Makes significant changes to existing law in the name of wildfire resilience: requiring CalFire to identify moderate and high fire hazard severity zones; recommending the expansion of the building standards for those zones; using trained volunteers to assist in defensible space requirements; making modifications for achieving defensible space requirements beyond a property line; expanding the use of fire prevention grants; and requiring a reporting requirement on the outcome of fire prevention projects. Adds to the cost of wildfire prevention without much in the way of added benefit.
Past Legislative Successes
Leg Year - 2021-2022
Appropriates $2.1 billion for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, $50 million of which is dedicated for cultural institutions. Tasks the Office of Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) with overseeing and awarding grants of $5,000 – $25,000 to help support small for-profit and nonprofit businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19 and the state’s mandated closures.
Authorizes a municipal wastewater agency to acquire, construct, expand, operate, maintain, and provide facilities to manage stormwater and dry weather runoff. Removes barriers to innovative projects, and thereby improves water quality and encourages local water recycling.
Conforms state law to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) regulations regarding the enforcement procedures, reporting, and testing of industrial hemp in the United States. Modifies the membership of an existing Industrial Hemp Advisory Board to include an additional grower while deleting a representative of the Hemp Industries Association. Changes state law relative to industrial hemp cultivation to comport with recently promulgated regulations by the USDA and modifies the make-up of an existing advisory board.
Authorizes the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to allow licensees to continue to operate in an expanded area for 365 days after the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted. Allows licensed manufacturers to share a common area with multiple licensed retailers if certain conditions are met. Increases the number of times a caterer’s permit can be issued at any one location. Provides relief for restaurants, bars, and events to help them recover economically from the pandemic.
Clarifies that the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) may make grants to, reimburse, or enter into contracts or other agreements with public and private entities, including nonprofit organizations, and federally recognized Indian tribes with funds from the Big Game Management Account. Seeks to clarify DFW’s authority to enter into contracts or agreements with for-profit and private entities to further the purposes of the Big Game Management Account (BGMA).
Prohibits licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery facilities, treatment facilities, psychiatric facilities, and mental health facilities from making false or misleading statements in advertising materials. Prohibits these facilities from posting information on its website pointing the reader to a business that has no contract with the entity. Prohibits these facilities from surreptitiously directing readers to another website. Permits the Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) to investigate, assess fines, and suspend or revoke licenses for violations. Enacts consumer protection measures for advertising and communications to apply to specified substance use and mental health facilities.
Serves as the vehicle for the Tribal-State Gaming Compact between California and the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria (Tachi) Tribe. Ratifies the agreement reached by Governor Newsom and the tribal representatives regarding gaming signed on August 18, 2022. Replaces the compact that was rejected by the United State Department of the Interior Secretary of Indian Affairs for containing terms that were not “directly related to the operation of [Class III gaming].”
Requires state certification of laboratories that test for animal diseases that would trigger a regulatory animal health response, and authorizes the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to establish certification standards for those laboratories. Allows CDFA additionally to collect an application and a renewal fee of $1,000, and authorizes CDFA to adjust the fee amount to cover the Department’s costs to implement laboratory certification requirements. Imposes certification requirements upon laboratories that test for diseases impacting livestock or livestock products, and authorizes CDFA to collect fees for overseeing the certification.
Designates August 26 of each year as California Farmworker Day, and requires the Governor to annually proclaim August 26 as California Farmworker Day. Recognizes and honors the contributions of farmworkers to California.
Extends the sunset for five years on two Public Utilities Commission (PUC) programs that subsidize telecommunications rates in rural and remote areas (i.e. the California High-Cost Fund programs, or CHCF-A and CHCF-B). Maintains affordable telephone service for hard-to-serve households.
Enacts “Tyler’s Law” by requiring a general acute care hospital to test for fentanyl in a patient’s urine when a urine drug screening is conducted. Defines “urine drug screening” to mean a chemical analysis intended to test patients for the presence of multiple drugs, including cocaine, opioids, and phencyclidine. Repeals the provisions within the bill on January 1, 2028. Requires hospitals to test for fentanyl in a patient’s urine when a urine test is ordered.
Serves as the vehicle for two Tribal-State Gaming Compacts between California and the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Tribe and the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians. Ratifies the agreements reached by Governor Newsom and the tribal representatives regarding gaming. Replaces the two compacts that were rejected by the United States Department of the Interior Secretary of Indian Affairs for containing terms that were not ‘directly related to the operation of [Class III gaming].’
SB 922: California Environmental Quality Act: Exemptions: Transportation-Related Projects
Expands upon the existing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemptions created for specific sustainable transportation projects and extends the sunset date until January 1, 2030. Decreases project costs and delays resulting from CEQA lawsuits for sustainable transportation projects.
SB 1165: Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services: Advertisement And Marketing
Prohibits operators of specified drug and alcohol facilities from making or providing a false or misleading statement about medical treatments or medical services offered in its marketing, advertising materials, or media, or on its internet website, on a third-party internet website, or in its social media presence. Bars alcohol and drug recovery facilities from making or providing false or misleading statements on medical treatments.
Requires the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), during its required review of each of the state’s veterans homes occurring every five years, to assess the potential of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) placing a satellite medical clinic at and within a 30-minute drive of a home, to serve both veterans and locals in the area. Requires CalVet to confer with United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials on the possible clinics. Incorporates naturally into CalVet’s five year review process, an analysis of whether or not to include satellite medical clinics in communities with veterans homes, to benefit veterans and regional locals.