(1) Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act from a list of specified acts, including, among other acts, disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. Existing law authorizes a teacher to suspend any pupil from class for any of the listed acts, including willful defiance, for the day of the suspension and the day following. Existing law prohibits the suspension of a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, and recommending the expulsion of a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of those school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. Existing law, until July 1, 2025, prohibits the suspension of a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, for those acts. Existing law applies these same provisions to charter schools. This bill would extend the prohibition against the suspension of pupils enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, including those pupils enrolled in a charter school, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties to all grades, by 4 years to instead be until July 1, 2029, and, commencing July 1, 2024, would prohibit the suspension of pupils enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, including those pupils enrolled in a charter school, for those acts until July 1, 2029, but would retain a teacher's existing authorization to suspend any pupil in any grade from class for any of the listed acts, including willful defiance, for the day of the suspension and the day following, as provided. (2) Existing law authorizes suspension to be imposed only when other means of correction, including, among other things, a conference between school personnel, the pupil's parent or guardian, and the pupil, or participation in a restorative justice program, fail to bring about proper conduct, except as provided. This bill would authorize certificated and classified employees, including certificated and noncertificated employees at charter schools, to refer pupils to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports, from the specified list of other means of correction, for willful defiance, and would require school administrators, including charter school administrators, within 5 business days, to document the actions taken and to place that documentation in the pupil's record, as specified. The bill would also require the school administrator, by the end of the 5th business day, to inform the referring employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports. By imposing additional duties on public school administrators, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities. This bill would instead prohibit a suspension or expulsion from being imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are otherwise absent from school activities. (4) 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.
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(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state. This system is composed of local educational agencies throughout the state that provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at schoolsites operated by these agencies. Existing law, commencing with the 2022–23 school year, requires each school district and county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and each charter school to provide 2 nutritiously adequate school meals free of charge during each schoolday, regardless of the length of the schoolday, to any pupil who requests a meal without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as specified, with a maximum of one free meal for each meal service period. Existing law requires the department to develop and maintain nutrition guidelines for school lunches and breakfasts, and for all food and beverages sold on public school campuses. Existing law requires a school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday, except as provided. This bill would revise and recast provisions regarding school meals for needy pupils by, among other things, instead requiring each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available a nutritionally adequate breakfast, as defined, and a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, free of charge during each schoolday, as defined, to any pupil who requests a meal, without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, as provided. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, or charter school that offers independent study to meet the above meal requirements for any pupil on any schoolday that the pupil is scheduled for educational activities, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education to submit a waiver request to the United States Department of Agriculture to allow for one meal to be provided during a schoolday lasting 4 hours or less to be served in a noncongregate manner. The bill would authorize each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to make available either a nutritionally adequate breakfast or a nutritionally adequate lunch, as defined, in a noncongregate manner, as provided, if the State Department of Education receives approval for the federal noncongregate waiver. The bill would require each school district, county superintendent of schools, and charter school to provide pupils with adequate time to eat, as determined by that school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school in consideration of the recommendations provided by the department. The bill would require a chartering authority, among other things, to provide technical assistance to a charter school to meet these meal requirements, as provided. If the federal School Breakfast Program and federal National School Lunch Program allow more added sugar or sodium than is recommended by the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as described, the bill would require the department to convene representatives from specified entities to work in partnership to provide maximum daily added sugar and sodium intake recommendations for each grade level, as provided. The bill also would make conforming changes to related provisions of law. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies and officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish rules to determine which pupils are needy and authorizes a nominal cash payment for school meals to be collected from pupils that are not eligible for free meals and requires the State Department of Education to determine the amount of cash payment that may be required of those pupils. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reimburse school districts for free and reduced-price meals served or sold based on the median statewide meal costs. This bill would delete those provisions. (3) Existing federal law provides for the permanent and nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month during summer months for grocery benefits. This bill would require the State Department of Education to work in partnership with the State Department of Social Services to maximize participation in the federal Summer EBT program, as provided. (4) 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 requires a court to determine whether a minor in custody will be released from, or detained in, custody, considering, among other things, whether it is a matter of immediate and urgent necessity for the protection of the minor or reasonably necessary for the protection of the person or property of another and whether continuance in the home is contrary to the minor's welfare. This bill would prohibit the court from basing the decision to detain solely on the minor's county of residence and would require the court to give the minor equal consideration for release on home supervision. This bill would grant the court the authority to order the minor to be placed on home supervision, with or without electronic monitoring.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain canteens at its facilities, as specified. Existing law requires the sale prices of the articles offered for sale to be fixed by the Director of Corrections at the amounts that will, as far as possible, render each canteen self-supporting. This bill would instead require the department to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, as specified. The bill would, until January 1, 2028, prohibit the sale prices of the articles offered for sale from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. The bill would, commencing on January 1, 2028, require the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting.
