Sen. Steve Bradford

This measure would urge the United States Congress to require the United States Postal Service to restore past service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012, oppose certain postal reform legislation, require the United States Postal Service to continue the mandate for 6-day delivery service, require the continued operation of all mail sorting centers in California, and support specific federal legislation. The measure would also urge the Secretary of State to continue working with the United States Postal Service to implement additional programs that would increase absentee ballot voting participation.

(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA establishes administrative procedures for the review and certification of the EIR for a project and judicial review procedures for any action or proceeding brought to challenge the lead agency's decision to certify the EIR or to grant project approvals. This bill would establish specified administrative and judicial review procedures for the administrative and judicial review of the EIR and approvals granted for a project related to the development of a specified sports and entertainment project in the City of Inglewood. Because the lead agency would be required to use these alternative procedures for administrative review of the EIR if the project applicant so chooses, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA a guideway project intended for development with the specified sports and entertainment project. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would specify that certain impacts shall not be considered as having significant environmental impacts if certain conditions are met. (2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Inglewood. (3) 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 hate crime as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of the victim's disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Existing law also defines as a hate crime a criminal act committed because of the victim's association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Existing law defines association for these purposes as including advocacy for or identification with people who have one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or as being on the ground owned or rented by, or adjacent to, a community center, educational facility, office, meeting hall, place of worship, private institution, public agency, or library that is identified with people who have these actual or perceived characteristics. Existing law provides punishments for hate crimes that range from misdemeanors with specified penalties to felonies with additional terms of one to 3 years in state prison, depending on the underlying criminal act and other circumstances. Existing law requires, with conditions, the Attorney General to direct local law enforcement agencies to report specified information relative to hate crimes to the Department of Justice. Existing law requires the department to annually submit a report to the Legislature that analyzes the results of information obtained from local law enforcement pursuant to these provisions. Local law enforcement entities are required by existing law to provide a brochure on hate crimes to victims of these crimes and to the public, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is required by existing law to revise those brochures as needed and to provide those brochures to local law enforcement agencies upon request. This bill would revise the definition of association for these purposes and would include representation, defense, or support of a person or group that has one or more of the above specified characteristics, whether by an individual or a public or private entity. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By expanding the information that law enforcement agencies are required to report to the Department of Justice, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, that generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law requires an employer to provide all medical services reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of the injury. Existing law requires every employer to establish a utilization review process and further requires that specified requests for payment for treatment be submitted to the employer, or its insurer or claims administrator, within 30 days of the date the service was provided. Existing law also establishes an independent medical review process to resolve disputes over a utilization review decision, as specified. This bill would require that in the case of emergency treatment services, as defined, specified requests for payment for treatment be submitted to the employer, or its insurer or claims administrator, within 180 days of the date the service was provided.

This measure would recognize the month of August 2017 as Opportunity Youth Reengagement Month, and state the intent of the Legislature to encourage the expansion of schools authorized to specifically reengage "opportunity youth" 16 to 24 years of age by developing recommendations for a statewide student reengagement strategy and identifying the cost of the strategy compared to the cost of inaction; authorizing systems for accountability to students, parents, and families through transparency, active engagement, and outreach strategies; and highlighting, promoting, and uplifting evidence-based practices for successful student reengagement efforts that maintain multiple measures for evaluation of student success.

