CSAC Bulletin Article

AOJ Bills of Interest

June 2, 2016

AOJ Bills of Interest

Sexually Exploited Minors.          

SB 1064 (Hancock) – Support
As Amended May 31, 2016

Senate Bill 1064 by Senator Loni Hancock, as amended would extend the operation of Alameda County’s H.E.A.T. Watch pilot program indefinitely and expand its application to Los Angeles County. The bill declares that Alameda and Los Angeles counties, contingent upon local funding, may establish a project to divert commercially sexually exploited minors from incarceration into support services. It also permits Alameda and Los Angeles counties to plan, create, and implement the tools necessary to identify, treat, and rehabilitate commercially sexually exploited children.

SB 1064 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee (6-0), passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee (7-0), passed off of the Senate Floor (37-0) and is now in the Assembly.

State Remote Piloted Aircraft Act

SB 868 (Jackson) – Support
As Amended May 31, 2016

Senate Bill 868 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson would establish a regulatory framework for unmanned aircraft technology and operations in California. The bill would set comprehensive drone regulations that provide a balance between protecting public safety and privacy, and encouraging innovation and technology.  This measure is carefully drafted to protect local and state regulating authority for remotely piloted aircrafts or unmanned aircraft systems as long as the ordinances are consistent with the State Remote Piloted Aircraft Act.

SB 868 passed out of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee (7-2), passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee (5-2), passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee (5-2), passed off of the Senate Floor (25-12) and is now in the Assembly.

Construction Contracts: Indemnity.

SB 885 (Wolk) –Oppose
As Amended May 10, 2016

Senate Bill 885 by Senator Lois Wolk would eliminate the ability of a public agency to contract with engineers and architects, known as design professionals, for upfront legal defense costs against claims related to a project’s design work.   This bill would reverse the 2010 compromise that created Civil Code 2782.8 which establishes an unreasonable defense liability requirement for design professionals. 

SB 885 creates an exception to long-standing and wide-reaching California indemnity law for one specific industry that happens to have an unsecured risk.  This new process will inevitably tie up public works projects and their funding in the legal system until an official judgment is made, increasing a backlog of differed maintenance and slowing investment in new infrastructure projects. CSAC encourages counties to determine how this would impact local public works projects and oppose.  

SB 885 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee (6-0), passed off of the Senate Floor (26-4) and is now in the Assembly.

Telecommunications: Major Rural Outages: Notifications and Reporting

SB 1250 (McGuire) – Support
As Amended March 28, 2016

Senate Bill 1250 by Senator Mike McGuire would require telecommunications carriers to report rural 911 outages to state and local public safety agencies. The Federal Communications Commission established requirements for reporting telecommunications service disruptions and failures based on specified reporting thresholds. However, when there is a major disruption in service in rural communities, the federal reporting threshold that requires a telecommunications carrier to contact state and local public safety organizations is generally not triggered. These disruptions and outages can have disastrous effects on public safety in a rural community.

SB 1250 passed out of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee (7-0), passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee (6-1), passed off of the Senate Floor (29-4) and is now in the Assembly.

California Disaster Assistance Act: Inland Regional Center

SB 1385 (Leyva) – Support
As Amended March 29, 2016 

Senate Bill 1385 by Senator Connie Leyva would make the December 2, 2015 San Bernardino County terrorist attack eligible for a 100 percent reimbursement of eligible costs through the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA).

CDAA is the primary funding mechanism available for local governments to recover costs associated with disaster events, which the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) oversees. The CDAA, typically, has been used in response to natural disasters and, in most cases, the state provides 75% reimbursement for eligible costs and local government is responsible for the remaining 25%. However, under existing law, the state share can increase to 100% reimbursement for eligible costs in some cases. 

SB 1385 passed out of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee (10-0), passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee (7-0), passed off of the Senate Floor (39-0) and is now in the Assembly.

Incarcerated Persons: Visitation.

SB 1157 (Mitchell) – Concerns/Pending
As Amended May 31, 2016

Senate Bill 1157 by Senator Holly Mitchell, as amended would establish parameters around local adult and juvenile correctional facilities that provide only video or electronic visiting.  The bill requires counties that provide electronic or video visiting, in addition must provide specified hours of “in-person” visits and defines “in person visit” and “in-person visitation.”  CSAC is concerned that by mandating “in- person visiting” in facilities that have been recently constructed with only electronic visiting capabilities, additional costs will be incurred for updating those facilities. 

SB 1157 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee (5-1), passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee (6-1), passed off of the Senate Floor (31-6) and is now in the Assembly.

Proposition 47: Sentence Reduction.      

AB 2765 (Weber) – Support
As Amended May 19, 2016

Assembly Bill 2765 by Assembly Member Shirley Weber, as amended would extend the time period for individuals to petition for resentencing of specified felonies under Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Act) from November 4, 2017 to November 4, 2022, or at a later date upon showing of good cause. Extending the timeline for petitioning the courts for resentencing provides an opportunity for all former offenders impacted by Proposition 47 to benefit from the resentencing provision.

AB 2765 passed out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee (5-2), passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee (14-6), passed off of the Assembly Floor (58-19) and is now in the Senate.

County Jail Milestone Credits.

AB 1597 (Stone, M) – Support
As Amended May 17, 2016

AB 1597 by Assembly Member Mark Stone would provide county jails the ability to expand their existing performance milestone credit earning programs to all prisoners. This expansion would include allowing those convicted of a misdemeanor and those felons who have not yet been convicted to participate in earning milestone credits that could be applied upon conviction.  “Milestone credits” are additional credits an offender can earn for completing education programs in county jail.

AB 1597 passed out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee (5-0), passed off of the Assembly Floor (54-17), passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee (6-1) and is waiting to be heard on the Senate Floor.

Junk dealers and recyclers: nonferrous materials.

AB 2059 (Garcia, E.) – Oppose
As Amended May 3, 2016

AB 2059 by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia is a measure that would exempt sellers of junk or recycling materials, who carry a surety bond of at least $100,000, to provide payment by cash or check before the three-day waiting period required under existing law has passed.

The theft of metals has devastated both public and private property and has harmed critical public infrastructure. Cities and counties have seen copper wiring stripped from traffic lights raising significant public safety concerns. The removal of the three-day waiting period requirement for all transactions will not improve enforcement and in fact runs contradictory to the efforts to reduce metal theft crimes.

AB 2059 passed out of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee (12-2), passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee (19-0) and is now waiting to be heard on the Assembly Floor. 

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