Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges and the California State University as 2 of the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requests the campuses of the California Community Colleges, and requires the campuses of the California State University, to give priority housing to current and former homeless youth, as specified. This bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Chancellor of the California State University to establish pilot programs to allow overnight parking by eligible students, as defined, and would require the chancellors, with the participation of student representatives, and, for the community college pilot program, with the additional participation of community college district leaders, to determine a plan of action for implementing the pilot program that includes, among other things, the issuance of an overnight parking permit. This bill would also require an eligible student who participates in the pilot program to be granted access to overnight parking until the student is provided access to a suitable alternative, including, among other things, a hotel voucher through a public agency or community organization. The bill would provide that a campus selected to participate in the pilot program is not civilly liable for a campus employee's good faith act or omission that fails to prevent an injury to a participating student that occurs in, or in close proximity to, and during the hours of operation of, overnight parking, as provided. This bill would require the Chancellor of the California State University to select 5 campuses to participate in the pilot program. The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to select 20 campuses to participate in the pilot program, as provided. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require campuses that participate in the pilot program to report to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges or the Chancellor of the California State University, as applicable, on or before July 1, 2027, certain information, including, among other information, the socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds of participating students, and would additionally require, on or before January 31, 2028, the chancellors to report to the Legislature and the Governor on the pilot program, as provided. The bill would provide for implementation of the above-described provisions only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2029. 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 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 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. Existing law defines "schoolday" for these purposes to mean any day that pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, are present at a schoolsite for purposes of instruction or educational activities, including, among other things, pupil attendance at summer school, including incoming kindergarten pupils, as provided. This bill would, contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes and to the extent authorized by federal law, require the State Department of Education to establish a pilot process for state reimbursement, adjusted annually for inflation, for federal summer meal program operators, as defined, for meals served to guardians of eligible pupils receiving a meal pursuant to a summer meal program that is hosted at a public library, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop related guidance, as specified, and, if necessary, to apply for a waiver of federal law to secure federal reimbursement for these meals. The bill would require the department to distribute information about the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Program to guardians whose children are eligible for specified summer food programs. The bill would require a guardian of an eligible pupil to be present at the summer meal program site hosted at a public library in order for the summer meal program operator to receive state-funded reimbursement for that meal, unless noncongregate rules are in place, and would limit reimbursement for the summer meal program operator to one guardian per eligible pupil, as provided. The bill would require participating summer meal program operators to report to the department the number of meals served to guardians by a meal site hosted at a public library no later than 30 days after the end of summer meal site operations.
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. The 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. The CEQA exempts certain projects from its requirements, including actions necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation from beginning the construction of a line, plant, or system, or extensions of those facilities without first having to obtain from the Public Utilities Commission a certificate that the present or future convenience and necessity require or will require the construction. Existing law specifies that the certificate is not required for the extension, expansion, upgrade, or other modification of existing electrical transmission facilities. This bill would, for electrical infrastructure projects, as defined, designate the commission as the lead agency for purposes of the CEQA, would require the commission to prescribe procedures for the preparation of the appropriate environmental review document for those projects, and would specify the manner in which the environmental review for those projects is to be conducted. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035.