Existing law requires each admitted insurer with premiums written equal to or in excess of $100,000,000 to periodically submit to the Insurance Commissioner a report on its minority, women, and disabled veteran business enterprise procurement efforts, as specified, and subjects an insurer to a civil penalty if the insurer fails to file the report. Existing law requires the commissioner to maintain a link on the Internet Web site of the Department of Insurance that provides public access to the contents of each report. Existing law provides that these provisions shall remain in effect until January 1, 2019. This bill would add veteran and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) business enterprises to the entities for which the reporting described above is required. The bill would require each admitted insurer to report information about which procurements are made from minority, women, disabled veteran, veteran, and LGBT business enterprises with at least a majority of the enterprise's workforce in California. The bill would require each admitted insurer to submit a report regarding its governing board and board diversity efforts at the same time that it submits the report on procurement efforts. The bill would make an individual governing board member's participation in the collection of data regarding governing board diversity voluntary. The bill would require the Insurance Commissioner to maintain a link on the Internet Web site of the Department of Insurance that provides public access to the aggregate of governing board and board diversity data reported by insurers. The bill would provide that governing board and board diversity data collected pursuant to these provisions is confidential, would require the department to keep confidential any information that could be used to identify an individual participating board member, and, except as specified, would prohibit the release of that information by an insurer or the department. The bill would require each report to be submitted on July 1, 2018, and then biennially thereafter. The bill would extend the operation of these provisions to January 1, 2025. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to obtain information from insurers through various means, including an examination of the business and affairs of the insurer, or by the issuance of subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum for witnesses to attend, testify, and produce documents before him or her on any subject touching insurance business or in the aid of his or her duties, as specified. This bill would authorize the commissioner to require any class of insurers to respond to a data call by adopting an emergency regulation, as provided, if the data call directly relates to specified subjects. The bill would authorize the commissioner to initiate a data call on other subjects through an adopted regulation or other specific statutory authorization. The bill would limit the commissioner's authority to issue a data call, except as provided, would require the commissioner to limit the subject of data calls to activity within the state, and would prohibit the commissioner from initiating a data call to obtain information that is otherwise available through other specified means. 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.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. The Public Utilities Act requires the PUC to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation and requires the procurement plan to include specified elements, among them a showing that it will achieve certain objectives. Existing law requires the PUC to identify a diverse and balanced portfolio of resources needed to ensure a reliable electricity supply that provides optimal integration of renewable energy in a cost-effective manner, and specifies the respective roles of electrical corporations and community choice aggregators in satisfying the portfolio needs for renewable integration. This bill would specify that a "diverse and balanced portfolio of resources" includes an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity. The bill would additionally require the PUC to assess the need for, and benefits of, existing and future renewable baseload generation, and determine whether a procurement requirement for renewable baseload generation is necessary to meet the portfolio needs for renewable integration. Existing law requires the PUC to adopt a process for each load-serving entity, defined as including electrical corporations, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators, to file an integrated resource plan and a schedule for periodic updates to the plan to ensure that load-serving entities accomplish specified objectives. Existing law requires each load-serving entity to prepare and file an integrated resource plan consistent with those objectives on a time schedule directed by the PUC and subject to PUC review. This bill would require that an integrated resource plan ensure that the load-serving entity procures a balanced resource portfolio with an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity. Existing law requires that the governing board of a local publicly owned electric utility with an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours adopt an integrated resource plan and a process for updating the plan at least once every 5 years to ensure the utility achieves specified objectives. Existing law requires that the integrated resource plan and any updates be filed with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , requires the Energy Commission to review the plans and plan updates, and, if the Energy Commission determines a plan or plan update is deficient, to provide recommendations to correct the deficiencies. This bill would require the governing board, when reviewing the local publicly owned electric utility's integrated resource plan, to evaluate the mix of resources in the utility's total resource and renewable resource portfolios to ensure balanced portfolios with an appropriate mix of renewable capacity, including peaking, dispatchable, baseload, firm, and as-available capacity. The bill would require the governing board to assess the need for, and benefits of, existing and new renewable baseload generation and consider whether to procure renewable baseload generation for the utility. By placing additional requirements upon local publicly owned electric utilities, the 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 establishes the State Energy Research Conservation and Development Commission headed by a chair who is designated by the Governor and vests the commission with authority over various energy-related matters. Existing law assigns various duties to the chair. This bill would require the chair to appear annually before the appropriate policy committees of the Senate and Assembly and to report on the commission's activities, as specified.