Existing law, the Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Expanded Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. Existing law establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. For a student to qualify for a Cal Grant award, existing law requires that the student, among other things, make satisfactory academic progress at a qualifying institution. Existing law defines "satisfactory academic progress" as those criteria required by applicable federal standards published in Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Existing law authorizes the commission to adopt regulations defining "satisfactory academic progress" in a manner that is consistent with the federal standards. This bill would require, as part of the criteria to be a qualifying institution under the Cal Grant Program, an institution, by the start of the 2024–25 academic year, to comply with various requirements regarding "satisfactory academic progress" standards used to determine if a student qualifies for a Cal Grant and to develop and implement policies defining "satisfactory academic progress" in a manner that is consistent with the federal standards. The bill would delete the commission's authorization to adopt regulations defining "satisfactory academic progress."
Existing law, the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021, requires a public school, as provided, maintaining any combination of classes from grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to stock the school's restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products, as defined, available and accessible, free of cost, in all women's restrooms and all-gender restrooms, and in at least one men's restroom, at all times, and to post a certain notice, on or before the start of the 2022–23 school year, as prescribed. This bill would extend these requirements, commencing on or before the start of the 2024–25 school year, to instead apply to public schools maintaining any combination of classes from grades 3 to 12, inclusive. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law generally prohibits discrimination in the provision of privileges and services on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, and immigration status. Existing law provides a cause of action against any person who denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction on the bases listed, as specified, and permits the recovery of attorney's fees. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Department (department) and makes it responsible for, among other things, investigating and prosecuting complaints alleging a violation of these provisions. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Enforcement and Litigation Fund (fund) , to be administered by the department. This fund consists of attorney's fees and costs awarded by a court to the department when the department is the prevailing party in a civil action brought under specified law. Existing law authorizes moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, to be used to offset the costs of the department. This bill would, commencing on March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, require a covered entity, defined as a venture capital company that meets specified criteria, to report to the department specified information about their funding determinations, including, at an aggregate level, specified demographic information for the founding teams of all of the businesses in which the covered entity made a venture capital investment in the prior calendar year to the extent the information was provided pursuant to a survey the bill would require a covered entity to provide to each founding team member of a business that has received funding from a venture capital company to which the covered entity has acted as an investment adviser, as specified. The bill would require this information to be collected and reported in a manner that does not associate the survey response data with an individual founding team member. The bill would require the department to charge and collect fees to administer these provisions, as specified. The bill would require the department to notify the covered entity that the covered entity must submit the report within 60 days of the notification. If the covered entity has not submitted the report after those 60 days have elapsed, the bill would authorize the department to commence prescribed proceedings seeking specified relief, including a penalty, as specified. The bill would require moneys collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the fund, and would express the intent of the Legislature that these moneys be appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for administration of these provisions. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
Existing law generally entitles a state employee to be given time off with pay for specified holidays and entitles a state employee to one personal holiday per fiscal year. Existing law authorizes the department head or designee to require the employee to provide 5 working days' advance notice before a personal holiday is taken, to deny use subject to operational needs, and to provide by rule for the granting of the personal holiday for employees. Existing law authorizes a state employee to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for certain holidays in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit, as specified. This bill would authorize an employee to elect to receive 8 hours of holiday credit for observance of a holiday or ceremony of the state employee's religion, culture, or heritage in lieu of receiving 8 hours of personal holiday credit. Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system. Existing law, the Ralph C. Dills Act, grants state employees the right to form and join employee organizations for the purpose of representation of all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law establishes procedures by which an agreement in the form of a written memorandum of understanding may be reached between the Governor and the recognized employee organization, and presented, as appropriate, to the Legislature for determination. This bill would apply its provisions to a bargaining unit only after the bargaining unit meets and confers with the Department of Human Resources in the ordinary process and timeline for negotiating and renegotiating the bargaining unit's collective bargaining agreement, as specified.
