Sponsor

AB 1137

(Jones-Sawyer D)   Excluded employees.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/15/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2023

Status: 7/14/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(10). (Last location was L., P.E. & R. on 6/14/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 7/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR

Summary: Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to establish and adjust salary ranges for each class of position in the state civil service, subject to any merit limits contained in the California Constitution. Existing law provides that, after completion of the first year in a position, an employee shall receive a merit salary adjustment during each year when they meet the standards of efficiency, as prescribed by the department. This bill would require an employee who is excluded from the definition of “state employee” to be informed in writing of a merit salary adjustment denial 10 working days before the proposed effective date of the adjustment. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Memo:

Sponsor letter sent to Author -- 3/13/23

Sponsor letter sent to Asm. PE&R -- 3/13/23

Sponsor letter sent to Asm. APPR -- 4/14/23

Support

AB 236

(Holden D)   Health care coverage: provider directories.

Current Text: Amended: 1/22/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/13/2023

Last Amend: 1/22/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

Location: 5/1/2024-S. HEALTH

Summary: Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan and a health insurer that contracts with providers for alternative rates of payment to publish and maintain a provider directory or directories with information on contracting providers that deliver health care services enrollees or insureds, and requires a health care service plan and health insurer to regularly update its printed and online provider directory or directories, as specified. Existing law authorizes the departments to require a plan or insurer to provide coverage for all covered health care services provided to an enrollee or insured who reasonably relied on materially inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information contained in a health plan’s provider directory or directories. This bill would require a plan or insurer to annually verify and delete inaccurate listings from its provider directories, and would require a provider directory to be 60% accurate on July 1, 2025, with increasing required percentage accuracy benchmarks to be met each year until the directories are 95% accurate on or before July 1, 2028. The bill would subject a plan or insurer to administrative penalties for failure to meet the prescribed benchmarks. If a plan or insurer has not financially compensated a provider in the prior year, the bill would require the plan or insurer to delete the provider from its directory beginning July 1, 2025, unless specified criteria applies. The bill would require a plan or insurer to arrange care and provide coverage for all covered health care services provided to an enrollee or insured who reasonably relied on inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information contained in a health plan or policy’s provider directory or directories and to reimburse the provider the contracted amount for those services. The bill would prohibit a provider from collecting an additional amount from an enrollee or insured other than the applicable in-network cost sharing. The bill would require a plan or insurer to provide information about in-network providers to enrollees and insureds upon request, and would limit the cost-sharing amounts an enrollee or insured is required to pay for services from those providers under specified circumstances. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

ACA 22

(Jones-Sawyer D)   Legislature: retirement.

Current Text: Introduced: 3/14/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 3/14/2024

Status: 3/14/2024-Read first time. To print.

Location: 3/14/2024-A. PRINT

Summary: The California Constitution permits Members of the Legislature elected or serving after November 1, 1990, to participate only in the federal Social Security System, and prohibits those Members from accruing any other pension or retirement benefits as a result of service in the Legislature. This measure would authorize a Member of the Legislature who is first elected to the Legislature for a term commencing on or after December 3, 2024, to elect to participate in the Public Employees’ Retirement System in any state retirement plan in which a majority of the employees of the state may participate. The measure would provide that retirement credit earned by a person through service in another state or local government agency may qualify for credit in that state retirement plan. The measure would permit the State to pay only the employer’s contribution necessary for participation in the Public Employees’ Retirement System.

SB 1428

(Atkins D)   Health care coverage: triggering events.

Current Text: Amended: 3/18/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2024

Last Amend: 3/18/2024

Status: 4/29/2024-Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

Location: 4/29/2024-A. HEALTH

Summary: Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan or a health insurer to allow an individual to enroll in or change individual health benefit plans as a result of specified triggering events, including a loss of minimum essential coverage, as defined, gaining a dependent or becoming a dependent, or being mandated to be covered as a dependent pursuant to a valid state or federal court order. Existing law allows an individual 60 days from the date of a triggering event to apply for subsequent coverage. This bill would allow an individual 60 days before or and after the date of a triggering event to apply for subsequent coverage. coverage, to the extent no conflicts with the availability and length of specified special enrollment periods exist. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

Watch

AB 518

(Wicks D)   Paid family leave: eligibility: care for designated persons.

Current Text: Amended: 9/8/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/7/2023

Last Amend: 9/8/2023

Status: 9/14/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(14). (Last location was INACTIVE FILE on 9/13/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 9/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR

Summary: Existing unemployment compensation disability law requires workers to pay contribution rates based on, among other things, wages received in employment and benefit disbursement, for payment into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury. That fund is continuously appropriated for the purpose of providing disability benefits and making payment of expenses in administering those provisions. Existing law establishes, within the above state disability insurance program, a family temporary disability insurance program, also known as the paid family leave program, for the provision of wage replacement benefits for up to 8 weeks to workers who take time off work for prescribed purposes, including to care for a seriously ill family member. Existing law defines terms for its purposes, including “family care leave” and “family member.” This bill would expand eligibility for benefits under the paid family leave program to include individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill designated person. The bill would define “designated person” to mean any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The bill would authorize the employee to identify the designated person when they file a claim for benefits. The bill would make conforming changes to the definitions of the terms “family care leave” and “family member.” The bill would make these changes operative on and after November 1, 2024. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 775

(Arambula D)   Personal services contracts: state employees: physician registry for state hospitals.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/13/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2023

