Sen. Jim Nielsen

This measure would designate a specified portion of the State Highway Route 65 Lincoln Highway in the County of Placer as the Thomas J. Cosgrove Memorial Highway. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

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 generally requires a sexually violent predator who is conditionally released to be placed in the county that was the person's county of domicile prior to the person's incarceration. Existing law provides for placement outside of the county of domicile if specified circumstances exist. Existing law specifies certain information to be considered in determining the county of domicile, and provides that if that information cannot be identified or verified, that the county of domicile is the county in which the person was arrested for the crime for which he or she was last incarcerated in the state prison or from which he or she was last returned from parole. This bill would require the court to consider additional factors when determining the county of placement that is not the county of domicile, including if and how long the person has previously resided or been employed in the county and if the person has next of kin in the county.

The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, among other things, establishes procedures for consideration of a proposal for change of organization or reorganization, as defined. Existing law requires that an applicant seeking a change of organization or reorganization submit a plan for providing services within the affected territory that includes, among other requirements, an enumeration and description of the services to be extended to the affected territory and an indication of when those services can feasibly be extended. This bill would specify that the plan is required to also include specific information regarding services currently provided to the affected territory, as applicable, and make related changes. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 authorizes any district to which annexation of territory is proposed to adopt and transmit to the local agency formation commission a resolution requesting termination of proceedings, as specified, and requires the resolution to be based upon written findings supported by substantial evidence in the record that the request is justified by a financial or service-related concern. This bill would require the resolution to be based upon written findings supported by substantial evidence in the record that the request is justified as described above or because the territory is already receiving electrical service under a service area agreement approved by the Public Utilities Commission, as specified. The bill would require findings related to existing provision of electrical service by an irrigation district pursuant to a service area agreement approved under a specified provision to be based on the records of the district and the Public Utilities Commission, as provided.

Existing law prohibits the possession of nitrous oxide with the intent of inhaling it for specified purposes, including to cause intoxication. Existing law also prohibits the sale of nitrous oxide to any person under 18 years of age. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly dispense nitrous oxide to a person who will use it for specified prohibited purposes, if that person then causes death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or another person. Finally, existing law requires a seller of nitrous oxide to keep a record of persons who purchase nitrous oxide from it and also to provide certain written warnings to the purchaser. This bill would prohibit a retailer of tobacco or tobacco-related products, as defined, from selling, offering, or exposing for sale nitrous oxide, as specified. The bill would authorize a civil penalty to be assessed against a retailer who violates this prohibition and would require the suspension of the retailer's license to engage in the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products, if the retailer possesses that license.

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.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes them to operate campuses and provide instruction to students. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a community college district to provide a counseling program. This bill would require the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges to ensure that each of its campuses provides a dedicated on-campus Veteran Resource Center that offers services to help student veterans transition successfully from military life to educational success through the core components of academics, wellness, and camaraderie and would require those Veteran Resource Centers, at a minimum, to be open for 25 hours a week, be staffed by veterans whenever possible, be 400 square feet and fully accessible, and provide enrolled student veterans with specified services, except as provided. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, 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.

This measure would recognize May 2017 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of mental illness.

This measure would proclaim the month of April 2017 as California Wines: Down to Earth Month, to celebrate the sustainable leadership of California wineries and winegrape growers throughout the month of April.