Existing law imposes certain obligations in the context of particular transactions, and provides mechanisms to enforce those obligations. This bill would enact the California Internet Consumer Protection and Net Neutrality Act of 2018. This act would prohibit fixed and mobile Internet service providers, as defined, that provide broadband Internet access service, as defined, from engaging in specified actions concerning the treatment of Internet traffic. The act would prohibit, among other things, blocking lawful content, applications, services, or nonharmful devices, impairing or degrading lawful Internet traffic on the basis of Internet content, application, or service, or use of a nonharmful device, and specified practices relating to zero-rating, as defined. It would also prohibit fixed and mobile Internet service providers from offering or providing services other than broadband Internet access service that are delivered over the same last-mile connection as the broadband Internet access service, if those services have the purpose or effect of evading the above-described prohibitions or negatively affect the performance of broadband Internet access service.
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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 a specified act, 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 prohibits the suspension of a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3, 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. This bill, commencing July 1, 2019, would also prohibit the suspension of a pupil enrolled in grades 4 and 5 for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of those school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. The bill, commencing July 1, 2019, until July 1, 2023, would prohibit the suspension of a pupil enrolled in grades 6 to 8, inclusive, for those acts. The bill, commencing July 1, 2019, would also prohibit the suspension of a pupil enrolled in a charter school in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, and recommending the expulsion of a pupil enrolled in a charter school in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for those acts. The bill, commencing July 1, 2019, until July 1, 2023, would prohibit the suspension of a pupil enrolled in a charter school in grades 6 to 8, inclusive, for those acts. The bill would make other related changes.
Existing law requires the court, when imposing a sentence for a serious felony, in addition and consecutive to the term imposed for that serious felony, to impose a 5-year enhancement for each prior conviction of a serious felony. Existing law generally authorizes a judge, in the interests of justice, to order an action dismissed, but precludes a judge from striking any prior serious felony conviction in connection with imposition of the 5-year enhancement. This bill would delete the restriction prohibiting a judge from striking a prior serious felony conviction in connection with imposition of the 5-year enhancement described above and would make conforming changes. The bill would make additional technical nonsubstantive changes.
(1) Existing law, the California Financing Law, generally provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders, brokers, and, beginning on January 1, 2019, program administrators, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL makes a willful violation of specified provisions a crime. The CFL, until January 1, 2023, establishes the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans (pilot program) , which requires licensees and other entities that wish to participate in the pilot program to file an application and pay a specified fee to the commissioner to participate in the pilot program. The pilot program authorizes a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program to impose specified alternative interest rates and charges, including an administrative fee and delinquency fees, on unsecured loans of at least $300 and less than $2,500, subject to certain requirements. This bill would increase the upper limit on the amount of a permissible loan under the pilot program from $2,500 to $7,500 and make corresponding changes. (2) Under the pilot program, a licensee is prohibited from making a loan if that licensee determines, through its underwriting, that the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's monthly gross income. This bill would instead prohibit a licensee from making a loan under these circumstances if the borrower's total monthly debt service payments exceed 50% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan of no more than $2,500, or exceed 36% of the borrower's gross monthly income for a loan in excess of $2,500. (3) The pilot program establishes that a loan with a principal balance, upon origination, of at least $1,500 is required to have a term of not less than 180 days. As an alternative to other authorized charges, a licensee approved by the commissioner to participate in the pilot program may contract for and receive charges at an annual simple interest rate not exceeding specified amounts. This bill would additionally require a loan under the pilot program that has a principal balance exceeding $2,500 to have a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of 5 years. The bill would also require licensees to reduce the interest rates on each subsequent loan to the same borrower by a minimum of one percentage point and subject to additional reductions, if specified conditions are satisfied. (4) Under the pilot program, licensees are required to develop and implement policies and procedures designed to respond to questions raised by applicants and borrowers regarding their loans, including those involving finders. Existing law describes a finder as an entity that brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would also require licensees to perform reasonable background checks on any finders associated with a licensee's participation in the pilot program. (5) The pilot program authorizes a licensee who is approved to participate in the program to use the services of one or more finders. Existing law defines a "finder" for these purposes as an entity that, at the finder's physical location for business, brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract. This bill would authorize the commissioner to charge a licensee participating in the program an additional