, and for projects developed through public partnership agreements or public-private partnership agreements, subject to the requirements that those funding commitments maximize the efficiency of delivering the project and do not delay the completion of the Merced to Bakersfield segment, as specified. By expanding the purposes for which continuously appropriated moneys may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates April 2, 2026, as World Autism Awareness Day within the state of California. It directly affects state agencies and the general public by officially recognizing this specific date for awareness activities. The primary mechanism is a simple legislative declaration that adds this observance to the state calendar without creating new laws or funding requirements. Once enacted, the resolution serves as a formal record of the state's acknowledgment of the global observance.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution designates the week of May 3 through May 10, 2026, as Cinco de Mayo Week in California. The measure urges all Californians to celebrate the historical victory at the Battle of Puebla and to acknowledge the contributions of Latinos to the state's culture, economy, and defense of democratic institutions. It highlights the role of Latino communities in various fields, including the arts, business, and public service, while recognizing their support for free institutions both in California and Mexico. The resolution is a commemorative action intended to honor the spirit and achievements of Latinos rather than to enact new laws or policies.

Existing law gives a person the right of protection from bodily harm and the right to possess and use property. If a person suffers bodily harm or a loss of their property because of the unlawful act or omission of another, existing law authorizes them to recover compensation from the person at fault, which is known as damages. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring various civil actions due to damage or loss. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action against specified fossil fuel companies for climate-attributable damage to recover costs and losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association, funds borrowed from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or costs and losses incurred by insurance policyholders. The bill would make those companies strictly liable without regard to fault for any relief granted. The bill would authorize the court and jury to use market share and alternate liability principles to determine proportionate liability of those companies for the climate-attributable damage, as described. This bill would make it an unlawful business practice for the company or affiliated entity to recover from California consumers, through retail or wholesale prices, charges, fees, surcharges, or any other adjustment to the price of gasoline or other motor fuels, for any costs and expenses incurred in connection with such a civil action, as defined. This bill would create the Attorney General Climate Disaster Fund into which the monetary relief recovered by the Attorney General would be deposited, and would set forth specified uses for the account upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

This measure would recognize March 26, 2026, as Women's Equal Pay Day in California, in recognition of the need to eliminate the gender gap in earnings by women and to promote policies to ensure equal pay for all.