Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee, as defined, for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that specified injuries, such as cancer or post-traumatic stress disorder, developed or manifested in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law makes these provisions applicable to certain active firefighting members, including active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a United States Department of Defense installation or active firefighting members of a fire department that serves a National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation. This bill would, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2026, additionally apply these provisions to active firefighting members of a fire department that provides fire protection to a commercial airport, as specified. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that other injuries, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, or meningitis, developed or manifested in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law makes these provisions applicable to certain active firefighting members, including volunteers who are partly paid or fully paid by, among others, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or a county forestry or firefighting unit. The bill would, for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2026, also apply these provisions to active firefighting members of a fire department that provides fire protection to a commercial airport, National Aeronautics and Space Administration installation, or United States Department of Defense installation.
Existing law provides for the creation of a county air pollution control district in every county not included within other specified districts. Existing law requires, under certain circumstances, the membership of the governing board of each county air pollution control district to include one or more members who are mayors, city council members, or both, and one or more members who are county supervisors. This bill would provide that a member of the board is entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of board duties, as specified. The bill would require, upon adoption of a resolution by the county district board, each member of the board to receive compensation, subject to specified daily and annual limits, while attending meetings of the board or any committee of the board or while engaged in the official business of the county district, as specified. The bill would require a county district board that elects to provide compensation to its board to submit a report containing specified information to the relevant committees of the Legislature within 3 years of the commencement of that compensation. The bill would provide that these provisions apply only to a county district board subject to the above-described membership requirement. Existing law establishes the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District, governed by a 7-member board, and prescribes the powers and duties of the district board with respect to the control of air pollution in the district. This bill would provide that a member of the board is entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of board duties, as specified. The bill would require, upon adoption of a resolution by the district board, each member of the board to receive compensation, subject to specified daily and annual limits, while attending meetings of the board or any committee of the board or while engaged in the official business of the county district, as specified. The bill would require the district board, if it elects to provide compensation to its board, to submit a report containing specified information to the relevant committees of the Legislature within 3 years of the commencement of that compensation. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the boards.
Existing law authorizes a rental company, when providing a quote, or imposing charges for a rental, to separately state the rental rate, additional mandatory charges, if any, and a mileage charge, if any, that a renter must pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of time to which the rental rate applies, and authorizes the rental company to impose other additional charges, as specified. Existing law prohibits a rental company from charging in addition to the rental rate, additional mandatory charges, or a mileage charge, as those may be applicable, any other fee that is required to be paid by the renter as a condition of hiring or leasing the vehicle. Existing law requires, if a rental company states a rental rate in print advertisement or in a quotation, the rental company to disclose clearly in that advertisement or quotation the terms of mileage conditions relating to the advertised or quoted rental rate, as specified, and requires all rate advertisements to include a prominently displayed disclaimer providing that additional specified mandatory charges may be imposed. This bill would additionally apply the above-described provisions to third parties. The bill would also specify that mandatory third-party service fees are included in the additional mandatory charges that a rental company or third party shall not charge in addition to the rental rate. The bill would additionally require a rental company or third party to provide the total charges estimate for the entire rental, including all taxes and fees imposed by a government, as soon as specified information about the rental is provided to the rental company or third party. The bill would require a rental company or third party to clearly indicate the fuel source, as defined, of the vehicle prior to completion of a reservation. Existing law requires rental companies that impose additional mandatory charges to comply with certain requirements, including providing the person receiving the quote with a good faith estimate of the rental rate and all additional mandatory charges, as well as the total charges for the entire rental, as specified. This bill would instead require a rental company to provide the person receiving the quote with a total charges estimate of the rental rate and all additional mandatory charges for the entire rental, as specified. The bill would also require a third party that imposes additional mandatory charges to comply with specified requirements. Existing law requires a person or entity other than a rental company, including a passenger carrier or a seller of travel services, to clearly disclose the existence and amount of additional mandatory charges, as applicable, and provides that the rental car company is not responsible for the failure of that person or entity to comply with this provision if a rental company provides the person or entity with rental rate and additional mandatory charges information. This bill would instead provide that, with regard to specified requirements on imposing charges for a rental, a rental company is not responsible for the failure of a third party to comply with those requirements if the rental company provides the third party with information about certain charges, and also that, if a rental company fails to comply with those requirements when providing a third party with information about certain charges or fails to provide the third party with additional mandatory charges and fuel source information along with the rental rate information, the third party is not responsible for that failure.