fee to offset the commissioner's costs to oversee and examine the activities of that licensee's finder or finders. (6) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to examine each licensee that is accepted into the program at least once every 24 months. This bill would require the commissioner also to examine each finder whose services were used by the licensee at least once every 24 months. (7) Existing law requires the Commissioner of Business Oversight to post reports containing specified information on his or her Internet Web site that summarize utilization of the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans. If more than one licensee is approved to participate in the program, existing law requires that information in the report to be stated in aggregate to avoid identifying data by specific licensee. This bill would require that these reports also contain specified information for each finder whose services were used by a licensee in connection with the loans or loan applications, along with the finder's identity. By increasing the scope of the program, the bill would expand the definition of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (8) 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) Under existing law, it is unlawful for an employer or any other person or entity to engage in, or to direct another person or entity to engage in, unfair immigration-related practices against any person for the purpose of, or with the intent of, retaliating against any person for exercising any right protected under the Labor Code or by any local ordinance applicable to employees, as specified. This bill would make it unlawful for an employer to knowingly destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document of another person in the course of committing, or with the intent to commit, trafficking, peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or a coercive labor practice. The bill would impose specified civil and criminal penalties for a violation. The bill would also authorize the Labor Commissioner to issue a citation for a violation, as prescribed. By imposing criminal penalties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an employer to post a prescribed workplace notice with information including the right to maintain custody and control of immigration documents and that the withholding of immigration documents by an employer is a crime. The bill would require an employer to provide to an employee a document entitled the "Worker's Bill of Rights," to be developed and made available to employers by the Department of Industrial Relations on or before July 1, 2019, either prior to verifying an employee's employment authorization pursuant to federal law governing the employment of unauthorized alien for an employee hired on or after July 1, 2019, or, if hired before July 1, 2019, when the department makes the document available. The bill would require an employer to provide the document in a language understood by the employee and to require such an employee to sign and date the document in acknowledgment that the employee has read and understood the employee's rights. The bill would require the employer to keep the signed document in its records for at least 3 years and to give the employee a copy of the signed document. (2) Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. The division is headed by the Labor Commissioner and the department is headed by the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law establishes certain protections for janitorial workers, including a requirement that the division, by January 1, 2019, establish a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement for certain employees and employers with the assistance of a prescribed advisory committee to be convened by the director. Existing law, effective July 1, 2018, requires employers of at least one employee and one or more covered workers, as defined, who provide janitorial services, as specified, to register with the commissioner annually and prohibits them from conducting business without a registration. Existing law requires an application for registration to be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and subscribed and sworn to by the employer, as specified. This bill would require the division's sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement to apply to covered workers. Existing law, effective January 1, 2020, requires new applications for registration and renewal of registrations to complete the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirements. This bill would require new applicants for registration and renewal to demonstrate completion of the training requirements by submitting a written attestation to the commissioner, as specified. Existing law defines an employer as a person or entity that employs at least one employee and one or more covered workers and that enters into contracts, subcontracts, or franchise arrangements to provide janitorial services. This bill would amend the definition of the term "employer" to mean a person or entity that employs at least one covered worker or otherwise engages by contract, subcontract, or franchise agreement for the provision of janitorial services by one or more covered workers. The bill would exclude from that definition an entity that is the recipient of those janitorial services. Existing law requires an employer to keep specified records regarding each employee for 3 years. This bill would require the records kept by the employer to also include the names, addresses, periods of work, and compensation paid to all other covered workers. (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 incorporate additional changes to Sections 1421, 1429, 1429.5, and 1434 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 2079 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2079 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law, known as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development within the jurisdictional boundaries of that city or county with a density bonus and other incentives or concessions for the production of lower income housing units, or for the donation of land within the development, if the developer agrees to construct a specified percentage of units for very low income, low-income, or moderate-income households or qualifying residents and meets other