AB 119: State government.

(1)Existing law, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, the Trial Court Employment Protection and Governance Act, the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act, as well as provisions commonly referred to as the Educational Employment Relations Act and the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, regulates the labor relations of the state, the courts, and specified local public agencies and their employees. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board and prescribes its powers and duties in relation to these acts. These acts grant specified public employees of these entities the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing and requires public agency employers, among other things, to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations and exclusive representatives on terms and conditions of employment.

This bill would require the public employers regulated by the acts described above to provide the exclusive representative of those employees mandatory access to its new employee orientations. The bill would define new employee orientation as the onboarding process, whether in person, online, or through other means, pursuant to which new public employees are advised of their employment status, rights, benefits, duties, and responsibilities, or any other employment-related matters. The bill would require that an exclusive representative receive not less than 10 days notice in advance of an orientation, except as specified. The bill would require the structure, time, and manner of exclusive representative access to be determined through mutual agreement between the employer and the exclusive representative, provided that the bill would prescribe a specified process for negotiating access, which would include compulsory interest arbitration, as defined. The bill would require the costs of arbitration to be shared, except in cases in which the public employer objects to the procedure and requests an alternative arbitrator, as specified.

This bill would require an affected public employer to provide the exclusive representative with the name, job title, department, work location, work, home, and personal cellular telephone numbers, personal email addresses on file with the employer, and home address of newly hired employees within 30 days of hire or by the first pay period of the month following hire. The bill also would require affected public employers to provide the exclusive representative with this information for all employees in the bargaining unit at least every 120 days, except as specified. The bill would except this information from certain provisions regarding the privacy of public records.

This bill would permit an agreement between a public employer and an exclusive representative that provides for orientations that vary from the bills requirements for orientations, but in the absence of an agreement on orientations, the bills requirements would apply. The bill would provide that affected public employers do not unlawfully support or favor an employee organization or encourage employees to join any organization in preference to another, as specified, by permitting presentations at new employee orientations, as described above, or consistent with a negotiated agreement. The bill would grant the Public Employment Relations Board jurisdiction over a violation of these provisions, except as provided. The bill would provide that its provisions are severable. The bill would make a statement of findings. By creating new duties for various local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make public records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. The act exempts from public inspection the home addresses, home telephone numbers, personal cellular telephone numbers, and birth dates of all employees of public agencies, but authorizes disclosure of that information under specified circumstances.

This bill would extend that exemption from public inspection and authorization for disclosure to the personal email addresses of employees of public agencies unless the personal email address is used by the employee to conduct public business or is necessary to identify a person in an otherwise disclosable communication. The bill would prohibit this provision from being construed to limit the publics right to access the content of an employees personal email that is used to conduct public business, as specified.

(3)The California Public Records Act additionally exempts from public inspection specified information regarding persons paid by the state to provide in-home supportive services. Existing law requires copies of names, addresses, home telephone numbers, and personal cellular telephone numbers of those persons to be made available, upon request, to an exclusive bargaining agent and to any labor organization seeking representation rights, as specified.

This bill would additionally require copies of personal email addresses of those persons to be made available to an exclusive bargaining agent and to any labor organization seeking representation rights.

(4)Existing law, the Dixon-Zenovich-Maddy California Arts Act of 1975, establishes an Arts Council that has specified duties related to the arts. Existing law requires the council to select a director and authorizes the council to delegate certain responsibilities to the director.

This bill would instead require the Governor to appoint the director of the Arts Council.

(5)Existing law, the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act, establishes the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, which is administered by the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board. Existing law requires the board, prior to opening the program for enrollment, to make a report to the Governor and Legislature affirming that certain prerequisites and requirements have been met, including that the United States Department of Labor has finalized a regulation setting forth a safe harbor for savings arrangements established by states for nongovernmental employees and that the program is structured to meet the criteria of the regulation. The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulates employee benefit plans, as defined, and generally supersedes state law, except as specified.

This bill would revise the requirements for opening the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program. The bill would remove requirements related to the United States Department of Labor regulation, as described above, and require that the program be structured to preclude being classified as an employee benefit plan subject to ERISA. The bill would also require the board to have defined in regulation the responsibilities of employers with respect to ERISA, as specified.

(6)The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts from its requirements certain projects.

This bill would exempt actions, approvals, or authorizations provided by the State Public Works Board or the Department of Finance regarding bond issuances, capital outlay projects, or real estate transactions, as defined, from compliance with CEQA.

(7)Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. Existing law defines sale and purchase for these purposes and provides certain exclusions from those definitions.

Existing law regulates pawnbrokers by, among other things, requiring every loan made by a pawnbroker for which goods are received in pledge as security to be evidenced by a written contract, a copy of which is required to be furnished to the pledgor. Existing law requires the loan period of a loan contract to be no less than 4 months, and requires the loan contract to set forth the loan period and the date on which the loan is due and payable, and to clearly inform the pledgor of his or her right to redeem the pledge during the loan period. Existing law provides procedures by which a pawnbroker may become vested with the title to pledged property.