Existing law creates a program authorizing the sheriff or county officer responsible for operative jails of certain counties to assist indigent inmates with the reentry process within 30 days after the inmate's release from the county jail or other adult detention facility, as specified. Existing law specifies that the assistance provided may include work placement, counseling, obtaining proper identification, education, and housing. This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2026, each county jail to provide each incarcerated person with the contact information for certain entities, including, among other things, the local social services agency, upon release from custody, as specified. The bill would authorize the information to be provided electronically if the incarcerated person provides the necessary contact information. By imposing duties on local jails, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Ocean Protection Council in state government to, among other things, establish policies to coordinate the collection, evaluation, and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies. Existing law requires the council to develop and implement a voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program for the state, to consist of specified components, including a competitive grant and loan program for eligible entities, including, but not limited to, fishery groups and associations, for the purpose of assisting California fisheries in qualifying for certification to internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood. This bill would, subject to the availability of funding, require the council to participate as a stakeholder, and in an advisory capacity, to the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program with air pollution control districts and air quality management districts along the coast and other stakeholders, including the State Air Resources Board, to support, in an advisory capacity, coastal air districts in their efforts to implement a statewide voluntary vessel speed reduction and sustainable shipping program for the California coast in order to reduce air pollution, the risk of fatal vessel strikes on whales, and harmful underwater acoustic impacts. The bill would authorize the expansion of the existing Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program to include specified components, including incentives to program participants based on a percentage of distance traveled by a participating vessel at a reduced speed, as provided. The bill would limit application of the program to vessels that are 300 gross tons or greater. The bill would require the participating air pollution control districts and air quality management districts, on or before December 31, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of the program.
Existing law establishes the Golden State Teacher Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission to award grants to students enrolled in professional preparation programs leading to a preliminary teaching credential or a pupil personnel services credential who commit to work for 4 years at a priority school or a California preschool program, as provided. Existing law defines a "priority school" as a school with 55% or more of its pupils being unduplicated pupils, as defined, and requires the commission, in coordination with the State Department of Education, to publish a list of priority schools by April 15 of each year. This bill would expand the definition of a "priority school" to also include a nonpublic, nonsectarian school that enrolls individuals with exceptional needs pursuant to an individualized education program and is certified by the department.
Existing law establishes various grant programs. Existing law, the Grant Information Act of 2018, requires the California State Library to create an internet web portal to provide a centralized location for grant seekers to find state grant opportunities and requires the California State Library to report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the portal, including, among other things, the utilization rate by state agencies. This bill would impose minimum requirements for the administration of covered grants that meet maximum size and duration requirements and are available to nonprofit organizations, as defined. The bill would require administrators, as defined, to perform specified duties, including, among others, posting eligibility, application, and other information for covered grants on their internet website and the above-described grant portal created by the California State Library. The bill would impose minimum requirements on the distribution of grant funds, and would impose limitations on specified reporting requirements for covered grant recipients. The bill would prohibit an administrator from requiring a grant recipient to carry insurance coverage limits in excess of the risk associated with the covered grant activity.
Existing law that governs the labor relations of public employees and employers, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, and provisions relating to judicial employees, public schools, higher education, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, the Sacramento Regional Transit District, and other public transit employees, prohibits employers from taking certain actions relating to employee organizations. This includes imposing or threatening to impose reprisals on employees, discriminating or threatening to discriminate against employees, or otherwise interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees because of their exercise of their guaranteed rights. Those provisions further prohibit denying to employee organizations the rights guaranteed to them by existing law. This bill would also prohibit a local public agency employer, a state employer, a judicial employer, a public school employer, a higher education employer, or the district from questioning any employee or employee representative regarding communications made in confidence between an employee and an employee representative in connection with representation relating to any matter within the scope of the recognized employee organization's representation. The bill would provide that communications between an employee and their employee representative would not be confidential if, at any time, the representative was a witness or party to any of the events forming the basis of a potential administrative disciplinary or criminal investigation.
Existing law creates the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and requires GO-Biz to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. Existing law requires every city, county, and city and county to administratively approve an application to install electric vehicle charging stations through the issuance of a building permit or similar nondiscretionary permit and requires the review of an application to install an electric vehicle charging station to be limited to the building official's review of whether it meets all health and safety requirements of local, state, and federal law. Existing law requires an electric vehicle charging station to comply with, among other things, all applicable rules of the Public Utilities Commission regarding safety and reliability, as specified. This bill would require GO-Biz to create and maintain a publicly accessible internet website that contains a landing page with functionality to collect information and report delays and denials regarding all applicable forms of permitting for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, as specified. The bill would prohibit GO-Biz from publicly displaying any submissions received under these provisions. The bill would require GO-Biz in a new or existing working group, as specified, to evaluate the data it receives from the internet website and direct the working group to determine recommended solutions to address permitting delays. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, GO-Biz to submit to the Legislature and publish on its internet website a comprehensive report regarding the challenges identified throughout the data collection process, as specified. The bill would also require GO-Biz to establish a permit streamlining specialist to assist authorities having jurisdiction with permit delays and denials related to these provisions.