requirements. This bill would additionally require a density bonus to be provided to a developer that agrees to construct a housing development in which all units in the development will be used for students enrolled full-time at an institution of higher education accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges or the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and the developer enters into an agreement with an institution of higher education to that effect, where 20% of the units are used for lower income students, as defined, provided at a specified rent level, and the development provides priority for the applicable affordable units for lower income students experiencing homelessness. The bill would require that these units be subject to a recorded affordability restriction of 55 years. The bill would set the density bonus at 35% of the number of these units. By increasing the duties of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that the changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65915 of the Government Code proposed by AB 2753 and AB 2797 to be operative only if this bill and either or both AB 2753 and AB 2797 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires a health insurance issuer issuing health insurance coverage to comply with minimum medical loss ratios and to provide an annual rebate to each insured if the medical loss ratio of the amount of the revenue expended by the issuer on costs to the total amount of premium revenue is less than a certain percentage, as specified. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer to provide certain disclosures of the benefits, services, and terms of a contract or policy. This bill would require a health care service plan or a health insurer that issues, sells, renews, or offers a health care service plan contract or insurance policy that covers dental services in California, in addition to any other applicable disclosure requirements, to utilize a uniform benefits and coverage disclosure matrix, with specified contents. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to develop the uniform benefits and disclosure matrix in consultation with stakeholders. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance to implement the bill's provisions relating to the benefits and coverage disclosure matrix through emergency regulations, as specified. The benefits and coverage disclosure matrix requirements would take effect for plan or policy years on and after January 1, 2021, or 12 months after adoption of the emergency regulations, whichever occurs later. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer that issues, sells, renews, or offers a specialized health care service plan contract or health insurance policy covering dental services, no later than September 30, 2015, and each year thereafter, to file a report known as the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) annual report, with the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance, respectively, that is organized by market and product type. This bill would require the MLR annual report to be filed with the Department of Managed Health Care or the Department of Insurance by July 31 of each year. The bill would require the respective department to post a health care service plan's or health insurer's MLR annual report on its Internet Web site within 45 days after receiving the report. The bill would authorize the respective departments to issue guidance to specialized health care service plans and health insurers regarding compliance with these provisions until regulations are adopted. Because a willful violation of these requirements with respect to health care service plans would be a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals. Existing law generally requires a recipient of CalWORKs benefits to participate in welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for aid. Existing law prohibits sanctions from being applied for a failure or refusal to comply with program requirements if, among other reasons, the employment, offer of employment, activity, or other training for employment discriminates on specified bases or involves conditions that are in violation of applicable health and safety standards, or the employment or offer of employment exceeds the daily or weekly hours of work customary to the occupation. This bill would additionally prohibit sanctions from being applied for a failure or refusal to comply with program requirements if the recipient provides documentation that the anticipated hours would be so unpredictable for that specific recipient that they would not allow the recipient to anticipate compliance with program requirements related to the job, or if the recipient provides documentation that the scheduled hours exhibit a pattern of unpredictability for that specific recipient so that he or she cannot anticipate compliance with program requirements related to the job. The bill would also prohibit sanctions from being applied if the recipient self-certifies that the employment or offer of employment fails to comply with the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, that his or her rights under the New Parent Leave Act, the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011, or the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights were violated, or that he or she experienced sexual harassment or other abusive conduct at the workplace. The bill would require the county human services agency, when an applicant or recipient reports refusing any offer of employment, reducing hours, voluntarily quitting any employment, or being discharged from any employment, to provide the applicant or recipient with information regarding workplace rights generally, as specified, and would require the State Department of Social Services to convene stakeholders to develop instructions for county human services agencies on how to best inform applicants and recipients of aid of those rights and remedies, and how to document self-certification, as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing federal law, as a condition of eligibility for CalFresh, requires a household member who is not exempt to comply with specified work requirements, including the requirement that a member does not voluntarily and without good cause quit a job of 30 or more hours a week or reduce work effort less than 30 hours a