Existing law makes possession of a firearm by certain classes of persons, including a convicted felon, a person convicted of specified misdemeanors, a person has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial, a person has been found not guilty of specified crimes by reason of insanity, or a person has been placed under conservatorship, a crime. Existing law additionally makes it a crime to sell or give possession of a firearm to these classes of persons prohibited from owning a firearm. Existing law requires the Department of Justice, upon submission of firearm purchaser information by a licensed firearm dealer, to examine its records to determine whether a potential firearm purchaser is prohibited by state of federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or purchasing a firearm. Existing law requires the department to participate in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This bill would require the Department of Justice to develop and launch a secure Internet-based platform to allow a person who resides in California to voluntarily add their own name to the California Do Not Sell List. The bill would require the department to ensure that information on the list is uploaded and reflected in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The bill would make it a crime, punishable as a misdemeanor, to transfer a firearm to a person who is validly registered on the California Do Not Sell List. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would allow a person, after a specified period of time, to request removal from the list. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to create and distribute informational materials about the California Do Not Sell List to general acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals. The bill would specify that a person presenting in a general acute care hospital or acute psychiatric hospital who is at a substantially elevated risk of suicide should be presented with these informational materials. The bill would specify that any suicide hotline maintained or operated by an entity funded in whole or in part by the state should generally inform callers on how to access the California Do Not Sell List Internet-based platform. The bill would provide that its provisions are severable. 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 civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law authorizes the conditional release of a sexually violent predator under specified circumstances. Proposition 83 of the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, made various changes to the sexually violent predator civil commitment process. Proposition 83 permits the Legislature to amend its provisions, either by a 23 vote of the membership of each house, or by majority vote of the membership of each house if the amendments expand the scope of the application of the provisions of the proposition or increase the punishments or penalties provided in the proposition. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would prohibit a sexually violent predator from being released as a transient or without a fixed permanent address.
Existing law authorizes the Secretary of State to appoint and commission notaries public in the number the Secretary of State deems necessary for the public convenience. Existing law requires a notary public to keep one active sequential journal at a time of all official acts performed as a notary public. Existing law authorizes notaries public to act as notaries in any part of the state and prescribes the manner and method of notarizations. Existing law establishes various requirements to ensure the security of notary seals and imposes a civil penalty for a violation of those provisions. The California Public Records Act requires that public records, as defined, be available to the public for inspection and made promptly available to any person. This bill would authorize a notary public or an applicant for appointment as a notary public to apply for registration with the secretary to be a notary public authorized to perform online notarizations by submitting an application that meets certain requirements. The bill would also require an entity to register with the Secretary of State as an online notarization platform or depository before providing an online notarization system or depository, as defined, to an online notary public. The bill would require a representative of an online notarization platform to certify compliance with applicable laws under penalty of perjury. The bill also creates a civil cause of action against an online notarization platform or depository for a violation of those laws. The bill would require the Secretary of State to develop an application for registration and establish rules to implement the bill by January 1, 2028. This bill would authorize the Secretary of State to charge an applicant a fee for an application for registration in an amount necessary to administer the act. The bill would authorize an online notary public to perform notarial acts and online notarizations by means of audiovideo communication. The bill would establish various requirements applicable to an online notary public, including requiring an online notary public to keep a secure electronic journal to record online notarial acts, requiring an electronic notarial certificate to be a specified form that is required to be signed under penalty of perjury, and requiring an online notary public to destroy certain information upon termination of a commission, as specified. This bill would establish various requirements applicable to an online notarization platform, including prohibiting an online notarization platform or depository from accessing, using, sharing, selling, disclosing, producing, providing, releasing, transferring, disseminating, or otherwise communicating the contents of an online notarial act, with specified exceptions. The bill would also make other conforming changes. The bill would impose requirements for ensuring the security of an electronic signature or electronic seal and would make a violation of those provisions subject to civil penalties. The bill would make a violation of those provisions grounds for refusal or revocation of a commission as a notary public. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for any person who, without authorization, knowingly obtains, conceals, damages, or destroys the certificate, disk, coding, card, program, software, or hardware enabling an online notary public to affix an official electronic signature or seal. The bill would make it a misdemeanor for an online notary public to willfully fail or refuse to deliver all notarial records and papers to the Secretary of State within 30 days of when the online notary public resigns, is disqualified, is removed from office, or allows the online notary public's registration to expire. By creating new crimes, and by expanding the scope of the existing crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would exempt from the California Public Records Act records of online notarizations maintained by the Secretary of State. Existing law provides that any instrument affecting the title to real property, one year after the same has been copied into the proper book of record, that is kept in the office of any county recorder, provides notice of its contents to specified individuals, notwithstanding any defect, omission, or informality in the execution of the instrument or in the certificate of acknowledgment, or absence of that certificate. This bill would provide that any instrument affecting the title to real property that is acknowledged by online notarization and properly indexed or copied in the proper book of record imparts effective notice without the above-described one year requirement. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law makes possession of a controlled substance for the purposes of sale of the substance punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of 2, 3, or 4 years. Existing law makes transportation and sales of a controlled substances punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of 3, 4, or 5 years and transportation to a noncontiguous county within the state punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of 3, 6, or 9 years. This bill would increase the above-described penalties, as specified, if the controlled substance involved was more than more than 28.35 grams of fentanyl, more than 28.35 grams of an analog of fentanyl, a substance containing more than 28.35 grams of fentanyl, or a substance containing more than 28.35 grams of an analog of fentanyl. By increasing the penalty for a crime, 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 establishes the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation for the purpose of encouraging increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Existing law requires the California Transportation Commission to develop guidelines and project selection criteria for the program and authorizes the commission to amend the adopted guidelines after conducting at least one public hearing. This bill would require an applicant that receives funding under the program for a project to, within one year of completing the project, submit a report to the commission describing how the project met active transportation goals.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the fund. Existing law requires the investment plan to allocate, among other things, a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, disadvantaged communities and an additional minimum of 5% to projects that benefit low-income households or to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, low-income communities located anywhere in the state. This bill would increase those amounts from 25% to 50% and from 5% to 15%.