Status: 9/1/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 7/3/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 9/1/2023-S. 2 YEAR

Summary: Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system. Existing law permits the use of personal services contracts for purposes of cost savings when specified conditions are met, including when the potential economic advantage of contracting is not outweighed by the public’s interest in having a particular function performed directly by the state government. Existing law establishes the State Department of State Hospitals within the California Health and Human Services Agency, and provides the department with jurisdiction over specified facilities for the care and treatment of persons with mental health disorders, including the Patton State Hospital. This bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals to establish, by January 1, 2025, a physician registry for the Patton State Hospital to be composed of members of State Bargaining Unit 16, under a 3-year pilot program. The bill would require the department to conduct and post on its internet website a semiannual survey of managers and employees to determine the efficacy of the registry. By January 10, 2026, and each year thereafter for the duration of the pilot program, the bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature that includes a study of the effectiveness of the registry to determine if the registry compensation rates were successful in addressing the operational needs for flexible services at a lower cost than contract registries. The bill would make the implementation of its provisions contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or other statute, and would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2029. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 1246

(Nguyen, Stephanie D)   Public employees’ retirement: Public Employees’ Retirement System optional settlements: Judges’ Retirement System II monthly allowance adjustments.

Current Text: Amended: 9/1/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2023

Last Amend: 9/1/2023

Status: 9/14/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(14). (Last location was INACTIVE FILE on 9/11/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 9/14/2023-S. 2 YEAR

Summary: The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) establishes the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) to provide pension and other benefits to members of PERS. Existing law permits a member of PERS who retires on or before December 31, 2017, to elect from among several optional settlements for the purpose of structuring the member’s retirement allowance. Existing law also permits a member of PERS who retires on or after January 1, 2018, to elect from among several other optional settlements for the purpose of structuring their retirement allowance. Existing law prohibits a member who elects to receive specified optional settlements from changing the member’s optional settlement and designated beneficiary after election of an optional settlement unless a specified event occurs, including the death of a beneficiary who predeceased the member, a dissolution of marriage or a legal separation in which the judgment dividing the community property awards the total interest in the retirement system to the retired member, or in an annulment of marriage in which the court confirms the annulment. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2025, permit a member who elected to receive a specified optional settlement at retirement, if the member’s former spouse was named as beneficiary and a legal judgment awards only a portion of the interest in the retirement system to the retired member, to elect to add their new spouse as the beneficiary of the member’s interest, subject to meeting certain conditions. This bill would authorize a member to elect this option only once and would preclude elections that would be in derogation of the former spouse’s interest in the retirement system. The bill would preclude elections that would result in additional costs to the employer. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 1254

(Flora R)   State employees: compensation: firefighters.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/16/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2023

Status: 9/1/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 7/3/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 9/1/2023-S. 2 YEAR

Summary: 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 pay firefighters who are rank-and-file members of State Bargaining Unit 8, employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, within 15% of the average salary for corresponding ranks in 20 listed California fire departments. The bill would require the state and the exclusive representative for State Bargaining Unit 8 to jointly survey annually and calculate the estimated average salaries for those fire departments. The bill would provide that when determining compensation for uniformed classifications of the department, it is the policy of the state to consider the salary of corresponding ranks within the comparable jurisdictions listed, as well as other factors, including internal comparisons. 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 related legislative findings.

AB 1567

(Garcia D)   Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024.

Current Text: Amended: 5/26/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/17/2023

Last Amend: 5/26/2023

Status: 5/13/2024-Withdrawn from committee. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

Location: 5/13/2024-S. RLS.

Summary: The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,995,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. This bill contains other related provisions.

AB 1812

(Gabriel D)   Budget Act of 2024.

Current Text: Introduced: 1/10/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/10/2024

Status: 1/16/2024-Referred to Com. on BUDGET.

Location: 1/16/2024-A. BUDGET

Summary: This bill would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 2024–25 fiscal year. This bill contains other related provisions.

AB 1997

(McKinnor D)   Teachers’ Retirement Law.

Current Text: Amended: 4/1/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/30/2024

Last Amend: 4/1/2024

Status: 4/17/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 4/17/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: 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. STRS is administered by the Teachers’ Retirement Board. Existing law requires employers and employees to make contributions to the system based on the member’s creditable compensation. Existing law defines terms for the purposes of STRS. Existing law defines “annualized pay rate” to mean the salary or wages, as described, a person could earn during a school term for an assignment if creditable service were performed for that assignment on a full-time basis. Existing law establishes a pay rate when creditable service is not performed on a full-time basis because a member is performing activities pursuant to specified law. This bill would redefine “annualized pay rate” to mean the salary, as described, a person could earn during a school term in a position subject to membership if creditable service were performed for that position on a full-time basis, to be determined pursuant to a publicly available pay schedule by a prescribed method. The bill, if no annualized pay rate exists for a position subject to membership, would deem all compensation earned in that position “supplemental pay,” as prescribed. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2180

(Weber D)   Health care coverage: cost sharing.

Current Text: Amended: 4/30/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/7/2024

Last Amend: 4/30/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

Location: 4/23/2024-A. APPR.