(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including, among others, science and mathematics. This bill would require the governing board of each school district, and the governing body of each charter school, maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, by January 1, 2026, to (A) adopt a plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting to offer at least one course in computer science in each of its high schools in accordance with a specified timeline, (B) post the plan to its internet website, and (C) review, on or before May 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, the plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting and report to the public on the plan's implementation, as provided. The bill would require school districts and charter schools to describe in the adopted plan their planned efforts to increase the computer science course enrollment of female pupils, pupils with disabilities, pupils who belong to ethnic and racial groups, and pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. By imposing additional duties on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before June 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, to publicly post specified computer science course-related data on its internet website, as specified. (2) Existing law creates the California Computer Science Coordinator, as a position within the department, to provide statewide coordination in, among other things, implementing the computer science content standards and leading the implementation of the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, as provided. This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2025, and under the direction of the California Computer Science Coordinator, to develop a computer science implementation guide that would include specified information regarding computer science standards-aligned courses, as provided, and would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to review the computer science implementation guide developed by the department. (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.
(1) Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in implementing actions to achieve the goal to conserve at least 30% of the state's lands and coastal waters by 2030 established by executive order, to prioritize specified actions. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made during the prior calendar year toward achieving that goal, as provided. Existing law requires that annual report to include certain information, including, among other information, the progress made in the prior calendar year to address equity as part of the above-described goal. This bill, the Wildlife Connectivity and Climate Adaptation Act of 2024, would additionally require the agency, as part of that report, to include an update on the state's progress towards addressing the priority wildlife corridors, as defined, identified in the Restoring California's Wildlife Connectivity report by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and goals for wildlife corridor protection in the next five years. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. (2) The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 requires the Wildlife Conservation Board to acquire real property, rights in real property, water, or water rights as necessary for a program to acquire lands and facilities suitable for recreational purposes and adaptable for the conservation, propagation, and utilization of state fish and game resources. The law establishes the program and makes a policy statement regarding the program and its purposes. This bill would additionally make it the policy of the state to preserve, protect, and restore wildlife habitats and biodiversity through the acquisition and restoration of blocks of habitat and natural lands that are connected by wildlife corridors, as defined, and the infrastructure that supports wildlife corridors. This bill would also require the board to identify priority projects for the acquisition, development, rehabilitation, restoration, protection, and expansion of wildlife corridors and open space. The bill would authorize the board to give priority for this purpose to projects that protect wildlife corridors, including wildlife corridors threatened by urban development, as specified. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, contingent upon funding being provided by the Wildlife Conservation Board, or from other appropriate bond funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to investigate, study, and identify those areas in the state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat linkages, as specified. Under existing law, it is the policy of the state to encourage, wherever feasible and practicable, voluntary steps to protect the functioning of wildlife corridors through various means, as specified. Existing law authorizes those means to include, but not be limited to, acquisition or protection of wildlife corridors as open space through conservation easements. This bill would remove from the contingency requirement that appropriate funds be from bonds and would specify that the department not only investigate, study, and identify, but also track the protection and conservation of the above-described areas. The bill would also revise and recast various provisions involving voluntary steps to protect the functioning of these wildlife corridors to additionally include, among other means, acquisition or protection of wildlife corridors as open space through fee title acquisitions.