Sen. Ben Hueso

This measure would urge the federal government to prioritize the health and safety of Californians by addressing the environmental and public health crisis at our border and would declare the Legislature's support of the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's decision to file a lawsuit challenging the President's National Emergency Declaration.

(1) Existing law, the California Financing Law, generally provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders, brokers, and, beginning on January 1, 2019, program administrators, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL makes a willful violation of specified provisions a crime. The CFL, until January 1, 2023, establishes the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans (pilot program) , which requires licensees and other entities that wish to participate in the pilot program to file an application and pay a specified fee to the commissioner to participate in the pilot program. The pilot program authorizes a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program to impose specified alternative interest rates and charges, including an administrative fee and delinquency fees, on unsecured loans of at least $300 and less than $2,500, subject to certain requirements. This bill would increase the upper limit on the amount of a permissible loan under the pilot program from $2,500 to $7,500 and make corresponding changes. (2) Under the pilot program, a licensee is prohibited from making a loan if that licensee determines, through its underwriting, that the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's monthly gross income. This bill would instead prohibit a licensee from making a loan under these circumstances if the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan of no more than $2,500, or exceed 36% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan in excess of $2,500. (3) The pilot program establishes that a loan with a principal balance, upon origination, of at least $1,500 is required to have a term of not less than 180 days. As an alternative to other authorized charges, a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program may contract for and receive charges at an annual simple interest rate not exceeding specified amounts. This bill would additionally require a loan under the pilot program that has a principal balance exceeding $2,500 to have a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of 5 years. The bill would also require licensees to reduce the interest rates on each subsequent loan to the same borrower by a minimum of one percentage point and subject to additional reductions, if specified conditions are satisfied. (4) Under the pilot program, licensees are required to develop and implement policies and procedures designed to respond to questions raised by applicants and borrowers regarding their loans, including those involving finders. Existing law describes a finder as an entity that brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would also require licensees to perform reasonable background checks on any finders associated with a licensee's participation in the pilot program. (5) The pilot program authorizes a licensee who is approved to participate in the program to use the services of one or more finders. Existing law defines a "finder" for these purposes as an entity that, at the finder's physical location for business, brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would authorize the commissioner to charge a licensee participating in the program an additional fee to offset the commissioner's costs to oversee and examine the activities of that licensee's finder or finders. (6) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to examine each licensee that is accepted into the program at least once every 24 months. This bill would require the commissioner also to examine each finder whose services were used by the licensee at least once every 24 months. (7) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to post reports containing specified information on his or her Internet Web site that summarize utilization of the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans. If more than one licensee is approved to participate in the program, existing law requires that information in the report to be stated in aggregate to avoid identifying data by specific licensee. This bill would require that these reports also contain specified information for each finder whose services were used by a licensee in connection with the loans or loan applications, along with the finder's identity. By increasing the scope of the program, the bill would expand the definition of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (8) 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.

(1) Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system, which is made up of units. Existing law requires the department to administer, protect, develop, and interpret the property under its jurisdiction for the use and enjoyment of the public. Under this bill, a person or entity that engages in any for-profit activity in connection with the reservation of any overnight accommodation in any unit of the state park system, including sales activity to reserve an overnight accommodation on behalf of a 3rd party, without permission of the department or the operator of that state park system unit, would be guilty of a misdemeanor or an infraction, punishable as specified. The bill would establish a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the department consult with experts in the public and private sectors, as specified, on the effective implementation of this provision, and provide an annual update to the Legislature on the implementation of this provision. (2) 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. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development in state government. Existing law requires that the office serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing state regulation defines a "Federal Promise Zone" as any area with a continuous boundary and a population of not more than 200,000 that is nominated by a local government or Indian tribe and designated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive priority for federal funding on the basis of its unemployment, poverty, vacancy, and crime rates. Existing federal law allows for the designation of certain census tracts as opportunity zones, and provides that specified investments in these zones receive beneficial tax treatment. This bill would authorize the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to develop content on its Internet Web site or through other mediums to be used for public dissemination, through outreach activities, in order to provide information and resources to inform the general public about place-based and other geographically targeted economic development programs, including, but not limited to, California Promise Zones and California Opportunity Zones, as defined. The bill would require the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to convene, at least annually, representatives from various programs and agencies across the state and from various federal programs and agencies for the purpose of discussing how California can leverage Promise Zones and Opportunity Zones to meet state and local community and economic development needs, as provided.