Calendar: 5/15/2024  9:30 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing law generally prohibits a person who manufactures a prescription drug from offering in California any discount, repayment, product voucher, or other reduction in an individual’s out-of-pocket expenses associated with the individual’s health insurance, health care service plan, or other health coverage, including, but not limited to, a copayment, coinsurance, or deductible, for any prescription drug if a lower cost generic drug is covered under the individual’s health insurance, health care service plan, or other health coverage on a lower cost-sharing tier that is designated as therapeutically equivalent to the prescription drug manufactured by that person or if the active ingredients of the drug are contained in products regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration, are available without prescription at a lower cost, and are not otherwise contraindicated for the condition for which the prescription drug is approved. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would require a health care service plan, health insurance policy, or pharmacy benefit manager that administers pharmacy benefits for a health care service plan or health insurer to apply any amounts paid by the enrollee, insured, or a third-party patient assistance program for prescription drugs toward the enrollee’s or insured’s cost-sharing requirement, and would only apply those requirements with respect to enrollees or insureds who have a chronic disease or terminal illness. The bill would limit the application of the section to health care service plans and health insurance policies issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2025. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2035. The bill would require the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance, by March 31, 2034, to provide a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on the impact of the provisions on drug prices and health care premium rates, including a recommendation whether the repeal date should be deleted. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2200

(Kalra D)   Guaranteed Health Care for All.

Current Text: Amended: 4/30/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/7/2024

Last Amend: 4/30/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

Location: 4/23/2024-A. APPR.

Calendar: 5/15/2024  9:30 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires each state to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange to facilitate the purchase of qualified health benefit plans by qualified individuals and qualified small employers. PPACA defines a “qualified health plan” as a plan that, among other requirements, provides an essential health benefits package. Existing state law creates the California Health Benefit Exchange, also known as Covered California, to facilitate the enrollment of qualified individuals and qualified small employers in qualified health plans as required under PPACA. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, 1975 (Knox-Keene), provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. This bill, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state. Under the bill, CalCare would be a health care service plan subject to Knox-Keene. The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare Program. The bill would make specified persons eligible to enroll as CalCare members during the implementation period, and would provide for automatic enrollment. The bill would require the board to seek all necessary waivers, approvals, and agreements to allow various existing federal health care payments to be paid to CalCare, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2284

(Grayson D)   County employees’ retirement: compensation.

Current Text: Amended: 4/18/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/8/2024

Last Amend: 4/18/2024

Status: 4/22/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

Location: 4/22/2024-A. THIRD READING

Calendar: 5/16/2024  #20  ASSEMBLY THIRD READING FILE - ASSEMBLY BILLS

Summary: Existing law, the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act. PEPRA, among other things, establishes new defined benefit formulas and caps on pensionable compensation. The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to their employees. CERL generally vests management of each retirement system in a board of retirement. CERL defines “compensation earnable” by a member, for the purpose of calculating benefits, to mean the average compensation, as determined by the board, for the period under consideration upon the basis of the average number of days ordinarily worked by persons in the same grade or class of positions during the period, and the same rate of pay, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would authorize a retirement system, to the extent it has not defined “grade” in the above-described circumstances, to define “grade” to mean a number of employees considered together because they share similarities in job duties, schedules, unit recruitment requirements, work location, collective bargaining unit, or other logical work-related group or class, as specified. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 2335

(McKinnor D)   Public employment: compensation and classification.

Current Text: Amended: 3/21/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/12/2024

Last Amend: 3/21/2024

Status: 5/8/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 5/8/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: The California Constitution provides that the civil service includes every officer and employee of the state, except as provided, and requires that in the civil service, permanent appointment and promotion be made under a merit-based system ascertained by competitive examination. Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, prescribes a comprehensive personnel system for the state, with appointments to be based on merit and fitness established by competitive tests. Existing law states the purposes of the State Civil Service Act, including, among others, to provide a comprehensive personnel system in which positions involving comparable duties and responsibilities are similarly classified and compensated. This bill would expand that purpose to include that the compensation relationship between state civil positions with comparable duties and responsibilities is maintained.

AB 2404

(Lee D)   State and local public employees: labor relations: strikes.

Current Text: Amended: 3/21/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/12/2024

Last Amend: 3/21/2024

Status: 5/8/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 5/8/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and the Ralph C. Dills Act regulate the labor relations of employees and employers of local public agencies and the state, respectively. The acts grant specified employees of local public agencies and the state the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing. This bill would provide, except as specified, that it is not unlawful or a cause for discipline or other adverse action against a public employee for that public employee to refuse to enter property that is the site of a primary strike, perform work for a public employer involved in a primary strike, or go through or work behind a primary strike line. The bill would prohibit a public employer from directing a public employee to take those actions. The bill would authorize a recognized employee organization to inform employees of these rights and encourage them to exercise those rights. The bill would also state that a provision in a public employer policy or collective bargaining agreement that purports to limit or waive the rights set forth in this provision shall be void as against public policy, except that the bill would require the parties to negotiate over the bill’s provisions if the bill is in conflict with a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2025, as prescribed. The bill would exempt certain public employees of fire departments and certain peace officers from these provisions.

AB 2421

(Low D)   Employer-employee relations: confidential communications.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/13/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2024

Status: 4/24/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 4/24/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing law that governs the labor relations of public employees and employers, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, provisions relating to public schools, provisions relating to higher education, and provisions relating to the the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, prohibits employers from taking certain actions relating to employee organization, including imposing or threatening to impose reprisals on employees, discriminating or threatening to discriminate against employees, or otherwise interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees because of their exercise of their guaranteed rights. Those provisions of existing law further prohibit denying to employee organizations the rights guaranteed to them by existing law. This bill would also prohibit a local public agency employer, a state employer, a public school employer, a higher education employer, or the district from questioning any employee or employee representative regarding communications made in confidence between an employee and an employee representative in connection with representation relating to any matter within the scope of the recognized employee organization’s representation.

