Existing law establishes the Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the Public Utilities Commission on low-income electricity, gas, and water customer issues and to serve as a liaison for the commission to low-income ratepayers and representatives. Existing law requires the board to carry out certain duties to advise the commission, including monitoring and evaluating implementation of all programs provided to low-income electricity, gas, and water customers. Existing law requires the commission, in conjunction with the board, among other things, to ensure that the energy burden of low-income electricity and gas customers is reduced. The board is comprised of 11 members, including 5 members selected by the commission who have expertise in the low-income community and who are not affiliated with any state agency or utility group, one member selected by the Governor, and one member selected by the Department of Community Services and Development. This bill would expand the membership of the board to 12 members by adding one member selected by the commission who is a representative of a low-income telecommunications provider. The bill would expand the duties of the board to include monitoring and evaluating implementation of all programs provided to low-income telecommunications customers. The bill would require the commission, in conjunction with the board, to ensure that the financial burden, rather than the energy burden, of low-income electricity, gas, water, and telecommunications customers is reduced. The bill would also require the commission, on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt a process by which a consumer enrolled in a commission-administered low-income utility program receives a notification at enrollment providing information about other utility assistance programs for which the consumer may be presumptively eligible, and information about how to apply for those programs. The bill would require the commission to work with the Low Income Oversight Board to develop an outreach strategy to improve enrollment of eligible households across low-income utility assistance programs. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing certain provisions of this bill would be 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.
(1) Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to adopt and maintain a policy on pupil suicide prevention that addresses, among other things, any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency. Existing law, commencing with the 2024–25 school year, encourages local educational agencies to provide that training to those teachers. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to identify one or more evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agency's policy on pupil suicide prevention. This bill would separately require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the California Health and Human Services Agency, to maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and safety training and violence prevention. The bill would require the approved training programs to be evidence based and to include specified information, including, among other information, how to instruct school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in pupils, and how to instruct pupils to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in their peers. The bill would require these approved training programs to be in addition to the above-described evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agency's policy on pupil suicide prevention unless the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the California Health and Human Services Agency, determines that the training program satisfies all of the requirements specified in the bill. The bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the California Health and Human Services Agency, to also maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in social inclusion, as specified. For each topic, the bill would require the approved training programs to include at least one option that is free or of no cost to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, and would require all of the approved training programs to be posted on the State Department of Education's internet website. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2027, require each school district, county office of education, and charter school serving any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to annually provide at least one hour of, or one standard class period per school year of, evidence-based instruction, per topic, based upon the above-described trainings, on each of suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion, except as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in cooperation with certain local entities. Existing law requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include, among other things, the development of procedures for conducting tactical responses to criminal incidents, including procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions and procedures to assess and respond to reports of any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted at the school, at an activity sponsored by the school, or on a schoolbus serving the school. Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from denying a petition for the establishment of a charter school unless it makes written factual findings supporting at least one of specified bases for denial. One of those bases for denying a petition is if the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the development of a school safety plan that includes the same safety topics required in the comprehensive school safety plan of a school district or county office of education. The bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, commencing July 1, 2027, to enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program of the local educational agency's choosing, provided that the reporting program satisfies specified requirements, including, among others, that it operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and that it forwards reported information to, and coordinates with, the appropriate school personnel, law enforcement agencies, and other public safety agencies, as identified in a school's adopted school safety plan, as provided. Commencing July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the bill would require each local educational agency, at the end of each school year, to submit specified data to the State Department of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Education, and to the Department of Justice, in manner prescribed by the Department of Justice, disaggregated by school. The bill would require a local educational agency to immediately remove a false report from a pupil's record, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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, 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 establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of their employment. Existing law requires every employer to establish a utilization review process, as described, and establishes an independent medical review process to resolve disputes over a utilization review decision, as specified. Existing law requires that aggregate disability payments for a single injury occurring on or after certain dates be limited to no more than 104 or 240 compensable weeks, as provided. This bill would authorize, on or after January 1, 2025, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to award temporary disability benefits, as specified, if a denial of treatment requested by a treating physician is subsequently overturned by independent medical review. The bill would prohibit the temporary disability awarded by the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board from exceeding the time from the date of the treatment denial through the date of the independent medical review determination overturning the treatment denial.
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. Under existing law, one of the methods by which Medi-Cal services are provided is pursuant to contracts with various types of managed care plans. Existing law sets forth requirements for private duty nursing and home health care under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law imposes a managed care organization (MCO) provider tax, administered and assessed by the department, on licensed health care service plans and managed care plans contracted with the department to provide full-scope Medi-Cal services. Under existing law, proceeds from the MCO provider tax may be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the increased costs incurred as a result of reimbursement requirements, among other things. This bill would provide that private duty nursing services provided to a child under 21 years of age by a home health agency are included as an eligible category for Medi-Cal reimbursement through the above-described scheme.