Existing law provides for the regulation of court interpreters, and requires the Judicial Council to designate the languages for which certification programs shall be established. Existing law requires, except for good cause, as specified, a person who interprets in a court proceeding, as defined, using a language designated by the Judicial Council, to be a certified court interpreter for the language used. Existing law specifically excludes a small claims proceeding from the definition of a court proceeding for purposes of that requirement. This bill would delete the provision excluding small claims proceedings from the definition of a court proceeding for purposes of the requirement to use certified court interpreters and thereby extend that requirement to small claims proceedings. Existing law authorizes a small claims court to permit another individual, other than an attorney, to assist a party if the court determines that the party does not speak or understand English sufficiently to comprehend the proceedings or give testimony and needs assistance. Existing law requires each small claims court to make a reasonable effort to maintain and make available to the parties a list of interpreters who are able and willing to aid parties in small claims actions, as specified. Existing law requires, if a court interpreter or other competent interpreter is not available to aid a party in a small claims action, the court to postpone the hearing, at the first hearing of the case, one time only to allow the party the opportunity to obtain another individual, other than an attorney, to assist that party. This bill would repeal that authorization and those requirements.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting 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. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law requires the moneys from the fund to be used to facilitate the achievement of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the act and, among other things, to maximize economic, environmental, and public health benefits to the state. This bill, beginning July 1, 2019, would require state agencies administering competitive grant programs that allocate moneys from the fund to give specified communities preferential points during grant application scoring for programs intended to improve air quality and to include a specified application timeline and to allow applicants from the Counties of Imperial and San Diego to include daytime population numbers in grant applications. This bill, for competitive grant programs that involve housing, urban forestry, urban greening, or planning and that allocate moneys from the fund after July 1, 2019, would require state agencies administering those moneys from the fund to develop at least 3 categories for applications based on the population and density of where the proposed project is to be located and to develop scoring criteria for each category, as specified. This bill would additionally require the moneys in the fund to be used to facilitate the achievement of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the act and to increase water supply resilience; reduce or prevent increases in transportation, energy, or fuel costs, particularly in disadvantaged communities; accelerate the development and implementation of low-carbon technology; reduce vehicle miles traveled; promote zoning and development activities that increase public access to essential services or amenities; promote partnerships between multiple jurisdictions; promote climate change adaptation capacity; and improve community access to green space. This bill also would require the Department of Finance to include in an annual report to the Legislature specified information on the applications received for each grant program allocating moneys from the fund.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to provide public and professional education on Alzheimer's disease to educate consumers, caregivers, and health care providers, and to increase public awareness. This bill would require the Center for Healthy Communities, within the department, on or before January 1, 2021, to update the 2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures in California: Current Status and Future Projections to quantify the burden of Alzheimer's disease on at-risk and underrepresented populations, including African Americans, Asian-Pacific Islanders, Latinos, Hispanics, and women. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.

Existing law establishes the San Diego River Conservancy to acquire and direct the management of specified public lands in the San Diego River area, as defined, and prescribes the management, powers, and duties of the conservancy. Existing law establishes the San Diego River Conservancy Fund, and requires that moneys in the fund be available, upon appropriation, for the purposes of the conservancy. This bill would require the conservancy to establish the San Diego Rivers Watershed Consortium Program to create advisory panels to work cooperatively with local public agencies and other entities to identify potential project funding, including grant funding, to be used to restore the watersheds of the Otay River, the Sweetwater River, and the parts of the Tijuana River within the state, and to improve access to public lands. The bill would require the conservancy, in administering the program, to create 3 advisory panels representing watersheds within the area, comprised of specified members, to offer advice, expertise, support, and service to the conservancy in those respective watershed areas. The bill would create the San Diego Rivers Watershed Consortium Program Account in the fund, and would authorize the conservancy, upon appropriation, to expend moneys from the account for purposes of the program. Existing law, on or before January 1, 2017, and on or before January 1 of every odd-numbered year thereafter, requires the conservancy to prepare and submit to the Governor and the Legislature a report that includes specified information and recommendations relating to projects funded or undertaken by the conservancy, as provided. This bill would additionally require that the report include a summary of the program established by the bill.

Existing law requires state agencies to consider and, as appropriate, adopt policies and incentives to significantly increase the sustainable production and use of renewable gas. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board, to consider additional policies to support the development and use in the state of renewable gas that reduce short-lived climate pollutants in the state. This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to consider adopting specific biomethane procurement targets or goals for each gas corporation, as specified. The bill would require the PUC, if the PUC adopts those targets or goals, to take certain actions in regards to the development of the targets or goals and the procurement of the biomethane to meet those targets or goals. 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 expanding the operation of a 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.