(1) Existing law requires the driver of a school pupil activity bus, as defined, to be subject to the regulations adopted by the Department of the California Highway Patrol governing schoolbus drivers, except as specified. This bill would place various requirements upon a driver who provides certain transportation services for pupils, including, among others, by requiring these drivers to submit and clear tuberculosis risk assessments, as provided. The bill would require any vehicle used to provide pupil transportation for compensation by a local educational agency, as defined, to be inspected, as specified, and to be equipped with a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher. The bill would require any local educational agency contracting with a private entity to provide pupil transportation to obtain from the private entity a written attestation that, among other things, it not have any applicable law violations, as defined, at the time of applying for the contract and that it will maintain compliance with applicable laws, as defined, for the duration of the contract. The bill would authorize a third party to report to the relevant local educational agency that the private entity the local educational agency contracted with has failed to provide a truthful attestation or has failed to maintain compliance with the applicable laws required for the duration of the contract, as specified. The bill would apply the above-mentioned provisions to all drivers employed by a local educational agency, contracted by a local educational agency, or contracted by any entity with funding from a local educational agency, providing school-related pupil transportation, as defined, for compensation. The bill would not apply the above-mentioned provisions to (A) drivers of specified entities, (B) certain persons who are compensated to drive a pupil, (C) a school employee of a local educational agency when the employee provides transportation to pupils due to or because of the employee's supervision of pupils for a field trip, extracurricular activity, or athletic program, or when the employee provides transportation to pupils for other activities, not to exceed 40 hours of drive time per school year per employee, (D) a driver who transports a pupil because of certain emergencies or an immediate threat to the physical safety of the pupil, (E) a driver who transports a pupil if the transportation is being provided through a Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program while a pupil's transportation plan is being finalized, or (F) a driver during a trip for which they are authorized by the local educational agency to transport one or more pupils for a field trip when the destination is more than 200 miles from the transported pupil's California school campus, as specified. To the extent that the above-mentioned requirements conflict with a contract entered into between a local educational agency and a private entity before January 1, 2024, the bill would not apply those requirements until the expiration or renewal of that contract. The bill would make the provision regarding the expiration or renewal of these contracts operative on January 1, 2024, while making the remainder of the above-mentioned provisions operative on July 1, 2025. By imposing new requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires a governing board or county superintendent of schools providing for the transportation of pupils under contract, as provided, or any other provision of law to require as a condition of the contract the tuberculosis risk assessment, as provided, except that, at the discretion of the governing board or county superintendent of schools, that provision does not apply to a private contracted driver who transports pupils infrequently without prolonged contact with the pupils. This bill would delete that exception for private contracted drivers. The bill would additionally extend the requirement involving a tuberculosis risk assessment to the governing body of a charter school, as specified. At the discretion of the governing board, county superintendent of schools, or governing body of a charter school, the bill would not apply the requirement involving a tuberculosis risk assessment to a private contracted driver who transports pupils infrequently and without prolonged contact with the pupils before July 1, 2025. To the extent that the bill would impose a new requirement on charter schools, the bill would constitute 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, 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 False Advertising Law makes it a crime for a person or a firm, corporation, or association, or any employee thereof, to engage in specified false or misleading advertising practices. The Unfair Competition Law makes various unfair competition practices unlawful, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising. The Consumers Legal Remedies Act makes unlawful certain unfair methods of competition and certain unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by a person in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to a consumer, including advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised. Existing law authorizes a consumer who suffers damage as a result of the use or employment by a person of a method, act, or practice declared to be unlawful by that provision to bring an action against that person to recover or obtain certain relief, including actual damages of at least $1,000. This bill would, beginning on July 1, 2024, with specified exceptions, additionally make unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction, as specified. The bill would provide that assessments made pursuant to the California Tourism Marketing Act and the Parking and Business Improvement Area Law of 1989, and business assessments made pursuant to the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994, are fees imposed by a government on the transaction for purposes of these provisions. Existing law authorizes vehicle rental companies, when providing a quote or imposing charges for a rental, to separately state specified rates and charges that a renter must pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of time to which the rental rate applies. Existing law prohibits a rental company from imposing charges or fees in addition to the rental rate unless specified conditions are met. Existing law requires the rate advertisements of vehicle rental companies to include a disclaimer providing that additional mandatory charges may be imposed, as specified. This bill would provide that a rental company is not in violation of unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service for excluding from the advertised, displayed, or offered price of a rental vehicle charges that are disclosed to the consumer in compliance with the above-described provisions. Existing law requires any solicitation to enter into a lease contract that includes the amount of any payment, as specified, to also state, among other things, "Plus tax and license" or a substantially similar statement, if amounts due for use tax, license fees, and registration fees are not included in the payments. This bill would specify that a lessor is not in violation of this prohibition against unlawfully advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service because it excludes from the advertised, displayed, or offered lease payment a fee or charge in accordance with the provision described above. Existing law imposes specified requirements on dealers of motor vehicles and motorcycles sold or leased in this state. Existing law prohibits a holder of a dealer's license from doing specified acts, including advertising the total price of a vehicle without including all costs to the purchaser at time of sale, except taxes, vehicle registration fees, the California tire fee, emission testing charges not exceeding $50, actual fees charged for certificates, finance charges, and any dealer document processing charge or charge to electronically register or transfer the vehicle. This bill would specify that a holder of a dealer's license is not in violation of unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service for excluding from the advertised, displayed, or offered price of a vehicle a tax, a vehicle registration fee, the California tire fee, an emission testing charge not exceeding $50, an actual fee charged for a certificate, a finance charge, or a dealer document processing charge or charge to electronically register or transfer the vehicle. Existing law imposes specified requirements on manufacturers of motor vehicles and motorcycles and prohibits a person from acting as a motor vehicle manufacturer without having first been issued a license by the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified. This bill would specify that a motor vehicle manufacturer, or any other person, that advertises a motor vehicle manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) set by an automobile manufacturer, or lease payments based upon an MSRP, does not, by doing so, violate the prohibition described above relating to unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service.