Sen. Steve Glazer

This measure would designate Monday, May 7, 2018, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.

This measure would proclaim the month of April 2018 as California Wines: Down to Earth Month, to celebrate the sustainable leadership of California wineries and winegrape growers throughout the month of April.

(1) The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill, with respect to the operation of the charter school only, would clarify that the governing body of a charter school is subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless the charter school is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. This bill would require the governing body of a charter school to hold its meetings within the physical boundaries of the state and in accordance with specified provisions related to those meetings, as provided, including a requirement that, if the governing body of the charter school operates charter schools in multiple school districts, a teleconference location be available within the geographic boundaries of each school district in which the charter schools are located. To the extent that this teleconference location requirement would impose new duties on charter schools, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill, with respect to the operation of a charter school only, would clarify that a charter school and the governing body of a charter school are subject to the California Public Records Act. (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, 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.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which provides a defined benefit to members of the system, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. PERL vests management and control of PERS in the Board of Administration. Under PERL, membership in PERS is compulsory for specified public employees and optional for other public employees. The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act. PEPRA authorizes a public employer to provide a contribution to a defined contribution plan for compensation in excess of certain federal compensation limits applicable to qualified pension trusts, if the plan and contribution meet the requirements set forth in federal law. PEPRA prohibits any of those employer contributions to an employee defined contribution plan from exceeding the employer's contribution rate, as a percentage of pay, required to fund the defined benefit plan. Existing law establishes an alternate retirement program and provides that certain state employees, as defined, who become new members of PERS during their first 24 months of employment, do not make contributions to PERS or receive service credit for their service. Under existing law, these members are instead required to contribute either 5% or 6% of their monthly compensation, as specified, to the alternate retirement program. This bill would create a new optional defined contribution plan for new state employees who first begin employment in a miscellaneous or industrial classification on or after January 1, 2020, and who were not members of any public retirement system prior to that date. The bill would require state employees who are subject to the bill's provisions, within 30 days of beginning employment, to choose either to contribute to the defined contribution plan or to become a member of PERS. The bill would require, if an employee fails to make this decision within the above timeframe, that the employee automatically be placed in PERS. The bill would require state employees who opt to participate in this alternate system to contribute the same percent of compensation as similarly situated employees who contribute to the defined pension program, subject to applicable limits of federal law. The bill would authorize an employee in the defined contribution program, after 5 years, to have the right to continue in the program or switch to the defined benefit plan, subject to certain terms and conditions. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources to administer the defined contribution retirement program established by the bill.

The California Environmental Quality Act requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The act authorizes specified entities to file and maintain with a court an action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an act of a public agency on grounds of noncompliance with the requirements of the act. This bill would require a plaintiff or petitioner, in an action brought pursuant to the act, to disclose the identity of a person or entity that contributes in excess of $1,000, as specified, toward the plaintiff's or petitioner's costs of the action. The bill also would require the plaintiff or petitioner to identify any pecuniary or business interest related to the project of any person or entity that contributes in excess of $1,000 to the costs of the action, as specified. The bill would provide that a failure to comply with these requirements may be grounds for dismissal of the action by the court. This bill would prohibit an action or proceeding from being brought in the court to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an act of a public agency for housing projects on grounds of noncompliance with the requirements of the act, as specified.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA establishes a procedure by which a person may seek judicial review of the decision of the lead agency made pursuant to CEQA. This bill would require the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2019, to adopt a rule of court establishing procedures applicable to actions or proceedings seeking judicial review pursuant to CEQA of a lead agency's action, as specified, for a housing project. The bill would prohibit the court, in an action or proceeding brought alleging a violation of CEQA, from staying or enjoining the siting, construction, or operation of a housing project, except as provided.