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 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 provides that a project may have a significant effect on the environment if the project may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes in the provision relating to historical resources.
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Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of campaign contributions. The act imposes a contribution limit of $3,000 on contributions made to, and received by, candidates for elective state offices that are not statewide elective offices. The act does not limit the amount of contributions that a person may make to a committee that is primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures. The act prohibits a candidate for elective state office or a committee controlled by that candidate from making a contribution to another candidate for elective state office in excess of the contribution limit for elective state offices. This bill would prohibit a person from making to a committee controlled by a candidate for elective office that is primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures, and prohibit such a committee from receiving, a contribution in excess of the contribution limit for elective state offices, as specified. The bill would prohibit a candidate for any elective office, or the candidate's controlled committees, from making a contribution to another candidate for elective office or a committee controlled by a candidate that is primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures in excess of the contribution limit established for candidates for elective state office. This bill would prohibit a committee controlled by a candidate for elective office that is primarily formed to support or oppose one or more ballot measures from expending campaign funds to make a contribution or other transfer of campaign funds to a committee for a purpose other than supporting or opposing a ballot measure that the controlled committee was primarily formed to support or oppose. A violation of the act's provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing 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. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale, specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight. This bill would impose that additional term upon, and authorize a fine against, a defendant who violates those laws with respect to a substance containing fentanyl. By imposing additional incarceration costs on local agencies, 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.
The Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law provides for the licensure, certification, and regulation of persons who engage in specified real estate appraisal activity by the Chief of the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. That law, until January 1, 2020, provides that a licensee is not required to comply with provisions of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice that provide a limitation on restricted appraisal reports to intended users other than or in addition to the client, if certain requirements are met, including that the consent of the client is obtained in advance. This bill would provide that a licensee is not required to comply with the provisions of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, as described above, until January 1, 2022.
The California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and, commencing with the 2019–20 school year, charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. The act authorizes a school district to provide that education earlier than grade 7 with age-appropriate and medically accurate information. The act provides that the parent or guardian of a pupil has the right to excuse their child from all or part of that education through a passive consent ("opt-out") process and prohibits a school district from requiring active parental consent ("opt-in") for that education. This bill would require, for a pupil in a grade lower than grade 7, an active parental consent ("opt-in") with a signature for sexual health education and HIV prevention education. The act requires each school district to notify parents and guardians about its plan to provide sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction for the upcoming school year and to inform them, among other things, that written and audiovisual educational materials used in this instruction are available for inspection This bill would require a school district to make those materials available for inspection before the date of instruction on the school district's internet website and to translate those materials, as prescribed. By imposing additional duties on school districts, county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools, 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, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to, among other things, ensure that certain businesses and professions that have potential impact upon the public health, safety, and welfare are adequately regulated. This bill would require the department, beginning on January 1, 2021, to conduct a comprehensive review of all licensing requirements for each profession regulated by a board within the department and identify unnecessary licensing requirements, as defined by the bill. The bill, beginning February 1, 2021, and every 2 years thereafter, would require each board within the department to submit to the department an assessment on the board's progress in implementing policies to facilitate licensure portability for active duty service members, veterans, and military spouses that includes specified information. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on March 1, 2023, and every 2 years thereafter, on the department's progress in conducting its review, and would require the department to issue a final report to the Legislature no later than March 1, 2033. The bill would require the biennial reports to the Legislature to include the assessment information submitted by each board to the department, to identify the professions reviewed by the department, each unnecessary licensing requirement, and the department's recommendations to the Legislature on whether to keep, modify, or eliminate the unnecessary licensing requirement. The bill would require the department to apply for federal funds that have been made available specifically for the purpose of reviewing, updating, and eliminating overly burdensome licensing requirements, as provided. (2) Existing law, the Barbering and Cosmetology Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of cosmetology by the State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology in the department and defines the practice of both barbering and cosmetology to include shampooing the hair of any person. The act also specifies that, within the practice of cosmetology, there is the specialty branch of skin care, which includes applying makeup. This bill would delete shampooing another person from the practice of barbering and cosmetology, and would delete the act of applying makeup on another person from the specialty practice of skin care. The bill would require a person who does not hold a barbering or cosmetology license to disclose that fact before the unlicensed person applies makeup to or shampoos the hair of another person. (3) Existing law provides for the regulation of custom upholsterers by the Bureau of Household Goods and Services in the department, and requires every custom upholsterer to hold a custom upholsterer's license. This bill would delete those provisions requiring licensure of custom upholsterers.