AB 312 - Violence against the Homeless
There are an estimated 157,000 homeless people in California, perhaps the most vulnerable population in the state. Of those 30,000 are veterans. They are more likely to suffer from mental and physical illness, and less likely to receive comprehensive medical treatment. Even worse, they are the population most likely to be the target of violent attacks. In the last year alone, homeless people have been set on fire, stabbed, shot, and beaten with baseball bats. California has the second-highest rate of violence against the homeless in the nation.
This bill specifies that a homeless person has the right to be free from violence or intimidation. If an act of violence is directed against that person on the basis of their homeless status, the aggrieved person has a right to sue for additional civil damages.
AB 325 - Bereavement Leave
No California employee should have to choose between their employment and grieving the loss of a loved one. Unfortunately, no federal or state law provides job protection for an employee who must take a leave of absence following the death of a close family member. This bill ensures that an employee may take up to three days off work following the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or child of a domestic partner.
AB 334 - Community College Boards
This bill creates parity within the Government Code, for cases of illness for local elected officials. School and Community College Boards will be able to extend the time allowable for the absence of a board member when the absence is related to illness, affording governing boards the same options and authority as their state and municipal counterparts.
AB 362 - Superior Court Judges
Currently, if an individual chooses to run a write-in campaign for the position of superior court judge, they are required to obtain the signatures of 100 registered voters regardless of the number of voters in the county. In addition, write-in candidates for the office of superior court judge in their filings do not need to demonstrate they meet the requirements to hold the office of superior court judge. This low threshold and lack of credential requirements allows bad actors with no intention to run or lacking the qualifications to hold office to harass sitting judges and waste government resources.
This bill levels the playing field by requiring write-in candidates for superior court judge to state they meet the constitutional requirements for the position and requires their write-in petition to have signatures of 0.1% of the registered voters in the county with no fewer than 100 and not more than 600 total.
AB 399 - Prison Pharmacy Services
Last year, the budget included language that for the first time required prison pharmacy services to be held to a higher standard for efficiency and quality, saving the state millions. This bill strengthens those standards by requiring the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to fully implement the comprehensive pharmacy services program, including licensure of the distribution center and institutional pharmacies by the California State Board of Pharmacy.
AB 426 - Transit Courts
Current law allows a number of transit agencies around the state to create transit courts, allowing local transit agencies to process citations on their individual systems rather than having these citations processed through the typical court process. This bill allows Los Angeles Metro and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to develop a two tiered system would be best for Los Angeles. Under this system, Metro's Transit Court would process the majority of minor citations and the regular judicial process would still be available for more serious violations such as chronic violators and those with additional criminal issues. In addition, the bill provides additional assistance to Metro's transit court by allowing revenues from violations on the Metro system to be deposited into the Metro General Fund, rather than having to pass through the county's General Fund, ensuring greater accountability in the citation process.
AB 433 - Vital Records
California allows transgender people to obtain a court order recognizing a change of gender, as well as an updated birth certificate. This process was first established in 1977 and while it allows transgender people the basic dignity of being able to get identity documents that truly reflect who they are, it is procedurally challenging to navigate. Further, outdated standards differ from federal policies and create confusion and unnecessary barriers.
This bill clarifies that eligible petitioners living or born in California can submit a gender change petition in any jurisdiction in the State of California. The bill would also allow people who were born in California to use a simplified process that conforms to the standards set by the Federal Government to correct identification documents to reflect their gender.
AB 462 - School Bus Fuel Tank Replacement
Mobile source emissions are major contributors to the potential cancer risk from air pollution. Long-term studies of school children indicate that nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions, such as those from diesel-fueled school buses have much greater impacts on limiting lung growth in children than previously believed. This bill would allow California's Lower-Emission School Bus Program to fund up to $20,000 for fuel tank replacement in compressed natural gas (CNG) school buses, as well as to replace fuel dispensers for CNG infrastructure owned and operated by public schools with one-time funding of up to $500 per dispenser.
AB 476 - Tow Truck Operators
Professional tow truck operators in California are hardworking, law-abiding citizens who adhere to the highest ethical and legal standards as they respond to and rescue vehicles that have broken down or have been involved in an accident. Unfortunately, some tow trucks operators are taking advantage of consumers. They have been nicknamed "bandit" tow truck operators because they illegally tow vehicles from private parking facilities or fail to wait the required amount of time to tow a vehicle and then charge excessive fees for consumers to retrieve their cars. They also engage in predatory towing, by patrolling parking areas looking for cars to seize.
AB 476 seeks to protect consumers against "bandit" tow truck operators by making it a crime for tow truck operators to solicit business at the scene of an accident or near a disabled vehicle or to tow a vehicle without proper authorization.
AB 574 - Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is an integrated model of care that provides comprehensive medical and long-term care services, fully coordinating these services by the program's interdisciplinary team. With the broad range and intense coordination of services, more than 90 percent of PACE participants are able to remain at home and in their communities. This bill allows for the long-term implementation of the PACE model in California by increasing the limit of providers from 10 to 20.
In addition, AB 574 modernizes state statute relative to the PACE programs by deleting out-dated references to its prior status as a federal demonstration program.
AB 739 - Mental Health Curriculum
Among adolescents, suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death. Nationwide, 1,000 teens attempt suicide every day. Because suicide is only one manifestation of a number of interrelated problems of development and adjustment, developmentally-appropriate mental health curriculum can provide a vital foundation for awareness and prevention programs focusing on building resilience, reducing the number of youth who become at-risk or experience crisis, and identifying those who are in need of intervention.
AB 739 specifies that during the next revision of health education framework, the State Board of Education and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission shall include both suicide prevention and mental illness awareness instruction for students in grades 7 through 12.
AB 960 - Electronic Waste Recycling
There are no recycling requirements or export restrictions on the thousands of tons of consumer electronics that are not covered by the California Electronic Waste Recycling Act. While some of these devices are collected for recycling in California along with 'covered' devices, the State has very little authority to regulate these materials. Due to lack of regulation these non-covered devices are frequently shipped overseas for processing in countries with lax worker safety standards and environmental protections.
This bill would expand the current export restrictions from covered electronic devices, including computer monitors, LCD screens, televisions, to non-covered electronic devices such as computer towers, printers, fax machines, microwaves and DVD players for electronic processors and recyclers.
AB 1114 - Involuntary Medication
Appropriate and beneficial mental health treatment is imperative for inmates. However, the current approval process for the involuntary treatment of seriously mentally ill inmates who refuse their medication can take as long as 45 days. This bill shortens the timeline for the administration of psychotropic medication in prisons and county jails while maintaining the due process rights of inmates.