AB 2455

(Gabriel D)   Whistleblower protection: state and local government procedures.

Current Text: Amended: 4/4/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2024

Last Amend: 4/4/2024

Status: 5/9/2024-Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 65. Noes 0.) In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

Location: 5/9/2024-S. RLS.

Summary: Existing law authorizes a city, county, or city and county auditor or controller to maintain a whistleblower hotline to receive calls from persons who have information regarding fraud, waste, or abuse by local government employees, as specified. Existing law authorizes the county auditor to refer calls received on the whistleblower hotline to the appropriate government authority for review and possible investigation. During the initial review of a call, existing law requires the auditor, controller, or other appropriate governmental agency to hold in confidence information disclosed through the whistleblower hotline, as specified. Upon receiving specific information that an employee or local government has engaged in an improper activity, as defined, existing law authorizes a city or county auditor to conduct an investigative audit of the matter, as specified. This bill would expand the above-described duties and authorizations to the auditor’s or controller’s designee, as specified. The bill would recast information regarding fraud, waste, or abuse by local government employees as improper governmental activity, as defined, and expand its scope to include activity by a local agency, employee, or contractor or subcontractor. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2474

(Lackey R)   Retirement: County Employees Retirement Law of 1937: benefit payments and overpayments.

Current Text: Amended: 4/18/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2024

Last Amend: 4/18/2024

Status: 5/8/2024-Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.

Location: 5/8/2024-S. L., P.E. & R.

Summary: The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties and districts to establish retirement systems in order to provide pension benefits to their employees and their beneficiaries and prescribes the rights, benefits, and duties of members in this regard. CERL defines compensation and compensation earnable for purposes of its provisions. Existing law, the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), prescribed various limitations on public employees, employers, and retirement systems concerning, among other things, the types of remuneration that may be included in compensation that is applied to pensions. Under CERL, the board of retirement is required to comply with and give effect to a revocable written authorization signed by a retired member or beneficiary of a retired member, as described, authorizing the treasurer or other entity authorized by the board to deliver the monthly warrant, check, or electronic fund transfer for the retirement allowance or benefit to any specified bank, savings and loan institution, or credit union to be credited to the account of the retired member or survivor of a deceased retired member. This bill would also define “account of the retired member or survivor of a deceased retired member” to include an account held in a living trust or an income-only trust, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2487

(Fong, Mike D)   Deputy Secretary for Climate.

Current Text: Amended: 3/21/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2024

Last Amend: 3/21/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 5/1/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establishes the position of Deputy Secretary for Climate within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to be appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, for the purpose of assisting in the oversight of California’s workforce transition to a sustainable and equitable carbon-neutral economy. Existing law requires the deputy secretary to perform specified duties, including creating or coordinating programs with other state agencies to retrain and upskill workers for, among other jobs, clean energy jobs, as specified. On or before January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, existing law requires the deputy secretary to submit a report to the Legislature on key findings and recommendations regarding the development and implementation of the workforce transition to a sustainable and equitable clean energy economy. This bill would also require the deputy secretary to create and maintain a green jobs website that serves as the central hub for employment opportunities related to the transition to carbon-neutral jobs. The bill would delay the operation of the reporting requirement to January 1, 2026, and would make that reporting requirement inoperative on January 1, 2030.

AB 2538

(Grayson D)   Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: seasonal firefighters.

Current Text: Amended: 3/21/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/13/2024

Last Amend: 3/21/2024

Status: 4/24/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 4/24/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: The California Constitution establishes certain conditions of employment for state officers and employees. The California Constitution further permits a temporary appointment to be made to a state position if there is not an employment list, and prohibits a person from serving under the position of temporary appointment for longer than 9 months in 12 consecutive months. Existing law establishes that it is the policy of the state that the normal workweek of permanent employees in fire suppression classes of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL-FIRE) not exceed 84 hours per week. Existing law authorizes work in excess of the designated normal workweek to be compensated in cash or time off in accordance with department regulations. This bill would require the Department of Human Resources, the State Personnel Board, and any other relevant state agency to take the necessary actions to ensure that CAL-FIRE may employ seasonal firefighters for longer than 9 months in a consecutive 12-month period to confront emergency fire conditions and personnel shortages. The bill would require the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection, in any consecutive 12-month period, to make a determination about current staffing levels for firefighters, as prescribed, and would require Cal-FIRE to employ seasonal firefighters through the use of an employment list. The bill would require CAL-FIRE, beginning January 1, 2025, to work with the Department of Human Resources to implement these changes. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 2556

(Jackson D)   Behavioral health and wellness screenings: notice.

Current Text: Amended: 4/4/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/14/2024

Last Amend: 4/4/2024

Status: 5/2/2024-Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 73. Noes 0.) In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

Location: 5/2/2024-S. RLS.

Summary: Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would require a health care service plan or insurer to provide to each legal guardian of a patient, enrollee, or insured, 10 to 18 years of age, a written or electronic notice regarding the benefits of a behavioral health and wellness screening, as defined. The bill would require a health care service plan or insurer to provide the notice on an annual basis. Because a violation of the bill’s requirements relative to a health care service plan would be crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2770

(Committee on Public Employment and Retirement)   Public employees’ retirement.

