Sen. Michelle Kidani

Maddy summarySB 357 establishes clear criteria for unpaid student internships under the state's wage laws. It directly affects student interns and employers offering unpaid positions by requiring these programs to meet specific standards to avoid violating minimum wage protections. The key provision defines what constitutes a legitimate unpaid internship - ensuring it provides educational value and doesn't replace paid workers - thereby preventing exploitation under current wage law interpretations. This creates a concrete, enforceable framework for employers and interns without altering existing wage rates or eligibility.

Raises the minimum age requirement to enter into marriage from sixteen to eighteen years of age. Removes the parental consent and written approval by the family court requirements for a minor to marry. Removes spousal cohabitation after the parties attain legal age as an exception for an annulment based on nonage. Makes conforming amendments.

Requires municipal solid waste combustor ash to be disposed of only in a lined landfill. Prohibits the reuse of municipal solid waste incinerator ash for uses such as roadbuilding, fill, or construction.

Requires and appropriates moneys for the Public Utilities Commission to establish standards requiring each electric utility company to remove from the rate base a commensurate amount of costs related to fossil fuel resources when adding new or converted renewable electrical energy and renewable energy resources.

Establishes an Advisory Committee convened by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Health to inventory lands owned by the United States government which may be reasonably transferred back to the State and to make recommendations on relevant land conditions and appropriateness of potential transfer. Requires reports to the Legislature.

Prohibits the State or any of its branches, political subdivisions, or agencies or any county from requiring a bachelor's degree as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state or county employment. Establishes exemptions.

Establishes statewide goals for solid waste reduction and organic waste diversion. Requires each county to incorporate into its next integrated solid waste management plan revision a plan to reduce all organic waste produced within the county by facilities generating more than a specified amount of organic waste per year in alignment with established state benchmarks. Appropriates funds.

Maddy summarySB 178 allocates state funds to the Department of Education to establish surfing as an official interscholastic sport in public schools. This would directly enable schools to develop and support surfing programs for students, including equipment, coaching, and competition structures. The bill provides concrete funding for schools to integrate surfing into their athletic offerings under existing interscholastic sports frameworks. (Procedural bill; summary limited to 2 sentences as requested.)

Requires the Office of Elections to establish three additional voting centers in a county with a population of five hundred thousand or more. Requires a report to the Legislature.

Clarifies that the definition of "dwelling", as it relates to offenses against property rights, includes multi-unit buildings and connected parking or storage areas that are restricted to residents. Allows the owner of a multi-unit building, an owner of an individual unit, a property manager, or an authorized representative of the condominium association to act as a complainant for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting an offense of burglary in the first degree in a multi-unit building. (CD1)