2017-18 Legislation

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Banking and Financial Institutions

  • SB 1055: Encouraging Savings and Improving Financial Security

(Signed by the Governor)

Authorizes banks and credit unions in California to offer prize-linked savings accounts, which incentivizes savings and building financial security for vulnerable consumers.

  • SB 1361: Increasing Transparency between Government and Financial Institutions

(Signed by the Governor)

Requires the Department of Business Oversight to disclose information about specific civil penalties that it has charged against banks, savings associations, credit unions, trust companies, money transmitters, and other financial institutions.

Business, Professions, and Economic Development

  • SB 182: Eliminating Bureaucracy for Working California Drivers

(Signed by the Governor)

Prohibits a local jurisdiction from requiring a transportation network company driver to obtain more than one business license, regardless of the number of jurisdictions in which they operate.

  • SB 1294: Cannabis Collaboration and Inclusion Act

(Signed by the Governor)

Ensures that individuals from diverse backgrounds, underserved communities, or who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, are able to participate in California’s legalized cannabis industry.

Education

  • SB 344: Easing Interdistrict Transfers for Families

(Signed by the Governor)

Provides parents and guardians more time to prepare for an appeals process when they seek to transfer their children to a different school district.

  • SB 621: Ensuring Fair Pay for Private School Teachers

(Signed by the Governor)

Clarifies that the minimum salary standard for classifying part-time private school teachers as exempt employees is in proportion to the full-time instructional schedule for which the employee is employed.

Elections

(Signed by the Governor)

Reinforces existing law and further clarifies the residency requirements for elected officials to ensure they live within current district boundaries, but may also have other residences that do not constitute their domicile.

Energy and Environment

  • SB 376: State Energy Accountability Report  

Requires the Chair of the California Energy Commission to appear annually before the appropriate legislative policy committees and report on the CEC’s plans to carry out its responsibilities.

  • SB 514: Updating the Definition of High-Speed Services

Updates the definition of “high-speed broadband services to increase the speed of digital transmission.

  • SB 549: Holding Utilities Accountable for Safety Spending

(Signed by the Governor)

Requires an electrical or gas corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to report back when money authorized by the CPUC for maintenance or safety are redirected for other purposes.

  • SB 618: Ensuring Tomorrow’s Electrical Grid is Renewable and Strong

(Signed by the Governor)

Makes clear that the integrated resource plans (IRPs) of all investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators must contribute to a diverse resource portfolio in order to meet environmental and reliability goals.

  • SB 1110: Preventing Public Utilities Stranded Assets

(Signed by the Governor)

Protects taxpayers from the outstanding bond debt of certain public power plants, which were built to increase reliability after the energy crisis.

  • SB 1135: Strengthening the Family Electric Rate Assistance program

(Signed by the Governor)

Codifies the Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA) into statute and increases the discount granted to families participating in this bill assistance program from 12% to 18%.

Governmental Organization

  • SB 582: Allowing Advertisement by Los Angeles Sports Venues

(Signed by the Governor)

Extends an existing exception in the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Act pertaining to the general prohibition against advertising arrangements between retail, wholesale, and manufacturer licensees to include the Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

  • SB 619: Convenient Lottery Ticket Purchase 

Allows a business that is not a lottery game retailer to purchase lottery tickets from an authorized lottery retailer on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals who order those tickets through an Internet Website or mobile application operated by that business.

  • SB 1283: Supporting the Growth of the Craft Brewing Industry

(Signed by the Governor)

Expands the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Type 75 license to allow brewpub-restaurants to sell their products for off-site consumption and donate their products to non-profit organizations, under specified circumstances, and provides further enforcement tools for ABC to eliminate bad actors.

Health

  • SB 636: Preventing the Practice of Patient Brokering

Prohibits certain persons, programs, or entities — including an alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment program — from giving or receiving payment of any kind for the referral of a person seeking treatment for alcoholism or drug abuse.

  • SB 1268: Preventing the Practice of Patient Brokering

Prohibits the practice of “selling” patients to addiction treatment centers and programs, also commonly referred to as “patient brokering,” and authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and take action against those who violate this provision.

Insurance and Human Services

  • SB 380: Incentivizing Child Support Compliance to Combat Poverty

(Signed by the Governor)

Excludes from the CalWORKs assistance unit calculations a child for whom an adult in the assistance unit receives child support payments.

  • SB 488: Insurer Diversity: women, minority, disabled veteran, veteran, and LGBT

Extends and expands the insurer supplier diversity survey and establishes a new insurer governing board diversity survey.

