Existing law authorizes a court, with the consent of the defendant and a waiver of the defendant's speedy trial right, to postpone prosecution, either temporarily or permanently, of a misdemeanor and place the defendant in a pretrial diversion program, if the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and if he or she may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of his or her military service. Existing law authorizes the defendant to be referred to services for treatment. Existing law makes it unlawful for a person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug to drive a vehicle, or to drive a vehicle and concurrently do any act forbidden by law which causes bodily injury to any person other than the driver. In any case in which a person is charged with a violation of these provisions, existing law prohibits a court from suspending or staying the proceedings prior to acquittal or conviction or from dismissing the proceedings because the accused person attends or participates in a treatment program. This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, including the above-described provision, specify that a misdemeanor offense for which a defendant may be placed in a pretrial diversion program in accordance with the above-described program includes a misdemeanor violation of driving under the influence or driving under the influence and causing bodily injury. The bill would not limit the authority of the Department of Motor Vehicles to take administrative action concerning the driving privileges of a person arrested for a violation of those provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home Supportive Services program, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes. This bill would require each county to accept applications for benefits under the program by telephone, through facsimile, or in person, or, if the county is capable of accepting online applications or applications via email for benefits under the program, by email or other electronic means. By creating additional duties for counties, 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, 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.
Existing law requires the court to order a person who is convicted of a crime to pay restitution to the victim or victims for the full amount of economic loss, unless the court finds compelling and extraordinary reasons for not doing so and states them on the record. Existing law requires the restitution order to be of a dollar amount that is sufficient to fully reimburse the victim or victims for every determined economic loss incurred as the result of the defendant's criminal conduct, including, but not limited to, noneconomic losses for psychological harm stemming from felony incidents of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, as defined. Restitution fines are deposited in the Restitution Fund, which is continuously appropriated, to the extent that a victim has been compensated by that fund. This bill would include in the required restitution order amount noneconomic losses for psychological harm stemming from felony incidents of repeated or recurring incidents of sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age or from felony incidents of sexual contact with a child under 10 years of age. By sending additional money to a continuously appropriated fund, this bill makes an appropriation.
Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or applicable security regulations established by the United States or the State of California, to refuse to hire or employ a person or to refuse to select a person for a training program leading to employment, or to bar or discharge a person from employment or a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status of that person. FEHA provides that nothing in that act relating to discrimination on account of sex affects the right of an employer to use veteran status as a factor in employee selection or to give special consideration to Vietnam-era veterans. This bill would enact the Voluntary Veterans' Preference Employment Policy Act to authorize a private employer to establish and maintain a written veterans' preference employment policy, to be applied uniformly to hiring decisions, to give a voluntary preference for hiring or retaining a veteran over another qualified applicant or employee. The bill would provide that the granting of a veterans' preference pursuant to the bill, in and of itself, shall be deemed not to violate any local or state equal employment opportunity law or regulation, including, but not limited to, the antidiscrimination provisions of FEHA. The bill would revise the existing veteran status provision in FEHA to remove references to discrimination on account of sex and to Vietnam-era veterans, and would, instead, provide that nothing in that act relating to discrimination affects the right of an employer to use veteran status as a factor in hiring decisions if the employer maintains a veterans' preference employment policy established in accordance with the Voluntary Veterans' Preference Employment Policy Act. The bill would prohibit a veterans' preference employment policy from being established or applied for the purpose of discriminating against an employment applicant on the basis of a protected classification, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust, upon the consent of all beneficiaries, to compel the modification or termination of the trust upon petition to the court. Existing law prohibits the modification or termination of an irrevocable trust if the continuance of the trust is necessary to carry out a material purpose of the trust, unless the court determines that modification or termination under the circumstances outweighs the interest in accomplishing a material purpose of the trust. Notwithstanding that provision, existing law prohibits the court from terminating a trust that is subject to a valid restraint on the transfer of a beneficiary's interest. This bill would revise and recast these provisions to delete the provision prohibiting a court from terminating an irrevocable trust that is subject to a valid restraint on the transfer of a beneficiary's interest and instead authorize the court to terminate a trust with this restraint if the court finds good cause to do so. The bill would specify that a court is authorized to limit the class of beneficiaries whose consent is necessary to modify or terminate a trust when the class is described as "heirs" or "next of kin." The bill would also make clarifying changes. Existing law authorizes the settlor and the beneficiaries of a trust, upon the consent of the settlor and all beneficiaries, to compel the modification or termination of the trust. This bill would revise and recast those provisions and instead authorize the trust to be modified or terminated by the written consent of the settlor and all beneficiaries without court approval of the modification or termination. The bill would also make clarifying changes.
