Sen. Brian Jones

This measure would recognize the month of January 2024 as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to either submit sexual assault forensic evidence received on or after January 1, 2016, to a crime lab within 20 days after it is booked into evidence or to ensure that a rapid turnaround deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) program is in place, as specified. Existing law also requires a crime lab that receives sexual assault forensic evidence on or after January 1, 2016, to either process the evidence, create DNA profiles when able, and upload qualifying DNA profiles into the Combined DNA Index System, as specified, or transmit the sexual assault forensic evidence to another crime lab as soon as practically possible, but no later than 30 days after receiving the evidence, for processing of the evidence for the presence of DNA. This bill would require a law enforcement agency, for any sexual assault forensic evidence connected to a reported crime received by the law enforcement agency prior to January 1, 2016, to submit that evidence to the crime lab on or before January 31, 2025. The bill would additionally require a crime lab, for any sexual assault evidence kit received by a law enforcement agency prior to January 1, 2016, and submitted to the crime lab on or after January 1, 2024, to process that evidence kit no later than January 31, 2026. Because the bill would impose a higher level of service on local law enforcement agencies in processing that evidence, it 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 provides that all property has an owner, whether that owner is the state, and the property is public, or the owner is an individual, and the property is private. Existing law establishes the California National Guard and regulates the operation of that force. The United States Constitution authorizes Congress to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. This bill would prohibit a prohibited foreign actor, as defined, from purchasing, acquiring, leasing, or holding an interest, as defined, in any land that is located within 50 miles of a United States military base or California National Guard base within the State of California. The bill would exempt land held by a prohibited foreign actor before January 1, 2024, from that prohibition. The bill would provide land transferred in violation of these provisions would be subject to divestiture, as specified. The bill would provide that these provisions may not be applied in a manner inconsistent with any provision of any treaty between the United States and another country.

Existing law requires a nonprofit corporation, as defined, that operates or controls a health facility, as defined, or operates or controls a facility that provides similar health care to provide written notice to, and obtain the written consent of, the Attorney General prior to selling or otherwise disposing of a material amount of its assets to a for-profit corporation or entity, to a mutual benefit corporation or entity, or to another nonprofit corporation or entity. Existing law provides that the Attorney General has discretion to give consent to, give conditional consent to, or to not consent to, the agreement or transaction and requires the Attorney General to consider any factors they deem relevant, including, but not limited to, whether the terms are fair and reasonable. This bill would prohibit the Attorney General from giving conditional consent to any above-described agreement or transaction upon any condition or conditions that, individually or in aggregate, would reasonably be expected to, among other things, impose conditions that are unique to the selling nonprofit corporation, and are distinct from conditions that similarly situated selling nonprofit corporations are required to maintain or perform.

The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to annually adjust for inflation these adjusted gross income amounts. For 2021, the adjusted gross income limit is $87,066 and $43,533, respectively. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account in the General Fund and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the taxable year that includes the date on which funding is first authorized for purposes of this bill and for the succeeding 4 taxable years, and only when specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, would increase the credit amount to $2,000 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of households, and surviving spouses and $1,000 for other individuals. In the event the increased credit amount is not specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, the existing credit amounts, as described above, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to annually recompute the credit amounts for inflation for taxable years following the first year in which the increased credit is operative, except as provided. The bill, for credits allowable for taxable years in which the above-described increased credit is operative, would provide that the credit amount in excess of the qualified renter's liability would be refundable and paid from the Tax Relief and Refund Account to the qualified renter upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals, purposes, and objectives of this credit. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Under existing law, a person who lodges in a public or private place without permission is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Existing law also provides that a person who willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place is guilty of a misdemeanor. Under existing law, a public nuisance is anything that is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community, neighborhood, or considerable number of persons. Existing law provides various remedies against a public nuisance, including abatement by any public body or officer authorized by law. This bill would prohibit a person from sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way within 1000 feet of a sensitive area, as defined. The bill would specify that a violation of this prohibition is a public nuisance that can be abated and prevented, as provided. The bill would also provide that a violation of the prohibition may be charged as a misdemeanor or an infraction, at the discretion of the prosecutor. The bill would prohibit a person from being found in violation of the bill's provisions unless provided notice, at least 72 hours before commencement of any enforcement action, as provided. By imposing criminal penalties for a violation of these provisions, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