Labor

  • SB 189: Clarifying Workers’ Compensation Rules for Small Businesses

(Signed by the Governor)

Decreases the ownership threshold for corporate officers and owners from 15% to 10%, reducing the number of small business that would be required to purchase workers compensation insurance when the owners are employees of the business.

  • SB 489: Improving Workers’ Compensation for Emergency Services

(Signed by the Governor)

Makes necessary technical changes to allow for timely payments of emergency treatment for injured workers.

  • SB 490: Offering a New Payment Option for Salon Employees

(Signed by the Governor)

Allows beauty salon employees to be paid a percentage or flat sum commission under specified conditions, including that employees are appropriately licensed, as defined, and that they also receive a base hourly pay rate of at least twice the state minimum wage.

  • SB 491: Supporting Local Fight against Employment Discrimination 

Instructs the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to establish an advisory group to study the feasibility of authorizing local governments to enforce the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and to report back to the Legislature with an implementation plan and draft legislation.

  • SB 617: Eliminating Discrimination in Workers’ Compensation

Requires that heredity and genetics be excluded as bases of causation for purposes of determining the apportionment of permanent disability.

  • SB 1412: Removing Employment Barriers for the Rehabilitated

(Signed by the Governor)

Ensures that job applicants with an expunged criminal history are not denied employment for a position if the crime they committed is irrelevant to the job.

Natural Resources

  • SB 789: Bringing Jobs and Revitalization to Inglewood

Streamlines the CEQA process for the City of Inglewood revitalization project, which includes the Los Angeles Forum, the Los Angeles Rams Coliseum, the Los Angeles Clippers arena, and related public transit infrastructure, while protecting existing residential housing in the area.

Public Safety

  • SB 345: Transparent Law Enforcement Policies and Procedures

Requires specified law enforcement agencies to post publicly available policies and procedures on their websites.

  • SB 513: Assault and Battery of a Public Utility Worker

Would make assaulting or injuring a utility worker a crime punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both.

  • SB 620: Restoring Judicial Discretion

(Signed by the Governor)

Allows a court, in the interest of justice and at the time of sentencing, to strike a sentence enhancement for using or discharging a firearm during the commission of a felony.

  • SB 978: Transparent Law Enforcement Policies and Procedures

(Signed by the Governor)

Requires local law enforcement agencies to post on their websites all policies and procedures that they must already make available under the existing California Public Records Act.

  • SB 1232: Providing Support for Victims of Crime

(Signed by the Governor)

Extends the time period in which a young person can submit an application to the California Victims Compensation Board from 3 years after their 18th birthday to 3 years after their 21st birthday.

Revenue and Taxation

  • SB 343: Income Tax Relief for Carousel Housing Tract Residents

(Signed by the Governor)

Grants residents of the Carousel Housing Tract in Carson, CA, relief from state taxes on payments made to them by the Shell Oil Company as it temporarily relocates them to clean-up toxic substances beneath their homes.

Transportation and Housing

  • SB 277: Building Affordable and Inclusive Housing

Authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to establish inclusionary housing requirements as a condition of the development of residential rental units.

 

SECURED BUDGET REQUESTS:

 

  • $10 million and four positions at the Bureau of Cannabis Control used to support local cannabis equity programs and applicants successfully operate in the recently legalized California cannabis industry.
  • $5 million for competitive grants allocated to participating California Community Colleges for the purposes of developing or expanding programs to help formerly incarcerated students.
  • Millions of dollars in aid for Inglewood Unified School District - an ongoing appropriation until 2023 to relieve IUSD of fiscal insolvency, and a comprehensive plan to equip IUSD for long-term success and sustainability for students, teachers and administration. 

 

RESOLUTIONS AUTHORED BY SENATOR BRADFORD:

 

  • SR 43: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Urges the recognition of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science as a Historically Black College and University by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Recognizes June 19, 2017, as Juneteenth Day or “Emancipation Day” and the oldest African American holiday.

  • SR 49: Desegregation of the Armed Forces

Recognizes July 26, 2017, as the 69th anniversary of the desegregation of the United States Armed Forces

  • SR 66: Recovery Happens Month

Declares September 2017, as Recovery Happens Month in California, recognizing support and commitment to substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery.

  • SR 70: Recognizing Black History Month

Recognizes the month of February 2018 as Black History Month and urges all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments, talents, achievements, and contributions of African Americans to their communities.

  • SR 101: 50th Anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign

Recognizes the observance of the 50th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968 and encourages individuals to reflect on the past treatment of the poor and the work needed for the future.