Current Text: Amended: 3/11/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2024

Last Amend: 3/11/2024

Status: 5/8/2024-Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.

Location: 5/8/2024-S. L., P.E. & R.

Summary: Existing law, the Teachers’ Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS), and sets forth the provisions for its administration and the delivery of benefits to its members. Existing law authorizes a member to request to purchase additional service credit and to redeposit accumulated retirement contributions returned to the member, as provided. Existing law specifies the basis for the contribution amount, depending on whether the member is or is not employed to perform creditable service subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program on the date of the request to purchase additional service credit. Existing law requires additional regular interest to be added to the contributions, as specified, if the member is not employed to perform creditable service subject to coverage by the Defined Benefit Program on the date of the request to purchase additional service credit. This bill would revise that interest calculation. The bill would require the member to sign and return the completed statement of contributions and interest required from STRS to purchase service credit at a specific cost no later than 35 calendar days from the date of the offer. The bill would also require a member to sign and return the completed election to repay accumulated retirement contributions from STRS to redeposit at a specific cost no later than 35 calendar days from the date of the offer. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 2872

(Calderon D)   Department of Insurance: sworn members: compensation.

Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2024

Last Amend: 4/10/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 5/1/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authorities necessary to operate the state civil service system in accordance with Article VII of the California Constitution, the Government Code, the merit principle, and applicable rules duly adopted by the State Personnel Board. Existing law requires the department to establish and adjust salary ranges for each class of position in the state civil service, as specified. Existing law requires the state, in order to recruit and retain the highest qualified employees, to pay sworn members of the California Highway Patrol who are rank-and-file members of State Bargaining Unit 5 the estimated average total compensation for each corresponding rank for the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, San Diego Police Department, Oakland Police Department, and San Francisco Police Department, as specified. This bill would require, notwithstanding any other law, that sworn members of the Department of Insurance who are rank-and-file members of State Bargaining Unit 7 be paid the same compensation as is paid to the corresponding rank-and-file sworn peace officer employees of the Department of Justice. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 2885

(Bauer-Kahan D)   Artificial intelligence.

Current Text: Amended: 4/18/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2024

Last Amend: 4/18/2024

Status: 5/9/2024-Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

Location: 5/8/2024-A. CONSENT CALENDAR

Calendar: 5/16/2024  #155  ASSEMBLY CONSENT CALENDAR 2ND DAY-ASSEMBLY BILLS

Summary: Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which is governed by the Secretary of Government Operations. Existing law requires the Secretary of Government Operations to develop a coordinated plan to, among other things, evaluate the impact of the proliferation of deepfakes, defined to mean audio or visual content that has been generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence that would falsely appear to be authentic or truthful and that features depictions of people appearing to say or do things they did not say or do without their consent, on state government, California-based businesses, and residents of the state. Existing law establishes within the Government Operations Agency the Department of Technology, which is supervised by the Director of Technology. Existing law requires the Department of Technology to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency. Existing law defines an “automated decision system” as a computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, that is used to assist or replace human discretionary decisionmaking and materially impacts natural persons. Existing law requires each local agency, as defined, to provide specified information to the public before approving an economic development subsidy, as defined, within its jurisdiction, and to, among other things, hold hearings and issue annual reports on those subsidies, as provided. Existing law requires those reports to contain, among other things, information about any net job loss or replacement due to the use of automation, artificial intelligence, or other technologies, if known. This bill would define the term ”artificial intelligence” for the purposes of the above-described provisions to mean an engineered or machine-based system that varies in its level of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, infer from the input it receives how to generate outputs that can influence physical or virtual environments. This bill contains other existing laws.

AB 2914

(Bonta D)   Health care coverage: essential health benefits.

Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2024

Last Amend: 4/10/2024

Status: 5/9/2024-Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

Location: 5/8/2024-A. CONSENT CALENDAR

Calendar: 5/16/2024  #157  ASSEMBLY CONSENT CALENDAR 2ND DAY-ASSEMBLY BILLS

Summary: Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, requires the Department of Managed Health Care to license and regulate health care service plans. Existing law requires the Department of Insurance to regulate health insurers. Existing law requires an individual or small group health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2017, to include, at a minimum, coverage for essential health benefits pursuant to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to cover the same health benefits that the benchmark plan, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Small Group HMO 30 plan, offered during the first quarter of 2014, as specified. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to review California’s essential health benefits benchmark plan and establish a new benchmark plan for the 2027 plan year. The bill would limit the applicability of the current benchmark plan benefits to plan years on or before the 2027 plan year.

AB 3025

(Valencia D)   County employees’ retirement: disallowed compensation: benefit adjustments.

Current Text: Amended: 5/2/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2024