Existing law creates a presumption of fraud or undue influence, under certain circumstances, for any instrument that makes a donative transfer to specified persons, including, among others, a person in a fiduciary relationship with the transferor who transcribed the instrument or caused it to be transcribed. This bill would recast this presumption to apply to a donative transfer to a person who transcribed the instrument or caused it to be transcribed and who was in a fiduciary relationship with the transferor when the instrument was transcribed. Existing law creates exceptions to presumptions of fraud or undue influence for gifts where the donative instrument is reviewed by an independent attorney who counsels the transferor, as specified, about the nature of the transfer. Existing law specifies how gifts operate if they fail under the provisions providing presumptions of fraud or undue influence for donative transfers. Existing case law construes the term "donative transfer" to include, in addition to gifts, a transfer for inadequate or unfair consideration. This bill would replace the term "gift" with the term "donative transfer" for purposes of these provisions. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the above-referenced provisions regarding these presumptions supplement the common law of undue influence. This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that these rules also supplement the common law of fraud.
Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim various days in honor of a person, status, or an event. This bill would require the Governor annually to proclaim the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 20 or the following day, as Nowrūz Day.
This measure would recognize May 2017 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.
Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal, state, and county funds. Under existing law, a recipient of CalWORKs is required to participate in welfare-to-work activities for a specified number of hours each week as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law authorizes certain welfare-to-work participants to engage in adult basic education in satisfaction of these work requirements. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to perform various administrative duties in connection with the CalWORKs program, including establishing rules and regulations ensuring the uniform statewide application of the schedule governing the payment of CalWORKs benefits. Existing law establishes the Cal-Learn Program, under which a recipient of CalWORKs aid who is under 19 years of age and who does not have a high school diploma or its equivalent is required to participate in the program as a student attending school on a full-time basis. Existing law provides for a supplement to, or a reduction in, a Cal-Learn participant's aid grant based on his or her performance in school. This bill would, contingent upon the appropriation in the Budget Act of an amount sufficient to carry out the purposes of the bill, as determined by the department, create the CalWORKs Educational Opportunity and Attainment Program. The bill would provide CalWORKs recipients with a monthly education incentive grant of $100 for attainment of a high school diploma or its equivalent as an ongoing adjustment to the recipient's monthly cash grant, if the recipient meets certain eligibility criteria. The bill would authorize a CalWORKs recipient to apply to receive education stipends totaling no more than $2,400 per year for enrollment in an education or training program leading to an associate's degree, career technical education program certificate, or bachelor's degree. The bill would require a CalWORKs recipient who applies for an education incentive grant or stipend, to submit evidence of completion of a high school educational program, or enrollment in an education or training program, as applicable, to the county. The bill would require the county, upon verification, as specified, to certify that the recipient is eligible for the grant or stipend and to ensure that the recipient's monthly cash grant is increased, or that the recipient receives the stipend, as applicable. By imposing additional administrative duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the CalWORKs Recipients Education Program in the California Community Colleges. Existing law requires, to the extent that funding is provided in the annual Budget Act, a community college district to receive funding for purposes of providing special services for CalWORKs recipients, including job placement and workstudy. This bill would, contingent upon an appropriation of $20,000,000 in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, allocate $20,000,000 to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to fund services provided under that program. The bill would require that $10,000,000 of this amount be used specifically to support CalWORKs recipients in working toward completion of their high school diploma or its equivalent. The bill would require the board to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before March 31, 2019, regarding the additional services provided as a result of the appropriation, as specified. 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. 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.