Sen. Ben Hueso

(1) The California Constitution requires that a county charter provide for a governing body of 5 or more members, elected by district, at large, or at large with a requirement that they reside in a district, and provide for the compensation, terms, and removal of members of the governing body. Existing law also requires a general law county to have a board of supervisors consisting of 5 members, and requires, except as provided, each member of the board of supervisors to be elected by the district which the member represents. This measure would, commencing January 1, 2022, in a county that is found at a decennial United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States census, to have a population of more than 5,000,000, require, and deem any applicable law, including a county charter, to require, a governing body consisting of the greater of either 5 members or a sufficient number of members so as to ensure that each member represents a district containing a population equivalent to no more than 2 districts in the United States House of Representatives. The measure would require that the members of the governing body serve for a term of 4 years and limit election to the governing body to no more than 3 terms. The measure would also provide that, in such a county, the expenditures for the governing body and its staff may not exceed, for any subsequent fiscal year after the release of the census finding that the county has a population of more than 5,000,000, the amount that was allocated for the expenses of the governing body and its staff in the county's adopted budget for the fiscal year in which that same census was conducted, unless adjusted as provided. (2) The California Constitution additionally requires that a county charter provide for an elected sheriff, an elected district attorney, an elected assessor, and other officers. This measure would require a county that is found at a decennial United States census, beginning with the 2020 United States census, to have a population of more than 5,000,000, to have an elected county executive. The measure would provide for the election of the county executive to a term of 6 years at a general election, and would limit election to that office to no more than 2 terms. The measure would require the county executive to appoint, supervise, and dismiss any appointed department head, and to appoint the members of county commissions, subject to confirmation by the governing body of the county. The measure would additionally require the county executive to develop and submit the county budget to the governing body, for approval or amendment by that body, and to approve, with or without line-item vetoes, the budget as transmitted back by the governing body. (3) The California Constitution provides that charter counties are subject to statutes that relate to apportioning population of governing body districts. This measure would recast this provision to provide that charter counties are subject to federal, state, and local laws that relate to apportioning population of governing body districts. (4) This measure would also make other technical, nonsubstantive changes. (5) This measure would declare that its provisions are severable.

Existing law defines a hate crime as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of the victim's disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Existing law also defines as a hate crime a criminal act committed because of the victim's association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Existing law defines association for these purposes as including advocacy for or identification with people who have one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or as being on the ground owned or rented by, or adjacent to, a community center, educational facility, office, meeting hall, place of worship, private institution, public agency, or library that is identified with people who have these actual or perceived characteristics. Existing law provides punishments for hate crimes that range from misdemeanors with specified penalties to felonies with additional terms of one to 3 years in state prison, depending on the underlying criminal act and other circumstances. Existing law requires, with conditions, the Attorney General to direct local law enforcement agencies to report specified information relative to hate crimes to the Department of Justice. Existing law requires the department to annually submit a report to the Legislature that analyzes the results of information obtained from local law enforcement pursuant to these provisions. Local law enforcement entities are required by existing law to provide a brochure on hate crimes to victims of these crimes and to the public, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is required by existing law to revise those brochures as needed and to provide those brochures to local law enforcement agencies upon request. This bill would revise the definition of association for these purposes and would include representation, defense, or support of a person or group that has one or more of the above specified characteristics, whether by an individual or a public or private entity. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. By expanding the information that law enforcement agencies are required to report to the Department of Justice, 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(1) Existing law requires a project study report or project study report equivalent that is prepared for any new project involving the construction of a new bridge, or the replacement of a bridge with a history of documented suicides, which project is included in the regional transportation improvement program, the interregional transportation improvement program, or the state highway operation and protection program, to include a document demonstrating that a suicide barrier was a feature considered during the project's planning process. Existing law defines "bridge" for these purposes. This bill would require the Department of Transportation, no later than February 1, 2018, to update the Legislature, the Assembly Committee on Transportation, and the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing regarding any feasibility studies completed for proposed projects designed to improve safety and mitigate suicide risks on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. The bill would require the department, no later than June 30, 2018, to also update the Legislature and those legislative committees regarding any scoping reports for any proposed projects for which a feasibility study was completed pursuant to those provisions, containing specified timelines and information, as prescribed. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would recognize the month of August 2017 as Opportunity Youth Reengagement Month, and state the intent of the Legislature to encourage the expansion of schools authorized to specifically reengage "opportunity youth" 16 to 24 years of age by developing recommendations for a statewide student reengagement strategy and identifying the cost of the strategy compared to the cost of inaction; authorizing systems for accountability to students, parents, and families through transparency, active engagement, and outreach strategies; and highlighting, promoting, and uplifting evidence-based practices for successful student reengagement efforts that maintain multiple measures for evaluation of student success.

Existing law authorizes a peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that a person to be arrested has committed a public offense to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. Existing law requires each law enforcement agency to annually furnish to the Department of Justice, in a manner defined and prescribed by the Attorney General, a report of all instances when a peace officer employed by that agency is involved in any of specified incidents, including an incident involving the shooting of a civilian by a peace officer or an incident involving the shooting of a peace officer by a civilian. This bill would, contingent upon the appropriation of funding by the Legislature, require the Department of Justice to conduct a study of all or a sample of peace officer-involved shootings resulting in death or serious injury that occurred in California between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2016. The bill would require the department to prepare a written report describing its findings and recommendations and make the report available to the public.

Existing law, until July 1, 2023, authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the California State University and the University of California, to establish a statewide baccalaureate degree pilot program. Existing law requires a district baccalaureate degree pilot program to commence by the beginning of the 2017–18 academic year and requires a student participating in a baccalaureate degree pilot program to complete his or her degree by the end of the 2022–23 academic year. This bill would extend the operation of the statewide baccalaureate degree pilot program until July 1, 2028, and would extend the time by which a student participating in a baccalaureate degree pilot program is required to complete his or her degree to the end of the 2027–28 academic year.

The California Constitution requires a measure authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires such a measure to be approved by a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and submitted to the voters, as specified. Existing law, the State General Obligation Bond Law, contains procedures for use in authorizing the issuance and sale of, and providing for the repayment of, state general obligation bonds. Under existing law, various general obligation bond measures have been approved by the voters to provide funds for certain natural resources programs. This bill would enact the Salton Sea Obligations Act of 2018, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $500,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a program to comply with specified state obligations relating to the Salton Sea. This bill would provide for the submission of these provisions to the voters at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law requires a vehicle to display a license plate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles on the rear of the vehicle. Existing law requires a vehicle to display tabs upon the license plate indicating the month and year of expiration of the vehicle registration and makes it a crime to display expired tabs. Existing law authorizes the department to conduct a pilot program, to be completed no later than January 1, 2019, to evaluate the use of alternatives to stickers, tabs, license plates, and registration cards, subject to certain requirements, and to report the results of the pilot program, as specified, to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2020. Existing law also authorizes the department to enter into contracts with qualified private industry partners to provide specified service relating to the registration of vehicles. Existing law regulates the licensing of persons engaged in the business of a registration service. This bill would specify that the authorization to establish the above-mentioned pilot program includes the authority to establish a pilot program to evaluate alternative methods of collecting fees related to the registration of a motor vehicle or the purchase, renewal, or transfer of license plates.

This measure would designate the Palomar Street Bridge on Interstate 805 in the City of Chula Vista, California, as the Officer Jonathan M. De Guzman Memorial Bridge. The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost for appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.