(1) Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states, with California's version of this program being known as the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Under the CalWORKs program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria, including participating in specified welfare-to-work activities. Existing law exempts from these welfare-to-work requirements a child who is under 16 years of age or attending an elementary, secondary, vocational, or technical school on a full-time basis. Existing law conditions the receipt of CalWORKs aid upon the school attendance of all children in an assistance unit who are subject to compulsory education, as specified. Existing law further requires that this attendance requirement be included in the recipient's welfare-to-work plan. Under existing law, if the county determines that an eligible child under 16 years of age is not regularly attending school as required, the county is prohibited from considering the needs of all adults in an assistance unit in computing the grant of a family, unless the county determines that good cause exists. Existing law prohibits the needs of a child 16 years of age or older from being considered in computing the grant to the family if the county determines that he or she has not been regularly attending school or participating in a welfare-to-work plan, unless the county determines that good cause exists. This bill would revise these requirements by, among other things, deleting the requirement that the aid grant of a family be reduced if the county determines that an eligible child under 16 years of age is not regularly attending school. The bill would authorize, if the county determines that a child is not attending school, the county to inform the family of how to enroll the child in a continuation school within the county and screen the family to determine its eligibility for family stabilization services, as specified. The bill would require the county, if applicable, to document that the family was given this information and was screened for those services. The bill would allow the county to consider the needs of a child in the assistance unit who is 16 years of age or older in computing the grant to the family for any month in which the county is informed by a school district or a county school attendance review board that the child did not attend school if at least one of several circumstances is present, including that the county is provided with evidence that the child has been attending school or there is good cause for school nonparticipation at any time during the month. The bill would provide that a child whose needs are excluded from computing the family grant would remain eligible for services that may lead to school attendance. To the extent this bill would increase benefit amounts and impose additional duties on counties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. (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, 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 these statutory provisions.
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Under existing law, a person between the ages of 6 and 18 years who is not exempted by law is subject to compulsory full-time education. Existing law excludes a child under 6 years of age from the public schools, subject to specified exceptions. Existing law requires a school district maintaining a kindergarten to admit a child who will have his or her 5th birthday on or before certain specified dates during that school year. Existing law also requires that a child who will have his or her 6th birthday on or before specified dates be admitted to the first grade of an elementary school. This bill, beginning with the 2016–17 school year, would require a child to have completed one year of kindergarten before he or she may be admitted to the first grade, thereby imposing 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, 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides for the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones, into the national airspace system by September 30, 2015. Existing federal law requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to develop and implement operational and certification requirements for the operation of public unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace system by December 31, 2015. This bill would generally prohibit public agencies from using unmanned aircraft systems, or contracting for the use of unmanned aircraft systems, as defined, with certain exceptions applicable to law enforcement agencies and in certain other cases, including when the use or operation of the unmanned aircraft system achieves the core mission of the agency and the purpose is unrelated to the gathering of criminal intelligence, as defined. The bill would require reasonable public notice to be provided by public agencies intending to deploy unmanned aircraft systems, as specified. The bill would require images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system under these provisions to be permanently destroyed within one year, except as specified. The bill would generally prohibit images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system under these provisions from being disseminated outside the collecting public agency, except as specified. Unless authorized by federal law, the bill would prohibit a person or entity, including a public agency subject to these provisions, or a person or entity under contract to a public agency, for the purpose of that contract, from equipping or arming an unmanned aircraft system with a weapon or other device that may be carried by or launched from an unmanned aircraft system and that is intended to cause bodily injury or death, or damage to, or the destruction of, real or personal property. The bill would also provide that specified surveillance restrictions on electronic devices apply to the use or operation of an unmanned aircraft system by a public agency. The bill would make its provisions applicable to all public and private entities when contracting with a public agency for the use of an unmanned aircraft system. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would make certain images, footage, or data obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system under its provisions, or any related record, including, but not limited to, usage logs or logs that identify any person or entity that subsequently obtains or requests records of that system, subject to disclosure. The bill would except from the disclosure requirements discussed above images, footage, data, and records obtained through the use of an unmanned aircraft system if disclosure would endanger the safety of a person involved in an investigation, or would endanger the successful completion of the investigation. 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.
Existing law provides that every person who possesses for sale or purchases for purposes of sale cocaine base is subject to imprisonment in a county jail for a period of 3, 4, or 5 years. This bill instead would provide that every person who possesses for sale or purchases for purposes of sale cocaine base is subject to imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years. Existing law generally provides that the interest of any registered owner of a boat, airplane, or any vehicle, except as specified, that has been used to facilitate the manufacture of, or possession for sale or sale of, 14.25 grams or more of cocaine base or 28.5 grams or more of cocaine is subject to forfeiture, as specified. This bill would revise that provision to instead make property that has been used to facilitate the manufacture of, or possession for sale or sale of, 28.5 grams or more of cocaine base or cocaine subject to forfeiture. Existing law, except in unusual cases, prohibits granting probation or suspending a sentence for persons convicted of specified crimes relating to controlled substances, including possessing for sale a substance containing 57 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine, 14.25 grams or more of cocaine base, or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least 5 grams of cocaine base, and transporting or importing for sale, selling, or offering to sell cocaine base. This bill would delete those provisions and would instead prohibit, except in unusual cases, granting probation or suspending a sentence for persons convicted of possessing for sale or selling a substance containing 28.5 grams or more of cocaine base or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least 5 grams of cocaine or cocaine base. By making additional persons eligible for probation, 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 Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for administering various programs and services for the benefit of veterans, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to oversee the state prison system. Existing law also authorizes each county board of supervisors to appoint a county veterans service officer to perform specified veterans-related services, including assisting veterans in pursuing claims for federal or state veterans' benefits. Under existing law, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is required to develop guidance policies relative to the release of veterans who are inmates with the intent to assist veterans who are inmates in pursuing claims for federal veterans' benefits, or in establishing rights to any other privilege, preference, care, or compensation provided under federal or state law because of honorable service in the military. In developing those policies, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is authorized to coordinate with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the county veterans service officer or veterans service organizations. This bill would authorize a veterans service organization to volunteer to serve as a veterans service advocate at each facility that is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The advocate would be authorized to develop a veterans economic recidivism prevention plan for each inmate who is a veteran. The bill would require, in order to assist with the development and execution of that plan, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to, among other things, provide the advocate with access, subject to restrictions, to inmates who are veterans and to existing resources, as specified, that would assist the advocate in implementing the veterans economic recidivism prevention plan. The bill would require the advocate to coordinate with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and county veterans service officers, as specified. The bill would define "advocate" and "veteran" for these purposes, and would include a related statement of legislative intent.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would require a business enterprise with gross annual revenues exceeding $25,000,000 participating in a program administered by the state board that is funded, in whole or in part, from the fund to report annually to the state board regarding its programs to increase procurement from women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises, if any.
