Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, authorizes 2 or more public agencies, as defined, to jointly exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as provided. Among other things, that act also authorizes a mutual water company to enter into a joint powers agreement with any public agency for the purposes of risk pooling, as specified. Existing law, the Government Claims Act, among other things, authorizes public entities, mutual water companies, public agencies, water corporations, and mutual water companies to provide insurance under that act by a joint powers agreement, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize a nonprofit housing developer to enter into a joint powers agreement with any public agency for the purpose of risk pooling, and would expand the list of entities authorized to provide insurance by a joint powers agreement to include nonprofit housing developers. The bill would require that, if a nonprofit housing developer enters into a joint powers agreement with one or more public agencies, that the agreement ensure that no participating public agency becomes responsible for the underlying debts or liabilities of the joint powers agreement and that any participating public agency be indemnified against those debts and liabilities. The bill would require a joint powers agreement established pursuant to this authorization to solely utilize any revenues it generates to provide technical support, continuing education, safety engineering, and operational and managerial advisory assistance to its members for the purpose of reducing risk liabilities and furthering the technical managerial and financial capacity of those members. Existing law also authorizes 2 or more local public entities having the same governing board, a mutual water company and a public agency, or a water corporation, a mutual water company, and one or more public agencies, as specified, to be coinsured under a master policy and the total premium prorated among them. This bill would recast the provisions described above, provide that the affected entities are those authorized pursuant to specified provisions, and include among those entities nonprofit housing developers.
Existing law requires a housing development project to be an allowed use as a transit-oriented housing development if certain requirements are met. Existing law provides that these provisions do not apply to a local agency until July 1, 2026, unless the local agency takes specified actions. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes. Existing law prohibits a local government from adopting any requirement that applies to a project solely or partially on the basis that the project is seeking approval as a transit-oriented housing development, as specified. This bill would additionally prohibit a local government with an existing or planned transit-oriented development stop from taking specified actions with respect to transit agencies and transit projects.
Existing law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, establishes a low-income housing tax credit program through which the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee allocates low-income housing tax credits aimed at providing affordable low-income housing within and throughout the state. Existing federal law sets limitations and guidelines regarding what projects are eligible for credits, including a requirement that an extended low-income housing commitment is in effect, and a prohibition against eviction except for good cause. This bill would specify, for housing projects where the low-income housing commitment requires 100% of the units, not including any manager's units, to be restricted to lower income households, as defined, that good cause for nonrenewal of a lease includes cases where the nonrenewal relates to a household whose income exceeds 140% of the area median income for at least 2 consecutive years and 30% of the household's monthly income exceeds the fair market rent, determined as specified. The bill would require an owner to provide notice of the potential of good cause for nonrenewal described above if the household's income exceeds 140% of the area median income during any income certification, as specified. The bill would also require an owner electing to not renew a lease as described above to issue a notice of nonrenewal describing the basis of good cause for nonrenewal at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the lease, as specified.
(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the department to coordinate programs of fire protection, fire prevention, pest control, and forest and range maintenance and enhancement. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2029, in consultation with the Department of Insurance, the Natural Resources Agency, the Office of Emergency Services, and other relevant departments, to develop standards for state and local agencies to aggregate and make available data related to parcel-, neighborhood-, and community-level wildfire risk for the purpose of enabling a wildfire data sharing platform, as provided. The bill would require the department to incorporate those data standards into community wildfire risk reduction metrics. (2) Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes their powers and duties. Existing law requires, on or before April 1, 2026, and every 2 years thereafter, an admitted insurer with written California premiums totaling $12,000,000 or more to submit a report to the Insurance Commissioner on its residential property experience data for the previous 2 years for policies written in California, as specified. Existing law requires this information submitted to the commissioner to be confidential, exempt from the California Public Records Act, and not subject to subpoena, as provided. This bill would authorize the Department of Insurance to provide information submitted to the department, including, among other things, the property experience data described above, to researchers and government agencies for the purpose of evaluating California wildfire risk, insurance protection gaps, or wildfire risk mitigation, as provided. The bill would require any published data product collected pursuant to the above-described authority that is provided to a researcher or government agency to be anonymized and aggregated sufficiently to avoid identification of individual company losses, claims data, or information on confidential business practices, as specified, and would prohibit subsequent reports from identifying an individual respondent or insurer. (3) Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to annually provide to the Legislature a report detailing the department's fire prevention efforts and annually post on its internet website information regarding hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management projects funded or conducted by the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department to develop a standardized protocol for monitoring implementation and evaluating the positive and negative ecological and fire behavior impacts from vegetation management projects undertaken by the state, as provided. This bill would repeal those requirements and would instead require the department, on or before March 1 of each year, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the detailed efforts made in California towards wildfire prevention and community preparedness, as provided. Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency and the department, among others, in coordination with certain public agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, and the State Hazard Mitigation Officer to prepare a comprehensive statewide community wildfire preparedness strategy, as provided. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to support communities in the development of optional county-level community wildfire protection plans that align with the community wildfire preparedness strategy, as provided. The bill would require a local entity, in order to receive state funding to implement its community wildfire protection plan, to provide annual updates and progress on its efforts to meet the goals of its plan. (4) Existing law establishes the Continuation Account in the Wildfire Fund, to be administered by the Wildfire Fund Administrator, and continuously appropriates moneys in the Continuation Account for purposes of payment of eligible claims arising from wildfires ignited on or after September 19, 2025, as provided. Existing law requires each large electrical corporation to provide to the Public Utilities Commission a written notification of its election to participate, or not to participate, in the Continuation Account, and requires the commission, if all participating electrical corporations have provided their election to participate in the Continuation Account, to provide the administrator and other entities notification of their elections. Existing law authorizes the administrator, on or after the date the commission provides that notification, but not later than December 31, 2028, to determine if annual contributions from large electrical corporations are needed to enable the Continuation Account to fund the timely payment of eligible claims, as provided. Existing law requires the commission, within 15 days of receiving notification from the administrator that additional annual contributions are required, to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider using its authority to require the large electrical corporations to collect a nonbypassable charge from ratepayers to support the Continuation Account, including the payment of any bond issued for the support of the Continuation Account, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of Water Resources to issue bonds, in an aggregate amount up to $9,000,000,000, as provided, to support the Continuation Account. If the commission imposes the nonbypassable charge to support the Continuation Account, existing law requires the large electrical corporations, from calendar years 2029 to 2045, inclusive, to provide to the administrator their annual contributions, as specified, for deposit into the Continuation Account. This bill would, if the administrator provides that notification, additionally authorize the administrator to incur indebtedness and issue bonds solely for purposes of supporting the Continuation Account and other related expenses incurred by the administrator, provided that bonds authorized under this provision are payable solely from annual contributions and additional contributions, as provided. The bill would authorize bonds issued by the department, at the discretion of the administrator, to be secured solely by ratepayer contributions, as specified. The bill would prohibit the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account from being terminated while bonds issued by the department remain outstanding, unless an amount sufficient to pay remaining debt service on those bonds has been irrevocably set aside for those purposes, as specified. Upon the determination of the administrator that the Wildfire Fund should be terminated, the bill would require any remaining Wildfire Fund assets to be transferred to the Continuation Account, and upon the determination of the administrator that the Continuation Account should be terminated, the bill would require any remaining funds to be transferred to the General Fund. By transferring those moneys into a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would make additional technical and conforming changes. Existing law requires revenues and bond proceeds received by the department to be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund to the department for specified purposes, including transfers to the Wildfire Fund and payment of the bonds. This bill would require revenues and bond proceeds received by the department pursuant to the provisions related to the Continuation Account to be deposited into an account or subaccount within the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund, and to be held separate and apart from amounts held in the Department of Water Resources Charge Fund pursuant to provisions related to the Wildfire Fund, as specified. (5) This bill would create the California Wildfire Relief Fast-Pay Program and would require the California Catastrophe Response Council to appoint a fast-pay administrator to administer the fast-pay program. The bill would require the fast-pay administrator to establish and approve procedures for the review, approval, and timely payment of claims by individual claimants for damages as a result of an activating wildfire, as defined. If the eligible entity, defined as an electric utility or public agency that has a wildfire mitigation plan approved by the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (office) , is a participating electrical corporation, as defined, the bill would require settlements pursuant to the fast-pay program to count as settlements of eligible claims and to be paid from the account, as specified. If the eligible entity is not a participating electrical corporation, the bill would require the eligible entity to be solely responsible for directly paying amounts to satisfy settlement offers pursuant to the fast-pay program. This bill would, among other things, prohibit an individual, business