(1) 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 any meeting of a state body. The act authorizes meetings through teleconference under specified conditions, including, among others, that each teleconference location be accessible to the public and that at least one member of the state body be physically present at the location specified in the notice of the meeting.
Prior to July 1, 2023, existing law authorized, subject to specified notice and accessibility requirements, a state body to hold public meetings through teleconferencing and suspended certain requirements of the act, including the requirements referenced above.
This bill, until December 31, 2023, would reinstate the above-described authorization for a state body to hold public meetings through teleconferencing.
(2) Existing law establishes a State Allocation Board and sets forth its powers and duties, including, among other things, requiring the board to apportion funds to eligible school districts pursuant to the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, as provided. Under existing law, the board consists of the Director of Finance, the Director of General Services, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 3 Senators appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and 3 Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, as provided.
This bill would instead vest the power of appointment for Senators to the board in the President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3) Existing unemployment compensation disability law requires workers to pay contribution rates based on wages received in employment for payment into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury. Under existing law, those funds are continuously appropriated for the purpose of providing disability benefits and making payment of expenses in administering those provisions. Existing law authorizes the Director of Employment Development to increase or decrease the rate of worker contributions, up to a certain amount, if the director determines the adjustment is necessary to reimburse the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund for disability benefits paid or estimated to be paid or to prevent the accumulation of funds in excess of those needed to maintain an adequate fund balance.
Under existing law, until January 1, 2024, the remuneration of a worker over a specified amount is not subject to the contribution levels described above. Under that law, specifically, the worker contribution provision does not apply, until January 1, 2024, to that part of a worker's remuneration which, after remuneration with respect to employment equal to 4 times the maximum weekly benefit for each calendar year specified, multiplied by 13 and divided by 55%, has been paid to an individual by an employer, is paid to the individual by the employer. Under existing law, that law is repealed as of January 1, 2024.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change by, in lieu of repealing the provision, providing that the remuneration limitation described above does not apply with respect to wages paid on or after January 1, 2024.
(4) Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish a Women in Construction Priority Unit, to be overseen by the Director of Industrial Relations, to coordinate and help ensure collaboration across the department's divisions, and maximize state and federal funding to support women and nonbinary individuals in the construction workforce. Existing law sets forth the duties of the unit, which include providing resources for employers and project owners to improve construction worksite culture.
This bill would specify that preapprenticeship programs are eligible for resources provided by the unit.
(5) Existing law establishes specified labor protections for goat herders, as defined, relating to wages, meal and rest periods, lodging, and other conditions of employment. Existing law defines goat herder for these purposes as an individual who is employed to perform specified tasks relating to goats, including, among others, assisting in the ewing, docking, or shearing of goats. Existing law imposes civil penalties, as prescribed, for violations of these provisions. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner, on or before January 1, 2024, to issue a report to the Legislature on wage violations, including minimum wage and overtime, affecting sheepherders and goat herders. These goat herder provisions are repealed on January 1, 2024.
This bill would remove from the definition of goat herding an individual who assists in the ewing, docking, or shearing of a goat, and would add to the definition an individual who assists in the kidding of a goat. The bill would delete the above-described reporting requirement, and would instead require the Department of Industrial Relations, in consultation with the Employment Development Department, on or before January 1, 2026, to issue a report on employment of sheepherders and goat herders in the state, as specified. The bill would appropriate one million dollars ($1,000,000) from the Labor and Workforce Development Fund to the Department of Industrial Relations to develop the report. The bill would extend the repeal date of the goat herder provisions until July 1, 2026.
(6) Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon approval by and subject to revocation by the Department of Finance, to plan, design, construct, and administer contracts and professional services for public works projects under the jurisdiction of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon approval of the Department of Finance, to use any civil service classifications necessary to carry out the purposes of that authority to plan, design, construct, and administer contracts and professional services for those public works projects. Existing law authorizes the Department of Finance to revoke this approval, in whole or in part, at any time.