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act) , establishes the State Department of Developmental Services, which is responsible for providing various services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. The Lanterman Act requires the department to enter into contracts with private nonprofit corporations to operate regional centers, which are required to provide, or arrange for the provision of, services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities. Under existing law, the state is responsible for developing and implementing a statewide program encouraging the establishment of sufficient numbers and types of living arrangements, both in communities and state hospitals, as necessary, to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. The DHCD is responsible for administering various housing and home loan programs throughout the state. This bill would establish the California Integrated Community Living Program in the State Department of Developmental Services. The program would provide deferred payment loans to finance capital and other specified costs for permanent supportive housing for individuals who are regional center clients in order to maximize affordable integrated community living opportunities within communities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to enter into an interagency agreement to administer the Integrated Community Living Program Fund, which would be created by, and continuously appropriated to the department for the purposes described in, the bill. The bill would prescribe the moneys to be deposited into the fund, including all moneys received by the department through the sale, lease, or other revenue-generating agreement for any state developmental center property, except as specified. The bill would prohibit moneys in the fund from being used to supplant or backfill any existing program budget within either department. By creating a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to convene an advisory committee to advise and assist in establishing funding priorities, with an emphasis on funding priorities for this program, as specified. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to develop and administer a competitive application process to award funding for loans under the bill, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to distribute funds in a manner that maximizes access to low-income housing tax credit program projects for the target population, and that also incentivizes development of creative permanent supportive housing projects outside of that program, as specified. The bill also would require the department, in consultation with the DHCD, to adopt guidelines establishing income and rent standards for potential residents of properties funded under the program, including standards based solely on federal Supplemental Security Income. The bill would require the department and the DHCD to develop community integration criteria to set the maximum percentage of apartment units reserved for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities within specified program projects, and to stipulate community integration standards for small projects.
Existing law authorizes a county that is responsible for the cost of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the offense of homicide to apply to the Controller for reimbursement of excessive costs incurred by the county under specified circumstances. Under existing law, if the Controller determines that reimbursement is proper, the Controller is required to request the Director of Finance to include any amounts necessary to fulfill reimbursement in a request for deficiency appropriation. This bill would enact the Justice Act of 2019 for the Reimbursement of County Costs Arising from the Matter of the People v. Joseph DeAngelo, and would authorize the County of Sacramento and other California counties to be reimbursed for the reasonable and necessary costs, as specified, incurred in connection with the prosecution and defense of Joseph DeAngelo. The bill would require a county seeking reimbursement to send a statement of costs to the Controller for approval, and would require the Controller, within 60 days, to either pay approved costs or provide a written statement as to the reason for not making reimbursement at that time. The bill would create the Justice Act of 2019 Fund for these purposes.
The Personal Income Tax Law imposes a tax on individual taxpayers measured by the taxpayer's taxable income for the taxable year, but excludes certain items of income from the computation of tax, including an exclusion for combat-related special compensation. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2030, would exclude from gross income specified amounts of retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, as defined, during the taxable year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) The California Whistleblower Protection Act prohibits an employee from interfering with a person's rights to disclose improper activity and authorizes the State Auditor to conduct an investigative audit upon receiving specific information that an employee or state agency has engaged in an improper governmental activity, as defined. The California Whistleblower Protection Act applies to state agencies, as defined, and to the University of California, the California State University, and courts, as specified. Under the California Whistleblower Protection Act, a person who intentionally engages in acts of reprisal, retaliation, threats, coercion, or similar acts against a state employee or an applicant for state employment for having made a protected disclosure is subject to civil liability and criminal penalties. The California Whistleblower Protection Act defines a "protected disclosure" to mean, among other things, a good faith communication that discloses information that may evidence an improper governmental activity. This bill would expand the definition of the term "protected disclosure" to include a complaint made to a Member of the Legislature, the Legislature, or any subdivision thereof. By expanding the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Other existing law, the Whistleblower Protection Act, prohibits a state or local governmental employee from interfering with the right of a person to disclose an improper governmental activity, as defined, to an investigating committee of the Legislature. The Whistleblower Protection Act defines other terms for its purposes, including defining "employee" to mean any individual appointed by the Governor or employed or holding office in a state agency, including the California State University and the University of California, defined public entities, or any agency of local government. This bill would authorize a legislative investigative committee to investigate and report on improper governmental activities or to refer the improper governmental activity to the State Auditor for investigation pursuant to the California Whistleblower Protection Act. The bill would also authorize the committee to prepare and send copies of investigative reports to an employee's appointing power if it finds that the employee may have participated in improper governmental activities. The bill would authorize a committee to request additional information from a person submitting an allegation, as specified. The bill would prescribe various requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of people providing information in confidence and information obtained on investigation. The bill would authorize a legislative investigative committee to request assistance from a state department, agency, or employee in evaluating an allegation or conducting any investigation of an improper governmental activity and would generally require that such assistance be provided, as specified. (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. (4) 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.