Existing law establishes the Court Reporters Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of shorthand reporters. Existing law requires an applicant for certification as a shorthand reporter to obtain a passing score on a certified shorthand reporter examination specified by the board, and requires an applicant to meet specified requirements to qualify to take the examination. A violation of the provisions regulating shorthand reporters is a misdemeanor. This bill would provide for the certification of digital reporters by the board and would authorize a certified digital reporter, among other things, to swear in witnesses and capture the record in a legal proceeding. The bill would also provide for the certification of legal transcriptionists by the board and would authorize a legal transcriptionist to, among other things, certify transcripts for use in legal proceedings. The bill would establish application and qualifications for these certifications, including requiring applicants for either certification to obtain a certificate from a certain professional organization, or meet other specified requirements. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the board to establish certification and renewal fees for digital reporters and legal transcriptionists. Because some of those fees would be required to be deposited into the Transcript Reimbursement Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would make it an unfair labor practice for a court to terminate a certified shorthand reporter and transfer their job duties to a digital reporter or legal transcriptionist, and would create a presumption that terminating a certified shorthand reporter within ____ days before or after hiring a digital reporter or legal transcriptionist is a violation of that prohibition. Existing law, the Civil Discovery Act, requires that depositions be taken stenographically by a certified shorthand reporter, except as specified. This bill would instead require depositions to be recorded stenographically by a certified shorthand reporter or a certified digital recorder, and would, for purposes of certain provision of that act, specify that a deposition is recorded stenographically when it is recorded by either a certified stenographer or certified digital recorder. Existing law, known as the "heresay rule," provides that, at a hearing, evidence of a statement that was made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing and that is offered to prove the truth of the matter stated is inadmissible. Existing law provides exceptions to the heresay rule to permit admission of specified kinds of evidence, including former testimony, if certain conditions are satisfied. This bill would specify that, if otherwise admissible, a digitally captured transcript is admissible if the transcript was captured digitally under the supervision of a digital reporter and was transcribed by a digital reporter or a legal transcriptionist. Existing law authorizes a superior court to appoint official court reporters and official reporters pro tempore as deemed necessary for the performance of the duties of the court and its members. This bill would authorize a digital reporter to prepare an electronic recording of a proceeding and would authorize a legal transcriptionist to prepare a transcript of the proceeding if an electronic recording is prepared by a digital reporter. The bill would require a legal transcriptionist to receive fees for their services. Existing law authorizes a court to use electronic recording equipment to record an action or proceeding in a limited civil case or a misdemeanor or infraction case, if an official reporter or an official reporter pro tempore is unavailable. Existing law authorizes the use of a transcript derived from the electronic reporting whenever a transcript of court proceedings is required. This bill would require the electronic recording to be done by a digital reporter and would authorize the use of a transcript derived from an electronic recording only when the transcript was transcribed by a certified legal transcriptionist. 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.
Under existing law, the Legislature encourages school administrations to (1) offer wellness programs that include personalized instruction about healthy eating and physical activity and (2) ensure that the nutrition services, health services, and social services pupils need in order to learn are provided at the schoolsite or in cooperation with other community agencies. This bill would state that the Legislature encourages school administrations, if the school maintains an internet website, to post on the school's internet website information about community programs that offer nutrition assistance to families.
Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs and charges it with administrative and enforcement duties related to the provision of medical services under the act. The act makes unprofessional conduct subject to discipline by the board the regular practice of medicine in a specified hospital having 5 or more physicians and surgeons on the medical staff without required provisions governing the operation of the hospital relating to records and to the organization, membership, and self-governance of the medical staff. The act makes unprofessional conduct subject to discipline by the board the regular practice of medicine in a specified hospital having less than 5 physicians and surgeons on the medical staff without required provisions governing the operation of the hospital relating to records and to the membership of the medical staff. The act includes in the organization provisions licensed physicians and surgeons, as specified, and in the membership provisions physicians and surgeons, and other licensed practitioners, as specified. A violation of the act, unless otherwise expressly provided, is a crime. This bill would expand the required provisions related to organization to additionally include dentists, podiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and other health care professionals, as specified. The bill would expand the required provisions related to membership of medical staff to additionally include dentists, podiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives, as specified. By expanding the required provisions, the lack thereof constituting unprofessional conduct, this bill would expand the scope of a crime, and would thereby 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 regulates repossession agencies that locate or recover collateral, including vehicles, and provides for their licensure by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Existing law requires a repossession agency to remove personal effects from the collateral, inventory the personal effects, and store the personal effects until claimed or for at least 60 days, as specified. This bill would prohibit a repossession agency from discussing, conspiring, or agreeing with a 3rd party to set a fee, rate, or cost for personal effects and from accepting a hold harmless agreement or release of indemnification in lieu of removing, inventorying, and storing personal effects. Existing law authorizes a person to place a lien on a registered vehicle for authorized towing, storage, or labor associated with recovery or load salvage of the vehicle, among other things. This bill would clarify that provisions relating to vehicle liens do not prohibit a licensed repossession agency from filing a lien. Existing law generally prohibits a tow yard, impounding agency, or governmental agency, or a person acting on their behalf, from refusing to release a vehicle or other collateral to anyone legally entitled to the vehicle or other collateral. Under specified circumstances, including after a vehicle is seized because the driver has a suspended or revoked driver's license, existing law requires a person in possession of a vehicle to release the vehicle without requiring documents other than those specified. This bill would specify that requiring additional documents to release a vehicle is a violation of the statute prohibiting a tow yard, impounding agency, or governmental agency, or a person acting on their behalf, from refusing to release a vehicle or other collateral to anyone legally entitled to the vehicle or other collateral.
Existing law requires that a pupil be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with the pupil's gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records. This bill would revise and recast the provision related to a pupil's participation in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, to instead require that a pupil's participation in those programs and activities be consistent with the pupil's sex at birth.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , approved by the voters at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, regulates the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, testing, processing, sale, and use of marijuana for nonmedical purposes by people 21 years of age and older. The existing 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. 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 requires every employer to secure the payment of workers' compensation as provided by law and imposes civil and criminal penalties on employers that fail to secure the payment of workers' compensation. Existing law authorizes an employer, pursuant to this provision, to insure against liability in insurers duly authorized to write compensation insurance in the state or to secure from the Director of Industrial Relations a certificate of consent to self-insure. This bill would authorize the administrative director or their agent to require an employer that is licensed or required to be licensed under MAUCRSA to provide proof that it has secured payment of workers' compensation to the administrative director or their agent. The bill would authorize the administrative director or their agent to establish a schedule for compliance that includes dates for when a licensee may be required to comply with these requirements. The bill would require the administrative director to provide assistance to any employer or entity that notifies the administrative director that it has been unable to obtain coverage and authorize the administrative director to extend the deadline for compliance, and would exempt any employer that secures the payment of workers' compensation pursuant to these provisions from civil or criminal liability for prior failure to secure the payment of compensation. The bill would authorize the administrative director to contract with one or more agents to assist employers in complying with these provisions, as specified.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Education, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns to the department numerous duties relating to the financing, governance, and guidance of the public elementary and secondary schools in this state. This bill would require the department to, no later than September 1, 2026, identify and post on its internet website a list of inservice professional development programs for effective means of teaching literacy in specified grade levels that may be used by school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools for training teachers. The bill would require the department to ensure that the list includes programs offered in different modalities, including in-person and virtual formats, and ensure that the programs meet specified criteria. The bill would require the department to make specified funds available and the Superintendent to apportion those funds to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools to provide opportunities for professional development for teachers who teach pupils in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, using one or more of the above-described professional development programs, as provided. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law sets forth the minimum requirements for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services, which include, among other requirements, completion of an entry-level program of specialized and professional preparation in administrative services or a one-year internship in a program of supervised training in administrative services, subject to approval by the commission, as provided. This bill would require the commission to, no later than September 1, 2027, ensure that the program standards for the professional preparation of candidates for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services meets specified criteria, including, among other things, that the program standards include preparation on how to support teachers in delivering instruction through effective means for teaching literacy, as provided. The bill would require the commission to, no later than September 1, 2029, certify that all professional preparation programs and internships for candidates for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services approved by the commission meet those program standards. Existing law requires the state board to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for governing boards of school districts and county boards of education, subject to specified provisions, including, among others, that the State Board of Education adopt at least 5 basic instructional materials for all applicable grade levels in each of the specified subject areas, including, among others, language arts, including, but not limited to, spelling, reading, and English language development. This bill would require the state board, on or before June 30, 2027, and in adherence with specified provisions related to followup adoptions, to adopt instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in English language arts and English language development, as provided. The bill would require the state board to ensure that instructional materials adopted pursuant to these provisions adhere to specified criteria. This bill would make implementation of its provisions, as described above, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature.