This bill, until January 1, 2022, would provide that sale and purchase would not include the transfer of vested property, as defined, by a pawnbroker to a person who pledged the property to the pawnbroker as security for a loan and from whom title transferred to the pawnbroker if specified requirements are met, thus excluding that transfer from imposition of sales and use tax.

(8)Existing law authorizes the Franchise Tax Board to grant a reasonable extension of time for filing any return, declaration, statement, or other document required by the Personal Income Tax Law in the manner and form determined by the Franchise Tax Board. Except as specified, existing law prohibits an extension for more than 6 months. If any taxpayer fails to make and file a return required by the Personal Income Tax Law on or before the due date of the return or the due date as extended by the Franchise Tax Board, then, unless it is shown that the failure is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, a specified penalty is required to be added. Existing law also requires a specified penalty to be imposed against any partnership required to file a return that fails to file at the prescribed time as determined with regard to any extension of time for filing, as provided.

This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, would authorize an extension for no more than 7 months for a partnership. The bill also would declare the intent of the Legislature with respect to a partnership filing an income tax return for the 2016 taxable year, as provided.

(9)Existing law, known as the No Place Like Home Program (program), requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to award $2,000,000,000 through a competitive program among counties to finance capital costs, including, but not limited to, acquisition, design, construction, rehabilitation, or preservation, and to capitalize operating reserves, of permanent supportive housing for the target population of individuals or households who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of chronic homelessness.

Existing law authorizes the California Health Facilities Financing Authority and the department to, among other things, enter into contracts to provide services pursuant to the program related to permanent supportive housing. Existing law authorizes the authority to issue taxable or tax-exempt revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $2,000,000,000 for these purposes and to make secured or unsecured loans to the department in connection with financing permanent supportive housing pursuant to the program.

The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, imposes a 1% tax on that portion of a taxpayers taxable income that exceeds $1,000,000 and requires that the revenue from that tax be deposited in the Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. Existing law establishes the Supportive Housing Program Subaccount in the Mental Health Services Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the authority to provide funds to meet its financial obligations to any of the above-described service contracts.

Under existing law, the state covenants, as specified, with the holders of any of the above-described bonds issued by the authority that it will not alter, amend, or restrict the above provisions relating to the subaccount, among other provisions, in any manner adverse to the interests of those bondholders so long as any of those bonds remain outstanding.

This bill would additionally require the state to covenant with the above-described bondholders that it will not alter, amend, or restrict provisions requiring the deposit of the revenues derived from the additional tax imposed under the MHSA into the Mental Health Services Fund in any manner adverse to the interests of those bondholders, as specified.

(10)Existing law establishes the State Project Infrastructure Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund for, among other things, state projects, subject to authorization, as provided. Existing law defines state projects for these purposes as any planning, acquisition, design, or construction, which may include associated infrastructure, parking, landscaping, and other ancillary components, undertaken pursuant to specified law, with certain exceptions.

Existing law, upon direction of the Director of Finance to the Controller, transfers the sum of $1,300,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Project Infrastructure Fund. Existing law requires that $1,000,000,000 of this money be transferred on or after July 1, 2016, but no later than June 30, 2017, and the remaining $300,000,000 be transferred on or after July 1, 2017.

This bill would reduce the amount of money transferred to the State Project Infrastructure Fund from $1,300,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 and eliminate the requirement that $300,000,000 be transferred on or after July 1, 2017. The bill would transfer $851,170,000, from the $1,000,000,000 previously transferred to the State Project Infrastructure Fund, to the General Fund and would require the amount transferred into the General Fund to be accounted for in the 201617 fiscal year.

(11)The State Building Construction Act of 1955 authorizes the State Public Works Board, among other things, to construct public buildings, contract with other state agencies for the use of real property upon which to construct a public building, fix, alter, charge, and collect rentals and other charges for the use of public buildings or for the services rendered by the board, and issue certificates or revenue bonds to obtain funds to pay the cost of public buildings. The act requires all money received by the board to be deposited to the credit of the Public Buildings Construction Fund and requires 3 separate accounts to be maintained within the fund, including a construction account, a revenue account, and a sinking fund account. The act requires proceeds from the sale of certificates or revenue bonds to be deposited in the construction account, revenues, rentals, or receipts received from the operation of public buildings to be deposited in the revenue fund, and certain other revenues to be set aside in separate sinking fund accounts. The act requires the money in each revenue account to be expended for, among other things, the costs of operation and maintenance of public buildings, including administrative expenses of the board.

This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, eliminating the requirement that 3 separate accounts be maintained in the fund as provided above, and would, instead, require subfunds, accounts, and subaccounts to be maintained within the fund for the operation of the board and the performance of its obligations as provided in the applicable resolution, indenture, or other agreement. The bill would create an Expense Account within the fund into which would be deposited amounts received by the board as additional rental under any of its leases and any other money received by the board, other than proceeds of certificates or revenue bonds, as directed by the board. The bill would continuously appropriate, without regard to fiscal years, from the Expense Account to the board the amount necessary to pay for the administrative expenses and costs associated with the implementation of the act.

(12)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(13)The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(14)The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws.

Existing law requires the state to reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions.

This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill.

(15)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(16)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.