The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act prohibits any person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as specified. The act authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to permit the taking of a western Joshua tree if specified conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and taking of, the western Joshua tree through measures that are roughly proportional in extent to the authorized taking of the western Joshua tree. The act authorizes, in lieu of completing the mitigation measures, a permittee to elect to satisfy the mitigation obligation by paying fees pursuant to a specified fee schedule, as provided. This bill would authorize the department to permit the taking of a western Joshua tree without payment of fees or other mitigation upon demonstration to the department that the taking of a western Joshua tree is related to the maintenance, operation, or construction of a life-sustaining service connection to a single-family residence or multifamily residence, including distribution infrastructure, as specified. The bill would require the department to grant or deny that permit within 30 days of a request, or within 10 days of a request to address a threat to health or safety. The bill would allow the permittee 60 days to complete the taking authorized by that permit and the department may extend this 60-day period at its discretion.
Existing law gives a person the right of protection from bodily harm and the right to possess and use property. If a person suffers bodily harm or a loss of their property because of the unlawful act or omission of another, existing law authorizes them to recover compensation from the person at fault, which is known as damages. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring various civil actions due to damage or loss. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action against specified fossil fuel companies for climate-attributable damage to recover costs and losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association, funds borrowed from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or costs and losses incurred by insurance policyholders. The bill would make those companies strictly liable without regard to fault for any relief granted. The bill would authorize the court and jury to use market share and alternate liability principles to determine proportionate liability of those companies for the climate-attributable damage, as described. This bill would make it an unlawful business practice for the company or affiliated entity to recover from California consumers, through retail or wholesale prices, charges, fees, surcharges, or any other adjustment to the price of gasoline or other motor fuels, for any costs and expenses incurred in connection with such a civil action, as defined. This bill would create the Attorney General Climate Disaster Fund into which the monetary relief recovered by the Attorney General would be deposited, and would set forth specified uses for the account upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing department regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. On and after January 1, 2028, this bill would prohibit an admitted insurer that offers or sells residential property insurance in this state from refusing to offer, sell, or renew a policy of residential property insurance for an applicant or insured whose property meets minimum home hardening and wildfire mitigation standards, except as provided. The bill would authorize an admitted insurer to apply to the commissioner for a temporary waiver of that prohibition in a particular geographic area of the state, as specified. On and after January 1, 2028, the bill would also require any residential property insurance offered or sold to, at a minimum, provide coverage equivalent in scope to the residential property coverage the admitted insurer most commonly offers or sells in this state. The bill would suspend or revoke an insurer's certificate of authority to offer or sell residential property insurance and automobile insurance in this state for five years if the admitted insurer habitually and as a matter of ordinary practice violates these provisions or if the admitted insurer offers residential property insurance in this state on and after January 1, 2026, but elects to cease offering that insurance rather than comply with these provisions.
Existing law requires the California Postsecondary Education Commission, on or before November 15 of each year, to submit a higher education report to the Legislature and the Governor that provides information to the citizens of the state on the significant indicators of performance of the public colleges and universities, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to consider including, for community colleges, the proportion of remedial or developmental education courses taught by full-time faculty. The Budget Act of 2011 deleted funding and personnel from the California Postsecondary Education Commission. This bill would require the California State Auditor, on or before September 1, 2027, to report to the chairs of certain legislative committees the results of an audit of the California State University and the University of California regarding the use of remedial instruction and supports, as specified.
Existing law provides for the administration of the constitutional oath of office and seating of Members of the Legislature at the beginning of any regular session of the Legislature. Existing law requires each Member of the Legislature and each designated employee of the Legislature to attend certain orientation courses conducted by the appropriate legislative ethics committees at least once in each biennial session. This bill would require Members and designated employees of the Legislature to attend an orientation course regarding the United States Constitution and the California Constitution, as specified. The bill would require the Legislative Counsel Bureau, in consultation with the Joint Rules Committee, to develop and conduct the course, as specified. The bill would authorize Members and designated employees of the legislature to opt out of the course if they are able to demonstrate proficient knowledge of specified topics or if they are licensed to practice law in California.
Existing law establishes the Elderly Parole Program for the purpose of reviewing the parole suitability of inmates who are 50 years of age or older and who have served a minimum of 20 years of continuous incarceration on their sentence. Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings, when considering the release of qualifying inmates, to give special consideration to whether certain criteria have reduced the elderly inmate's risk for future violence. Existing law excludes various persons from these provisions, including, among others, persons convicted of serious felonies, persons convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer, or persons sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This bill would additionally exclude, among others, persons receiving an enhancement to their sentence for committing certain sexual offenses including, among others, rape, sodomy, or lewd and lascivious acts, and habitual sex offenders. The bill would specify that these exclusions apply to all persons incarcerated as of January 1, 2027, regardless of the person's previous eligibility for parole or the status of any parole petition filed prior to that date.