Existing law establishes various online privacy rights for minors, including prohibiting the operator of an internet website, online service, online application, or mobile application from marketing or advertising specified types of products or services to a minor, and requires an operator to permit a registered user who is a minor to remove content or information posted. This bill, beginning July 1, 2025, would require large social media platform providers, as defined, to create, maintain, and make available to specified third-party safety software providers a set of third-party-accessible application programming interfaces to allow a third-party safety software provider, upon authorization by a child or a parent or legal guardian of a child, to manage a child's online interactions, content, and account settings and initiate secure transfers of the child's user data for these purposes, as provided. The bill would prohibit the third-party safety software provider from disclosing user data unless specified exceptions apply, and would authorize the child or the parent or legal guardian, as applicable, to revoke the authorization with the third-party safety software provider or disable the account with the large social media provider. The bill would require the third-party safety software provider to register with the Attorney General's office as a condition of accessing an application programming interface from a large social media platform provider and would require the Attorney General to affirm that the third-party safety software provider meets specified requirements, including that it is solely engaged in the business of internet safety. The bill would also require a large social media platform to register with the Attorney General's office within 30 days of meeting specified requirements, including that it enables a child to share images, text, or video through the internet with other users of the service, as provided, and has more than 100,000,000 monthly global active users or generates more than $1,000,000,000 in gross revenue per year, as provided. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to deregister or issue a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 per violation to a third-party safety software provider if specified conditions occur. The bill would require the Attorney General to post both registration lists on its internet website, and to establish processes to deregister third-party safety software providers and large social media platform providers if certain criteria is met. The bill would provide that a large social media platform provider is not liable for damages arising out of the transfer of user data to a third-party safety software provider in accordance with these provisions if the large social media platform provider has in good faith complied with specified requirements. The bill would require the Department of Technology, before July 1, 2025, to issue guidance for large social media providers and third-party software providers regarding the implementation and maintenance of technical standards to protect user data, as specified, and would require the Department of Technology to biennially update that guidance. This bill would require a third-party safety software provider receiving any data pursuant to these provisions to at least annually enlist a qualified independent auditing firm to audit its privacy, security, and legal compliance, as provided. The bill would require the auditor to provide the audit findings, including a summary of those findings, directly to the Attorney General and the third-party safety software provider. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to deregister, suspend, or issue a civil penalty to a third-party safety software provider based on an auditor's findings of willful or grossly negligent conduct or a third-party safety software provider's negligent failure to respond to an unusual finding, as specified. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 authorizes the Legislature to amend the act to further the purposes and intent of the act by a majority vote of both houses of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020. 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.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities. Existing law provides compensation for reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs to public utility customers for preparation for and participation in a hearing or proceeding of the commission. Existing law requires the commission to award a customer compensation if certain requirements are satisfied, including that the customer's presentation makes a substantial contribution to the adoption of the commission's order or decision. Existing law requires a customer who intends to seek compensation to file and serve on all parties to the proceeding, within 30 days after the prehearing conference is held, a notice of intent to claim compensation. This bill would instead require a customer who intends to seek compensation to file and serve on all parties to the proceeding a notice of intent to claim compensation within 30 days after the prehearing conference is held or within 30 days of becoming a party to the proceeding, whichever is later.
(1) Existing law prohibits the false impersonation of another person in either their personal or official capacity with the intent to steal or defraud, as specified. This bill would define various terms related to artificial intelligence and synthetic content, and would clarify that use of such synthetic content, as specified, is deemed to be a false personation for purposes of these and other criminal provisions. (2) Existing law creates a civil cause of action against any person who knowingly uses the name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness of another person, without their consent, for specified purposes. This bill would clarify that, for purposes of this cause of action, a synthetic voice or likeness that a reasonable person would believe to be a genuine voice or likeness, is deemed to be the voice or likeness of the person depicted. (3) Existing law governs the admissibility of evidence in court proceedings. Existing law prescribes procedures for the authentication of photographs and audio and video recordings. This bill would require the Judicial Council, by no later than January 1, 2026, to review the impact of artificial intelligence on the introduction of evidence in court proceedings and develop any necessary rules of court to assist courts in assessing claims that evidence that is being introduced has been generated by or manipulated by artificial intelligence. (4) Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs the within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to protect and promote the interests of consumers. Existing law places certain requirements on various specified businesses, including household movers, tanning facilities, video arcades, and tax preparers. This bill would require, by July 1, 2026, any person or entity that sells or provides access to any artificial intelligence technology that is designed to create synthetic content, as defined, to provide a consumer warning that misuse of the technology may result in civil or criminal liability for the user. The bill would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to specify the form and content of the consumer warning and post it on a publicly accessible page of its internet website by January 1, 2026. The bill would also impose a civil penalty for violations of the requirement.
Existing law allows a defendant who successfully participated in the California Conservation Camp program as an incarcerated individual hand crew member, or successfully participated as a member of a county incarcerated individual hand crew, or participated at an institutional firehouse, except as specified, to petition the court to have the pleading dismissed, thus releasing the person of any penalties and disabilities of conviction, except as otherwise provided. This bill would require, beginning May 1, 2027, and every other year thereafter, each superior court to report to the Judicial Council specified data regarding petitions seeking relief pursuant to the above-described provisions. The bill would require the Judicial Council to report the statewide data regarding these petitions beginning June 1, 2027, and every other year thereafter. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2037.
