Existing law defines "disadvantaged communities" and requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and for other purposes. This bill would require the agency to do specified things regarding farmworker communities for purposes of identifying disadvantaged communities including, among other things, assessing whether designating farmworker communities as disadvantaged communities would increase those communities' access to investment opportunities and identifying potential barriers faced by low-income farmworker communities in accessing investment opportunities, as specified. The bill would require the agency to make its findings publicly available on its internet website and consider those findings when identifying disadvantaged communities. The bill would require the agency and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to develop and implement a strategy for engaging with farmworker communities on environmental, health, and socioeconomic burdens, as provided.
(1) Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants and sources of air pollution. Existing law authorizes blends of gasoline containing 10.5% to 15% ethanol by volume to be sold in the state for use as a transportation fuel until specified actions are taken by the California Environmental Policy Council and the state board. Existing law requires the state board to adopt performance standards for gasoline vapor control systems during gasoline marketing operations and to certify any gasoline vapor control system that meets those performance standards and other specified requirements. Existing law also requires the State Fire Marshal, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Division of Measurement Standards to adopt rules and regulations on various aspects of gasoline vapor control systems and components and to certify compliance of those systems and components with their respective rules and regulations. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2029, vapor control systems and their components that are certified or approved by the state agencies listed above for use with gasoline and ethanol blends containing 10% ethanol to also be used with gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits a statement of compatibility, signed under penalty of perjury, to each of those state agencies. The bill would require the service station dispensing an ethanol blend containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol to comply with certain labeling required by the State Fire Marshal. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2026, the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations governing the labeling and safe use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% and up to 15% ethanol with vapor control systems and their components that have been authorized for use pursuant to the above-described provisions. (2) Existing law generally regulates the storage of hazardous substances in underground storage tanks and requires underground storage tanks that are used to store hazardous substances to meet certain requirements. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board and the State Air Resources Board to certify that the equipment that meets certain requirements for enhanced vapor recovery systems at gasoline dispensing facilities also meets the underground storage tank laws, as specified. This bill would require, until January 1, 2029, that any enhanced vapor control system at gasoline dispensing facilities suitable for gasoline and ethanol blends containing 10% ethanol be deemed certified or approved for the use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% ethanol and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits the aforementioned statement of compatibility. (3) Existing law establishes in the Department of Industrial Relations the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and authorizes the board to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing law imposes various requirements on occupational safety and health standards, including that those standards be at least as effective as federal standards, as specified. This bill would require, until January 1, 2029, that any device used for dispensing flammable liquids with an ethanol content of up to 10% be deemed approved for purposes of occupational safety and health standards and orders for the use of gasoline and ethanol blends containing more than 10% ethanol and up to 15% ethanol if the manufacturer of the equipment submits the aforementioned statement of compatibility. (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.
The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to provide a defined benefit to members of the system based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. Existing law creates the Public Employees' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for purposes of PERS, including depositing employer and employee contributions. Under the California Constitution, assets of a public pension or retirement system are trust funds. The California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) establishes a variety of requirements and restrictions on public employers offering defined benefit pension plans. In this regard, PEPRA restricts the amount of compensation that may be applied for purposes of calculating a defined pension benefit for a new member, as defined, by restricting it to specified percentages of the contribution and benefit base under a specified federal law with respect to old age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits. Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, creditable service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. This bill, for service performed on and after January 1, 2027, would prohibit the pensionable compensation for calendar year 2027 used to calculate the defined benefit paid to a new member of a retirement system subject to PEPRA who retires from the system from exceeding specified percentages of the contribution and benefit base under the specified federal law with respect to old age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits. The bill would make related, conforming changes to these provisions on pensionable compensation. The bill also would require a new member of STRS to be subject to specified limits of the Teachers' Retirement Law. PEPRA requires each retirement system that offers a defined benefit plan for safety members of the system to use one of 3 formulas for safety members, 2% at age 57, 2.5% at age 57, or 2.7% at age 57. This bill would establish new retirement formulas, for employees first hired on or after January 1, 2027, as 2.5% at age 55, 2.7% at age 55, or 3% at age 55, subject to certain exceptions. For new members hired on or after January 1, 2013, who are safety members, the bill would require employers to adjust the formulas for service performed on or after January 1, 2027, to offer the formula that has the same fraction at age 55 as the fraction at age 57 in the formula the employer offered pursuant to existing law. The bill would authorize a public employer and a recognized employee organization to negotiate a prospective increase to the retirement benefit