As a service to our member programs, we wanted to share the following information about California bills. In 2012, we tracked bills affecting our members, offered our position and the positions of our members (if known), and offered links to template letters in support/opposition or fact sheets. We hope to provide the same service in 2013.
If you are an LSC-funded program, as a reminder, staff is prohibited from speaking with legislators without a specific invitation to comment from that legislator. If you have any questions, please contact Salena Copeland, LAAC directing attorney, at scopeland@laaconline.org.
LAAC Opposed
Referred to committees on Judiciary and Appropriations, no further action taken
Civil procedure: attorney's fees - This bill would allow local governments to get attorney's fees if they prevail in 1021.5.
Failed to pass committee
Appeals: representative actions - This bill would expand the right to appeal to grants of class certification. The Impact Fund and others have already written a letter in opposition. Click here to read the letter.
Failed to pass committee
This is the bill which would provide (on pain of discipline by the State Bar) that "[a]n advertisement soliciting plaintiffs for a class action shall...include a disclosure stating that a plaintiff in a class action may be financially liable for the attorneys’ fees of the defendant where the defendant is the prevailing party." LAAC joined the Impact Fund and others in a letter of opposition.
LAAC Monitored
Held under submission
Sexual Assault Treatment and Prevention: Sexually Oriented Business Tax - This bill would add a per client tax of $10 to anyone frequenting a sexually oriented business (strip club). The bill already includes a provision for potential funding for legal services to serve victims of sexual assault. LAAC is currently working to assess whether all legal services to sexual assault victims (for instance, securing stable housing, etc.) would be covered under this bill. Link to more info on the bill: http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_2441/20112012. The US Supreme Court recently decided NOT to review the Texas Supreme Court's decision upholding a similar law in Texas: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/US-Supreme-Court-Wont-Hear-Texas-Pole-Tax-Case-138071753.html. Specific language in the bill: "The California Emergency Management Agency shall use funds transferred from the Sexual Assault Treatment and Prevention Fund only for the following purposes... (6) The award of grants to nonprofit, community-based providers of civil legal services to provide legal assistance for sexual assault victims."
LAAC Supported
Update: Signed into law by Governor Brown. See more information here.
In a civil action, the prevailing party is entitled to recover specified costs. Existing law allows the recovery of interpreter costs for indigent clients represented by qualified legal services programs. This legislation allows recovery when an indigent client is represented by a pro bono attorney.
Update: Signed into law by Governor Brown. See more information here.
Wage garnishment: exempt earnings - This legislation changes the exempt earnings for wage garnishment from 25% weekly disposable earnings, or the amount the disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, to 25% weekly disposable earnings, or the amount the disposable earnings exceed 40 times the state minimum wage. Basically, it just exempts more wages from garnishment. http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/Ab_1775/20112012/
LAAC did not take a position on the following bills:
Pursuant to our advocacy policy, we do not take positions on many bills that may be of great interest to our members. We wanted to share the following bills with you that we have identified may be relevant for legal services clients. Many of these bills have garnered a lot of attention on our listservs. Please contact Salena (scopeland@laaconline.org) if you'd like more information on the bills. We also HIGHLY recommend www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills as a source for great summaries of each of the bills. We use the site daily.
School Discipline Bills:
ALL SUPPORT recommendation from the LAAC Education Equity Task Force Listserv (Public Counsel and/or Youth Law Center have identified these bills). More information on these bills and a call to action can be found at http://www.fixschooldiscipline.org/how-can-we-fix-it/, a project of Public Counsel.
UPDATE: More information on the hearings for these related bills at EdSourceExtra.
Update 9/26/12: Vetoed by Governor Brown (see veto message here).
Strengthens existing law that requires schools with high rates of suspension to implement evidence-based school-wide behavioral strategies aimed at reducing behaviors that lead to suspension.
Update 8/16/12: Held under submission.
Requires that expulsion and suspension data already collected by the state be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, special education status, English learner status, socioeconomic status, and gender and cross-tabulated by gender and race.
Update 9/21/12: Vetoed by Governor Brown (see veto message here).
Amends current law to provide that the act of disruption of school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, or school officials may subject a student to an in-school suspension in a supervised suspension classroom or other means of correction, but not to an off-campus suspension, extended suspension, or expulsion.
Update 9/21/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Authorizes, rather than mandates, a principal or superintendent to immediately suspend and make a recommendation for expulsion for certain acts where expulsion is not already mandated by federal law. Authorizes, rather than mandates, a principal to notify the appropriate law enforcement agencies of certain offenses.
Update 5/29/12: Held in Appropriations. Advocates pledge to try again next year.
Would establish the "Transitioning Youth To Success Program" for the purpose of prioritizing the use of federal Neglected or Delinquent funds so that the funds are used to provide transition services for youth transitioning from a juvenile detention facility so they can have a better chance of furthering their education or employment.
Update 9/19/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Clarifies existing law by prohibiting a school from denying enrollment or readmission to a pupil on the basis that the youth has had contact with the juvenile justice system. It would also ensure that expelled students are given more than one opportunity to demonstrate that they have completed their rehabilitation plans, so that they can be readmitted to a regular school.
Housing Bills
Update 9/25/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Mortgages and deeds of trust: foreclosure: language - This bill would require a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent to provide all documents to a mortgagor or trustor relating to a delinquency, default, loan modification, foreclosure proceeding, or foreclosure sale concerning that mortgage or deed of trust in the primary language spoken by the mortgagor or trustor. National Housing Law Project is a supporter.