Last Amend: 5/2/2024

Status: 5/6/2024-Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

Location: 5/6/2024-A. THIRD READING

Calendar: 5/16/2024  #59  ASSEMBLY THIRD READING FILE - ASSEMBLY BILLS

Summary: Existing law, the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), generally requires a public retirement system, as defined, to modify its plan or plans to comply with the act. PEPRA, among other things, establishes new defined benefit formulas and caps on pensionable compensation. The County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) authorizes counties to establish retirement systems pursuant to its provisions in order to provide pension benefits to their employees. CERL generally vests management of each retirement system in a board of retirement. CERL authorizes a board of retirement to correct errors in the calculation of a retired member’s monthly allowances or other benefits under CERL in certain circumstances, including if the member caused their final compensation to be improperly increased or otherwise overstated at the time of retirement, and the system applied that overstated amount as the basis for calculating the member’s monthly retirement allowance or benefits under CERL, subject to certain limitations. The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) also authorizes its board of administration to adjust retirement payments due to errors or omissions, including for cases in which the retirement systems that the benefits of a member or annuitant are, or would be, based on disallowed compensation that conflicts with PEPRA and other specified laws and is thus impermissible. This bill would require a retirement system established under CERL, upon determining that the compensation reported for a member is disallowed compensation, to require the employer, as defined, to discontinue reporting the disallowed compensation. The bill would require, for an active member, the retirement system to credit all employer contributions made on the disallowed compensation against future contributions to the benefit of the employer that reported the disallowed compensation, and return any member contribution paid by, or on behalf of, that member, to the member directly or indirectly through the employer that reported the disallowed compensation, except in certain circumstances in which a system has already initiated a process, as defined, to recalculate compensation. The bill would require the system, for a retired member, survivor, or beneficiary whose final compensation was predicated upon the disallowed compensation, to credit the employer contributions made on the disallowed compensation against future contributions, to the benefit of the employer that reported the disallowed compensation, to return any member contributions paid by, or on behalf of, that member, to the member directly, and to permanently adjust the benefit of the affected retired member, survivor, or beneficiary to reflect the exclusion of the disallowed compensation. The bill would establish other conditions required to be satisfied with respect to a retired member, survivor, or beneficiary when final compensation was predicated upon disallowed compensation, including, among others, requiring a specified payment to be made by the employer that reported contributions on the disallowed compensation to the retired member, survivor, or beneficiary, as appropriate. The bill would authorize a retirement system that has initiated a process prior to January 1, 2024, to permanently adjust the benefit of the affected retired member, survivor, or beneficiary to reflect the exclusion of the disallowed compensation to use that system in lieu of specified provisions that the bill would enact. The bill would also require certain information regarding the relevant retired member, survivor, or beneficiary needed for purposes of these provisions to be kept confidential by the recipient. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

AB 3242

(Rivas, Luz D)   Commission on Cutting Red Tape: Government Operations Agency.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/16/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2024

Status: 5/1/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

Location: 5/1/2024-A. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1100  ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, WICKS, BUFFY, Chair

Summary: Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of several state entities, including, but not limited to, the State Personnel Board, the Department of General Services, and the Office of Administrative Law. Under existing law, the Government Operations Agency is under the direction of an executive officer known as the Secretary of Government Operations, who is appointed by, and holds office at the pleasure of, the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. This bill would establish, within the Government Operations Agency, the Commission on Cutting Red Tape, consisting of 5 members appointed by the Governor. The bill would state the goal of the commission is to identify administrative obstacles in governmental procedures that cost time and resources without adding protections, and would provide guidance for the commission to achieve this goal. The bill would also require the Secretary of Government Operations to submit an annual report to the Legislature and to other relevant state agencies detailing the recommendations of the commission.

SB 74

(Dodd D)   State entities: state-owned or state-issued devices: social media platforms.

Current Text: Amended: 8/17/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/11/2023

Last Amend: 8/17/2023

Status: 9/6/2023-Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member Bryan.

Location: 9/6/2023-A. INACTIVE FILE

Summary: Existing law establishes the Department of Technology (department) within the Government Operations Agency, and provides for a Director of Technology (director) to supervise the department and report directly to the Governor on issues relating to information technology. Existing law imposes various duties on the director, including advising the Governor on the strategic management and direction of the state’s information technology resources. Existing law requires the department to identify, assess, and prioritize high-risk, critical information technology services and systems across state government, as determined by the department, for modernization, stabilization, or remediation. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to establish and lead the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (CCIC). Existing law states that the CCIC’s mission is to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents that could damage California’s economy, its critical infrastructure, or public and private sector computer networks in the state. Existing law requires the CCIC to serve as the central organizing hub of state government’s cybersecurity activities and coordinate information sharing with specified entities, including local, state, and federal agencies. This bill would require state agencies, when implementing social media and cybersecurity policies pursuant to the Statewide Information Management Manual and authorizing any agency installation or download of an application for a particular social media platform on a state-issued or state-owned electronic device for an official state purpose, to adopt risk mitigation strategies tailored to risks posed by that social media platform, as specified. For purposes of adopting these risk mitigation strategies, the bill would specify that there is a rebuttable presumption that a state agency shall prohibit installation or download on that agency’s state-issued or state-owned electronic devices of any application for a social media platform to which any of specified conditions apply, and would specify how that rebuttable presumption may be overcome by the state agency. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. This bill contains other existing laws.

SB 106

(Wiener D)   Budget Acts of 2022 and 2023.

Current Text: Amended: 4/8/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/18/2023

Last Amend: 4/8/2024

Status: 4/15/2024-Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET.

Location: 4/15/2024-A. BUDGET

Summary: The Budget Act of 2022 and the Budget Act of 2023 made appropriations for the support of state government for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 fiscal years. This bill would amend the Budget Act of 2022 and the Budget Act of 2023 by amending, adding, and repealing items of appropriation and making other changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a Budget Bill.

SB 130

(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review)   Employment.

Current Text: Amended: 6/26/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/18/2023

Last Amend: 6/26/2023

Status: 6/29/2023-Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET.

