2021-2022 Legislative Session

Summary: This bill would establish the Coordinated Affordable Housing Finance Committee, comprising representatives from the Department of Housing and Community Development, the California Housing Financing Agency, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, the Treasurer, and the Controller. The bill directs this committee to allocate state-controlled affordable housing rental resources through a single process and competition so that applicants may receive all state assistance at one time with a single application.

Background: In its 2022 report, California Housing: Building a More Affordable Future, the Commission recommended consolidating housing functions and formalizing the relationships among the state’s housing agencies.

Status: Referred to Senate Housing Committee.

 

 

Summary: This bill would align California law with federal law to ensure that local jurisdictions approve of telecommunications projects within reasonable time periods and utilize permitting best practices.

Background: In its 2015 report, A Customer-Centric Upgrade For California Government, the Commission urged the state to improve and expand accessibility to digital government services. Yet our 2020 Issue Brief on California’s Digital Divide found that as many as 2.3 million Californians lack access to broadband, hindering their ability to access education, contribute to a productive economy, and obtain government services.

Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 467, Statutes of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would amend the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to require that teleconference meetings that are open to the public be observable both audibly and visually. The bill would also clarify that members of a board participating remotely shall count towards a quorum and would only require public disclosure of the designated primary physical meeting location from which the public may participate.

Background: In its 2015 report, Conversations for a Workable Government, the Commission encouraged the Legislature to find ways to modernize public participation in government. In another 2015 report, A Customer-Centric Upgrade For California Government, the Commission called on agencies and departments to offer maximum options for Californians to conveniently access government services — whatever the platform they choose to use.

Status: Died in Assembly Governmental Organization Committee.

 

Summary: This bill would require local governments to allow microtrenching for the installation of underground fiber.

Background: In its 2015 report, A Customer-Centric Upgrade For California Government, the Commission urged the state to improve and expand accessibility to digital government services. Yet our 2020 Issue Brief on California’s Digital Divide found that as many as 2.3 million Californians lack access to broadband, hindering their ability to access education, contribute to a productive economy, and obtain government services.

Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 677, Statutes of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would build upon the objectives established in California’s Forest Carbon Plan by establishing state goals for fuel treatment and vegetation management. The bill would also require the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency to submit a report to the Legislature on the positions and resources needed to achieve those goals by January 2023; and annually thereafter, on the progress made toward implementing those goals.

Background: In its 2018 report, Fire on the Mountain: Rethinking Forest Management in the Sierra Nevada, the Commission called for the California Natural Resources Agency, its relevant departments, and the California Environmental Protection Agency to regularly report to the Legislature and post online progress on the metrics listed in the Forest Carbon plan, as well as the steps it is taking to begin implementing the plan. Furthermore, the Commission urged the state to outline a plan to staff up and fund the additional positions needed to meet the plan’s goals of treating 500,000 acres of nonfederal land per year with similar treatment goals on federal land.

Current Status: Held under submission in Senate Appropriations.

 

Summary: This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) to hire additional firefighters to fully staff frontline fire engines as well as add more fuel crews to provide on-the-ground support during fire season, proactively move on defensible space and fire prevention projects, and protect vulnerable communities. The bill would also require CalFire to provide a long-term staffing plan to the Legislature by 2024.
Background: In its 2018 report, Fire on the Mountain: Rethinking Forest Management in the Sierra Nevada, the Commission urged the state to outline a plan to staff up and fund the additional positions needed to meet the Forest Carbon Plan’s goals of treating 500,000 acres of nonfederal land per year with similar treatment goals on federal land.

Current Status: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File.

 

Summary: This bill would enable recipients of grant funding awarded pursuant to California Penal Code §13823.15 to receive the entirety of the state’s portion of the grant funding in a single disbursement at the beginning of the grant period.

Background: In 2020, the Commission released Intimate Partner Violence: Getting the Money to Those on the Front Line, which recommended that the Legislature should enact, and the Governor should sign into law, a mechanism through which recipients of Domestic Violence Assistance Program funding, or any future program implementing California Penal Code §13823.15, receive the entirety of state’s portion of the grant funding at the beginning of the grant period.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 680, Statutes of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would expand the Removing Barriers to Employment Act to include persons who are at risk of committing violence or are at risk of intimate partner violence on the list of those eligible to receive grant funding.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long-Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission recommended the Legislature expand the Removing Barriers to Employment Act to explicitly include victims of domestic violence.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 323, Statutes of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would strengthen family court procedures to ensure that those subject to a domestic violence protective order relinquish their firearms.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission urged the state to better enforce its firearms laws and ensure that firearms immediately are removed from those prohibited from owning them.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 685, Statues of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would prohibit debt collectors from collecting or attempting to collect debt from survivors of domestic violence who can provide documentation that the debt was incurred as a result of economic abuse.