Under existing law, a city or county is empowered to perform duties including providing for public safety and law enforcement. A city or county is authorized, either directly or indirectly, to prescribe policies and regulations for law enforcement agencies under its jurisdiction. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2018, require each law enforcement agency, as defined, to submit to its governing body at a regularly scheduled hearing, open to the public, a proposed Surveillance Use Policy for the use of each type of surveillance technology and the information collected, as specified. The bill would require the law enforcement agency to cease using the surveillance technology within 30 days if the proposed plan is not adopted. The bill would require the law enforcement agency to submit an amendment to the surveillance plan, pursuant to the same open meeting requirements, for each new type of surveillance technology sought to be used. The bill would require the policy and any amendments to be posted on the agency's Internet Web site. The bill would also require the agency to make specified reports, at approved intervals, concerning the use of surveillance technology, and to make those reports available on the agency's Internet Web site. The bill would prohibit a law enforcement agency from selling, sharing, or transferring information gathered by surveillance technology, except to another law enforcement agency, as permitted by law and the terms of the Surveillance Use Policy. The bill would provide that any person could bring an action for injunctive relief to prevent a violation of these provisions and, if successful, could recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The bill would require an agency to discipline an employee who knowingly or intentionally uses surveillance technology in violation of these provisions, as specified. The bill would authorize an agency to temporarily use surveillance technology during exigent circumstances, as specified, without meeting the requirements of these provisions, provided that, among other things, the agency submits a specified report to its governing body within 45 days of the end of the exigent circumstances, except as specified. The bill would establish separate procedures for a sheriff's department or a district attorney to establish their own Surveillance Use Policies, instead of submitting them through their governing body. The procedures would include holding a noticed public hearing on the proposed policy, posting the policy on the department's Internet Web site, amending the policy to include new types of surveillance technology, and publishing a biennial report regarding the department's use of surveillance technology, as specified. The bill would also establish procedures for the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Justice to establish their own Surveillance Use Policies. The bill would, among other things, require that these agencies ensure that the collection, use, maintenance, sharing, and dissemination of information or data collected with surveillance technology is consistent with respect for individual privacy and civil liberties, and that the policy be publicly available on the agency's Internet Web site. The bill would also require that if these agencies intend to acquire surveillance technology, they provide 90 days advance notice on the agency's Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would make legislative findings in support of these provisions. Because this bill would impose additional requirements on local public agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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, with regard to certain mandates, no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose, with specified exceptions, and to have that license on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law requires a resident or a nonresident, 16 years of age or older, upon payment of a specified fee, to be issued a sport fishing license for the period of a calendar year, or, if issued after the beginning of the year, for the remainder thereof. Existing law also requires the issuance of shorter term licenses upon payment of a specified lesser fee. Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to adjust the amount of the fees, as prescribed, to fully recover, but not exceed, all reasonable administrative and implementation costs of the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the commission relating to those licenses. Existing law specifies that the requirements for issuance of a license only apply to licenses, permits, reservations, tags, and other entitlements issued through the Automated License Data System. This bill would require a resident or a nonresident, 16 years of age or older, upon payment of a specified fee, to be issued a sport fishing license for the period of 12 consecutive months beginning on the date specified on the license, instead of for the period of a calendar year, or the remainder thereof. The bill would require the commission to include, among the costs required to be recovered by an adjustment of the fee amount, transition costs related to the new licensing period. The bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to collect all relevant and appropriate information necessary to justify the amount of the sport fishing license fees, including information about enforcement costs. The bill would require the department to submit to the Legislature a written report on the implementation of the new licensing period that also includes the information collected to justify the amount of the fees for licenses issued for the new licensing period. The bill would delete the provision specifying that the license issuance requirements only apply to licenses, permits, reservations, tags, and other entitlements issued through the Automated License Data System. The provisions of this bill would be operative beginning January 1, 2020, until January 1, 2025, except for the change regarding the Automated License Data System, which would be operative on January 1, 2018.