This bill would remove the above-described authorization for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to use any civil service classifications necessary to carry out the purposes of that authority to plan, design, construct, and administer contracts and professional services for those public works projects.
(7) Under existing law, the Department of Consumer Affairs is composed of various boards, bureaus, and commissions that license and regulate the practice of various professions and vocations. Existing law provides that these entities are established to ensure that those private businesses and professions deemed to engage in activities that have potential impact upon the public health, safety, and welfare are adequately regulated to protect the people of California, as prescribed.
This bill would require a registering authority, defined as specified boards, bureaus, and commissions and the Department of Real Estate, to register a servicemember or a spouse of a servicemember who relocated to this state because of military orders for military service within this state and meets specified requirements, including that the applicant submits to the registering authority an affidavit attesting that the applicant meets all of these requirements and the information submitted to the registering authority is accurate to the best of the applicant's knowledge. The bill would require the registering authority to post specified information on the registering authority's internet website for each person registered pursuant to these provisions. The bill would provide that a person registered pursuant to these provisions be deemed to be a licensee of the registering authority for purposes of the laws administered by that registering authority relating to standards of practice, discipline, and continuing education, as specified, and would authorize the registering authority to take specified enforcement actions against the person. The bill would prohibit a registering authority from collecting or requiring a fee for registration pursuant to these provisions. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury and by expanding the application of professional licensing laws, the violation of some of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(8) Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of the practice of medicine by physicians and surgeons.
Existing law requires a medical school graduate to obtain a physician's and surgeon's postgraduate training license within 180 days after enrollment in a board-approved postgraduate training program.
This bill would instead require a medical school graduate to obtain a physician's and surgeon's postgraduate training license within 180 days after beginning a board-approved postgraduate training program. The bill would, for any postgraduate training license that expires after June 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2023, extended the expiration date of that postgraduate training license to March 31, 2024.
Existing law requires an applicant for a physician's and surgeon's license who received credit for 12 months of approved postgraduate training in another state or in Canada and who is accepted into an approved postgraduate training program in California to obtain their physician's and surgeon's license within 90 days after beginning that postgraduate training program.
This bill would extend that period to 180 days after beginning the postgraduate training program.
(9) Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. Existing law requires an attorney or law firm receiving or disbursing trust funds to establish and maintain an Interest On Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) account in which the attorney or law firm is required to deposit or invest specified client deposits or funds. Existing law requires interest and dividends earned on IOLTA accounts to be paid to the State Bar of California and used for programs providing civil legal services without charge to indigent persons. Existing law requires the State Bar of California to distribute IOLTA funds and specified other funds to qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers, as defined, for the provision of civil legal services without charge to indigent persons in accordance with a specified statutory scheme. Existing law authorizes qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers to use those funds for specified purposes, including to provide loan repayment assistance for the purposes of recruiting and retaining attorneys in accordance with a loan repayment assistance program administered by the California Access to Justice Commission.
This bill would instead authorize qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers to use funds to provide loan repayment assistance in accordance with a loan repayment assistance program administered by the commission for the purposes of recruiting and retaining attorneys who perform described services.
(10) Existing law, the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, provides that a housing development project is an allowable use on a parcel that is within a zone where office, retail, or parking is a principally permitted use, if the proposed development complies with specified requirements. Under that act, one of those requirements directs the developer to certify that the entirety of the development is a public work or will comply with certain wage-related requirements, which include the registration of contractors and subcontractors pursuant to a specified section of the Labor Code.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change by correcting a cross-reference relating to that contractor and subcontractor registration requirement.
(11) Existing law establishes the California Dream for All Program, administered by the California Housing Finance Agency, to provide up to $1,000,000,000 annually of shared appreciation loans, as defined, to qualified first-time homebuyers. Existing law establishes the California Dream for All Fund and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund for the purposes of the program, as specified, and requires all loan repayments to be deposited into the fund for ongoing use in the program.