Background: In 2021, the Commission released Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, which called for the creation of a program that collaborates with credit bureaus and financial institutions to help survivors understand their financial picture, recover from damage to their finances and credit, and protect against future economic abuse.

Current Status: Died in Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee.

 

Summary: This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop and administer a program that awards grants to homeless shelters to serve the needs of pets for people experiencing homelessness.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission urged the state to help survivors of intimate partner violence access lifesaving shelter for themselves and their pets.

Current Status: Assembly Appropriations Suspense File.

 

Summary: This bill would enable recipients of grant funding awarded pursuant to California Penal Code §13823.15 to receive the entirety of the state’s portion of the grant funding in a single disbursement at the beginning of the grant period.

Background: In 2020, the Commission released Intimate Partner Violence: Getting the Money to Those on the Front Line, which recommended that the Legislature should enact, and the Governor should sign into law, a mechanism through which recipients of Domestic Violence Assistance Program funding, or any future program implementing California Penal Code §13823.15, receive the entirety of state’s portion of the grant funding at the beginning of the grant period.

Current Status: Died in Assembly Public Safety Committee.

 

Summary: This bill would require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress toward goals to prevent and end homelessness among domestic violence survivors and their children and among unaccompanied women in California.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission found that service providers and advocates have difficulty in getting leaders in all levels of government to understand the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness and the breadth of the problem. To make a difference, we called on California to include domestic violence experts in its policymaking processes for homelessness and housing instability.

Current status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 665, Statutes of 2022.

 

Summary: This bill would authorize county interagency domestic violence death review teams to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing domestic violence near-death cases.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission recommended that California create a framework for data collection and analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods the state is using to combat intimate partner violence. Further, the Commission urged state leaders to not be afraid to change course if the evidence indicates current methods are not working.

Current status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 986, Statutes of 2022.

 

Summary: This bill would clarify language regarding domestic violence restraining orders to explicitly allow a party to renew those orders.

Background: In its 2021 report, Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, the Commission recommended that the state develop a comprehensive long-term intimate partner violence prevention and early intervention action plan. The Commission also urged the state to integrate its antiviolence initiative into every segment of society.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 88, Statutes of 2022.

 

Summary: This bill would entitle an alleged debtor to debt relief if they can establish that an alleged creditor’s claim arises from a coerced debt, including debt resulting from duress, intimidation, threat, force, fraud, or exploitation due to domestic violence.

Background: In 2021, the Commission released Beyond the Crisis: A Long Term Approach to Reduce, Prevent, and Recover from Intimate Partner Violence, which called for the creation of a program that collaborates with credit bureaus and financial institutions to help survivors understand their financial picture, recover from damage to their finances and credit, and protect against future economic abuse.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 989, Statutes of 2022.

 

Summary: This bill would require hair, nail, skin care, and other related businesses to post a notice in clear view of the public and employees publicizing human trafficking hotlines a person can call to access help and services.
Background: In its 2020 report, Labor Trafficking: Strategies to Uncover this Hidden Crime, the Commission called on California to promote efforts to alert the public to the existence of human trafficking in various sectors and industries.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 106, Statutes of 2022.

 

Summary: This bill would establish the Labor Trafficking Unit within the Department of Industrial Relations to receive, investigate, and prosecute complaints alleging labor trafficking and take steps to prevent it.

Background: In its 2020 report, Labor Trafficking: Strategies to Help Victims and Bring Traffickers to Justice, the Commission recommended California mandate that the Department of Industrial Relations pursues labor trafficking alongside its other work to combat the underground economy.

Current Status: Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.

 

Summary: This bill would establish the California Multidisciplinary Alliance to Stop Trafficking Act Task Force to examine collaborative models to combat trafficking, evaluate the state’s progress on this issue, and provide recommendations for further work against human trafficking.

Background: In its 2020 report, Human Trafficking: Coordinating a California Response, the Commission recommended the creation of a statewide Anti-Human Trafficking Council to build and enhance collaboration among communities throughout the state, study and improve services for victims and survivors of all forms of human trafficking and assist in the successful prosecution of human traffickers.

Current Status: Senate Appropriations Suspense File.

