Existing law prescribes various civil causes of action and the measure of damages for those actions. Existing law requires any person who purchases or receives a firearm, as specified, to possess a firearm safety certificate. Existing law requires the Department of Justice to develop a written test required for the issuance of a firearm safety certificate. Existing law makes the violation of specified requirements with regard to firearms a misdemeanor or a felony, as specified. This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2024, make a person who owns a firearm strictly civilly liable for each incidence of property damage, bodily injury, or death resulting from the use of their firearm. This bill would provide that strict liability does not apply if the owner of the firearm has reported their firearm to local law enforcement as lost or stolen prior to the damage, injury, or death. The bill would additionally require a person who owns a firearm to obtain and continuously maintain in full force and effect a homeowner's, renter's, or gun liability insurance policy specifically covering losses or damages resulting from any negligent or accidental use of that firearm, including, but not limited to, death, injury, or property damage. This bill would require a person to keep written evidence of coverage in the place where a firearm is stored. By creating new requirements for firearm owners, violations of which would be punishable as misdemeanors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the Insurance Commissioner to develop a standardized form of evidence of liability coverage. 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.
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Existing law generally regulates the transfer and possession of firearms. Existing law also provides for various private rights of action. Existing law also provides that specified unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices are unlawful. Existing law also makes false advertising unlawful. This bill, beginning on July 1, 2023, would establish a firearm industry standard of conduct, which would require a firearm industry member, as defined, to establish, implement, and enforce reasonable controls, as defined, take reasonable precautions to ensure that the member does not sell, distribute, or provide a firearm-related product, as defined, to a downstream distributor or retailer of firearm-related products who fails to establish, implement, and enforce reasonable controls, and adhere to specified laws pertaining to unfair methods of competition, unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and false advertising. The bill would also prohibit a firearm industry member from manufacturing, marketing, importing, offering for wholesale sale, or offering for retail sale a firearm-related product that is abnormally dangerous and likely to create an unreasonable risk of harm to public health and safety in California, as specified. This bill would also authorize a person who has suffered harm in California, the Attorney General, or city or county attorneys to bring a civil action against a firearm industry member for an act or omission in violation of the firearm industry standard of conduct, as specified. The bill would authorize a court that determines that a firearm industry member has engaged in the prohibited conduct to award various relief, including injunctive relief, damages, and attorney's fees and costs.
(1) Existing law provides that any person who willfully disturbs any public school or any public school meeting is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $500. This bill would exempt pupils who are currently enrolled in the school district from that provision. (2) Under existing law, whenever any employee of a school district or county superintendent of schools is attacked, assaulted, or physically threatened by any pupil, the employee and any person under whose direction or supervision the employee is employed who has knowledge of the incident are required to promptly report the incident to specified law enforcement authorities. Failure to make the report is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000. An act by specified persons to inhibit or impede the making of the report is an infraction punishable by a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000. This bill would repeal those provisions. (3) The federal Gun-Free Schools Act prohibits a local educational agency from receiving certain federal funds unless the local educational agency has a policy requiring referral to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system of any student who brings a firearm or weapon to a school served by the local educational agency. Existing state law requires the principal of a school or the principal's designee to notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of the county or city in which the school is situated of certain acts committed by a pupil that may be unlawful, including, among others, the selling or possession of narcotics or other designated controlled or regulated substances, and acts of assault, as specified. This bill would eliminate all of those duties of a principal or the principal's designee to notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of certain acts committed by pupils that may be unlawful, except for certain duties related to notifying the appropriate law enforcement authorities of specified offenses related to the possession of firearms or weapons in school zones, as provided. The bill would also make related conforming changes.
The California Constitution declares that defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy are inalienable rights, and that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or equal protection of the laws. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person. This measure would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual's reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.
(1) Existing law prohibits a person who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or the combined influence of alcohol or drugs from driving a vehicle (DUI) . A violation of this prohibition, generally, is punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes a court to offer misdemeanor diversion to criminal defendants which, contingent on successful completion of specified terms and conditions imposed by the court, results in the dismissal of charges prior to adjudication. Existing law specifically prohibits diversion programs for a person charged with DUI. This bill would, notwithstanding this prohibition, authorize misdemeanor diversion for persons charged with DUI, as specified. The bill would limit diversion to persons who have no prior DUI convictions, and who have not completed DUI diversion within the past 10 years. The bill would require, as a condition of diversion, for the defendant to install an ignition interlock device, as specified, and to participate in education and counseling programs, as specified. (2) Existing law, until January 1, 2026, requires a person, upon a conviction for DUI with a prior conviction for DUI, as specified, to install and maintain an ignition interlock device (IID) for a specified period of time. Existing law also authorizes a court, upon the first criminal conviction of a person for DUI, to order the person to install and maintain an IID for a specified period of time, or, if the court does not order the installation of such a device, authorizes the person to apply for a restricted license. This bill would place specified recordkeeping requirements upon manufacturers of IIDs. This bill would also extend the required term of IID installation by 60 days if, within the final 60 days of installation, a driver attempts to start the vehicle when a specified level of alcohol is detected.
