Sen. Ben Hueso

Existing law requires every state agency subject to the Administrative Procedure Act to provide an initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation. Existing law requires an initial statement of reasons for a regulation that is a building standard that impacts housing to include the estimated cost of compliance and the potential benefits of the regulation and the related assumptions used in determining that estimate, except as specified. This bill would instead require an initial statement of reasons for any regulation that is a building standard, regardless of whether the building standard impacts housing, to include the information specified above.

Existing provisions of the California Constitution establish the University of California as a public trust under the administration of the Regents of the University of California. The University of California system includes 10 campuses, which are located in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. The bill would request the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, to develop a program consistent with its mission, in conjunction with the health facilities of its medical residency programs, to identify eligible medical residents and to assist those medical residents to apply for physician retention programs, including, but not limited to, the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program.

This measure would proclaim the week of April 23 to April 30, 2013, inclusive, as Black April Memorial Week, a special time for Californians to remember the countless lives lost during the Vietnam War era, and to hope for a more humane and just life for the people of Vietnam.

(1) Existing law establishes rules for the operation of off-highway vehicles, including specified requirements governing the operation of recreational off-highway vehicles. A violation of these rules and requirements is a crime. Existing law prohibits a person who is operating a recreational off-highway vehicle from allowing a passenger to occupy a separate seat location not designed and provided by the manufacturer for a passenger. This bill would make these provisions applicable only to a recreational off-highway vehicle with a model year of 2014 or later. For vehicles with a model year of 2013 or earlier, the bill would allow seats that are installed in a separate seat location not designed and provided by the manufacturer for a passenger to be occupied if the occupant of the seat is fully contained inside of the vehicle's rollover protection structure at all times while the vehicle is being operated. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law prohibits a person from operating a recreational off-highway vehicle from riding with a passenger, unless the passenger, while seated upright with his or her back against the seatback, can grasp the occupant handhold with the seatbelt and shoulder belt or safety harness properly fastened while seated upright. This bill would define occupant handhold for these purposes, and would require occupant handholds to be designed to allow the recreational off-highway vehicle passenger to exit the vehicle without interference from the handholds. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would declare the week of August 4, 2013, to August 10, 2013, inclusive, to be Dropout Recovery Week, and would state the Legislature's intent to encourage the support of dropout recovery high schools with creative teaching strategies, alternative assessments, and adequate resources.

This measure would proclaim July 25, 2013, as Swimmable California Day to recognize Californians' rights to clean and safe waters for swimming and other appropriate activities, and to encourage Californians to enjoy and use their waters.

This measure would proclaim July 27, 2013, as Korean War Armistice Day. It would urge Californians to observe the anniversary and call upon them to honor and give thanks to Korean War veterans. It would also urge Governor Jerry Brown to proclaim July 27, 2013, as Korean War Armistice Day and instruct all state departments, agencies, interest groups, organizations, and individuals to fly the United States flag at half-mast on July 27, 2013, in memory of veterans from this state who died as a result of their service in Korea.

The County Water District Law governs the operations of the Coachella Valley County Water District. The County Water District Law authorizes a district to drain and reclaim lands within the district either by surface or underground works or both and to acquire, by appropriation or other lawful means, and divert, store, conserve, transport, or dispose of water resulting from these activities. Under existing law, the district is authorized to raise funds by special assessment on benefited land in proportion to the benefits derived by the benefited lands, as prescribed. Article XIII C and Article XIII D of the California Constitution generally require that assessments, fees, and charges be submitted to property owners for approval or rejection after the provision of written notice and the holding of a public hearing. Existing law, the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, prescribes specific procedures and parameters for local jurisdictions to comply with Article XIII C and Article XIII D of the California Constitution. This bill would specify that the district is authorized to raise funds by special assessment pursuant to the Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act, or by adopting prescribed property-related fees and charges.

(1) Existing law specifies that any building, including any dwelling unit, shall be deemed to be a substandard building when a health officer determines that, among other things, an infestation of insects, vermin, or rodents exists to the extent that it endangers the life, limb, health, property, safety, or welfare of the public or its occupants, or there is a lack of adequate garbage and rubbish storage and removal facilities. This bill would, if an agreement does not exist with an agency that has a health officer, authorize a code enforcement officer, upon successful completion of a course of study in the appropriate subject matter as determined by the local jurisdiction, to determine whether an infestation exists or whether there is a lack of adequate garbage and rubbish removal facilities. (2) Existing law provides that the housing or building department of every city, county, or city and county is required to enforce within its jurisdiction all of the State Housing Law. Existing law further provides that the health department of every city, county, or city and county, or any environmental agency or local building department, may enforce regulations related to lead hazards, as specified, and is required to coordinate enforcement activities with other interested departments and agencies in order to avoid unnecessary duplication. This bill would make technical, conforming changes to those provisions.

(1) Existing state and federal law regulate the practice of debt collection. Existing state law prohibits a debt collector from engaging in specified conduct, including the use of threats or causing a telephone to ring repeatedly to annoy the person called. Existing law prohibits a debt collector from obtaining an affirmation from a debtor of a consumer debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing to the debtor, in writing, the fact that the debtor is not legally obligated to make such affirmation. This bill would enact the Fair Debt Buying Practices Act, which would regulate the activities of a person or entity that has bought charged-off consumer debt, as defined, for collection purposes and the circumstances pursuant to which the person may bring suit. The bill would apply to consumer debt sold or resold on or after January 1, 2014. The bill would prohibit a debt buyer, as defined, from making any written statement in an attempt to collect a consumer debt unless the debt buyer possesses information that the debt buyer is the sole owner or is authorized to assert the rights of all owners of the specific debt at issue, the debt balance, as specified, and the name and address of the creditor at the time the debt was charged off, among other things. The bill would require the debt buyer to make certain documents available to the debtor, without charge, upon receipt of a request, within 15 days. The bill would require that a specified notice be included with the debt buyer's first written communication with the debtor. The bill would require all settlement agreements between a debt buyer and a debtor to be documented in open court or otherwise in writing and would require a debt buyer who receives a payment on a debt to provide a receipt or statement containing certain information. The bill would prohibit a debt buyer from initiating a suit to collect a debt if the statute of limitations on the cause of action has expired. The bill would prescribe penalties for each violation of the act and would provide that its provisions may not be waived. The bill would require a debt buyer bringing an action on consumer debt to include certain information in his or her complaint. The bill would prohibit an entry of judgment in favor of a plaintiff debt buyer unless business records authenticated through a sworn declaration and relating to the debt and ownership of it, among other things, are submitted by the debt buyer to the court, and would permit a court to dismiss a debt buyer's action to collect with prejudice if this information is not provided or if the debt buyer fails to appear or is not prepared on the date scheduled for trial. (2) Existing law establishes a process for the enforcement of money judgments and requires a levying officer to provide certain documents and information to a judgment debtor and to a designated employer in connection with wage garnishment. Existing law permits a process server also to serve an earnings withholding order on an employer and requires that the process server also serve certain documents at this time. Existing law requires an employer who is served with an earnings withholding order to provide certain documents to an employee who is a judgment debtor. This bill would require, in the circumstances described above, that a copy of the form that the judgment debtor may use to make a claim of exemption and a copy of the form used to provide a financial statement also be provided.