The Quimby Act, which is within the Subdivision Map Act, authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to require the dedication of land or to impose fees for park or recreational purposes as a condition to the approval of a tentative map or parcel subdivision map if specified requirements are met. The act provides that the dedication of land, or the payment of fees, or both, shall not exceed the proportionate amount necessary to provide 3 acres of park area per 1,000 persons residing within a subdivision subject to the act, except as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit the proportion of the land to be dedicated, or the amount of any fee to be paid in lieu thereof, or both, from exceeding 25% of the total acreage of the subdivision, if the proposed subdivision is for infill housing. The bill would also prohibit the legislative body of a city or county from requiring the dedication of land or the payment of fees in lieu thereof, if the proposed subdivision is for infill housing and the subdivision is located within 12 mile of an existing park. The Mitigation Fee Act, among other things, requires a local agency that imposes a fee as a condition of approval of a development project to deposit the fee in a separate capital facilities account or fund, and to make certain information about the account or fund available to the public annually, as specified. The Mitigation Fee Act generally excepts fees imposed pursuant to the Quimby Act from its provisions. This bill would, notwithstanding that exception, require fees collected pursuant to the Quimby Act to comply with the requirement to deposit the fee in a separate capital facilities account or fund and to comply with the public reporting requirements described above. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. 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 prohibits the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except those specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified. This bill would exempt small modular reactors, as defined, from those provisions. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over electrical corporations and gas corporations. Under existing law, it is the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 100% of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers and 100% of electricity procured to serve all state agencies by December 31, 2045. Existing law requires the PUC, the Energy Commission, and all other state agencies to incorporate that policy into all relevant planning. This bill would require the PUC, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt a plan to increase the procurement of electricity generated from nuclear facilities and to phase out the procurement of electricity generated from natural gas facilities.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and to protect employees. The act grants to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Beginning July 1, 2018, and every 5 years thereafter, the act requires the board, in consultation with the department, to complete a comprehensive review of all revisions to National Fire Protection Association standards pertaining to certain personal protective equipment and requires the board to consider modifying existing safety orders and to render a decision regarding the adoption of necessary changes to safety orders, or other applicable standards and regulations, no later than July 1 of the subsequent year, if the review finds that the revisions to applicable National Fire Protection Association standards provide a greater degree of personal protection than the safety orders. This bill would prohibit the board from adopting a safety order or regulation that requires the personal protective equipment described above and used exclusively by certain fire districts to be replaced more frequently than once every 15 years unless the board finds the personal protective equipment is unsafe due to wear and tear, poses an immediate safety hazard, or contains perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or any other currently known hazardous material.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income. Existing law, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, allows a deduction for specified investment interest, not to exceed the net investment income of the taxpayer for the taxable year, as provided. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, would provide an exclusion from gross income for any amount of interest income that a taxpayer generates on an investment during the taxable year and, without the qualified taxpayer's consent and against the qualified taxpayer's will, is stolen, sold, or otherwise transferred, as specified. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to adopt new, or expand existing, fixed charges, as defined, for the purpose of collecting a reasonable portion of the fixed costs of providing electrical service to residential customers. Under existing law, the commission may authorize fixed charges for any rate schedule applicable to a residential customer account. Existing law requires the commission, no later than July 1, 2024, to authorize a fixed charge for default residential rates on an income-graduated basis, as provided. Existing law requires increases to electrical rates and charges in rate design proceedings to be reasonable and subject to a reasonable phase-in schedule relative to the rates and charges in effect before January 1, 2014. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to fixed charges and rate increases. (2) The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various deductions in computing income that is subject to tax under that law. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, would allow a deduction in computing adjusted gross income in connection with health savings accounts in modified conformity with federal law. In general, the deduction would be an amount equal to the aggregate amount paid in cash during the taxable year by, or on behalf of, an eligible individual, as defined, to a health savings account of that individual, as provided. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, would also provide related conformity to that federal law with respect to the allowance of rollovers from Archer Medical Savings Accounts, health flexible spending arrangements, or health reimbursement accounts to a health savings account, and penalties in connection therewith.
