This bill would call a special election to be consolidated with the November 8, 2016, statewide general election. The bill would require the Secretary of State to submit to the voters at the November 8, 2016, consolidated election a voter instruction asking whether California's elected officials should use all of their constitutional authority, including proposing and ratifying one or more amendments to the United States Constitution, to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310, and other applicable judicial precedents, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of State to communicate the results of this election to the Congress of the United States. The bill would require the Secretary of State, if prohibited by court order from submitting the voter instruction to the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, as specified, to submit the voter instruction to the voters at the next occurring election. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an act calling an election.
Sponsored bills
Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements, and other working conditions for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime wages as specified to an employee who works in excess of a workday or workweek, as defined, and imposes criminal penalties for the violation of these requirements. Existing law exempts agricultural employees from these requirements. Under existing law, the function of the Department of Industrial Relations is to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would remove the exemption for agricultural employees regarding hours, meal breaks, and other working conditions, including specified wage requirements, and would create a schedule that would phase in overtime requirements for agricultural workers, as defined, over the course of 4 years, from 2019 to 2022, inclusive. Beginning January 1, 2022, the bill would require any work performed by a person, employed in an agricultural occupation, in excess of 12 hours in one day to be compensated at the rate of no less than twice the employee's regular rate of pay. The bill would authorize the Governor to delay the implementation of these overtime pay provisions if the Governor also suspends the implementation of a scheduled state minimum wage increase, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to update a specified wage order for consistency with these provisions. The bill would create a state-mandated local program by including agricultural employees as a class of employees protected by criminal penalties under existing law. 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.
This measure would proclaim the month of February 2016 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, and would encourage all Californians to observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with programs and activities that raise awareness about teen dating violence.
Existing law authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities, in accordance with the person's individual program plan. As part of the individual program plan, the regional center may refer an adult consumer to habilitation services, including work activity programs or supported employment programs. Existing law declares the policy of the state, known as the Employment First Policy, that opportunities for integrated, competitive employment be given the highest priority for working age individuals with developmental disabilities. This bill would require the department to provide a clear financial incentive in order to encourage the development of and support for consumers in individual supported employment in integrated work settings. The bill would require the incentive to establish at least a 10% rate differential for individual supported employment services. The bill would authorize the department to adjust the rate for individual placement supported employment services to administer the incentive payment, as specified. The bill would also require the department to review the need for clarifying placement fees and bonus payments, as specified.
Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known in California as CalFresh, under which counties distribute food assistance benefits to eligible individuals. Existing federal law limits an able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) participant to 3 months of CalFresh benefits in a 3-year period unless that participant has met specified work participation requirements. Existing law directs the State Department of Social Services to annually seek a federal waiver of this limitation, and provides that an eligible county is included in this waiver unless the county declines to participate in the waiver request. Existing law authorizes the department to implement this provision by all-county letters or similar instructions. This bill would require all eligible counties to be included in the federal waiver of the ABAWD time limitation and would delete the authorization for the department to implement this provision by all-county letters or similar instructions. By expanding eligibility for CalFresh benefits, this bill would create 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs, including, but not limited to, part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. Existing law defines "3-year-old children" for these purposes as children who will have their 3rd birthday on or before September 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program. This bill would instead define "3-year-old children" as children who will have their 3rd birthday on or before December 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program.
Existing law, the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, enacted by initiative statute, establishes the After School Education and Safety Program to serve pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools. The existing act provides that each school establishing a program pursuant to the act is eligible to receive a renewable 3-year grant for before or after school programs, as provided, and a grant for operating a program beyond 180 regular schooldays or during summer, weekend, intersession, or vacation periods, as provided, and specifies the maximum grant amount and related amounts for each of these grants. The existing act provides a formula for determining an amount to be continuously appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of the program and authorizes the Legislature to appropriate additional funds for purposes of the program. For the 2016–17 fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, this bill would continuously appropriate $73,260,000 more to the State Department of Education for purposes of the program. The bill would, commencing with the 2017–18 fiscal year, require the Department of Finance to annually adjust that amount using a specified calculation, provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction. The bill would require the State Department of Education to adjust the maximum grant amounts and related amounts in accordance with the amount provided in the Budget Act for the 2016–17 fiscal year. The bill would, commencing with the 2017–18 fiscal year, require the State Department of Education to annually adjust those amounts to reflect the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index, provided that adjustment does not result in a reduction. The bill also would provide that funds appropriated by the bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to collect information regarding the juvenile justice system. Existing law requires the department to annually present to the Governor a report containing the criminal statistics of the preceding year. This bill would require the Department of Justice, on or before July 1, 2019, to establish a Juvenile Justice Information System to develop and maintain statewide statistical information, as specified. The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the General Fund to the department for the purpose of funding the development of a design structure and implementation plan for the California Juvenile Justice Information System.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks. This bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that all family child care providers, as defined, attend an in-person orientation training, as provided. The bill would require the orientation training to include at least 4 hours of instruction and include specified information, including minimum health and safety standards, as provided. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided. The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. This bill would establish the California Promise, which would require the trustees and the board of governors to establish a program that authorizes a campus of the California State University and the California Community Colleges to enter into a pledge with a student who satisfies specified criteria to support the student in obtaining an associate degree within 2 academic years, or a baccalaureate degree within 4 academic years, of freshman admission. The bill would prohibit systemwide tuition charged to a California State University student who participates in a California Promise program for an academic year from exceeding the amount of tuition charged to the student for the academic year of the student's freshman admission, and would prohibit tuition of a community college transfer student from exceeding a specified amount. By imposing new duties on community college districts, 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, 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 these statutory provisions.