formulas for safety members and new safety members, consistent with the formulas permitted under PEPRA, including the new formulas described above. This bill would authorize an employer and its employees to agree in a memorandum of understanding to be subject to a higher safety plan or a lower safety plan, subject to certain requirements, including that the memorandum of understanding is collectively bargained in accordance with applicable laws. By increasing the contribution to continuously appropriated funds, and by increasing expenditures from those funds, this bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, determined by the Director of Industrial Relations, be paid to workers employed on public works projects. Existing law requires the body awarding a contract for a public work to obtain from the director the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the public work is to be performed, and the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for holiday and overtime work, for each craft, classification, or type of worker needed to execute the contract. Under existing law, if the director determines during any quarterly period that there has been a change in any prevailing rate of per diem wages in a locality, the director is required to make that change available to the awarding body and their determination is final. Under existing law, that determination does not apply to public works contracts for which the notice to bidders has been published. This bill would instead state, commencing July 1, 2027, that if the director determines, within a semiannual period, that there is a change in any prevailing rate of per diem wages in a locality, that determination applies to any public works contract that is awarded or for which notice to bidders is published after July 1, 2027, if the awarded value of the contract is $35,000,000 or greater. The bill would authorize any contractor, awarding body, or specified representative affected by a change in rates on a particular contract to, within 20 days, file with the director a verified petition to review the determination of that rate, as specified. The bill would require the director to, upon notice to the interested parties, initiate an investigation or hold a hearing, and, within 20 days after the filing of that petition, except as specified, make a final determination and transmit the determination in writing to the awarding body and to the interested parties. The bill would make that determination issued by the director effective 10 days after its issuance, and until it is modified, rescinded, or superseded by the director. The bill would exempt certain housing projects from these provisions, including, among others, projects that are restricted by deed or subject to regulatory restrictions contained in an agreement with a governmental agency or other recorded document, as specified.
Existing law establishes the California College Promise, under the administration of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, to provide funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to each community college meeting prescribed requirements. Existing law authorizes a community college to use that funding to waive some or all of the fees for 2 academic years for first-time community college students and returning community college students, as defined, who are enrolled in 12 or more semester units or the equivalent, or fewer for students certified as "full time" by a staff person in the disabled student services program, as specified, and who complete and submit either a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or a California Dream Act application, except as provided. This bill would instead require, for purposes of eligibility for the California College Promise, that students be enrolled in 9 or more, rather than 12 or more, semester units or the equivalent, or fewer for a student certified as eligible, based on a commitment by the student that is analogous to the 9-semester-unit or equivalent workload, by a staff person in the disabled student services program. The bill would additionally require, as a condition of receiving funding for the California College Promise, community colleges to provide a written notification to initial recipients of the California College Promise that includes specified information related to the 2 academic years of eligibility for the California College Promise.
Existing law establishes an accidental release prevention program for the state. Under that law, stationary sources subject to the accidental release prevention program may be required to prepare and submit a risk management plan (RMP) to prevent accidental releases of certain substances. Existing law imposes criminal penalties upon a stationary source that knowingly violates the requirements of the accidental release prevention program. This bill would state findings and declarations concerning refinery closures in California. The bill would establish the Refinery Safe Staffing Task Force to develop potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention at refineries and addressing employment dislocations associated with oil, gas, and related industries, with membership, as specified, appointed and commencing service no later than January 1, 2028. The bill would require the task force, no later than June 1, 2029, to present to the Legislature and make available online to the public a report documenting a wide range of potential methods and strategies for ensuring maximum employee retention in the time period preceding refinery closure or long-term idling of a refinery, for ensuring safe operation in the event of understaffing, and for transitioning oil and gas workers into sectors that match their skills and experience. The bill would repeal the task force provisions on January 1, 2030.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law authorizes the division, which is headed by the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. This bill would limit the use of workplace surveillance tools, as defined, by employers, including by prohibiting an employer from monitoring or surveilling employees in a bathroom located in the workplace, except as specified. The bill would provide an employee with the right to leave behind workplace surveillance tools that are on their person or in their possession when entering a bathroom, except as specified. This bill would authorize the commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions, as prescribed, and would authorize a public prosecutor to bring specified enforcement actions. The bill would subject an employer who violates the bill to a civil penalty of up to $500 for each violation. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Under existing law, it is the public policy of this state to encourage the utilization of apprenticeship as a form of on-the-job training, when such training is cost effective in developing skills needed to perform public services. Existing law requires state and local public agencies to make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for apprenticeable occupations in their respective workforces. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials. Existing law requires, as a minimum requirement for a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential, the satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as specified. This bill would require the commission and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to partner in the dissemination, approval, and monitoring of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs in California, and to communicate apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, local educational agencies, and other potential sponsors of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, would authorize the commission to issue apprenticeship certificates or permits to educator candidates without a credential who are employed by local educational agencies and participating in commission-approved credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, as specified, and would require the commission to adopt regulations for that purpose. The bill would authorize the commission and the division to enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish processes and procedures for information sharing, application review, and data collection and reporting, and would authorize the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in consultation with the commission, to issue rules and regulations that govern credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, including the approval and denial of programs, registration of agreements, program administration and procedures, evaluations, working conditions, and minimum standards, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for a new credentialed educator apprenticeship program or for the expansion of an existing credentialed educator apprenticeship program into a new geographic or credential area to submit specified documentation to the chief. The bill would require the division to present the apprenticeship program application to the commission for its review, as provided, and would require the commission, if it is satisfied that specified conditions have been met, to provide written notice of that fact to the chief. The bill would require the commission to, among other things, publish on its internet website guidance for prospective and commission-approved apprenticeship sponsors, commission-accredited professional preparation programs, and employing local educational agencies on the relationship between educator apprenticeships and professional preparation programs, as specified, and to support the development and expansion of educator apprenticeships in credential shortage areas and geographic areas with persistent educator workforce needs, including, but not limited to, through commission-administered grant programs, as applicable. Existing law requires the commission, by April 15 of each year, to report to the Legislature and the Governor information on the availability of teachers in California, including, among other things, the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an emergency permit or credential waiver, as specified. This bill would require that report to also include the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an apprenticeship certificate or permit, as specified.
Existing law requires a farm labor contractor to be licensed by the Labor Commissioner and to comply with specified employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors. Existing law provides that a person who violates the above-described provision is subject to a civil penalty, including, for any initial citation, $100 for each farmworker employed by the unlicensed person, plus $100 for each calendar day that a violation occurs, for a total penalty not to exceed $10,000. This bill would instead provide that a person who violates employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors, unless otherwise specified, is subject to a civil penalty, including, for any initial citation, $100 for each farmworker employed by the unlicensed person or licensed farm labor contractor, plus $100 for each calendar day that a violation occurs, for a total penalty not to exceed $10,000. Existing law prohibits the Labor Commissioner from issuing or renewing a license to act as a farm labor contractor unless specified requirements are met. Existing law requires an applicant for the issuance or renewal of a farm labor contractor license to have deposited with the Labor Commissioner a surety bond to be payable for, among other things, interest on wages and for any damages arising from violation of orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission and for any other monetary relief awarded to an agricultural worker as a result of a violation of specified employment laws. Existing law requires the amount of the surety bond to be based on the size of the person's annual payroll for all employees, and requires, for payrolls up to $500,000, a $25,000 bond, for payrolls of $500,000 to $2,000,000, a $50,000 bond, and for payrolls greater than $2,000,000, a $75,000 bond. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to require documentation of the size of the person's annual payroll for purposes of these provisions, as provided. This bill would instead require, for payrolls up to $500,000, a $50,000 bond, for payrolls of $500,000 to $2,000,000, a $100,000 bond, and for payrolls greater than $2,000,000, a $150,000 bond. The bill would require the bond amounts to be deposited when a farm labor contractor first registers or files the application for their first annual renewal. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to, among other things, include bond information on the public farm labor contractor license database, as described.
Existing law provides that in order for the state to recruit skilled firefighters for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, it is the policy of the state to consider prevailing salaries and benefits prior to making salary recommendations. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources, in order to provide comparability in pay, to take into consideration the salary and benefits of other jurisdictions employing 75 or more full-time firefighters who work in California. This bill would require the state to bargain in good faith with firefighters who are rank-and-file members of State Bargaining Unit 8, employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to reach a competitive range within 15% of the average salary for corresponding ranks in 20 California fire departments agreed to by the exclusive bargaining representative for Bargaining Unit 8 and the Department of Human Resources. The bill would require the state and the exclusive representative for State Bargaining Unit 8 to jointly survey the estimated average salaries for those 20 fire departments and report the findings, as provided. The bill would provide that nothing in the bill creates an entitlement to an automatic salary increase. The bill would require any salary increase for firefighters under these provisions to be implemented through a memorandum of understanding, in accordance with specified procedures governing collective bargaining agreements. The bill would include legislative findings and declarations related to its provisions.