corporation, or other entity from selling, assigning, or transferring any wildfire claim, or any right of recovery on a wildfire claim, to a private equity group, and would prohibit an individual, wildfire attorney, corporation, or other entity from selling, assigning, or transferring, in whole or in part, any contingency fee on an interest in a contingency fee, except as provided. This bill would prohibit a private equity group from paying any wildfire expenses with respect to a wildfire claim and from funding wildfire advertising costs with respect to any applicable wildfire that damages or destroys (1) more than 100 structures, or (2) more than 10,0000 acres of land, and would authorize the Attorney General or any district attorney to bring a civil action to enforce that prohibition, as specified. (6) Existing law regulates, among other things, fee agreements, legal advertising and referral services, the sale of financial products to a client, and unlawful solicitation. This bill would require an attorney who contracts to represent a client involving a claim against an electric utility involving an applicable wildfire shall provide a disclosure to the client the options and requirements involving the fast-pay program, as provided. The bill would prohibit a person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation from making an unsolicited targeted communication to solicit any business for any attorneys concerning a potential action for wrongful death, personal injury, or property damage within 30 days of an event, defined as an incident resulting in the proclamation of a state of emergency, as specified. The bill would prohibit, for any claim based on inverse condemnation against an electrical corporation arising from a covered wildfire caused by an electrical corporation, the fee for an attorney representing an insurer involving a subrogated claim from exceeding 10% of the settlement or judgment. (7) Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. Existing law authorizes certain state bodies to hold closed session meetings for certain purposes, including authorizing the governing board or advisory panel of the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) to hold closed sessions when addressing the development of rates, reinsurance, and strategy when discussion in open session concerning those matters would prejudice the position of the CEA. This bill would additionally authorize the California Catastrophe Response Council to hold closed sessions when addressing either the administration or evaluation of individual claims submitted for reimbursement from the Wildfire Fund or the Continuation Account, or the development of strategy related to reinsurance or other mechanisms to extend the durability of the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account, as specified. The California Public Records Act requires a public agency, defined to mean a state or local agency, to make its public records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and the payment of a fee, unless the public records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would exempt records held by the California Catastrophe Response Council, or the California Earthquake Authority as the Wildfire Fund Administrator, that relate to the administration or evaluation of claims submitted for reimbursement from the Wildfire Fund or Continuation Account from the California Public Records Act, as specified. (8) 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. (9) Existing law requires the Director of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to issue a certificate to an electrical corporation if the electrical corporation provided documentation of certain conditions, including a condition that the electrical corporation has established (1) an executive incentive compensation structure approved by the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and structured to promote safety as a priority to ensure public safety and utility financial stability with performance metrics for all executive officers, which may include denying all incentive compensation if the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that results in one or more fatalities and (2) a compensation structure that meets certain principles. This bill would revise the recast the requirement related to the executive incentive compensation structure, among other things, to require the electrical corporation to file the approved written executive incentive compensation structure with the office at least one year before the executive incentive compensation structure would become effective. The bill would require the office to approve an electrical corporation's executive incentive compensation structure if it is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety and utility stability with performance metrics, includes a provision denying all short-term incentive compensation, as defined, to the chief executive officer, or the officer holding an equivalent position, for a calendar year in which the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that results in one or more fatalities, and meets the principles specified in existing law for the compensation structure. For a large electrical corporation, as defined, the bill would additionally require the executive incentive compensation structure to meet certain requirements, including a requirement for the structure to include a written presumption that 35% of the total incentive compensation for each executive officer will be denied for at least one year in the event the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that result in one or more fatalities. (10) Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements 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. (11) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Joint Exercise of Powers Act, authorizes 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, to form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified. Existing law, for the purposes of that act, defines the term "public agency" to include various federal, state, local, and tribal entities. Existing law requires approval by the Department of General Services of certain joint powers agreements that include the state as a member, as provided. Existing law authorizes a joint powers authority to issue revenue bonds to pay the costs and expenses of acquiring, constructing, or conducting a program for, among other things, low-income housing projects owned or operated by a city, county, city and county, or housing authority. Existing law provides that the Treasurer and the Secretary of State are designated as elected representatives for federal tax purposes of a joint powers agency created to approve or certify the issuance of bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by or on behalf of the joint powers agency to the extent approval is required by federal tax law. This bill would provide that the geographic jurisdiction of a joint powers authority is the area encompassed by the combined geographical boundaries of all of its member public agencies. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of existing law. This bill would additionally authorize the Treasurer to execute an agreement including the state as a member of a joint powers authority without obtaining approval from the Department of General Services only for the Treasurer to provide specified approvals for bonds issued by the joint powers authority to finance specified residential rental projects for which a city, county, or city and county that is a member of the joint powers authority has failed to provide specified approval required by federal tax law, as defined and provided. The bill would provide that its provisions do not expand, limit, or otherwise affect the authority of, among others, the state, or any officer or agency of the state, to enter into a joint exercise of powers agreement or cause the state to become a member of a joint powers authority, as specified. Existing law additionally authorizes, subject to specified limitations, any city or county to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing and for the provision of capital improvements in connection with, and determined necessary to, that multifamily rental housing. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of the above-described provisions, "city" or "county" is deemed to include the state when the state is a member of a joint powers authority pursuant to the bill's provisions only to provide the state with the power to issue bonds and provide approval, consent, or other action required to finance specified residential rental projects, as provided. Existing law provides that the State of California will not change the composition of a joint powers authority that has issued bonds, unless the change is authorized by a majority vote of applicable legislative bodies, as provided. Existing law defines "change in composition" to include, among others, the addition of a public agency, as defined, to a joint powers authority. This bill would, notwithstanding the above-described definition, provide that the state becoming a member of an existing joint powers authority shall not, in and of itself, constitute a "change in composition." The bill would make additional nonsubstantive and conforming changes. Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, provides for the approval of tentative and final parcel maps by various local officials, as specified. The act authorizes an appeal of the local official's decision to the local legislative body, as provided. This bill would create an exception from the above-described authority as it applies to appeals by an interested person for maps that meet specified criteria, as provided. The bill would exempt from these provisions an appeal filed by an applicant, subdivider, tenant, advisory agency, or public agency or official, as specified. This bill would make the provisions of the act severable.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes various mandatory elements, including a housing element. Existing law requires the housing element to include, among other things, an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development, an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities and services to these sites, and an analysis of the relationship of the sites identified in the land inventory to the jurisdiction's duty to affirmatively further fair housing. Existing law requires a city or county, based on that inventory of land, to determine whether each site in the inventory can accommodate the development of some portion of its share of the regional housing need by income level during the planning period, as provided. Existing law requires the inventory of land to include, among other things, a description of the existing use of the property for nonvacant sites. For the nonvacant sites, existing law requires the city or county to specify the additional development potential for each site within the planning period. Existing law requires a city or county to rezone sites according to a specified program if the inventory of sites suitable and available for residential development does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2028, the Department of Housing and Community Development to promulgate or approve one or more formulas and associated user interfaces or other tools that allow for the determination of specified information, including, among other things, the realistic capacity of housing element inventory sites, as specified. The bill would authorize the above-described analysis and determinations by a city or county related to sites in the inventory of land suitable and available for residential development to rely on the formula promulgated or approved by the department. The bill would authorize the department to hire economists and data scientists for the purpose of promulgating the formulas and associated user interfaces or other tools. This bill would require the inventory of land suitable and available for residential development to specify the number of units allowed to be built on each site at the time of the housing element's adoption, and the number that will be allowed after rezoning, as specified, to accommodate the city's or county's share of regional housing need. This bill would exempt the use by a city or county of any adopted formula, associated user interface, or tool promulgated or approved by the department for these purposes from judicial review, except as specified. Existing law also requires that the housing element, among other things, sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period that the local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and achieve the goals of the housing element, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to allow a city or county to substitute the provision of units pursuant to this schedule of actions if the community includes in its housing element a program committing the local government to provide specified units that will be made available through the provision of committed assistance to lower income households at affordable housing costs or rents, as defined. Existing law requires a unit to meet specified requirements to qualify for inclusion in the program. Existing law defines "committed assistance" for these purposes to mean that the city or county enters into a legally enforceable agreement during a specified time period that obligates sufficient available funds or other in-kind services to provide the assistance necessary to make the identified units affordable and that requires that the units be made available for occupancy within 2 years of the execution of the agreement. This bill would define "in-kind services" for these purposes.
Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which is permitted to adjudge children who have suffered abuse or neglect to be dependents of the court under certain circumstances, and prescribes various hearings and other procedures for these purposes. Existing law requires the county welfare department to submit reports at the first regularly scheduled review hearing after a dependent minor has attained 16 years of age and at the last regularly scheduled review hearing before a dependent minor attains 18 years of age, and at every regularly scheduled review hearing thereafter, verifying that the county welfare department has provided certain information, documents, and services to the minor or nonminor. Existing law prohibits the court from terminating dependency jurisdiction over a nonminor dependent until the county welfare department has submitted a report verifying specified information, documents, and services have been provided to the nonminor, including the nonminor's family history and placement history. This bill would additionally require the above-described assistance include providing the minor or nonminor the last known whereabouts of their parents and siblings and the last known contact information for them. The bill would require that the minor or nonminor have the option to decline this information. By increasing the duties of county welfare departments, 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. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 391 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 2764 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2764 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law requires the Secretary of State to transmit a certified list of candidates for partisan and voter-nominated offices eligible to be voted on within each county to the county elections official at least 68 days before a primary or general election. Existing law also requires the Secretary of State to notify the candidates for partisan and voter-nominated offices of the names, addresses, offices, occupations, and party preferences of all other candidates for the same office at least 73 days before the election. Existing law imposes various deadlines pertaining to candidates and elections. Existing law requires a candidate who submits a ballot designation to file a ballot designation worksheet, as specified. This bill would move the deadline to notify candidates of the other candidates for the same office to at least 78 days before the election. The bill would move other specified deadlines earlier, including the deadline for the Secretary of State to publicly announce a list of candidates and the availability of specified forms and documents. The bill would require a candidate to certify, under penalty of perjury, the truth and accuracy of the content of the ballot designation worksheet. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 13307 of the Elections Code proposed by SB 1360 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1360 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 sets forth a method for providing special education and related services to pupils with exceptional needs. Existing law permits, under certain circumstances, contracts to be entered into for the provision of those services by nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies. Existing law defines "nonpublic, nonsectarian school" and "nonpublic, nonsectarian agency" for these purposes. Existing law authorizes a master contract for special education and related services provided by a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency only if the school or agency has been certified as meeting specified standards. Existing law sets forth the certification process and procedures for the nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies that seek certification from the Superintendent of Public Instruction, including that the school or agency file an application with specified information. Existing law requires the Superintendent, before certification of a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency, to conduct an onsite review of the facility and program for which the applicant seeks certification and authorizes the Superintendent to verify that the school or agency has received a successful criminal background check clearance and has enrolled in subsequent arrest notice service for each owner, operator, and employee of the school or agency. Existing law requires the Superintendent to monitor the facilities, educational environment, and quality of the educational program of an existing certified nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency on a 3-year cycle, as provided. Existing law requires the master contract for nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency services to include, among other things, an individual service agreement for each pupil placed by a local educational agency. Existing law requires a contracting local educational agency to pay the full amount of the tuition or fees, as applicable, for individuals with exceptional needs who are enrolled in programs or receiving services provided pursuant to the contract. Existing law requires a master contract for nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency services to be developed in accordance with specified provisions, including, among others, that the master contract specify the general administrative and financial agreements, including teacher-to-pupil ratios, between the school or agency and the local educational agency to provide the special education and designated instruction services. Existing law requires a certified nonpublic school or agency to provide written notification to the State Department of Education and the local educational agency with which it has a master contract of any pupil-involved incident at the school or agency in which law enforcement was contacted. This bill would eliminate the requirement that nonpublic schools or agencies that enter into contracts for the provision of special education services be nonsectarian. The bill would (A) exclude from the above-described tuition or fees the amount attributable to the provision of religious instruction, which the bill would define for these purposes, (B) prohibit public funds paid pursuant to those contracts from being used to pay for religious instruction at a nonpublic school or agency, (C) prohibit a nonpublic school or agency from providing religious instruction to pupils placed by a local educational agency, as provided, (D) require an applicant seeking an initial or renewal certification to certify, under penalty of perjury, that all educational services provided to pupils placed by a local educational agency under a master contract with a local educational agency are secular, neutral, and respectful regarding religion and religious view, as provided, and (E) notwithstanding any other law, prohibit a nonpublic school or agency, in performing services under a master contract, individual service agreement, or individualized education program, from subjecting any person to discrimination on the basis of specified protected characteristics. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a master contract and individual services agreement for nonpublic school or agency services to contain provisions requiring compliance with those 5 described provisions. The bill would require the above-described application for a nonpublic school seeking certification from the Superintendent to include (A) an assurance that the nonpublic school has requested from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing a list of all credentialholders who have had final adverse action taken against their credential, (B) commencing July 1, 2027, documentation that specified staff and administrators have obtained fingerprint clearance with the commission, as provided, (C) commencing January 1, 2028, a list of staff providing instruction and services to pupils in the state and copies of their credentials, as specified, and (D) affidavits and assurances necessary to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations that include criminal record summaries and subsequent arrest notifications required of all nonpublic school personnel, including contractors, having contact with minor children. The bill would require, instead of authorize, the Superintendent to verify that a nonpublic school or agency seeking certification has received a successful criminal background check clearance and has enrolled in subsequent arrest notice service for each owner, operator, employee, and contractor of the nonpublic school or agency, as applicable. The bill would require the Superintendent, as part of monitoring the quality of the educational program of an existing certified nonpublic school, to also monitor the criminal background checks required for employment and pupils' receipt of any mandated instruction required for all pupils of local educational agencies, as specified. The bill would require the Superintendent, as part of monitoring an existing certified nonpublic agency, to instead monitor the agency for compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. The bill would require the department to (A) require each person employed by a nonpublic school interacting with a California pupil to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, (B) submit those fingerprints, and (C) request subsequent arrest records, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Justice to provide a state and federal response to those requests in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would require a certified nonpublic school to additionally provide written notification to the department and the local educational agency with which it has a master contract of any pupil-involved incident at the school resulting in, among other things, a serious injury to a pupil, as specified, or the commencement of an investigation into an employee or contractor involving an allegation of misconduct. The bill would require a nonpublic school employing a person with a credential to report any change in employment status of the credentialholder to the commission within 30 days if the change in status is a result of an allegation of misconduct, as specified. The bill would also make conforming changes. (2) Existing law authorizes the Superintendent to revoke or suspend the certification of a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency for specified reasons, including, among other reasons, failure to notify the department in writing within 45 days of certain occurrences, including changes in staff or facilities, failure to notify the Superintendent in writing within 10 days of revocation or suspension of a license or permit, and failure to notify the Superintendent in writing within 10 days of the death of a pupil. This bill would, among other things, require, instead of authorize, the suspension or revocation of the certification of a nonpublic school or agency for any of those specified reasons, and would revise the above-described notification timelines, as specified. If an investigation conducted by the department results in a finding that pupil health or safety has been compromised or is in danger of being compromised at a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency, existing law authorizes the department to immediately suspend or revoke the certification of the nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency. This bill would require, instead of authorize, the department to take the above-described action. (3) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a county board of education to request the State Board of Education to waive all or part of specified education laws or regulations adopted by the state board, as provided, with exceptions. Existing law requires the state board to approve any and all requests for waivers except in those cases where the state board specifically finds, among other things, that the educational needs of the pupils are not adequately addressed. This bill would prohibit the state board from waiving all or part of any laws relating to special education pursuant to the above-described provisions. Existing law authorizes a public agency, as defined, to request the state board to grant a waiver of any provision of education laws or regulations adopted pursuant to those provisions if the waiver (A) is necessary or beneficial to the content and implementation of a pupil's individualized education program and (B) does not abrogate any rights provided to individuals with exceptional needs and their parents or guardians, or affect the compliance of a local educational agency with specified federal regulations. Existing law authorizes the state board to grant, in whole or in part, any of those requests when the facts indicate that a failure to do so would hinder implementation of a pupil's individualized education program or compliance