Existing law, the Architects Practice Act, establishes the California Architects Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs for licensing and regulation of persons engaged in the practice of architecture, and defines the term "architect" for those purposes. That act requires an applicant for licensure as an architect to, among other things, take an examination. The act imposes various fees on licensees and applicants for a license, which are deposited in the California Architects Board Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would authorize a person to apply to the board and obtain authorization to use the title "architect-in-training" after they have been identified as a candidate for licensure by the board and certain requirements are met, including that they successfully passed at least one division of the above-described examination. The bill would require, before the board approves an authorization to an applicant to use that title, the licensed architect who will be responsible for supervising the applicant while using the title to submit to the board a form agreeing to be responsible for the work to be performed by the applicant while using the title, as specified, and require a person using the title, if the licensed architect responsible for supervising the person while using the title changes, to notify the board of the change within 30 days of the change, as specified. The bill would authorize a person using the title, during any period in which the person is not under supervision of a licensed architect, to request the board to place their authorization to use the title on inactive status, as specified. The bill would prohibit the use of an abbreviation or derivative of that title, other than "AIT," and would prohibit a person from using that title to independently offer or provide architectural services to the public. The bill would authorize the board to disclose a person's authorization to use that title to a member of the public upon request. The bill would provide that the use of that title in violation of these provisions may constitute unprofessional conduct and subject the user of the title to administrative action, including denial of a license. The bill would authorize the board to charge a reasonable fee to evaluate whether a person meets the requirements to use the title "architect-in-training." By increasing moneys deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would authorize a person to use the title "architect-in-training" for no more than 4 years after approval by the board. The bill would authorize a person to apply to the board and obtain authorization to use the title "architect-in-training" a 2nd time if the person has passed a division of the above-described exam in the 4 years immediately preceding the person's application. The bill would prohibit a person from applying to the board to use the title "architect-in training" on or after January 1, 2033. The act authorizes the board, upon its own motion, and requires the board, upon the verified complaint in writing of any person, to investigate the actions of any architect. In this regard, the act authorizes the board to temporarily suspend or permanently revoke the license of any architect who is guilty of, or commits one or more of, certain acts or omissions constituting grounds for disciplinary action under the act, including the conviction of a crime substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of an architect by the holder of a license. This bill would authorize the board, upon its own initiative or upon the receipt of a complaint, to investigate the actions of any person using the title "architect-in-training" as described above, and to make findings for those purposes. In this regard, the bill would authorize the board to suspend or revoke an active authorization to use the title "architect-in-training" for certain reasons, including that the person using the title committed any act of fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in obtaining the authorization to use that title. The bill would specify that a licensed architect who is responsible for supervising a person using the title "architect-in-training" as described above is subject to disciplinary actions for any violations of the act committed by the person using that title within the course and scope of their employment. The bill would make its provisions operative on January 1, 2027, and would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2037.
Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to have specified tools or other items, with the intent to feloniously break or enter into a building or other specified place. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to make, alter, or repair specified instruments if the person knows or has reason to believe the instrument is intended to be used in the commission of a misdemeanor or felony. This bill would add key programming devices, key duplicating devices, and signal extenders, as defined, to the list of instruments that are an element of the above offenses. By expanding the scope of an existing 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 requires the state, through the State Department of Social Services and county welfare departments, to establish and support a public system of statewide child welfare services, which is defined to mean public social services that are directed toward the accomplishment of specified purposes, including protecting and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their families. This bill would authorize a county child welfare agency to establish a 3-year pilot program in which the county partners with a domestic violence consultant from a domestic violence victim service organization to offer support and guidance to county social workers in addressing the complex dynamics of families who are potentially experiencing both domestic violence and child maltreatment in order to enhance the social worker's knowledge of domestic violence and their ability to apply that knowledge to their work with parent survivors and their children through tailored engagement and intervention strategies. The bill would require a domestic violence consultant under the program to assist county social workers by providing education on domestic violence-related dynamics and services and discussing complicating factors and protective measures, as specified, among other things. The bill would require a county that implements the pilot program to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot program and report its findings to the Legislature on or before October 31, 2031. The bill would require a participating county to seek the input of the State Department of Social Services and stakeholders, including people with lived experience with domestic violence and child welfare, in the design and implementation of the evaluation.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to collect data from specified local law enforcement agencies and to make available on the department's OpenJustice Web portal information relating to criminal statistics. Existing law requires those law enforcement agencies to install and maintain records needed for the correct reporting of statistical data and to report the data to the Attorney General in the manner the Attorney General prescribes. This bill would require the department to include in the information made available on the OpenJustice Web portal information concerning arrests for human trafficking and the number of individuals who have been a victim of human trafficking as reported through the California Incident-Based Reporting System. Because the bill would require local law enforcement agencies to collect and report additional information to the Attorney General, 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, 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 specified administrative hearing process in the enforcement and processing of parking violations and penalties, and requires the issuing agency to conduct an initial administrative review of the notice of parking violation at the request of the contestant to whom the notice was mailed. Existing law authorizes an examiner conducting the hearing or the issuing agency to allow payment of the parking penalty in installments, and authorizes the issuing agency to defer payment if the contestant provides satisfactory evidence to the examiner or the issuing agency, as the case may be, of the inability to pay the parking penalty in full. This bill would authorize the issuing agency to reduce or waive the parking penalty if the contestant provides satisfactory evidence of either an inability to pay the parking penalty in full or any other extenuating circumstances relevant to payment of the parking penalty, including, but not limited to, documented homelessness status and financial hardship. Existing law authorizes a parking citation processing agency, as defined, to collect an unpaid parking penalty by requesting the Department of Motor Vehicles to place a registration hold on the vehicle to which the citations have been issued, or by obtaining a civil judgment against the registered owner of the vehicle, as specified. Existing law requires a processing agency to offer a payment plan for unpaid parking citations to qualified indigent persons. Existing law requires the payment plan to meet specified conditions, including, among others, that a person is allowed a period of 120 calendar days from the issuance of a notice of parking violation or 10 days after the administrative hearing determination, whichever is later, to file a request to participate in a payment plan. This bill would allow the person to file a request to participate in a payment plan at any time.