Existing law permits a United States citizen who is 18 years of age, a resident of California, and not imprisoned for a felony to register to vote and to vote. Existing law provides procedures for the Secretary of State and a county elections official to register a person to vote, and to update and to cancel the person's voter registration. Existing law provides criteria that disqualify a person from serving on a jury, including if the person is not a United States citizen or not a resident of the jurisdiction where they are summoned. Existing law requires prospective jurors to be selected at random from sources that represent cross sections of the population of the area served by the court. Existing law provides that voter registration lists are appropriate source lists for the selection of jurors. This bill would require a jury commissioner to provide notice to the Secretary of State and the county elections official if the jury commissioner receives information from a juror affidavit that contains an attestation by the prospective juror under penalty of perjury that they are not qualified for jury service because they are not a United States citizen or not a resident of the county. The bill would require the elections official who receives this information and determines the person is ineligible to vote to inactivate the person's voter registration and send notice to the person that provides them an opportunity to confirm their eligibility, as specified. The bill would require an elections official to update the voter registration for a person who is registered to vote if the jury commissioner provides a current residence address for the person that is in a county other than the county in which they were summoned. By establishing new duties for local elections officials, the 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 authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, business, residences, open space, and other purposes. This bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, in consultation with specified state entities, to develop and publish one or more model ordinances regarding micro-education entities and microschools. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
(1) The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on taxable income, as provided. Under existing law, every employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, is required to deduct and withhold from those wages, except as provided, for each payroll, a tax computed in an amount substantially equivalent to the amount reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law. Under existing law, every employer required to withhold those taxes is required to, for each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, and a report of wages in a form prescribed by the Employment Development Department, and pay over the taxes required to be withheld. This bill would authorize an employer to claim a credit in an amount equal to the amount of overtime wages, as defined, paid during that quarter to specified agricultural employees covered by a certain wage order. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on the employer's report of contributions, quarterly return, and report of wages, or in an electronic funds transfer, as specified. The bill would specify a refund of any credit amounts exceeding the amount that would have been remitted for that quarter to the Employment Development Department for employee withholdings. The bill would make implementation of the above-described refund contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature. (2) Existing law requires farm labor contractors to be licensed by the Labor Commissioner and to comply with specified employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors. Existing law requires a person acting in the capacity of a farm labor contractor to provide a grower with whom the contractor has contracted to supply farmworkers a payroll record for each farmworker providing labor under the contract. Existing law requires the above-described payroll record to include certain disclosures, including the net and gross wages earned by each farmworker. Under existing law, a person who violates farm labor contractor requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would, instead, require the above-described disclosure to include the net and gross wages earned, less the amount of credit the farm labor contractor received pursuant to the above provisions, by each farmworker. By imposing a new requirement on farm labor contractors, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 6 months if they are convicted of either driving under the influence (DUI) of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug or driving while having 0.08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in the person's blood. Under existing law, if a person is convicted of DUI and the offense occurred within 10 years of a separate violation or 2, 3, or 4 or more separate violations for DUI that resulted in specified convictions, the DMV is required to suspend or revoke the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 2, 3, 4, or 5 years, as specified. Existing law requires the department to suspend the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 10 months if they are convicted of a DUI and their blood-alcohol concentration was 0.20% or more or they refused to take a chemical test, and the court refers the person to participate in a licensed program that provides alcohol or drug recovery services, as specified. This bill would require the DMV to suspend the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 1 year if a person is convicted of DUI. The bill would require the DMV to suspend or revoke the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 3, 5, or 10 years, as specified, if a person is convicted of DUI and the offense occurred within 10 years of a separate violation or 2 or 3 separate violations for DUI that resulted in specified convictions. The bill would also require the DMV to permanently revoke the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle if a person is convicted of DUI and the offense occurred within 10 years of 4 or more separate violations. The bill would require the department to suspend the privilege of a person to operate a motor vehicle for 16 months who is convicted of a DUI and whose blood-alcohol concentration was 0.20% or more or who refused to take a chemical test, and who is referred by the court to participate in a licensed program that provides alcohol or drug recovery services, as specified. The bill would make other conforming changes. 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 California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state and authorizes them to provide instruction at the campuses they operate. Existing law authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the California State University and the University of California, to authorize the establishment of community college district baccalaureate degree programs, as provided. This bill would authorize the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to authorize the Coast Community College District to offer a workforce-aligned cybersecurity baccalaureate degree program at Coastline College, as provided. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to, on or before July 1, 2030, conduct and present to the Legislature and the Governor an interim evaluation of the baccalaureate degree program that is offered pursuant to that authorization and, on or before July 1, 2034, a final evaluation of that degree program, as provided. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Coast Community College District.
Existing law, as amended by the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes the district attorney or other prosecuting officer to make a motion to transfer a minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction in a case in which a minor is alleged to have committed a felony when the minor was 16 years of age or older, or in a case in which a specified serious offense is alleged to have been committed by a minor when the minor was 14 or 15 years of age, but the minor was not apprehended prior to the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. Under existing law, in order to find that the minor should be transferred to a court of criminal jurisdiction, the court is required to find by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. This bill would instead require that the court find by a preponderance of the evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