week. Existing federal law defines "good cause" to include, among other things, circumstances beyond a member's control, resigning from a job that is unsuitable, and discrimination by an employer based on age, race, sex, color, handicap, religious beliefs, national origin, or political beliefs. This bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, regulation, or waiver thereof, require that good cause exists for purposes of the above-mentioned work requirement if an applicant for, or recipient of, CalFresh benefits has voluntarily quit a job or reduced work hours based on at least one of the above-mentioned reasons for which welfare-to-work sanctions for a recipient of CalWORKs benefits shall not be applied, or because the scheduled work hours were so unpredictable that they did not allow the applicant or recipient to anticipate the amount of monthly income from the job. When the applicant or recipient reports refusing any offer of employment, reducing hours, voluntarily quitting any employment, or being discharged from any employment, the bill would require the county human services agency to provide the applicant or recipient with information regarding workplace rights generally, as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services to implement these provisions through an all-county letter or similar instruction from the Director of Social Services, until regulations are adopted on or before October 1, 2020. The bill would require the all-county letter, or similar instruction, or regulation to provide, among other things, that an applicant or recipient of CalFresh or CalWORKs is authorized to self-certify under penalty of perjury that specified reasons qualify for a good cause exemption or a relief from sanction. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law prohibits the sale or transfer of a handgun, except as specifically exempted, to any person under 21 years of age. Existing law also prohibits the sale or transfer of a firearm, other than a handgun, except as specifically exempted, to any person under 18 years of age. A violation of this prohibition by the dealer is a crime. This bill would prohibit the sale or transfer of any firearm by a licensed dealer, except as specifically exempted, to any person under 21 years of age. Existing law requires a person who wishes to manufacture or assemble a firearm to first apply to the Department of Justice for a unique serial number or other identifying mark. Existing law requires an applicant to be at least 18 years of age for a firearm that is not a handgun, and at least 21 years of age for a firearm that is a handgun. A violation of the application requirement is a crime. This bill would instead require an applicant to be at least 21 years of age for any firearm, except that applications would be granted for an applicant who is at least 18 years of age but less than 21 years of age for a firearm that is not a handgun if the application is made before February 1, 2019. The bill would make additional technical, nonsubstantive changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 29182 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 746 to be operative only if this bill and SB 746 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, 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.
Existing law, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act, the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act, the Judicial Council Employer-Employee Relations Act and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act, as well as provisions commonly referred to as the Educational Employment Relations Act and the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, regulates the labor relations of the state, the courts, specified local public agencies, and their employees. Existing law establishes other requirements relating to labor relations that are applicable to certain transit agencies. These acts grant specified public employees the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing and require public agency employers, among other things, to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations and exclusive representatives on terms and conditions of employment. Existing law requires the California State University, the governing board of a school district, and the governing board of a community college district to grant specified employees a leave of absence without loss of compensation, as specified, for the purpose of enabling the employee to serve as an elected officer of specified employee organizations. This bill would require public employers, subject to the acts described above, and specified public employers of transit workers, upon request of the exclusive representative of an employee, to grant reasonable leaves of absence without loss of compensation or other benefits for the purpose of enabling employees to serve as stewards or officers of the exclusive representative, or of any statewide or national employee organization with which the exclusive representative is affiliated. The bill would specify that leave may be granted on a full-time, part-time, periodic, or intermittent basis, in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would grant the steward or representative, at the conclusion or termination of the leave granted, the right of reinstatement to the same position and work location held before the leave, or, if not feasible, a substantially similar position without loss of seniority, rank, or classification. The bill would provide that the exclusive representative is not obligated to use leave under this provision and may terminate that leave at any time, for any reason. The bill would require the exclusive representative or employee organization to reimburse the public employer for all compensation paid to the employee on leave, unless otherwise agreed to, as specified. The bill would specify that compensation during leave granted is required to include retirement fund contributions, the employee is to earn full service credit during the leave, and is required to pay his or her membership contributions, unless the employer has agreed to pay the contributions on the employee's behalf, as specified. The bill would also provide that a public employer is not liable for acts, omissions, or injuries suffered by employees that occur during the course and scope of the employee's leave, as prescribed.