(1) 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 requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that the statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. Pursuant to the act, the state board has adopted the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations. The act authorizes the state board to include in its regulation of those emissions 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. This bill would suspend the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations for one year. The bill would also exempt suppliers of transportation fuels from regulations for the use of market-based compliance mechanisms for one year. This bill would direct the Controller to transfer a specified amount from the General Fund to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. By transferring General Fund moneys to a partially continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law, the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law, imposes a tax upon each gallon of motor vehicle fuel removed from a refinery or terminal rack in this state, entered into this state, or sold in this state, at a specified rate per gallon. This bill would suspend the imposition of the tax on motor vehicle fuels for one year. The bill would require a seller of motor vehicle fuels to provide a receipt to a purchaser that indicates the amount of tax that would have otherwise applied to the transaction. This bill would also direct the Controller to transfer a specified amount from the General Fund to the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. By transferring General Fund moneys to a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing unfair competition laws establish a statutory cause of action for unfair competition, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising and acts prohibited by false advertisement laws. This bill would require that all savings realized based on the suspension of the motor vehicle fuels tax, the suspension of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations, and the exemption of suppliers of transportation fuels from regulations for use of market-based compliance mechanisms by a person other than an end consumer, as defined, be passed on to the end consumer, and would make the violation of this requirement an unfair business practice, in violation of unfair competition laws, as provided. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

(1) Existing law establishes a system of elementary and secondary education in this state. This system consists of the public and private schools that provide instruction in kindergarten and in grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes a system of higher education in this state, consisting of 4 segments: the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California; the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University; the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges; and independent institutions of higher education. This bill would enact the Education Savings Account Act of 2024 and establish the Education Savings Account (ESA) Trust, to be known as the ESA Trust, as a fund within the State Treasury to be administered by the ESA Trust Board. During the first 4 school years following the operative date of the act, the bill would authorize certain children eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten, or in an elementary or secondary school, in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an ESA, based on parent or guardian income. The bill would remove these income eligibility limits after 4 school years following the operative date of the act, thereby entitling every child eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten, or in an elementary or secondary school, in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an ESA. The bill would specify that every child enrolled in an eligible school shall be entitled, pursuant to this act, to a credit to the child's account for tuition, elementary and secondary eligible education expenses, and undergraduate or graduate eligible education expenses, as defined. Commencing with the first fiscal year following the operative date of the act, the bill would require the Department of Finance to determine, on July 1 of each year, the annual ESA deposit amount for the upcoming school year. The bill would specify the procedure for calculating the ESA deposit amount and would require the Controller to transfer an amount of money from the General Fund to the ESA Trust equal to the ESA deposit amount multiplied by the number of ESAs established, as provided. The bill would require the ESA Trust Board to be composed of specified members and would vest the ESA Trust Board with certain powers and duties. The bill would establish 2 accounts within the ESA Trust, the ESA Trust Program Account and the ESA Trust Administrative Account, and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the program account to the ESA Trust Board for purposes of the bill, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a procedure for the parents and legal guardians of eligible students to apply to establish an ESA and submit an executed participation agreement. The bill would authorize the ESA Trust Board to disburse funds from ESAs to eligible schools. The bill would define "eligible school" as a campus of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California, a full-time private school, a private college or university, a public college or university, or a vocational educational or training institution, as specified. The bill would specify the procedures for participating eligible schools to receive funds disbursed by the ESA Trust Board. Once an eligible student graduates from high school or obtains a high school equivalency certification, the bill would impose a $60,000 cap on the balance in any ESA available for an eligible student's use for tuition, undergraduate or graduate eligible education expenses, or expenses associated with vocational education. The bill would require the Department of Finance to adjust this limit annually for inflation using the California Consumer Price Index. (2) The Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, an initiative approved by the voters as Proposition 98 at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, amended the California Constitution to, among other things, set forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts based on one of 3 tests in any given fiscal year, one of which is based on the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts, respectively, in the 1986–87 fiscal year, and 2 of which are based on, among other things, changes in enrollment. This bill would require the Legislature to recalculate that minimum education funding guarantee by including eligible students not enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school before the operative date of the act in those minimum funding guarantee calculations based on average daily attendance, as provided. The bill would also require the costs of providing ESA deposit amounts for eligible students to be apportioned between the General Fund and the public school district in which those eligible students reside in the same ratio of General Fund and local property tax revenue that would have been used to educate those eligible students in their public school district. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income for purposes of computing tax liability. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, exclude from gross income any amounts received as distribution from an ESA, as defined, as part of a participation agreement. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (4) These provisions would become operative on January 1, 2025, only if Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 of the 2023–24 Regular Session is approved by the voters at the statewide general election on November 5, 2024.

Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Opiates, including fentanyl, are classified in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and punishes a violation of that prohibition by imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years. Existing law also prohibits transporting, importing into this state, selling, furnishing, administering, or giving away specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and punishes a violation of that prohibition by imprisonment in a county jail for 3, 4, or 5 years. Existing law also prohibits the trafficking of specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and punishes a violation of that prohibition by imprisonment in a county jail for 3, 6, or 9 years. The bill would punish the possession, sale, or purchase for sale of fentanyl by imprisonment in a county jail for 4, 5, or 6 years, the transportation, importation, sale, furnishing, administering, or giving away of fentanyl by imprisonment in a county jail for 7, 8, or 9 years, and the trafficking of fentanyl by imprisonment in a county jail for 7, 10, or 13 years. By increasing the penalty for a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.