Existing law authorizes the presiding judge, or a judge designated as an alternative to judicial arbitration, of the courts of the County of Los Angeles to submit to mediation any civil case in which arbitration is otherwise required, as specified. Beginning on January 1, 2027, existing law will prohibit the court from ordering a case into mediation unless, among other required conditions, the amount in controversy does not exceed $75,000. This bill would authorize the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles to issue an order permitting any case into mediation, notwithstanding the $75,000 limitation on the amount in controversy described above. The bill would require any case submitted to mediation pursuant to such order to meet all mandatory conditions to qualify for mediation, other than the limitation on the amount in controversy. The bill would require all cases ordered to mediation to be entitled up to 3 hours of no-cost mediation services provided by a court-sanctioned mediation program. The bill would authorize the parties to appear remotely. The bill would also prohibit a mediation ordered pursuant to these provisions from delaying or serving as grounds to continue the trial date or otherwise to delay or continue any expedited procedures. If the presiding judge issues the order described above, the bill would require the court to transmit a report to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary on or before January 31, 2028, and annually thereafter, containing specified information about the cases submitted to mediation. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.
Existing law prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle upon a highway unless that person holds a valid driver's license to operate the type of vehicle that the person is driving. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to require an examination for issuance of a driver's license. The examination is required to be appropriate to the type of motor vehicle or combination of vehicles the applicant desires a license to drive or tow, in accordance with certain license classifications. A class C driver's license includes the operation of, among other vehicles, firefighting equipment, provided that the equipment is operated by a person who holds a firefighter endorsement, as specified. This bill would include the operation of specified emergency equipment under a class C driver's license, provided the equipment is owned by a law enforcement agency and is operated by a person who has completed the emergency equipment training described below. Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to set minimum standards for the recruitment and training of peace officers and to develop training courses and curriculum. This bill would require specified peace officers and volunteers registered with specified law enforcement agencies be permitted to operate emergency equipment, as specified. The bill would require the training to include both classroom and driver training components, as specified, and a written examination. The bill would impose certification, experience, and licensure requirements on instructors for the training program, including, among other things, a requirement that an instructor be certified as a qualified training instructor by the State of California, the federal government, or a county training officers' association. The bill would define "emergency equipment" as a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles that meets the definition of a class A or class B vehicle and is subject to certain requirements, including, but not limited to, that they are used to travel to and from the scene of an emergency situation, to and from a place where the emergency equipment is repaired or positioned, or to transport equipment used in the control of an emergency situation and that is owned, leased, rented by, or under the exclusive control of specified law enforcement agencies.
This measure would recognize that sudden cardiac arrest is a critical issue facing student athletes and provide that the Legislature supports the important work nonprofit organizations are doing to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest, increase preventative screenings, and reduce the number of cases.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to specified public employees and prescribes the rights and duties of members and annuitants of the system. PERL vests management and control of PERS in the Board of Administration. PERL authorizes the board, during the course of an audit, to require each state employer, school employer, including each school district represented by a school employer, and contracting agency to provide information as deemed necessary by the board to determine eligibility for, and the correctness of, retirement benefits, reportable compensation, enrollment in, and reinstatement to this system. PERL requires the board, before initiating an audit, to notify the subject of the audit of the estimated time required to completion. This bill would require the board, before initiating an audit, to list specific information about the audit on its internet website and provide written notice to the affected state employer, school employer, including each school district represented by a school employer, or contracting agency. The bill would specify the distribution of the notice, the final audit report, and a list of members affected by the final audit report, between the board, a state employer, school employer, or contracting agency, and any exclusive representative.
Existing law establishes uniform residency requirements for purposes of ascertaining the amount of tuition and fees to be paid by students of public postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law requires a student classified as a nonresident to pay nonresident tuition, in addition to other fees required by the institution, except as provided. Existing law exempts a student enrolled at a campus of the California Community Colleges or the California State University from paying nonresident tuition or any other fee that exclusively applies to nonresident students if the student resides in California, meets the definition of "covered individual" under federal law, and is eligible for education benefits under 4 specified federal GI Bill programs, as the federal law read on January 5, 2022. This bill would add, for purposes of that exemption, the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve program to the list of federal GI Bill programs and specify that federal law as it read on January 5, 2026, applies. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts to determine eligibility for an exemption from paying nonresident tuition or fees, 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.