This bill would require the agency, in consultation with the Treasurer, the Legislature, and other relevant stakeholders, to evaluate options, including the issuance of revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, or other debt instruments, to finance the program, as specified. The bill would require the agency, on or before March 1, 2024, to submit a report to the Legislature on the evaluation. The bill would also require the agency, prior to the disbursement of funding for the program appropriated in the 2022 Budget Act or the 2023 Budget Act, to review the program terms and parameters, and to implement adjustments designed to achieve specified program improvements, including targeting funds to aid first-generation homebuyers.
(12) Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies as of February 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies to, among other things, wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies and make payments due for enforceable obligations. Existing law, among other powers granted to successor agencies generally, additionally vests the successor agency to the former Redevelopment Agency of the City and County of San Francisco with the authority, rights, and powers of that former redevelopment agency solely for the purpose of issuing bonds or incurring other indebtedness, subject to the approval of the oversight board of the successor agency, to finance the construction of affordable housing and infrastructure required by specified development agreements, including the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 Disposition and Development Agreement. Under existing law, these bonds and indebtedness are considered indebtedness incurred by the dissolved redevelopment agency secured by moneys deposited in the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund established for that agency. Existing law requires the bonds and indebtedness to be in full conformity with the applicable provisions of the Community Redevelopment Law, which imposed specified limitations on redevelopment plans.
This bill would exempt the project described in the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 Disposition and Development Agreement from those above-described limitations relating to the time for establishing loans, advances, and indebtedness, the effectiveness of the redevelopment plans, the time to repay indebtedness, the time for applying tax increment, the number of tax dollars, and other matters, as specified, and would instead require the agreement to establish applicable limitations. The bill would require any amendments to establish or change the time limits to be approved by the oversight board and subject to department approval, as specified. The bill would require the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 project agreements to establish the applicable limitations. The bill would specify that the above-described law providing for the dissolution of redevelopment agencies and designation of successor agencies does not limit the receipt and use of property tax revenues generated from specified redevelopment project areas within the City and County of San Francisco for the project described in the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 Disposition and Development Agreement.
(13) The hazardous waste control laws require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste and hazardous materials.
Existing law requires a generator of hazardous waste to pay to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration a generation and handling fee for each generator site that generates an amount equal to, or more than, 5 tons for each calendar year, or portion of the calendar year. For the 2022–23 fiscal year, the fee rate is $49.25 for each ton or fraction of a ton of hazardous waste generated in calendar year 2021. Existing law requires the generation and handling fee to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, which may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes.
This bill would create an exception to the above-mentioned fee for hazardous waste generated in calendar years 2021, 2022, or 2023 meeting specified criteria by instead establishing a fee rate of $5.72 for each ton or fraction of a ton of hazardous waste, as provided. Among other criteria, the bill would require that the hazardous waste be generated from a project that will provide at least 2,000 new housing units and is legally obligated to produce a minimum amount of required affordable housing units, as specified, that the project is certified by the Governor as an environmental leadership development project, and that the generator of the hazardous waste acquired ownership of the property from which the hazardous waste was generated prior to July 1, 2022, and commenced the cleanup activity, as described, prior to July 1, 2022. The bill would, among other requirements, require this fee, which is collected and administered by the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to be due and payable in one installment, as provided, and would require the generator of hazardous waste to both file an annual return in the form prescribed by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and pay the proper amount of fee due and to amend the annual return filed in fiscal years 2021–22 and 2022–23 to reflect this fee rate, as provided. The bill would require a generator of hazardous waste that is generated from a project that meets these criteria to report to the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration certain information about the hazardous waste generated, as specified. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require funds collected pursuant to the above-mentioned provisions to be deposited into the Hazardous Waste Control Account. The bill also would require every person, as defined, who is subject to the above-mentioned fee to register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration on forms provided by the department. The bill would repeal the above-mentioned provisions on January 1, 2026.
(14) Existing law establishes the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, administered by the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, in conformity with federal income tax law, generally define "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provide various exclusions from gross income, including an exclusion for grant allocations received by a taxpayer pursuant to the California Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program. Existing law applies this exclusion for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2023, in the case of the Personal Income Tax Law, and for taxable years beginning on