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Legislation 2017

AB-31 Whistleblowers: California State Auditor

Assembly Bill 31 brings consistency and accountability to the State Auditor’s Office by extending whistleblower protections to agency employees and creating a process for reporting allegations of misconduct.

AB-32 California State Auditor

Assembly Bill 32 would require the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to select the 3 qualified individuals from a pool of candidates after conducting a comprehensive search to serve as the California State Auditor. This legislation aims to bring a more transparency and thoughtfulness to the selection process. 

AB-67 Violent and nonviolent felonies - "The Standing with Survivors Act of 2017"

Assembly Bill 67 classifies human trafficking and rape of an unconscious person as violent felonies. With the passage of Proposition 57 in 2016, non-violent criminals are eligible for early release from prison. AB 67 strengthens the purpose of Proposition 57, which was intended to allow truly non-violent, rehabilitated offenders eligibility for early release and not perpetrators of violent acts.  Adding these crimes to the list of violent felonies is vital to community safety and ensures that justice is served on behalf of survivors.

AB-85 General assistance: employable veterans

Assembly Bill 85 will extend General Assistance benefits provided by counties to honorable discharged veterans who meet specified requirements for up to 12 months in a calendar year. These benefits include emergency food, housing, and food cash or vouchers and are available for individuals not otherwise eligible for state and federal assistance programs.

AB-94 Corporation Tax Law: exemption: veteran’s organizations

Assembly Bill 94 specifies that if a veteran nonprofit organization obtains tax-exempt certification from the IRS at the federal level, they are also authorized to obtain tax-exempt status at the state level with a short form. This will allow those nonprofits to do more work with veterans and less time filling out paperwork. 

AB-215 Metro Foothill Gold Line Extension to Montclair

Assembly Bill 215 allocates $30 million dollars to the County of San Bernardino to complete the Foothill Gold Line construction to the City of Montclair.

AB-263 Emergency medical services workers- "The EMS Workers Bill of Rights" 

Assembly Bill 263 seeks to improve the working conditions for private sector employees in the Emergency Medical Services field by addressing inadequate rest breaks and violence in the workplace. AB 263 requires private EMS employers to provide 10-minute uninterrupted rest breaks to employees or provide an additional hour’s worth of pay if a rest break is not provided. This bill also requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to adopt a workplace violence prevention plan to educate EMS employees on techniques for deescalating violent situations. Lastly, this bill requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to publish a report regarding violent incidences in the EMS field to its website on an annual basis.

AB-301 Driver’s license: examination requirements: certificate of driving skill

Assembly Bill 301 seeks to reduce the severe backlog in the availability of commercial Driver’s License (CDL) skills test appointments at the DMV by expanding current law to allow additional third parties, including training schools and government entities, to conduct skills tests.

AB-370 Student financial aid: Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards

Assembly Bill 370 would require the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to calculate a target for Competitive Cal Grants A and B to be dispersed in an academic year. This will ensure that all Competitive Awards are dispersed to needy students, and not left unused.

AB-512 Public employees’ retirement: safety members: industrial disability retirement

AB 512 will enable an occupationally-injured firefighter or other public safety officer who is a member of CalPERS to retire with dignity, without forfeiting the full secure retirement they’ve earned and contributed toward over their decades-long career. 

AB-623 Autonomous vehicle testing: accident reporting

Assembly Bill 623 adds important safeguards to California’s Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program to ensure the development of innovative technology can continue without putting public safety at risk. AB 623 will make specific changes to the California Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program:

  • Require accidents involving self-driving vehicles that result in catastrophic injury or death to be reported to the DMV within 24 hours instead of the currently mandated 10 business days.
  • Require the DMV to revoke the testing permit of a manufacturer whose vehicle was involved in a serious or fatal collision for a period of 5 business days in order for the Department to conduct an investigation as to the cause of the incident.
  • If the department determines the incident was caused by a failure of autonomous technology, this bill would grant the Department the ability to further revoke the manufacturer’s testing permit until such time as the manufacturer can demonstrate that the issue has been resolved.

AB-990 CSU and UC: estimates of off-campus housing costs

Assembly Bill 990 will help families and students more accurately budget for the cost of attending college in California by requiring UC and CSU campuses to post reliable data for off-campus living costs. Today, students are given wildly varying numbers on the costs of an off-campus room or apartment, potentially leading to increased loan burdens or drop-outs because available funding was used before graduation. 

AB-1102 Health facilities: whistleblower protections

Assembly Bill 1102 would prohibit a hospital from retaliating against nurses who refuse to violate mandated nurse-to-patient safety ratios. Often times, nurses are asked to accept staffing assignments that would force them to go over the acceptable ratio which places nurses and patient at risk. While this practice also puts Registered Nurses in jeopardy of losing their license, it means patients are not receiving the proper medical attention they deserve.

AB-1747 School Violence Prevention

Assembly Bill 1747 requires schools to develop safety plans in order to prepare and respond to violent incidents on or near school sites. By establishing safety guidelines which focus on preparedness to violent incidents, with assistance from the California Department of Education and Department of Justice, schools will be a safer learning environment for all children.