Update 9/27/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Reverse mortgages: counseling - This bill would require the prospective borrower to receive reverse mortgage counseling in person.
Update 9/25/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Landlord-tenant relations: security deposits - This bill would authorize a landlord and tenant to mutually agree to have the landlord deposit any remaining portion of the security deposit directly to a bank account designated by the tenant. The bill would also authorize the landlord and the tenant to agree to have the landlord provide a copy of the itemized statement along with the copies of documents showing charges incurred and deducted by the landlord to repair or clean the premises to an email account provided by the tenant.
Update 9/7/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Landlord and tenant: payments - This bill would prohibit a landlord or a landlord's agent from requiring cash as the exclusive payment of rent or deposit of security. The bill would require any landlord or landlord's agent that offers the option of payment of rent or deposit of security online to also accept payment of rent or deposit of security by check or money order for any lease or rental agreement that is first effective on or after January 1, 2013. The bill would provide that a waiver of these provisions is contrary to public policy, and is void and unenforceable.
Update 9/7/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Residential tenancies: eviction: notices - This bill would require that the specified notice upon the filing of an unlawful detainer contain, as an alternative to the county bar association, the name and telephone number of any nonprofit bar association within the county that is duly authorized by the State Bar as a lawyer referral provider.
- National Housing Law Project supports the following housing bills:
- AB 278/SB 900 - Attorney General's Homeowner Bill of Rights
- AB 1599 - translation of foreclosure notices
- SB 1191 - disclosure of foreclosure to tenants
- AB 2610/SB 1473 - foreclosure/tenants' rights
- AB 1953 - foreclosure/tenant notice
- SB 1220 - HOMeS Act
Elder Issues Bills
Update 9/27/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Elder and dependent adult abuse: settlement: gag order - This bill would provide that an agreement to settle a civil action for physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult shall not include any provision that, among other things, prohibits contact or cooperation with the county adult protective services agency, the local law enforcement agency, the long-term care ombudsman, the California Department of Aging, the Department of Justice, or the Licensing and Certification Division of the State Department of Public Health.
Employment Law Bills
Update 8/16/12: Held under submission.
Employment: familial status protection - Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation. This bill would include "familial status" as an additional basis upon which the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment cannot be denied.
Update 8/16/12: Held under submission.
Family and medical leave - This bill would increase the circumstances under which an employee is entitled to protected leave pursuant to the Family Rights Act by (1) eliminating the age and dependency elements from the definition of "child," thereby permitting an employee to take protected leave to care for his or her independent adult child suffering from a serious health condition, (2) expanding the definition of "parent" to include an employee's parent-in-law, and (3) permitting an employee to also take leave to care for a seriously ill grandparent, sibling, grandchild, or domestic partner, as defined.
Update 5/25/12: Held under submission.
Employment discrimination: victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking - This bill would include status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking as an additional basis upon which the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment cannot be denied under FEHA. By expanding the bases upon which discrimination is prohibited under FEHA, this bill would also expand the bases upon which discrimination is prohibited under other antidiscrimination provisions that prohibit discrimination on the same bases as provided for in FEHA. Other antidiscrimination provisions include provisions that make willful discrimination in a recruitment or apprenticeship program on those bases a misdemeanor. By adding unemployment status to the list of characteristics listed in FEHA, this bill would expand the bases upon which this crime applies, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
Update 9/30/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Farm labor contractors: licenses: civil penalty - This bill would subject a violator of the requirement that a farm labor contractor be licensed to citations issued by the Labor Commissioner and civil penalties that increase as the number of citations for violations increase. The bill would provide that the civil penalties collected under the above-described provisions shall be deposited into the Farmworker Remedial Account and be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of regulating farm labor contractors.
Miscellaneous Bills
Update 5/3/12: Re-referred to Senate Judiciary Committee. No further action.
Service of process: unlawful detainer - This bill would provide that service of a prejudgment claim of right to possession may be served on any person who is over 18 years of age and apparently left in charge of the premises. This bill would provide that service may also be effected by a person who is at least 18 years of age and not a party to the action (rather than requiring a marshal, sheriff, or registered process server).
Update 7/10/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Civil procedure: motion to set aside and vacate a judgment - This bill would specify that the power of the court to rule on a motion to set aside and vacate a judgment shall expire 60 days from the mailing of notice of entry of judgment by the clerk of the court or 60 days after service upon the moving party by any party of written notice of entry of the judgment, whichever is earlier, or if that notice has not been given, then 60 days after filing of the first notice of intention to move to set aside and vacate the judgment. The bill would also specify that if that motion is not determined with the 60-day period, or within that period, as extended, the effect shall be a denial of the motion without further order of the court. The bill would further specify that a motion to set aside and vacate a judgment is not determined until an order ruling on the motion is either entered in the permanent minutes of the court or signed by the judge and filed with the clerk.
Update 4/10/12: Failed passage in committee, reconsideration granted. No further action.
Civil procedure: depositions - This bill would authorize a deponent in an unlawful detainer proceeding or certain summary proceedings for obtaining possession of real property to change the form or substance of the answer to a stenographically recorded deposition question for five days following notice from the deposition officer that the transcript is ready to be read, corrected, and signed.
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AB 2393 (Davis)
Update 9/27/12: Signed into law by Governor Brown (see more information here).
Family Law: Child support formula - This bill would raise the net disposable income threshold from $1,000 to $1,500 per month, with a requirement that there be cost of living increases in the future. Currently, obligors with less than $1,000 monthly income are entitled to a rebuttable presumption that that qualify for a low-income adjustment to child support payments.