Existing law imposes on the Department of Water Resources various duties with respect to water in the state. Existing law, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires the department, in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform that, among other things, integrates existing water and ecological data information from multiple databases and provides data on completed water transfers and exchanges. This bill would require the department, while seeking input from the California Water Data Consortium, as defined, to create a water data dashboard that is accessible through its internet website, as specified. The bill would include related findings and declarations.
Existing law requires that each application for an original or a renewal of a driver's license contain certain information, including the applicant's true full name, age, and gender. Existing law also requires the application for a driver's license or identification card to contain certain specified elements, including, among other things, whether the applicant has served in the Armed Forces of the United States and a space for an applicant to enroll in the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. This bill would require the application forms for a driver's license or identification card to contain a space for a person to voluntarily disclose that the applicant has a disability, as defined by the federal American with Disabilities Act (ADA) , and that the disability interferes with the person's ability to effectively communicate with a peace officer. The bill would require the disclosed disability to be certified by a licensed health professional, as specified, on appropriate forms to be developed by the Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill would require the department to develop an appropriate disability identifier symbol to be placed on a driver's license or identification card that is discreet and represents all types of disabilities, as specified. The bill would provide that a person may choose to no longer have a disability identifier symbol placed on the person's driver's license or identification card and would prohibit the department from retaining any information related to the person's disability. The bill would require the department to issue a new driver's license or identification card without a disability identifier symbol upon request. The bill would require the department to work with the Department of the California Highway Patrol and other relevant stakeholders to develop peace officer training on the meaning of the voluntary disability identifier symbol. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to provide a report to the Legislature and relevant policy committees detailing the disability identifier symbol program and the percentage of persons issued a driver's license or identification card who requested a disability identifier symbol. This bill would make the above provisions operative on January 1, 2027.
The Gonsalves-Deukmejian-Petris Senior Citizens Property Tax Assistance Law authorizes individuals who meet specified criteria, including that they either be 62 years of age or older or blind or disabled, as defined, to file with the Franchise Tax Board a claim for assistance. That law authorizes assistance in an amount equal to a percentage, determined as provided, of either the property taxes accrued and paid by the claimant on their residential dwelling or, with respect to a claimant renting their residence, the applicable statutory property tax equivalent. This bill would establish the Property Tax Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program for purposes of making, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys available to persons who meet specified criteria for purposes of providing financial assistance equal to the total amount of property taxes paid on a residential dwelling, as defined, or $4,000, whichever is less, and as subject to specified limitations. The bill would, for purposes of determining a person's eligibility for moneys under the program, require the person to provide an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, containing specified information, if the residential dwelling is owned by the person on property owned by a nonprofit incorporated association. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to develop and administer the program and to provide moneys to eligible claimants. The bill would set forth procedures for administering the 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 the sale of subdivided lands and prescribes definitions for this purpose. Existing law defines a subdivision to include, among other things, condominium projects and planned developments, as specified, and other common interest developments. Existing law requires a person who intends to offer subdivided lands for sale or lease to file with the Department of Real Estate an application for a public report, as specified. Existing law prescribes various restrictions on the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision. In certain instances, existing law permits lots to be sold or leased only if the money paid or advanced by a purchaser or lessee is placed into an escrow account or a bond furnished for the purpose of protecting purchasers or lessees. This bill would permit a purchaser's deposit that is held in escrow pursuant to a binding sales contract for a lot or parcel within a subdivision that is not yet constructed or developed to be disbursed before closing to pay for project construction costs, as specified. The bill would permit the disbursement of a purchaser's deposit before closing and the conveyance or leasing of any unit before completion of construction if specified conditions are met, including, among other things, that the developer has submitted to the Department of Real Estate a project budget showing all costs required to be paid in order to complete the project, the department has reviewed and approved the proposed disbursement, and the purchaser provides express informed consent to the disbursement, as specified. If a purchaser's funds are to be disbursed before the completion of construction of the project, the bill would require the developer to submit specified information to the Department of Real Estate, including, among other things, a copy of the purchaser's express informed consent to the disbursement. The bill would permit the disbursement of a purchaser's deposit before closing and the disbursement of moneys from the conveyance or leasing of units before completion of construction to pay any cost set forth in the project budget, as specified. The bill would require a specified notice to be prominently displayed in the developer's public report for the project if a purchaser's deposit is to be disbursed before closing or if moneys from the conveyance or leasing of units before completion of construction are to be disbursed to pay for project costs. The bill would require the Department of Real Estate to complete a review required by these provisions within 30 days of receipt of the document to be reviewed. Existing law provides that a provision in a contract to purchase and sell residential property that provides that all or any part of a payment made by the buyer constitutes liquidated damages to the seller upon the buyer's failure to complete the purchase of the property is valid if certain conditions are satisfied, including certain conditions pertaining to whether the amount actually paid pursuant to the liquidated damages provision does or does not exceed 3% of the purchase price. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the provisions described above, the amount actually paid pursuant to a liquidated damages provision may exceed 3% of the purchase price if the bill's provisions described above are satisfied, in which case the bill would require that the liquidated damages equal the amount of the deposit.