 

 

Summary: This bill would require resource family training to include child labor trafficking education for foster parents caring for children who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing, human trafficking.

Background: In its 2020 report, Labor Trafficking: Strategies to Uncover this Hidden Crime, the Commission recommended lawmakers update existing laws that address human trafficking of commercially sexually exploited children to expand protections to children who are exploited for other forms of labor.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 548, Statutes of 2021.

 

Summary: This bill would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to partner with academic researchers to conduct an assessment of existing peace office training requirements and determine how well they are working for peace officers in the field. Among other things, the bill would require POST to establish a process to collect and secure data for research as well as a permanent academic review board.  

 

Summary: This bill would enact the Nurse Licensure Compact, under which the Board of Registered Nursing and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians would be authorized to issue a multistate license authorizing the holder to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed vocational nurse in all party states under a multistate licensure privilege.

Background: In its 2016 report, Jobs for Californians: Strategies to Ease Occupational Licensing Barriers, the Commission called on California to require reciprocity for all professionals licensed in other states.

Current Status: Died in Assembly Business and Professions Committee.

 

Summary: This bill would require all healing arts boards under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Affairs to request demographic information from its licensees and registrants.

Background: In its 2016 report, Jobs for Californians: Strategies to Ease Occupational Licensing Barriers, the Commission recommended the Legislature authorize the collection of demographic information, supplied voluntarily, for license applications across all licensed occupations in California.

Current Status: Died on Inactive File.

 

Summary: This bill would allow a prospective applicant that has been convicted of a crime to submit a request for a pre-application determination to a licensing board. The bill would also require the board to determine if the prospective applicant would be disqualified from licensure based on the information submitted with the request, and deliver that determination to the prospective applicant.

Background: In its 2016 report, Jobs for Californians: Strategies to Ease Occupational Licensing Barriers, the Commission recommended the state help mitigate some of the barriers applicants face by creating an informal appeals process between a license denial and administrative law hearing to allow applicants the opportunity to explain problems with their applications.

Current Status: Held under submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

 

Summary: This bill would require each board within the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to publicly post on its website a list of criteria used to evaluate applicants with criminal convictions. The bill would also require DCA to develop a process for each board to use in verifying applicant information and performing background checks of applicants, and would require applicants with convictions to provide certified court documents instead of listing convictions on application documents. Further, it would require the board to develop a procedure to provide for an informal appeals process that would occur between an initial license denial and an administrative law hearing.

Background: In its 2016 report, Jobs for Californians: Strategies to Ease Occupational Licensing Barriers, the Commission offered several recommendations to help mitigate some of the barriers applicants face. First, the Commission urged the state to ask only for official records and not rely on the applicants’ memory. Second, the Commission recommended state licensing authorities post on their website the list of criteria used to evaluate applications with criminal convictions so that applicants can be better informed about the possibilities of gaining licensure before investing time and resources into education, training, and application fees. Finally, the Commission also called on the state to create an informal appeals process between a license denial and administrative law hearing to allow applicants the opportunity to explain problems with their applications.

Current Status: Held under submission in Senate Appropriations.

 

Summary: This bill would amend the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act to allow state boards and commissions to hold meetings entirely by teleconference, while providing a physical location from which members of the public can access the meeting. The bill would also enable board and commission members to participate in meetings remotely without disclosing the locations from which they are participating.

Background: In its 2021 report, The Government of Tomorrow: Online Meetings, the Commission recommended amending the Bagley-Keene Act to require boards and commissions to provide public access to their meetings in both a physical location and a teleconferencing option, and to allow for the remote participation of board and commission members without required public disclosure and public accessibility to those locations.

Current Status: Set for hearing in the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee on April 20. Hearing postponed.

 

Summary: This bill would require state boards and commissions to provide members of the public the ability to participate in meetings both in-person and remotely.
Background: In its 2021 report, The Government of Tomorrow: Online Meetings, the Commission amending the Bagley-Keene Act to require boards and commissions to provide public access to their meetings in both a physical location and a teleconferencing option.

Current Status: Referred to Assembly Governmental Organization Committee.

 

Summary:  This bill would make an employer’s intentional theft of wages punishable as grand theft when collectively greater than $950.

Background: In its 2015 report, Level the Playing Field: Put California’s Underground Economy Out of Business, the Commission urged the Legislature to assess existing penalties for white collar crimes and, where appropriate, make adjustments to ensure that rewards of breaking the law do not outweigh the risk or the penalties imposed if caught breaking the law.

Current Status: Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 325, Statutes of 2021.