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act of 2016 (AUMA) , an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. The Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities and requires the Department of Cannabis Control to administer its provisions. Existing law governs the cultivation of industrial hemp in this state and establishes a registration program administered by county agricultural commissioners and the Department of Food and Agriculture for growers of industrial hemp, hemp breeders, and established agricultural research institutions, as defined. The Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, among other things, regulates the labeling of food, beverages, and cosmetics and makes it a crime to distribute in commerce any food, drug, device, or cosmetic if its packaging or labeling does not conform to these provisions. Existing law establishes a process for the embargo, condemnation, and destruction of a food, drug, device, or cosmetic that is adulterated, misbranded, or falsely advertised, gives the authority to place items under embargo to authorized agents of the State Department of Public Health, and requires the department to take specified actions. Violation of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law is a misdemeanor. Existing law also requires hemp manufacturers who produce specified products that include industrial hemp or who produce raw hemp extract, as defined, to complete a registration process, under the State Department of Public Health, and to meet various requirements for testing and labeling on products. Existing law, as part of the registration process, requires the department to assess specified fees, including an oversight and authorization enrollment fee, to cover the actual reasonable costs of implementing the regulatory program. Existing law exempts industrial hemp, as defined, from the definition of cannabis and from MAUCRSA, but requires the Department of Cannabis Control to prepare a report, on or before July 1, 2022, to the Governor and the Legislature outlining the steps necessary to allow for the incorporation of hemp cannabinoids into the cannabis supply chain. This bill would state that MAUCRSA does not prohibit a licensee from manufacturing, processing, distributing, or selling products that contain industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp if the product complies with all applicable state laws and regulations. The bill would authorize a licensed manufacturer or microbusiness to obtain industrial hemp from a person registered with the State Department of Public Health, as specified, and would require industrial hemp purchased by a licensee to be tracked as a separate batch through the manufacturing process. The bill would require a licensee that manufactures, distributes, or sells products that contain industrial hemp to record all transactions and specified data in the state track and trace system. The bill would prohibit a licensed manufacturer from incorporating THC or comparable cannabinoid, as defined, that has been converted from a hemp-derived cannabinoid and would also prohibit licensed retailers and distributors from selling or distributing cannabis or hemp products that contain converted THC or comparable cannabinoid. The bill would require the department to implement a process by which any licensee that is also a registered hemp manufacturer may use the same premises. This bill would revise and recast the provisions of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law regulating industrial hemp to redefine certain terms, expand the prohibition that raw hemp extract not exceed 0.3% of a tetrahydrocannabinol or comparable cannabinoid, limit the level of total THC that can be in an industrial hemp final form product, and prohibit the manufacture, distribution, or sale of an industrial hemp product that contains a synthetically derived cannabinoid, as defined, unless authorized by the department in regulation. The bill would prohibit an industrial hemp food and beverage product from being labeled, marketed, or advertised as a product intended to create an intoxicating effect. The bill would require that industrial hemp human food and beverage final form products meet specified guidelines and would specify that violations of the act are grounds for revocation of an industrial hemp enrollment and oversight authorization. The bill would require an out-of-state hemp manufacturer who produces certain products such as industrial hemp food, beverages, or cosmetics for importation or sale in this state to register with the department. The bill would establish a separate process for the embargo, condemnation, and destruction of industrial hemp products and would give authority to seize or embargo those products to a peace officer or a state official who possesses seizure authority in specified circumstances and would require the peace officer or state official who began the embargo to seek voluntary condemnation from the owner or commence proceedings for condemnation. The bill would make a violation of provisions regarding the retail sale of industrial hemp a misdemeanor and would impose a civil penalty. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) or a law enforcement agency to seize cannabis or cannabis products not contained in secure packaging to seize cannabis or cannabis products possessed, stored, owned, or sold by an unlicensed person or that were not reported in the track and trace system, as specified, and provides that seized cannabis or cannabis products are deemed forfeited, as specified. This bill would, in certain circumstances, establish a presumption that any product containing or purporting to contain any cannabinoid is a cannabis product, unless there is reasonable cause to believe that the product is authorized to be distributed or sold as an industrial hemp product. 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.
