Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission to continue a program of assistance to residential customers of the state's 3 largest electrical corporations consisting of households of 3 or more persons with total household annual gross income levels between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty guideline level, which is referred to as the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program. This bill would expand eligibility for the FERA program by eliminating the requirement that a household consist of 3 or more persons. The bill would require the commission, by March 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations to report on their efforts to enroll customers in the FERA program. The bill would require the commission, by June 1, 2025, and each year thereafter, to review each electrical corporation's report to ensure it has made reasonable efforts to enroll eligible households in the FERA program commensurate with the proportion of households the commission determines to be eligible within the electrical corporation's service territory. If the commission, in its review of a report, determines an electrical corporation has not made reasonable efforts to enroll eligible households in the FERA program, the bill would require the commission to require the electrical corporation to develop a strategy and plan to sufficiently enroll eligible households within 3 years of the adoption of the strategy and plan. Existing law requires the commission to develop a process that enables electrical and gas customers to concurrently apply, or begin to apply, to multiple low-income customer assistance programs, including the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program and the FERA program. Existing law requires that the process complement, rather than replace, other application processes. This bill would expressly authorize electrical corporations to market enrollment for the FERA program separately from the CARE program and provide a separate FERA program-only application form. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act, or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission, is a crime. Because the provisions of this bill would be codified in the act and would require action by the commission, a violation of which would be a crime, 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.
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Existing law requires a fee of $26 to be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles upon an application for an identification card. Existing law waives that fee for an original or replacement identification card issued to any person who can verify their status as a homeless person or homeless child or youth, and authorizes a homeless services provider with knowledge of the person's housing status to verify the person's status for this purpose. Existing law requires a fee of $30 to be paid to the department upon application for an original class C or M driver's license. This bill, until January 1, 2031, would require the department to establish the Mobile Homeless Connect Pilot Program in specified areas to assist persons experiencing homelessness with obtaining an identification card. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, to develop guidelines for each pilot project, as specified. The bill would require the department to submit an annual report about the program to the Legislature beginning the 3rd year of the pilot program, and on or before each January 1 thereafter.
Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to adopt new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing electrical service to residential customers. Under existing law, the commission may authorize fixed charges for any rate schedule applicable to a residential customer account. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2024, to authorize a fixed charge for default residential rates on an income-graduated basis, as specified. This bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, but no sooner than 2 years after the adoption of the income-graduated fixed charge for residential rates, to submit a report to the relevant policy committees of both houses of the Legislature on the electrical corporations' implementation of the fixed charge, as specified. The bill would prohibit the commission from authorizing a new residential fixed charge other than those authorized before July 1, 2024, until 30 days after the report is submitted.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish the Broadband Public Housing Account in the California Advanced Services Fund and makes the moneys in the account available to the commission to award grants and loans to low-income communities to finance projects to connect broadband networks that offer free broadband service that meets or exceeds state standards for residents of low-income communities. This bill would make moneys in the account available instead for grants and loans to finance projects to connect broadband networks that offer broadband service for residents of low-income communities and would revise the requirement that the broadband service be free to require certain grantees to provide residential subscribers within low-income communities with free or low-cost broadband internet access service plans, as provided. The bill would authorize the commission to award grants to support the deployment of network devices to address barriers to consistent deployment of broadband services in low-income communities. The bill would specify that the requirement to provide free or low-cost broadband internet access service plans does not apply to grantees that are awarded grants for the sole purpose of deploying network devices to improve broadband services. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the requirement related to the provision of a free or low-cost broadband internet access service plan would be a part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing that requirement would be a crime, 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, commencing with the 2023–24 fiscal year, appropriates $300,000,000 each fiscal year from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation for the Local Control Funding Formula Equity Multiplier apportionment, as provided. Existing law requires the funding to be allocated to eligible local educational agencies that generate a specified local control funding formula entitlement based on, among other things, the percentage of unduplicated pupils served. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts and local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law also establishes a K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program. Existing law provides that, commencing with the 2018–19 fiscal year, the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the K–12 component of the program is used to create, support, or expand high-quality career technical education programs at the K–12 level that are aligned with the workforce development efforts occurring through the program. Existing law requires each consortium to form a K–12 Selection Committee, as specified, for purposes of awarding grants under the K–12 component of the program and requires that applicants with certain characteristics be given positive consideration, as specified. This bill would require positive consideration for purposes of awarding grants under the K–12 component of the program to also be given to applicants that serve pupils enrolled at local educational agencies receiving Local Control Funding Formula Equity Multiplier funding.
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 tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California, the La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation, California, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, and the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California, and amendments to the tribal-state gaming compacts entered into between the State of California and the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, California, the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California, and the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, California. The bill would provide that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, certain actions related to these compacts are not projects for the purposes of CEQA. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Former law, until July 1, 2023, established the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States (Task Force) . Former law required the Task Force, among other things, to identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies, as specified, and to recommend the form of compensation that should be awarded, the instrumentalities through which it should be awarded, and who should be eligible for this compensation. This bill would establish the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency in state government, under the control of the secretary, who would be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The bill would require the agency to implement the recommendations of the Task Force, as approved by the Legislature and the Governor. The bill would require the agency, as part of its duties, to determine how an individual's status as a descendant would be confirmed. The bill would also require proof of an individual's descendant status to be a qualifying criterion for benefits authorized by the state for descendants. To accomplish these goals, the bill would require the agency to be comprised of a Genealogy Office and an Office of Legal Affairs. The bill would further require the agency to oversee and monitor existing state agencies and departments tasked with engaging in direct implementation of the policies that fall within the scope of the existing state agencies' and departments' authority, including policies related to reparations. Existing law prohibits a state agency, with certain exceptions, from employing any in-house counsel to act on behalf of the state agency or its employees in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding in which the agency is interested, or is a party as a result of office or official duties, or contracting with outside counsel for any purpose. This bill would exempt the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency from the above-described prohibition.
Previously existing law established, until July 1, 2023, the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States. Previously existing law required the Task Force to, among other things, identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery that existed within the United States and the colonies that became the United States, as specified, and to recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the Task Force's findings, as specified. Previously existing law required the Task Force to submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would establish the Fund for Reparations and Reparative Justice in the State Treasury for the purpose of funding policies approved by the Legislature and the Governor that address the harm that the State of California has caused to descendants of an African American chattel enslaved person or descendants of a free Black person living in the United States prior to the end of the 19th century. The bill would authorize the fund to receive moneys from any other federal, state, or local grant, or from any private donation or grant, as specified. The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
(1) Existing law provides that a person who willfully disturbs a public school or a public school meeting is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $500. This bill would exempt from those misdemeanor and fine provisions a person who, at the time of the disturbance, is a pupil of the school district. (2) 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 instead would eliminate the requirement that the principal or principal's designee notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of possession of designated controlled or regulated substances by a pupil. The bill would require that the principal or principal's designee notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities if a pupil's act requires notification pursuant to the federal Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, which conditions certain federal funding on a criminal or juvenile delinquency referral policy for a student who brings a firearm or weapon to a school.
This measure would recognize May 2024 as Black Lives Matter Month, recognizing the profound impact of the movement, recommitting to the principles of justice and equality, and calling upon all states to follow in proclaiming their support for a society where truly, Black Lives Matter.