Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sets forth the duties of the department, which include administering various programs for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife resources. Existing law, except as provided, authorizes any owner or tenant of land or property that is being damaged or destroyed or is in danger of being damaged or destroyed by certain animals, including, among others, the beaver, to apply to the department for a permit to kill the animals. Under existing law, it is unlawful for any person to trap any fur-bearing mammal for purposes of recreation or commerce in fur. A violation of any provision of the Fish and Game Code, or any rule, regulation, or order made or adopted under those provisions, is a misdemeanor, unless otherwise specified. This bill would require the department to develop a program to facilitate the translocation of beavers across California for conservation purposes, as provided. Because a violation of any rule, regulation, or order related to the beaver translocation program would be a crime, 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.
Existing law, the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. This bill would require each community mental health service to have a local youth mental health board (board) , appointed as specified, consisting of members between 15 and 23 years of age, inclusive, at least 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, mental health consumers who are receiving, or have received, mental health services, or siblings or close family members of mental health consumers and 1/2 of whom are, to the extent possible, enrolled in schools in the county. The bill would require the board, among other duties, to review and evaluate the local public mental health system and advise the governing body and school district governing bodies on mental health services related to youth that are delivered by the local mental health agency or local behavioral health agency, school districts, or others, as applicable. The bill would require the governing body to include the board in the county planning process and provide a budget for the board sufficient to facilitate the purposes, duties, and responsibilities of the board. By increasing the duties of local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, among other things, establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) , approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, commencing January 1, 2025, revises and recasts the MHSA by, among other things, renaming the commission the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and changing the duties of the commission to include promoting transformational change in California's behavioral health system through research, evaluation and tracking outcomes, and other strategies to assess and report progress. This bill would require the commission, on or before December 30, 2027, and once every 5 years thereafter, to assess the extent to which the local youth mental health boards have been established and to make recommendations on ways to strengthen the youth voice to support appropriate behavioral health services. 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 provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions. Qualified individuals under the Medi-Cal program include medically needy persons and medically needy family persons who meet the required eligibility criteria, including applicable income requirements. Existing law requires the department to establish income levels for maintenance need at the lowest levels that reasonably permit a medically needy person to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, and for which federal financial participation will still be provided under applicable federal law. In calculating the income of a medically needy person in a medical institution or nursing facility, or a person receiving institutional or noninstitutional services from a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly organization, the required monthly maintenance amount includes an amount providing for personal and incidental needs in the amount of not less than $35 per month while a patient. Existing law authorizes the department to increase, by regulation, this amount as necessitated by increasing costs of personal and incidental needs. This bill would increase the monthly maintenance amount for personal and incidental needs from $35 to $50, and would require that the amount be increased annually, as specified. The bill would make these changes subject to receipt of necessary federal approvals.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution and air pollution control and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. This bill would require the state board to adopt regulations to improve air quality in population centers located in valleys and would require each local air district to implement those regulations with regard to stationary sources located within its jurisdiction. The bill would make those requirements inoperative on January 1, 2029, and would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2030, to submit a report to the Legislature and specified committees of the Legislature describing any air quality improvements resulting from those regulations. By adding to the duties of local air districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Personal Income Tax Law authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) , the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) , and the Foster Youth Tax Credit (FYTC) . Beginning on or after January 1, 2020, CalEITC is available to any eligible individuals using an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) . Existing federal income tax law authorizes a refundable earned income tax credit (federal EITC) for certain low-income individuals who have earned income and meet certain other requirements. This bill would enact the Free Tax Prep and Community Engagement Act, which would establish the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) Outreach, Education, and Free Tax Assistance Grant Program. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to allocate grants to qualified nonprofit community-based organizations or local government agencies to increase the number of eligible households claiming the state and federal Earned Income Tax Credit, the federal Child Tax Credit, the Young Child Tax Credit, and the Foster Youth Tax Credit, and to increase awareness of ITIN tax status eligibility. The bill would authorize the Franchise Tax Board to administratively partner with the Department of Community Services and Development to administer the program. The bill would establish the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) Outreach, Education, and Free Tax Assistance Grant Fund in the State Treasury for these purposes.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the functions and responsibilities of the department with regard to the implementation, administration, and enforcement of laws regulating fish and wildlife in the state. Existing law requires the department to prepare a draft management plan for public review for parcels wholly within its jurisdiction, as provided. This bill would enact the San Jacinto Wildlife Area Preservation Act. The bill would require the department, beginning January 1, 2025, and every 15 years thereafter, to prepare an update to the management plan for the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop partnerships with community-based organizations, including environmental organizations, for purposes of fundraising for, maintaining the habitat of, engaging in conservation projects for, and providing recreational programs in, the San Jacinto Wildlife Area. The bill would require the department, on or before December 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, to hold a public hearing relating to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, as provided. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in the County of Riverside.
