Combatting the State’s Opioid Crisis:
AB 1751 is a key component of the bipartisan package of legislation introduced in the Assembly to address the opioid crisis. The bill will empower the Controlled Substances Utilization Review and Evaluation System—referred to as CURES—to share data across state lines for purpose of protecting patients.
AB 1753 will contribute to the state’s efforts to combat the devastating opioid crisis by improving the regulation of paper prescription pads. The bill will allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to limit the number of approved security printers and would require consistent serialization of all prescription forms so that they may be tracked and linked to records contained in the state’s CURES prescription drug monitoring program. This bill is part of the Assembly Opioid package.
Protecting & Celebrating LGBT Rights:
AB 2969 establishes the month of June as LGBT Pride Month. California has the largest LGBT population of any state in the union, and the state is home to over forty LGBT Pride celebrations each year. While President Bill Clinton first recognized Pride Month at the federal level in 1999, California has yet to formally declare June as Pride Month in statute. AB 2969 would recognize, and codify in statute, the importance of the month of June for the advancement of LGBT rights and activism.
AB 2504 provides LGBT-specific educational training for individuals training to become peace officers and dispatchers as well as optional training for in-service officers. The training is developed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), and administered at the local level.
ACR 172 formally apologizes for past laws and constitutional provisions that discriminated against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and their communities. Furthermore, it expresses the legislature’s commitment to being a fully inclusive state that preserves the rights of all its citizens.
ACR 260 encourages the Legislature to engage in a coordinated effort to revise existing statutes and introduce new legislation with inclusive language by using gender-neutral pronouns or reusing nouns to avoid the use of gendered pronouns; and encourages state agencies to engage in similar efforts to use gender-neutral pronouns and avoid the use of gendered pronouns when drafting policies, regulations, and other guidance.
Maintaining the Integrity of the Electoral Process:
AB 1013 requires county elections officials to allow overseas, military, and voters with disabilities to cast a ballot using a certified remote vote by mail system. The Secretary of State has certified at least three remote vote by mail systems for use. Earlier this year, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission approved $34 million to California for improving the administration of elections, including enhancing technology and security improvements.
AB 216 (Gonzalez-Fletcher/Low) requires an elections official, when delivering a vote by mail (VBM) ballot to a voter, to include a return envelope with postage prepaid, ensuring that voting is free for all Californians.
Gun Control:
AB 1968 restricts firearm possession for individuals at risk of harming themselves or others. Specifically, AB 1968 will permanently remove firearms from anyone who has been placed on two 5150 holds within one year, subject to the right to challenge the prohibition at periodic hearings. Mental illness is a major contributing factor to suicide, and more than half of all suicides are committed with firearms. By restricting firearm access in AB 1968, we hope to see fewer acts of violence or self-harm committed, as well as fewer firearms in the hands of people who may lose track of them during a mental health episode. This bill is sponsored by the California District Attorneys Association and supported by the California Psychological Association.
Extending Consumer Protections:
AB 2402 extends critical privacy protections that exist for medical cannabis users to adult-use cannabis users, therefore creating conformity in the law.
AB 2873 ensures that personal vehicle sharing programs (PVSPs) are prohibited from allowing any vehicle on the road that is subject to a manufacturer's safety recall.
AB 1659 makes updating and clarifying changes to the authority for healing arts boards under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to issue inactive licenses, including authorizing the boards to charge a lower fee for inactive licenses than active licenses.
Protecting Worker’s Rights:
AB 3018 increases compliance with the skilled and trained construction workforce statutes by improving public agency reporting requirements and providing the Labor Commissioner, after an investigation, with the authority to issue a civil penalty against a contractor or subcontractor found in violation of state law. The requirements ensure that a high level of competency will be required of the workers employed on these projects, which in turn results in the public agencies and taxpayers receiving the highest quality of construction and hiring of graduates of regional apprenticeship programs/California residents.
AB 2138 (Chiu/Low) reduces barriers to licensure for individuals with prior criminal convictions by limiting a regulatory board's discretion to deny a new license application to cases where the applicant was formally convicted of a substantially related crime or subjected to formal discipline by a licensing board, with offenses older than seven years no longer eligible for license denial, with several enumerated exemptions.
General Government:
AB 888 extends the sunset for the major league sports raffle program, otherwise known as 50/50 raffles, which supports charitable causes in California, including private, nonprofit, or other eligible charitable organizations. Since the implementation of this program, there have been millions of additional dollars donated locally to support charitable organizations.
AB 939 makes technical and clarifying changes to recently updated taxicab regulations. The changes made in AB 1069 (Low, 2017) helped create a more equitable environment for the for-hire passenger transportation industry. However, there were inconsistencies in the language where definitions and references need to be addressed.
Business & Professions Sunset Extension Bills:
AB 3141 extends the sunset date of the Bureau of Automotive Repair and its authority to appoint an executive officer by four years, until January 1, 2023.
AB 3142 extends the operation of the California Acupuncture Board (CAB) and the CAB's authority to appoint an executive officer by four years and makes various changes to the Acupuncture Licensure Act raised during sunset review and intended to improve oversight of acupuncture licensees.
AB 3143 extends the sunset date for the California Tax Education, which registers paid tax preparers who are not otherwise authorized to provide tax services for compensation.
AB 3144 extends the sunset date of the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau until January 1, 2023.