by a local educational agency with specified federal mandates. This bill would prohibit a waiver submitted by a public agency on or after January 1, 2027, that is related to the placement of a pupil other than at a local educational agency to waive specified requirements from being approved unless it includes, among other things, a description of how the public agency requesting the waiver will oversee and evaluate the pupil's placement and that certain requirements are met, as provided. (4) Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards and procedures for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to make available to each private school a listing of all credentialholders who have had final adverse action taken against their credential which is required to be identical to that made available to public schools in the state. This bill would require the commission to also make available the above-described listing to the State Department of Education. The bill would require the department to request notice from the commission regarding the list, monitor the status of the credentialholders at nonpublic schools, and confirm that a credentialholder has been removed from contact with California pupils when a credentialholder has their credential suspended or revoked, and would impose the same requirements on a local educational agency with respect to each nonpublic school that it has a master contract with, as provided. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 48986 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1943 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1943 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51225.2 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1659 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1659 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (6) 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 a local agency to declare land either "surplus land" or "exempt surplus land," as supported by written findings, before the local agency may take any action to dispose of it consistent with an agency's policies or procedures and defines terms for these purposes. Existing law generally requires a local agency, before disposing or negotiating to dispose of surplus land, to provide a written notice of the availability of the surplus land to specified entities and housing sponsors. Existing law provides that an agency is not required to follow the requirements for the disposal of surplus land for "exempt surplus land." Existing law defines "exempt surplus land" to include certain types of land, including, surplus land totaling 10 or more acres, consisting of either a single parcel, or 2 or more adjacent or nonadjacent parcels combined for disposition to one or more buyers pursuant to a plan or ordinance adopted by the legislative body of the local agency, or a state statute and certain surplus land that is a former military base, known as the Alameda Naval Air Station, if specified conditions are met. Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. This bill would revise the definition of "exempt surplus land" to remove the reference to buyers and instead mean 2 or more adjacent or nonadjacent parcels combined for disposition to one or more persons or entities, as specified. The bill would also exempt surplus land that is a former military base that was conveyed by the federal government to a local agency or a local reuse authority, and that is all or any portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, if certain requirements are met, including that the former military base has an aggregate area greater than 5 acres and that before disposition of the land, the local agency or local reuse authority has entered into a disposition and development agreement that stipulates that at least 25% of the aggregate residential units permitted to be developed will be restricted to lower income households with an affordable housing cost or affordable rent for a minimum of 55 years for rental housing and 45 years for owner-occupied housing, as specified. The bill would regulate actions challenging the disposition and would prescribe penalties for violations of these provisions. The bill would also regulate the actions of the local agency or local reuse authority, including, among other things, requiring the local agency or local reuse authority to include in the annual report the status of development of residential units on the former military base, as specified. (2) 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. This bill would provide that specified environmental review documents satisfy the requirements of CEQA for any project within the portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station included within the boundaries of the area plan for the Concord Community Reuse Project, as provided, that has land use types that are consistent with the area plan land use types and locations for those land use types that are consistent with the area plan diagram and the project does not cause the aggregate development in the area plan to exceed the area plan maximum planning areawide total, as specified. The bill would further provide that a project that contains land use types that are consistent with the area plan land use types in locations that are not consistent with the area plan diagram would be subject to review pursuant to CEQA, and would be limited to review of the location of land use types that are not consistent with the area plan diagram, as provided. In any action or proceeding challenging a project described above, the bill would require a project applicant to pay any additional costs incurred by the courts in hearing cases relating to the challenge of the project and would require a lead agency to lodge a copy of the certified record of proceedings with the superior court within 10 calendar days after being served with a complaint or a petition for a writ of mandate. Because the bill imposes new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt rules of court that require any action or proceeding brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the approval of any project within the plan area or any environmental impact review for any project within the plan area, including any potential appeals to the court of appeal or the California Supreme Court, to be resolved to the extent feasible within 270 calendar days of the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court. The bill would make these provisions severable. (3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Concord. (4) 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. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