Existing statutory law imposes taxes on the gross premiums of an insurer, as defined, and allows various credits against those taxes. The California Constitution imposes exactions against insurers from another state or country under specified conditions. This bill would establish the California Jumpstart Act. The act would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, until January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to the amount of a relief contribution, as defined, that meets specified requirements. The bill would prohibit a taxpayer allowed a credit under the act for a qualified relief investment from being eligible for any other credit, as specified, with respect to that investment. The bill would require the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA) to, among other things, accept applications for approval as a relief fund that meet specified requirements, including that the application include a signed certification from the chief executive officer or another similar officer of each investor committing to make a relief contribution and stating the amount of that commitment, among other attestations. The bill also would authorize the CPCFA to recover any tax credit allowed and revoke the tax credit certificates issued to a taxpayer if the taxpayer engages in specified behavior, including, failing to invest 100% of its investment authority in relief investments within 2 years of the closing date. The bill would require the CPCFA to act in consultation with the Department of Insurance to accomplish these responsibilities where specified. This bill would require, among other things, the CPCFA to undertake outreach activities to encourage investment in impact businesses, including, but not limited to, partnering with organizations representing persons and business enterprises from small businesses more than 50% owned by minorities, women, disabled veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender persons, as described. The bill would also establish the Treasury Relief Investment Fund in the State Treasury, and would continuously appropriate the fund for purposes of these provisions. The bill would authorize CPCFA to direct the Treasurer to invest moneys in the fund, as specified, and would authorize CPCFA to use proceeds in the fund for administrative purposes. By continuously appropriating moneys in the fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill would provide that the California Jumpstart Act is only operative for taxable years for which an appropriation is made for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute. This bill would require various certifications by officers of an investor and would require a relief fund that has not decertified to annually certify under penalty of perjury that the relief fund has not violated any of the grounds for recovery and revocation of credits. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 defines a shared gang database, and requires the Department of Justice to regulate and oversee any shared gang database in which California law enforcement agencies participate, as specified. Existing law requires the department to establish the Gang Database Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of specified members, including a representative of organizations that specialize in gang violence intervention. This bill would add an attorney with substantial professional experience in contesting an individual's designation as a gang member in a shared gang database, appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, to the advisory committee membership.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the control and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA generally divides responsibility for the state licensure and regulation of commercial cannabis activity among the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health. MAUCRSA requires these licensing authorities to establish a scale of application, licensing, and renewal fees, based upon the cost of enforcing MAUCRSA, as specified. AUMA establishes the California Cannabis Tax Fund as a continuously appropriated fund consisting of specified taxes, interest, penalties, and other amounts imposed by AUMA. AUMA requires the Controller to make, as specified, disbursements from the fund for various purposes, including, among others, administering programs related to community reinvestment, youth education, prevention, early intervention and treatment, environmental restoration and protection, and public health and safety. AUMA prohibits the Legislature, prior to July 1, 2028, from changing the allocations to those programs. Before making those disbursements, AUMA requires the Controller to disburse funds to various state entities for reasonable costs in carrying out their duties under AUMA, including to the state licensing authorities for implementing, administering, and enforcing MAUCRSA to the extent those costs are not reimbursed by the application, licensing, and renewal fees. MAUCRSA requires the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs to administer a grant program to assist with the development of a local jurisdiction's local equity program or to assist applicants and licensees in a local jurisdiction's equity program, and authorizes the bureau to provide technical assistance to the local equity program. MAUCRSA defines local equity program for these purposes to mean a program adopted or operated by a local jurisdiction that focuses on inclusion and support of individuals and communities in California's cannabis industry who are linked to populations or neighborhoods that were negatively or disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization. MAUCRSA required a state licensing authority, on or before January 1, 2021, to develop and implement a program to provide a deferral or waiver for an application fee, a licensing fee, or a renewal fee for a needs-based applicant or needs-based licensee, as specified. Existing law made the operation of those provisions contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of those provisions. This bill would remove the above-mentioned date, thereby requiring a state licensing authority to develop and implement that fee deferral or waiver program upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for that purpose. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would allow a credit against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, equal to the amount of state and local cannabis licensing fees paid or incurred by a local equity applicant or a local equity licensee, as those terms are defined by MAUCRSA, that are not otherwise reimbursed by a grant or other funds. The bill also would state the intent of the Legislature to comply with the additional information requirement for any bill authorizing a new income tax credit. AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act with a 23 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature, except as provided. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
Existing federal law, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, provides for the negotiation and execution of tribal-state gaming compacts for the purpose of authorizing certain types of gaming on Indian lands within a state. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to negotiate and conclude those compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature. Existing law expressly ratifies a number of tribal-state gaming compacts, and amendments to tribal-state gaming compacts, between the State of California and specified Indian tribes. 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 ratify the amendments to the tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the Alturas Indian Rancheria, California, the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, California, the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, California, the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California, the Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of California, the Bishop Paiute Tribe, the Blue Lake Rancheria, the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa Rancheria, California, the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, California, the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California, the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California, the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, California, the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, California, the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, California, the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, the Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma & Yuima Reservation, California, the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California, the Pit River Tribe, California, the Redding Rancheria, California, the Resighini Rancheria, California, the Robinson Rancheria, the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California, the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, California, and the Table Mountain Rancheria to extend the terms of those compacts. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to those amended compacts are not projects for the purposes of CEQA. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
This measure would recognize the weeks of October 10, 2021, through October 16, 2021, and October 16, 2022, through October 22, 2022, as Art Therapy Weeks of Civic Engagement to commemorate the contributions of professional art therapists to California's communities.