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. 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. CEQA exempts certain projects from its requirements and authorizes a lead agency, if it determines a certain project is exempt from CEQA, to file a notice of exemption, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA the closure of a railroad grade crossing by order of the Public Utilities Commission if the commission finds the crossing to present a threat to public safety. The bill would provide that the exemption is inapplicable to any crossing for high-speed rail or any crossing for a project carried out by the High-Speed Rail Authority. The bill would require the lead agency to file the notice of exemption with specified public entities, as provided. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency with regard to the filing of the notice of exemption, 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under the Political Reform Act of 1974, a person who files an original statement or report related to campaign financing, or a copy of the statement or report, after a deadline imposed by the act is liable in the amount of $10 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is filed, up to the cumulative amount stated in the late statement or report or $100, whichever is greater. For original statements or reports, existing law authorizes a filing officer to not impose this liability if the officer determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement of the liability will not further the purposes of the act, except in specified cases, including if a statement of economic interest, other than the statement of a candidate for specified state and local offices, is not filed within 30 days after the filing officer has sent specific written notice of the filing requirement. This bill would establish a limit on liability of $100 for the late filing of an original statement of economic interest. For any other original statement or report, the bill would limit liability for a late filing at an amount equal to the aggregate amount of any contributions, expenditures, and other amounts reported on the statement or report, or $100, whichever is greater. The bill would remove the provision imposing liability in the amount of $10 for the filing of a late copy of a statement or report. The bill would also remove the exception to liability if the statement of a candidate for specified state and local offices is not filed within 30 days after the filing officer has sent specific written notice of the filing requirement, thereby penalizing such a late filing in the same manner as the late filing of other statements of economic interest. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation in the Transportation Agency. Existing law authorizes the department, subject to approval of the Secretary of Transportation, to enter into an interagency transfer agreement under which a joint powers board assumes responsibility for administering state-funded intercity rail service in certain rail corridors, including the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. Existing law defines the LOSSAN Rail Corridor as the intercity passenger rail corridor between San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo. Pursuant to this authority, the department entered into an interagency transfer agreement with the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency to administer intercity passenger rail service in the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. Existing law requires the Secretary of Transportation to convene a working group composed of representatives of certain types of entities, including, among others, representatives from county transportation commissions and metropolitan planning organizations from specified counties. Existing law requires the working group to submit consensus recommendations and feedback in a report to the Legislature on or before February 1, 2026, on various topics relating to rail service in the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. This bill would instead require the working group to submit this report to the Legislature on or before February 1, 2027. By extending the duties of representatives of local agencies, 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.
Existing law, the California Prompt Payment Act, requires a state agency that acquires property or services pursuant to a contract with a business to make payment to the person or business on the date required by the contract and as specified, or be subject to a late payment penalty. Existing law requires state agencies to encourage claimants to promptly pay their subcontractors and suppliers, especially those that are small businesses. This bill would authorize a subcontractor or supplier performing work under a state contract to request payment status information from the awarding state agency regarding invoices submitted by the prime contractor, and would require a prime contractor to provide confirmation to the awarding agency, upon the agency's request, regarding payments made to subcontractors.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Conservation Corps in the Natural Resources Agency. Existing law requires the Governor to appoint the director of the corps to act as the administrative officer of the corps and assigns specified responsibilities to the director. Existing law makes various findings and declarations relating to the corps. This bill would revise those findings and declarations relating to the corps, as provided. The bill would eliminate the director's authority to establish a training program for members of county or city conservation corps, as provided. The bill would also repeal a redundant statute. Existing law requires young adults participating in the corps program to generally be engaged in projects that do a list of specified things, including assisting in fire prevention and suppression. Existing law requires those projects to provide opportunities to the public for their education or other specified purposes. This bill would instead require those projects to assist in wildfire prevention and suppression, and would include forest resiliency, among other projects, to that list, as specified. This bill would require the projects to also provide those opportunities to California Native American tribes and corpsmembers. Existing law authorizes the corps to enter into a contract with an individual or a collective of community conservation corps for a project or program, as provided. This bill would authorize the corps to also enter into a contract with a conservation corps established by California Native American tribes for a project or program, as specified. Existing law requires the corps to report to specified committees of the Legislature by December 31 of each year the number of corpsmembers in the cohort who received an associate or bachelor's degree while serving in the corps or in the 12-month period following final separation from the corps and, among other things, to the extent feasible, the number of corpsmembers who enrolled in postsecondary education in the 12-month period following final separation from the corps. This bill would delete that requirement to report on the number of corpsmembers who received an associate or bachelor's degree. The bill would revise the requirement to report on the number of corpsmembers who enrolled in postsecondary education to have that data reported and disaggregated as the number enrolled at a California Community College, California State University, University of California, or private postsecondary educational institution. (2) The Public Employees' Retirement Law creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) , which is administered by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System. PERS provides defined benefits to its members based on their final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. Existing law establishes the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, which is a trust fund that is appropriated continuously for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions. Existing law authorizes a member of PERS to elect to receive service credit for certain public service outside the system, including time served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, by making specified contributions to the system. This bill would also authorize a member to elect to receive service credit for service as a corpsmember or special corpsmember with the corps, subject to making the required contributions for that service. By increasing the amount of employee contributions to the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of employees with specified exceptions. Under existing law, these provisions apply to and include employees in any occupation, trade, or industry, except for any individual employed as an outside salesperson or any individual participating in a national service program carried out using assistance, as provided. This bill would additionally exempt corpsmembers from those provisions.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various financial institutions by the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. Some of those laws require the commissioner to charge and collect specified fees and assessments. This bill would require the commissioner to, on or before March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, and the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee the projected and actual revenues and expenditures, including the difference between revenues and expenditures, for the immediately preceding fiscal year for various laws enforced by the commissioner, as specified. This bill would require, for each of those laws that authorizes the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to issue and collect assessments and charges on a pro rata basis to recover the actual costs of administering that law, the department to include in any report pursuant to the bill the method of determining those assessments and charges.
Existing law requires every state agency subject to the Administrative Procedure Act to provide an initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation. Existing law requires an initial statement of reasons for a regulation that is a building standard to include the estimated cost of compliance, the estimated potential benefits, and the related assumptions used to determine the estimates, except as specified. Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Government Operations Agency. Existing law requires any building standard adopted or proposed by state agencies to be submitted to, and approved or adopted by, the commission before codification, in compliance with certain procedures, including, among others, the above-described requirement that an initial statement of reasons for a regulation that is a building standard include the estimated cost of compliance, the estimated potential benefits, and the related assumptions used to determine the estimates. This bill, if the commission finds that the initial statement of reasons is submitted without a completed statement of estimated cost of compliance, as specified, would prohibit the commission from approving or adopting the proposed or adopted building standard. The bill would also make nonsubstantive, conforming changes.