Location: 6/29/2023-A. BUDGET

Summary: Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authorities necessary to operate the state civil service system in accordance with Article VII of the California Constitution, the Government Code, the merit principle, and applicable rules duly adopted by the State Personnel Board. Existing law requires, except as specified, that the Controller establish and maintain a payroll of all persons employed by every state agency. Existing law requires, unless otherwise provided by law, that the salaries of state officers be paid monthly out of the General Fund. This bill, instead, would require the salaries of state officers and employees to be paid out of the General Fund, or another recognized state fund which a respective employee’s position is funded, on a uniform payroll cycle established by the department.

SB 252

(Gonzalez D)   Public retirement systems: fossil fuels: divestment.

Current Text: Amended: 5/18/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/30/2023

Last Amend: 5/18/2023

Status: 7/14/2023-Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(10). (Last location was P.E. & R. on 6/8/2023)(May be acted upon Jan 2024)

Location: 7/14/2023-A. 2 YEAR

Summary: The California Constitution grants the retirement board of a public employee retirement system plenary authority and fiduciary responsibility for investment of moneys and administration of the retirement fund and system. These provisions qualify this grant of powers by reserving to the Legislature the authority to prohibit investments if it is in the public interest and the prohibition satisfies standards of fiduciary care and loyalty required of a retirement board. This bill would prohibit the boards of the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Retirement System from making new investments or renewing existing investments of public employee retirement funds in a fossil fuel company, as defined. The bill would require the boards to liquidate investments in a fossil fuel company on or before July 1, 2031. The bill would temporarily suspend the above-described liquidation provision upon a good faith determination by the board that certain conditions materially impact normal market mechanisms for pricing assets, as specified, and would make this suspension provision inoperative on January 1, 2035. The bill would provide that it does not require a board to take any action unless the board determines in good faith that the action is consistent with the board’s fiduciary responsibilities established in the California Constitution. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.

SB 867

(Allen D)   Drought, Flood, and Water Resilience, Wildfire and Forest Resilience, Coastal Resilience, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Biodiversity and Nature-Based Climate Solutions, Climate Smart Agriculture, Park Creation and Outdoor Access, and Clean Energy Bond Act of 2024.

Current Text: Amended: 6/22/2023  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/17/2023

Last Amend: 6/22/2023

Status: 7/6/2023-July 10 hearing postponed by committee.

Location: 6/20/2023-A. NAT. RES.

Summary: The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,100,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. This bill would enact the Drought, Flood, and Water Resilience, Wildfire and Forest Resilience, Coastal Resilience, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Biodiversity and Nature-Based Climate Solutions, Climate Smart Agriculture, Park Creation and Outdoor Access, and Clean Energy Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,500,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate smart agriculture, park creation and outdoor access, and clean energy programs. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 896

(Dodd D)   Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act.

Current Text: Amended: 4/10/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/3/2024

Last Amend: 4/10/2024

Status: 5/10/2024-Set for hearing May 16.

Location: 4/29/2024-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 2200  SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, CABALLERO, ANNA, Chair

Summary: Existing law requires the Secretary of Government Operations to develop a coordinated plan to, among other things, investigate the feasibility of, and obstacles to, developing standards and technologies for state departments to determine digital content provenance. For the purpose of informing that coordinated plan, existing law requires the secretary to evaluate, among other things, the impact of the proliferation of deepfakes, defined to mean audio or visual content that has been generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence that would falsely appear to be authentic or truthful and that features depictions of people appearing to say or do things they did not say or do without their consent, on state government, California-based businesses, and residents of the state. This bill, the Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act, would, among other things, require the Government Operations Agency, the Department of Technology, and the Office of Data and Innovation to produce a State of California Benefits and Risk of Generative Artificial Intelligence Report that includes certain items, including an examination of the most significant, potentially beneficial uses for deployment of generative artificial intelligence tools by the state, and would require those entities to update the report, as prescribed. The bill would require, as often as is deemed appropriate by the Director of Emergency Services, the California Cybersecurity Integration Center, and the State Threat Assessment Center, those entities to perform a joint risk analysis of potential threats posed by the use of generative artificial intelligence to California’s critical energy infrastructure, including those that could lead to mass casualty events and environmental emergencies. This bill would also require a state agency or department that utilizes generative artificial intelligence to directly communicate with a person, either through an online interface or telephonically, to clearly and in a conspicuous manner identify to that person that the person’s interaction with the state agency or department is being communicated through artificial intelligence. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 917

(Skinner D)   Budget Act of 2024.

Current Text: Introduced: 1/10/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/10/2024

Status: 1/10/2024-Introduced. Read first time. Referred to Com. on B. & F.R. To print.

Location: 1/10/2024-S. BUDGET & F.R.

Summary: This bill would make appropriations for the support of state government for the 2024–25 fiscal year. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 943

(Ochoa Bogh R)   Civil service: veterans’ preference.

Current Text: Amended: 3/14/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 1/18/2024

Last Amend: 3/14/2024

Status: 5/10/2024-Set for hearing May 16.