The Personal Income Tax Law excludes from the gross income of an employee amounts paid or incurred by an employer for educational assistance to the employee, as specified, up to $5,250 during a calendar year. This bill would include in the definition of "educational assistance" a payment made by an employer on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2026, paid or incurred by the employer, whether paid to the employee or to a lender, of principal or interest on a qualified education loan, as defined, relating to interest on education loans, incurred by the employee for education of the employee. The bill would also make various technical changes to these provisions and delete obsolete language relating to graduate level educational assistance. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. The bill would make specified findings detailing the goals, purposes, and objectives of the above-described exclusion, and the performance indicators for determining whether the exclusion meets those goals, purposes, and objectives. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes in the state government a State Department of Education and the department is responsible for various ongoing activities involving the public schools. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, establish the Home Book Delivery and School Connection Grant Program for the purpose of increasing access to books that are culturally relevant and reflect the diversity of the state, and build connections between school and home to support pupils in achieving grade-level reading by 3rd grade. The bill would require the department to award formula grants to up to 75 local educational agencies that opt in to the program. The bill would require the department to fund selected local educational agencies with pupils in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, that have the highest percentage of 3rd-grade pupils scoring at the lowest performance level on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress in English language arts who opt in to the grant pilot program. The bill would authorize the department to select a county office of education to assist in the administration of the grant program. This bill would require the pilot program to deliver, on a regular schedule, a minimum of 12 books per year to homes of participating families, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to contract with one or more entities, as provided, in order to implement the delivery services necessary to implement the pilot program. The bill would authorize local educational agencies to opt in their eligible schools for participation in the program and upon being chosen to participate, would require the local educational agencies to notify parents and families about the option to access and select books for home delivery and would require those local educational agencies to provide an annual report on an unspecified date to the selected entity or entities that are chosen to administer the program, as provided.
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act makes the State Department of Developmental Services responsible for providing various services and supports to individuals with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. Pursuant to that law, the department contracts with regional centers to provide services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities. The act requires regional centers to pursue all possible sources of funding for consumers receiving regional center services, including, among others, Medi-Cal. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, subject to receipt of any necessary federal approvals and the availability of federal financial participation, in order to, among other things, improve quality outcomes, reduce health disparities, and increase flexibility. Existing law authorizes the department to standardize those populations that are subject to mandatory enrollment in a Medi-Cal managed care plan across all aid code groups and Medi-Cal managed care models statewide, subject to a Medi-Cal managed care plan readiness, continuity of care transition plan, and disenrollment process developed in consultation with stakeholders, in accordance with specified requirements and the CalAIM Terms and Conditions. Existing law, if the department standardizes those populations subject to mandatory enrollment, exempts certain dual and non-dual beneficiary groups, as defined, from that mandatory enrollment. This bill would additionally exempt dual and non-dual-eligible beneficiaries who receive services from a regional center and use a Medi-Cal fee-for-service delivery system as a secondary form of health coverage.
Existing law authorizes the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (office) to develop content on its internet website or through other mediums to be used for public dissemination, through outreach activities, in order to provide information and resources to inform the general public about place-based and other geographically targeted economic development programs, including California Promise Zones and California Opportunity Zones. Existing law requires the office to convene, at least annually, representatives from various programs and agencies across the state and from various federal programs and agencies for the purpose of discussing how California can leverage Promise Zones and Opportunity Zones to meet state and local community and economic development needs. This bill would require the office, subject to available funding, to provide technical assistance to local and regional entities and collaboration on how to establish and maintain regional economic hubs through the designation of place-based economic development zones. The bill would require the director of the office, by January 15, 2024, to designate an economic development liaison to assist entities in the Eastern Coachella Valley and the Imperial Valley to establish a Southeast California Desert Valleys Economic Zone. The bill would also make clarifying changes.
Existing law authorizes a local government to grant franchises and other privileges to certain public utilities, and requires that those franchises or privileges be granted consistent with specified conditions. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that requirement.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, makes declarations of state policy and legislative intent, including finding and declaring that California's land is an exhaustible resource, not just a commodity, and is essential to the economy, environment, and general well-being of the people of California. Existing law further declares it is the policy of the state and the intent of the Legislature to protect California's land resource, to ensure its preservation and use in ways that are economically and socially desirable in an attempt to improve the quality of life in California. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.