Existing law, the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013, requires a public employee who is convicted of any state or federal felony for conduct arising out of, or in the performance of, the public employee's official duties in pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other benefits, to forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in any public retirement system from the earliest date of the commission of the felony to the date of conviction, and prohibits the public employee from accruing further benefits in that public retirement system. Existing law defines "public employee" for purposes of these provisions to mean an officer, including one who is elected or appointed, or an employee of a public employer. Existing law also requires an elected public officer, who takes public office, or is reelected to public office, on or after January 1, 2006, and who is convicted during or after holding office of any felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes arising directly out of their official duties as an elected public officer, to forfeit all rights and benefits under, and membership in, any public retirement system in which they are a member, effective on the date of final conviction, as provided. This bill would require a public employer that is investigating a public employee for misconduct arising out of or in the performance of, the public employee's official duties in pursuit of the office or appointment, or in connection with obtaining salary, disability retirement, service retirement, or other benefits, to continue the investigation even if the public employee retires while under investigation, if the investigation indicates that the public employee may have committed a crime. The bill would require a public employer, if the investigation indicates that the public employee may have committed a crime, to refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency, and would then authorize the public employer to close the investigation. Under the bill, if the public employee is convicted of a felony for any conduct described above, the public employee would forfeit all accrued rights and benefits in any public retirement system pursuant to the provisions governing forfeiture described above. By imposing new duties on public employers who are local governmental entities, 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.
By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the state's lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of California's lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal. On April 22, 2022, the Natural Resources Agency issued the "Pathways to 30x30 California: Accelerating Conservation of California's Nature" report and existing law requires the Secretary of Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature on progress made toward achieving the 30x30 goal, as provided. This bill would, to further specified findings of the Pathways to 30x30 Report, require the agency to develop strategies to reduce barriers and increase support for stewardship of conserved lands. The bill would require the agency to collaborate with stakeholders, California Native American tribes, and relevant state agencies to prepare a section on stewardship as part of the 2027 annual report on progress made toward achieving the 30x30 goal, which the bill would require to include, among other things, recommendations to increase and improve stewardship of 30x30 lands, including innovative ways to reduce barriers and increase federal, state, and local support for stewardship, as specified. The bill would require the update to be posted on the agency's internet website.
Under existing law, when a vehicle has been towed and stored, the legal owner may only be charged a storage fee during the first 15 days of possession, and beyond the first 15 days, only for any time after 3 days have lapsed after written notification has been made to the legal owner, as specified. Existing law requires that fees charged under these provisions for storage and towing be reasonable. Existing law makes an insurer that is responsible for reasonable storage and towing charges liable to the person providing those services when a vehicle is towed and stored as a result of an accident or stolen recovery, as specified. Existing law requires that these storage and towing fees be reasonable and enumerates a list of fees that are presumptively unreasonable. This bill would expand the list of presumptively unreasonable fees for purposes of the provisions described above to include, among other things, storage fees charged for state holidays that exceed the posted standard daily storage rate and towing fees charged when the owner or the operator of a tow truck is directed by a law enforcement officer to remove a vehicle at the scene of a state or local emergency, as specified.
Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2026, the Counties of Alameda, Butte, Nevada, and Santa Clara to establish a pilot program to operate a deferred entry of judgment pilot program for eligible defendants who are 18 years of age or older, but under 21 years of age, on the date the offense was committed, as specified. Existing law requires a probation department to submit data relating to the effectiveness of the pilot program to the Division of Recidivism Reduction and Re-Entry, within the Department of Justice. Existing law requires a participating county to submit an evaluation of its pilot program's impact and effectiveness to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Public Safety, no later than December 31, 2024. This bill would extend the pilot program, for the Counties of Butte, Nevada, and Santa Clara, to January 1, 2029, and would require an evaluation to be submitted to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Public Safety no later than December 31, 2027. Existing law requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to review a county's pilot program to ensure compliance with specific federal law. This bill would instead require the Office of Youth and Community Restoration to review a county's pilot program for compliance and would require the office to report findings from the review to the board.