Location: 5/6/2024-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 2200  SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, CABALLERO, ANNA, Chair

Summary: Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, requires the Department of Human Resources to administer the Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California, including allocating every position to the appropriate class. Existing law requires the allocation of a position to a class be derived from, and determined by, ascertaining the duties and responsibilities of the position, and be based on the principle that all positions are to be included in the same class if certain qualifications apply, including, but not limited to, that the positions are sufficiently similar in respect to duties and responsibilities that the same descriptive title may be used, and substantially the same requirements as to education, experience, knowledge, and ability are demanded of incumbents. Existing law also prescribes a comprehensive civil service personnel system for the state and specifically provides certain preferences for veterans. Existing law grants to a person retired from the United States military, honorably discharged from active military duty with a service-connected disability, or honorably discharged from active duty eligibility for civil service examinations for which they meet the minimum qualifications for the classification. Existing law requires that, in evaluating minimum qualifications, related military experience be considered state civil service experience in a comparable class, based on the duties and responsibilities assigned. This bill would require the department, by on or before January 1, 2026, to review the department Personnel Classification Plan of the State of California and identify which classes are compatible with creating a waiver for a bachelor’s degree requirement for a veteran, as defined, who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years. For a class identified by the department, where a bachelor’s degree is required as a minimum qualification for a civil service examination, the bill would require the department to, commencing July 1, 2026, waive the bachelor’s degree requirement for a veteran who has served at the level of E-6 or higher for more than 2 years. This bill contains other existing laws.

SB 1070

(Padilla D)   State civil service: temporary assignments or loans.

Current Text: Amended: 4/29/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/12/2024

Last Amend: 4/29/2024

Status: 5/13/2024-May 13 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.

Location: 5/13/2024-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 2200  SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, CABALLERO, ANNA, Chair

Summary: Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, authorizes the State Personnel Board to prescribe rules governing the temporary assignment or loan of employees within an agency or between agencies, or between jurisdictions, for purposes that include enabling an agency to obtain expertise needed to meet a compelling program or management need. For the purpose of these provisions, public and private colleges and universities are considered educational agencies or jurisdictions. Existing law requires a temporary assignment or loan between educational agencies or jurisdictions to be extended for up to 2 additional years upon a finding by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and with the approval of the executive officer of the State Personnel Board, that the extension is necessary, as specified. This bill would revise the above-described provision to specify that it applies to a temporary assignment or loan between 2 educational agencies or jurisdictions. This bill would also require institutions of higher education, as defined, to be considered jurisdictions for the purposes of temporarily assigning or loaning employees to a government agency or temporarily receiving employees of a government agency. The bill would limit the period of an assignment or loan of employees under this provision to 2 years, subject to an additional 2-year extension. extension, and would require the employee temporarily assigned or loaned to complete and file an ethics form with the State Personnel Board and the receiving agency, as specified. The bill would require an eligible employee of an institution of higher education, for purposes of participating in an assignment or loan, to be an academic appointee of that institution of higher education, as prescribed. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 1240

(Alvarado-Gil D)   Public Employees’ Retirement System: contracting agencies: consolidation.

Current Text: Amended: 5/8/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/15/2024

Last Amend: 5/8/2024

Status: 5/8/2024-From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P.E. & R.

Location: 5/6/2024-A. P.E. & R.

Summary: Existing law, the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL), establishes the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), which provides a defined benefit to members of the system based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. PERL authorizes any public agency to make its employees members of PERS by contract. Under existing law, when a contracting agency is succeeded by another agency, the successor agency may become a contracting agency of PERS. Existing law provides that if the successor agency contracts with PERS, the contract of the former agency shall merge with the contract of the succeeding agency. Existing law authorizes specified successor agencies to provide employees the defined benefit plan or formula that those employees received from their respective contracting agency employer prior to the consolidation. This bill would authorize a successor agency for the El Dorado County Fire Protection District and the Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District to provide employees the defined benefit plan or formula that those employees received from their respective employer prior to the annexation. This bill contains other related provisions.

SB 1316

(Wahab D)   School employees: state special school personnel: salaries.

Current Text: Introduced: 2/16/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2024

Status: 5/10/2024-Set for hearing May 16.

Location: 4/29/2024-S. APPR. SUSPENSE FILE

Calendar: 5/16/2024  Upon adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 2200  SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE, CABALLERO, ANNA, Chair

Summary: Existing law establishes the California School for the Deaf, Northern California, the California School for the Deaf, Southern California, known collectively as the California School for the Deaf, and the California School for the Blind, as the state special schools, under the administration of the State Department of Education. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources to consider making salaries for teachers, specialists, and administrators of the state special schools competitive with the salaries of similarly qualified school teachers, specialists, and administrators who are employed by the encompassing school districts. This bill would instead require the department to establish salaries for school personnel, as defined, of the state special schools that are comparable with the salaries of similarly qualified school personnel who are employed by the encompassing school districts.

SB 1379

(Dodd D)   Public Employees’ Retirement Law: reinstatement: County of Solano.

Current Text: Amended: 4/25/2024  html   pdf

Introduced: 2/16/2024

Last Amend: 4/25/2024

Status: 5/13/2024-From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

Location: 5/13/2024-S. SECOND READING

Calendar: 5/16/2024  #16  SENATE SENATE BILLS - SECOND READING FILE

Summary: The Public Employees’ Retirement Law creates the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), which provides pension and other benefits to members of the system and prescribes limitations on the service that retired members may perform, without the member reinstating in the system, for employers that participate in the system. The California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) also prescribes limitations on the activities of retired members of these retirement systems, which supersede the provisions of PERS with which they conflict. Under both PERS and PEPRA, a retired member is generally subject to a limit of 960 hours of employment within a calendar or fiscal year, depending on the administrator of the system, for specified employers without reinstating in the system. This bill would create an exception from the above-described limit for hours worked by a retired person for the Solano County Sheriff’s Department to perform a function or functions regularly performed by a deputy sheriff, evidence technician, or communications operator, subject to meeting certain requirements. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2027. This bill contains other related provisions.