(1) Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to prescribe, by regulation, standards for minimum levels of operating efficiency, and authorizes the commission to prescribe other cost-effective measures, to promote the use of energy-efficient and water-efficient appliances whose use requires a significant amount of energy or water on a statewide basis. This bill would instead authorize the commission to prescribe or adopt other cost-effective measures. The bill would authorize the commission to consider or recognize voluntary agreements in lieu of regulation described above and to take voluntary agreements into account in its planning. The bill would require the commission to consider adopting a process for the repeal, or suspension of enforcement, of a standard for minimum levels of operating efficiency for an appliance that the commission finds to be duplicative or inconsistent with federal or state law. The bill would require any labeling requirement prescribed by the commission to allow a manufacturer to use electronic labeling as appropriate. The bill would require the commission to consider the most current data provided to the commission regarding a proposed standard for an appliance before the publication of the notice of the proposed action to consider adoption or amendment of a standard for an appliance. The bill would require the commission to explain in the final statement of reasons how it considered those data. (2) Existing law requires the commission to prescribe, by regulation, lighting, insulation climate control system, and other building design and construction standards that increase the efficiency in the use of energy and water for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. Existing law also requires the commission to prescribe, by regulation, energy and water conservation design standards for new residential and new nonresidential buildings. In order to implement these requirements, existing law requires the commission to develop a public domain computer program that enables contractors, builders, architects, engineers, and government officials to estimate energy consumed by residential and nonresidential buildings and requires the commission to establish a formal process for certification of compliance options for new products, materials, and calculation methods, as prescribed. This bill would require the commission to approve and make publicly available, not less than 6 months prior to the effective date of adopted or updated efficiency standards, the public domain computer program. The bill would require the commission, before approving the public domain computer program, to perform preliminary tests of the public domain computer program using common examples of residential and nonresidential buildings and building systems to ensure the usability of the program by users of the program. The bill would require the commission to make the results of those preliminary tests publicly available. (3) Existing law requires the commission to establish criteria for adopting a statewide home energy rating program for residential dwellings. For existing single-family residential dwellings and multifamily residential dwellings with up to 4 units, the bill would require the commission, in administering the statewide home energy rating program, to ensure that energy assessment tools used by the commission are routinely adjusted to improve modeling accuracy and to ensure that consumers receive a notice with the output of the energy assessment tools explaining the assumptions used in the energy assessment tools and how they may differ from actual usage patterns.
Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture, which is tasked with, among other things, promoting and protecting the agricultural industry of the state, and seeking to enhance, protect, and perpetuate the ability of the private sector to produce food and fiber in a way that benefits the general welfare and economy of the state. Existing law also establishes the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative for the purpose of promoting healthy food access in the state. This bill would create the Office of Farm to Fork within the department, and would require the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. The bill would require the office to, among other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access. The bill would create the Farm to Fork Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund that would consist of money made available from federal, state, industry, and other sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in the account without regard to fiscal years to carry out the purposes of the Office of Farm to Fork. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill, until January 1, 2020, would also require the department, in any year in which funds are received into or expended from the Farm to Fork Account, to submit to the Legislature an overview of the account's income and expenditures.
(1) Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of residential tenancies, and prohibits a landlord from interfering with a tenant's quiet enjoyment of the premises. This bill would require a landlord to permit a tenant to participate in personal agriculture in portable containers approved by the landlord in the tenant's private area, as defined, if certain conditions are met. (2) Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, defines and regulates common interest developments and authorizes the board of directors of the association that manages the development to adopt and amend the operating rules for the development. This bill would make void any provision of a governing document of a common interest development that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a homeowner's backyard for personal agriculture.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, as defined, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing board. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. Existing law requires the commission to establish a program of assistance to low-income electric and gas customers, referred to as the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program. This bill would require each electrical corporation and gas corporation, subject to direction and supervision by the commission, to develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks, as defined, at a fixed percentage to be determined by the commission. The bill would authorize the commission to adjust the fixed percentage of rate assistance as appropriate. The bill would encourage the governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility to develop and implement a program of rate assistance to eligible food banks at a fixed percentage, to be determined by the governing board, but consistent with that fixed by the commission for electrical corporations. 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 a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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.