Existing law establishes the Department of Water Resources within the Natural Resources Agency and prescribes the powers and responsibilities of the department. The Water Conservation in Landscaping Act provides for a model water efficient landscape ordinance that is adopted and updated at least every 3 years by the department, unless the department makes a specified finding. This bill would prohibit the department, when it allocates funding for turf replacement programs, from excluding urban water suppliers' turfgrass conversion rebate programs if the rebate program requires the recipient of a rebate to achieve a net water savings and to use the most efficient turfgrass irrigation equipment, as provided. The bill would require an urban water supplier that offers a turfgrass conversion rebate program using funds awarded by the department after January 1, 2025, to report annually to the department on the number of turfgrass conversions that are funded through the program and the estimated water savings from the program until the funds are exhausted.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. Existing law creates the Air Quality Improvement Program, administered by the state board, for the purpose of funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, air quality improvement projects relating to zero-emission fuel and vehicle technologies. Existing law limits the program to competitive grants, revolving loans, loan guarantees, loans, and other appropriate funding measures that further the purposes of the program, including for projects that provide mitigation for off-road gasoline exhaust and evaporative emissions. As part of the program, the state board administers the Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) to provide vouchers that offset the cost of zero-emission off-road equipment, including agricultural equipment. This bill would require the state board to include unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones, in the meaning of agricultural equipment for purposes of CORE, which the bill would define as the program established by the state board as part of the Air Quality Improvement Program, as provided.
Existing law authorizes a peace officer to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a use of force policy, as specified. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop and disseminate guidelines and standardized training recommendations for Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, as specified, that would be available for use by law enforcement agencies that conduct SWAT operations. This bill would require the commission to convene a panel of law enforcement experts to report to the Legislature and the commission, by January 1, 2027, specified topics related to active shooter incidents, including successful trainings and response protocols that have been demonstrated in active shooter incidents and the use of school resource officers on campus for threat prevention, detection, and assessment. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031.
Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells, as provided. Existing law requires the operator of any idle well to either (1) no later than May 1 of each year, for each idle well that was an idle well at any time in the last calendar year, file with the supervisor an annual fee according to a specified schedule of fees based on the length of time a well has been idle, or (2) file a plan with the supervisor to provide for the management and elimination of all long-term idle wells. Existing law also establishes the Hazardous and Idle-Deserted Well Abatement Fund in the State Treasury for the deposit of those idle well fees, and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the department for expenditure to mitigate a hazardous or potentially hazardous condition, by well plugging and abandonment, decommissioning the production facilities, or both, at a well of an operator, as provided. Existing law establishes requirements that apply when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project, as provided. This bill would require the department to make available at least 25% of the funds to be expended each year from the Hazardous and Idle-Deserted Well Abatement Fund to a county in which there are at least 100 orphaned or deserted oil and gas wells and that attests to the department that it can plug and abandon those wells more quickly than the department can, as provided. The bill would also require the department, upon becoming aware of liquid or gas leaking from an orphaned or deserted oil and gas well, to immediately make available at least 10% of the funds to be expended each year from the fund to the county in which the well is located, if the county attests to the department that it can plug and abandon the well more quickly than the department can, as provided. The bill would require the department to distribute funds amongst eligible counties based on the number of wells that would be plugged and abandoned by the county and the cost estimate to plug and abandon the wells. The bill would require the expenditure of all money from the fund to comply with those skilled and trained workforce requirements, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of several state entities, including, but not limited to, the State Personnel Board, the Department of General Services, and the Office of Administrative Law. Under existing law, the Government Operations Agency is under the direction of an executive officer known as the Secretary of Government Operations, who is appointed by, and holds office at the pleasure of, the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. This bill would establish, within the Government Operations Agency, the Commission on Cutting Red Tape, consisting of 5 members appointed by the Governor. The bill would state the goal of the commission is to identify administrative obstacles in governmental procedures that cost time and resources without adding protections, and would provide guidance for the commission to achieve this goal. The bill would also require the Secretary of Government Operations to submit an annual report to the Legislature and to other relevant state agencies detailing the recommendations of the commission.
Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in the state's "Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan" issued by the task force in January 2021. Existing law requires the task force to submit, as part of the implementation strategy, a report to the appropriate policy and budget committees of the Legislature on progress made in achieving the goals and key actions identified in the state's action plan, on state expenditures made to implement these key actions, and on additional resources and policy changes needed to achieve these goals and key actions, as provided. This bill would require the task force, on or before July 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, to compile and post on its internet website specified information regarding identified state and federal grant programs relating to fire prevention and resilience, as provided.
